Random Topps Card of the Day: 1985 Topps #488 Joel Skinner

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, February 06, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1985 Topps #488.
• Player Name, position, team: Joel Skinner, catcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: June 12, 1983.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1984 stats (White Sox): 43 G, 80 AB, 4 R, 17 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB, .238 SLG, 7 BB 19 SO, .213 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Pirates #36th, June 1979. Drafted by the White Sox from the Pirates as a Compensation Pick 02/02/1982. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Joel's father, Bob Skinner, is a Pirates coach."
• Commentary: Last week's RotC featured a 1985 Topps card (albeit a Traded card), this week's feature is also of  a 1985 Topps card. Joel Skinner, at this time of his career, was more known as Bob Skinner's son than he was as a ballplayer. That was going to change. Skinner spent most of his time with the White Sox as a player who would be called when needed from the team's AAA affiliate. When you're primary catcher is Carlton Fisk, playing time would be limited anyway. But Skinner took advantage of playing everyday in the minor leagues so that when it was time to bring him up to the main roster, he was ready to go. In 1985, Joel was called up for a three-game stretch in July/August where went 4 for 8 and drove in two rbi's. As two of his hits were doubles, his OPS was a high 1.350. He came back as a September callup and started twelve of the twenty games that he appeared. In September, he went 11 for 36 (.306 average) with 1 home run and three more rbi's. He finished with a career highs with a .341 average and an OBP/SLG/OPS of .408/.545/.954. In 1986, he won the backup catcher role and played in 60 games with the Pale Hose before being traded to the Yankees with Ron Kittle and Wayne Tolleson for Ron Hassey, Carlos Martinez, and player-to-be-named-later Bill Lindsey. After spending three seasons with the Yankees as their backup catcher, he was traded to the Indians with Turner Ward for Mel Hall during spring training in where he became the mentor of future All-Star Sandy Alomar, Jr. 1989. After retiring as a player in 1992, he stayed with the Indians organization, learning the ropes as a coach and manager until he became Cleveland's interim manager in 2002. He was the bench coach for the Oakland Athletics in 2011 and returned to the White Sox to manage the team's AAA affiliate in 2012. Many cards from the 1985 Topps set included a "Baseball Trivia Quiz" question. The back of Hoyt's card asks "Candlestick Park is the home of what team?" The answer: The San Francisco Giants.
• Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 11 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1981 Topps Traded #738. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama