Random Topps Card of the Day: 1994 Topps #211 Tom Candiotti

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, February 01, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1994 Topps #211.
• Player Name, position, team: Tom Candiotti, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: August 08, 1983.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1993 stats (Dodgers): 33 G, 213.2 IP, 8-10, 86 R, 74 ER, 155 SO, 71 BB, 32 GS, 2 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.12 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Royals as a Free Agent, 01/05/1980. Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent, 12/03/1991. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his twelfth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Tough-luck Tom worked 17 straight starts in which he allowed 3 ER or less in '93, yet suffered 10 no-decisions."
• Commentary: I still can't fathom that it has been almost 19 years since I graduated from high school. It means that next year (or before the end of this year), my high school class will begin making plans for a 20th High School Class Reunion. Yikes. It seems like yesterday that I was just surviving junior year. Anyway, this isn't about me, this is about the card above. Tom Candiotti was a veteran of ten seasons (okay, so he was in the minors for all of 1985), with four different teams. By the end of the 1993 season, his pitching record, on games he earned the decision, was 103-103. Even!!! The knuckleballer had some really good years (like in 1986 when he went 16-12 with 17 complete games) and some bad years (11-15 in 1992, leading the league in losses). In 1994, Candiotti went 7-7 with a 4.12 ERA. He did strike out 102 batters and walked 54 (contributing to a 1.327 WHIP). He was knocked out of the 1994 season in mid-August due to injury. He stayed with the Dodgers until the end of the 1997 season. With LA, he was 52-64 with a 3.57 ERA. He struck out 718 batters whle walking 329. He signed with the Athletics as a free agent for the 1998 season, and was released a season-and-a-half later. He returned to the Indians in 2009 in time for the team's pennant run, but a bad knee shut him down soon afterwards. Candiotti retired during spring training in 2000. Tom has had a good post-playing career. He is a Hall of Famer. He was inducted into the International Bowling Museums Hall of fame in June of 2007. He also appeared in the movie "61*" as knuckleball pitcher (stretch, huh) Hoyt Wilhelm. He also is a TV-radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is also a baseball card collector. According to theclevelandfan.com, the top 25 cards in his collection is valued at $7,000,000 plus.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 22.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH145. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama