Random Topps Card of the Day: 2003 Topps #620 Brett Myers

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, December 22, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2003 Topps #620.
• Player Name, position, team: Brett Myers, pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies.
• Major League Debut: July 24, 2002.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2002 stats (Phillies): 12 G, 72 IP, 4-5, 38 R, 34 ER, 34 SO, 29 BB, 12 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 4.25 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies, #1st, June 1999. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 13. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Many baseball scouts have touted Brett as the next Curt Schilling because of his similar workhorse mentality and blistering fastball.  In 2001, Myers was rated as having the best heat in the Phillies system.  With his hard-breaking curveball and change-up, Brett was destined for success.  It all came together on 07/24/2002, as he recorded a win in his big-league debut."
• Commentary: Brett was a rookie in 2002, and if this set came out after the MLB edict, it would be his rookie card.  However, he appears in the 2000 Topps set as a draft pick (a shared card) and in the 2000 Topps Traded set (first solo card).  So there is no "First Year" badge on Myers' card.  Called up in July, he had a impressive debut when he out-pitched Mark Prior to help the Phils beat the Cubs at Wrigley 4-2 (and 4 days later, my son was born...that's another sotry).  In 2003, Myers won a career high 14 games (tagged with 9 loses), struck out 143 batters, and had an ERA of 4.43 in 193 innings of work.  He played for the Phillies for 8 seasons, and compiled a 73-63 record mostly as a starter (there was that year in 2007 that he took over the closer duties and saved 21 games).  As soon as the Philies ended the stranglehold the Braves had over the NL East division, Myers saw action in 7 postseason games, winning 2 games in the 2008 postseason that helped the Phils make it to and eventually win the 2008 World Series.  In 2010, he signed on with the Houston Astros to give a veteran presence to a young Astros team. He went 14-8 with a 3.14 ERA in 33 games for them that year.  After a disastrous 2011 campaign (7-14, 4.46) , he was named the 'Stros closer in 2012 and saved 19 games for them before being traded to the White Sox as they were making their push for the playoffs. He is a free agent heading into the 2013 season, with the Twins and Angels the leading contenders for Myers' services.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1965 Topps #490. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama