- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #36.
- Player Name, position, team: John Costello, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals.
- Major League Debut: June 2, 1988.
- Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Louisville-AAA): 4 G, 5 IP, 0-0, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1 SV, 1.80 ERA.
- Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cardinals #25th, June 1983. Bats: right. Throws: right.
- Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his second and final Topps card.
- Blurb on the back: "John has worked as a greeter at the restaurant of Cardinals' manager Whitey Herzog during wintertime."
- Commentary: I was actually hoping that this was going to be about the 1990 Topps card of one of my favorite Cubs in 1989, Domingo Ramos. Instead, it's a repeat of a Random Card of the Day segment from 10/19/2010. Oh well. Regardless, this is one good looking card. One of the most colorful border designs ever used by the company, Topps collectors rang in the new decade with six different colored borders (red, orange, green, blue, dark blue...I likened it to indigo, and violet). And in many cases, the strong colored borders complimented the picture on the card. To wit, a blue border for a Cubs player worked. Green and the Athletics, perfect. Even red and the Cardinals (or Reds), looked great. Orange and the Athletics? Green and the Dodgers? Not so much. Here is an example of a card that worked. John Costello in his red Cardinals Spring Training attire really pops with the red borders, specifically, the solid red that appears at the bottom of the card. It looks natural. If he appeared in the sheet that was green, or even blue, his card would not look as nice. Costello himself had a brief career with the Redbirds. And the only reason why I used his minor league numbers in the "last line of statistics" was because his major league numbers were above his for games with St. Louis. In reality, Costello pitched in 48 games in 1989, worked 62.1 innings, had a record of 5-4, sported an ERA of 3.32, and even recorded three saves. He spent three seasons with the Cards, compiling a 10-6 record and a good 2.97 ERA to go with 79 K's. He was traded to the Expos on April 23, 1990, for Rex Hudler.
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 2.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
That's a good looking card, alright! Love the color, design.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, as you move forward through the years here, my collecting this week has been moving backwards through Topps. I'm finally nearing complete sets with 84, 85, 86, 87, and 88. Even 77! Feels so good.
I'm about to start focusing in on the contemporary scene, I swear (mostly).