Random Topps Card of the Day: 2000 Topps #295 Johnny Damon

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, February 13, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2000 Topps #295.
• Player Name, position, team: Johnny Damon, outfielder, Kansas City Royals.
• Major League Debut: August 12, 1995.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1999 stats (Royals): 145 G, 583 AB, 101 R, 179 H, 39 2B, 9 3B, 14 HR, 77 RBI, 36 SB, .477 SLG, 67 BB 50 SO, .307 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Royals #2nd, June 1992. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 20. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Johnny is one of the game's great character players - and he's developing into one of its best players, period. Last season, he set personal bests for AVG and RBI, ranked among the AL's top 10 in doubles and triples and stole 24 straight bases. "I play every game like it's going to be my last," he says, "I never take this game for granted. I hope others take as much pride in the sport as I do. It's a precious game.'"
• Commentary: Before the long hair and the beard. Before the World Championships, Johnny Damon was a star with the Kansas City Royals. Even though the Royals were perennial doormats in the AL Central Division, Damon gave Royals fans hope for better things to come. Damon's final year with the Royals in 2000 was also his best in KC. He hit a career high .327 with 16 home runs, 88 rbi's (also a career high), and an OPS of .877. He also led the American League in runs scored with 136 and stolen bases with 46. But alas, Damon contract was about a year before free agency. So in January of 2001, he was involved in a 3-team trade that saw seven players moved to new franchises. When the dust settled, Damon and Mark Ellis were sent to Oakland in exchange for Angel Berroa and A. J. Hinch. The change of scenery brought Damon's numbers down, but the Red Sox saw enough to sign him to a four year deal. The rest, at this point, is history. He won World Series with the Red Sox (2005) and Yankees (2009), became an All-Star (twice with the Red Sox), and did live up to the "great character" part that Topps had described on the blurb on the back. After three seasons of bouncing between Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, it looks like Damon is going to call it a career. Last I saw him, he was playing for the Taiwan team in 2012 qualifying rounds of the World Baseball Classic against the Philippines.
• Beckett value: $0.10-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 67 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1980 Topps #208. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama