Random Topps Card of the Day: 1988 Topps #145 Bill Madlock

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, February 09, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1988 Topps #145.
• Player Name, position, team: Bill Madlock, designated hitter/third baseman, Detroit Tigers.
• Major League Debut: September 7, 1973.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1987 stats (Tigers): 87 G, 326 AB, 56 R, 91 H, 17 2B, 0 3B, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 4 SB, .460 SLG, 28 BB, 45 SO, .279 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Senators #5th, January 1970 (Special). Signed with the Tigers as a Free Agent 06/04/1987. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 16. This is his sixteenth and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: Nothing more needs to be said about my love for the 1988 Topps set. It was the set that really got me into collecting, and I loved the way the team name hovered above the player's picture. And the 1988 Topps set was the home of the final card of Bill Madlock. What a career this man had. He was member of the Topps All-Star Rookie Team (with the rookie cup proudly displayed on his 1975 Topps card), led the National League in batting average four times, he was a three-time All-Star (even shared MVP honors in the 1975 ASG), and World Series Champion (with the 1979 Pirates, Madlock hit .375 with three runs driven in against the Orioles). As 1987 was his final season in the majors, the totals line at the bottom of the statistics are complete. He finished with a .305 batting average, hit 163 home runs, drove in 860 rbi's, and had OBP/SLG/OPS percentages of .365/.442/.807. He spent the 1988 season in Japan with the Lotte Orions and retired as a player after the season ended. He has taken positions as a coach with the Detroit Tigers and managed the independent Newark Bears for a couple of years in the mid 2000's.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 33.

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 #1. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama