Random Topps Card of the Day: 1975 Topps #583 Andy Etchebarren

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 10, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1975 Topps #583.
• Player Name, position, team: Andy Etchebarren, catcher, Baltimore Orioles.
• Major League Debut: September 26, 1962.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1974 stats (Orioles): 180 AB, 40 H, 8 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .222 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Orioles as a Free Agent before the 1961 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 13. This is his tenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the front: "Andy became O's regular catcher, '66."
• Commentary: So much has been written about the 1975 Topps set that there was even a blog dedicated to studying all 660 cards in the iconic set. The blog is presently in the Retired but Relevant section of the Sports Card Blogroll because all the cards in the set were featured and thus the blog was complete. The back of the card indicates that Andrew Auguste Etchebarren (his full name is prominent on the back of the card, something that I wish could still be done today...Donruss was really good at including full names on the back of their cards in the 80's and 90's) was the Orioles' regular catcher since 1966. That is true. In 1966 and 1967, Andy appeared in more than 100 games, and was named to the American League All-Star teams both years. This, in spite of his batting averages hovering around .250 (.249 in 1966 and .251 in 1967) by the end of the first half of the season. By the time this card came out, Andy was preparing for his twelfth season with the O's. It would, however, be his last.  By June 11, 1975, he had only appeared in eight games for the team. On June 15, the California Angels purchased Etchebarren's contract, sending the long time "O" to the big "A". In his twelve seasons with Baltimore, Etchebarren hit a low .232 with 46 home runs, 255 rbi's, an OPS of .652, stole 9 bases in 730 games, and was a part of two World Series winning teams. Finishing the year in Anaheim, Andy hit .267 with 3 home runs and 17 rbi's as an Angel. He would go on to play with the Halos for two more years before the Milwaukee Brewers bought Andy's contract after the 1977 season concluded. He appeared in four games for the Brewers in April of 1978, and wound up finishing his playing career soon afterwards. He rejoined the Orioles organization, managing teams in the minor leagues for a number of years before taking the helm of the independent York Revolution in 2007. After five years at the helm of the Revolution, which included two championships in 2010 and 2011, Etchebarren retired from managing after the 2012 campaign. On the back of Andy's card is a cartoon sketch and a trivia question: What was Chuck Hartenstein's nickname? The answer: Twiggy.
• Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 3.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1992 Topps #755. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama