Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Random Tops Card of the Day: 1993 Topps #723: Kenny Felder

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, December 5, 2012:


  • Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1993 Topps #723.
  • Player Name, position, team: Ken Felder, outfielder, Milwaukee Brewers.
  • Major League Debut: n/a.
  • Last Line of Statistics: 1992 stats (Florida State University): 28 G, 97 AB, 22 R, 26 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 0 SB, .464 SLG, 8 BB, 31 SO, .268 AVG.
  • Any special information about player: Drafted by the Brewers, #1st, June 1992. Bats: right. Throws: right.
  • Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
  • Blurb on the back: "An exciting player who can carry a team with his bat, Kenny is a power-hitting threat. A strong slugger, his checked-swing efforts at Florida State University often carried deep to the outfield. Kenny led FSU in Home Runs and Slugging Percentage as a freshman in 1990. One of his most incredible performances saw him belt 2 Home Runs in one inning vs. VMI, February 23. Kenny delivered a pinch-Grand Slam vs. Cincinnati as a freshman. He also competed in football at FSU as a quarterback."
  • Commentary: Topps' foray into a whiter color stock now allowed for a larger color palette for the back of the cards that could not be utilized with gray-stocked paper.  Brighter color selections for every team plus the use of colored pictures on the back were nothing new to baseball cards, but it seemed that Topps was the last of the big 5 to finally catch up to their competitors.  Kenny Felder had the credentials to justify the Brewers to pick him in the first round of the 1992 draft.  He hit .258 with 21 home runs, drove in 99 rbi's, and had a slugging percentage of .485 in three years at FSU.  He climbed the Brewers' minor league system for five years, playing full seasons in each level (rookie, low-A, A, AA, and AAA).  In his year with the Triple A in the Brewers minor league system, he may have hit a low .216, but hit 17 home runs and 45 rbi's.  But injuries took its toll during the 1996 season, even though he was productive for the Zephyrs.  But a freak accident during his first batting session for rehabilitation ended any chances of returning to professional baseball.  I am only going to link the trial information that goes into further detail as to what happened to Felder.  Needless to say, it only shows some of the dangers athletes expose themselves to when participating in sports, professional or otherwise. 
  • Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
  • How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.
Tomorrow's card will be 1983 Topps Traded #61T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

1 comment:

hiflew said...

Ugh. Gruesome, but good story. I had a Stadium Club rookie of his when I was younger and wondered what happened to him.