Random Topps Card of the Day: 1984 Topps #60 Paul Molitor

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, January 31, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1984 Topps #60.
• Player Name, position, team: Paul Molitor, third baseman, Milwaukee Brewers.
• Major League Debut: April 7, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1983 stats (Brewers): 153 G, 613 AB, 96 R, 167 H, 29 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR, 47 RBI, .413 SLG, 59 BB, 74 SO, .272 AVG. (Please note that the AB, H, and AVG numbers are incorrect. They should be 608, 164, and .270 respectively).
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Brewers #1st, June 1977. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 22. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Went 5-for-5 with 4 Runs in 13-9 win, 7-27-83."
• Commentary: Paul Molitor's 1988 Topps card was a previous Random Card of the Day subject (all the way back in April, 2010). At the time, I had 56 of his cards. Because somebody questioned why I had 56 of his cards (I think he or she thought I had 56 of the same card), I had to clarify that I had 56 different cards of his in my collection, and I even listed them all. Since then, my Molitor collection has grown by 23 cards. Paul's 1984 season was marred by a right elbow injury (his throwing arm). Limited to DH duty, he did appear in 14 games, but the pain was so much that the Brewers shut him down for the year and Molitor underwent Tommy John surgery. He returned in 1985 and had a good season, hitting .297 with 10 homers and 48 rbi's. He was named to his first All-Star team that year. Molitor remained a Brewer until after the 1992 season, signing with the Blue Jays as a Free Agent. During his fifteen years in Milwaukee, Paul appeared in 1856 games, hit for a .303 average (2281 hits in 7520 at-bats), with 160 home runs, 790 rbi's, an OPS of .811. He helped his new team win their second consecutive World Series in 1993, and after three seasons with Toronto, the native Minnesotan signed on with his hometown team where he finished his career, along with getting his 3,000th hit. He was the second player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Brewer's cap.  The back of many of the player's cards also had a "Dateline" section, featuring highlights of that player's season.  For Paul, Topps included his games on April 12, when he "Had 3 Hits and Game-Winning RBI" and June 6, when he "Went 4-for-4 with Homer & 2 Doubles in Win." The SABR Player Biography Project has a page for Paul Molitor.
• Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 79 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1994 Topps #211. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama