Random Topps Card of the Day: 1991 Topps #541 Domingo Ramos

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, March 20, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps #541.
• Player Name, position, team: Domingo Ramos, shortstop-second baseman, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: September 8, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Cubs): 98 G, 226 AB, 22 R, 60 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, .314 SLG, 27 BB, 29 SO, .265 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 05/27/1975. Signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent 12/13/1988. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his seventh and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "His first inside-the-park Home Run: 6-15-87.
• Commentary: The NL East Champion 1989 Chicago Cubs team might not have fans in Chicago waxing nostalgic as the team that took the nation by storm in 1984, but that team was the reason I became hooked on the baseball for good. I can probably name all of the players on that team now, down to the six guys that manned the bullpen. Even now, even though I might lapse when it comes to recognizing the names of the guys that are on the team in 2013, even if I forget what their contributions were to that magical '89 season, I will always remember the names. Today's subject is one of them. He did not have the name recognition as the regular infielders that year (Law at third, Dunston and short, Sandberg at second, and Grace at first), but Domingo Antonio Ramos filled in nicely as a defensive replacement, and occasional starter at third and short (funny looking at this card saying that he was the SS-2B, even though he played second for 2/3rds of an inning the entire season. Before joining the Cubs, he was a just a callup/fill in for the Yankees (1 game in 1978), and Blue Jays (5 games in 1980) before being selected by the Mariners in the 1982 Rule V draft. If you aren't sure of the rules of the Rule V draft, the basic premise is this: If you select a player in this draft, that player must stay on the 25-man roster for the entire year. If not, he returns to his original organization. He can be traded, but then the team that takes him now have to hold him or give him back as well to his prior franchise. As Domingo was selected in the minor league section of the draft (as a AA player), he had to remain on the roster of the AAA team (in this case Salt Lake City) for the 1982 campaign. He did make it to Seattle for an 8-game stint, hitting a paltry .154 with an rbi, just before the All-Star Break. With the SLC Gulls, he had a banner year, hitting .314 with 6 home runs, 56 rbi's, 5 stolen bases, and an OPS of .810. The following year, Ramos made it into the major league roster as a back up infielder, a position he would wind up holding for his entire big league career. In 6 seasons and 286 games with the M's, he would hit for a .228 average with 5 home runs and 44 rbi's. Ramos was good defensively, committing only 36 errors in 808 chances (for a fielding percentage of .955). By the end of the 1987 season, Domingo was released by Seattle, and signed on with the Indians. But after 22 games, he was released by Cleveland. He signed with the Angels two weeks later and finished the season with the Halos (which probably explains why he was skipped over for the 1989 Topps set). On December 14, 1988, he signed with the Cubs (I knew there was significance...that's was my youngest sister's first birthday), and the rest is history. In his two seasons with the Cubs (and 183 games, more than half of the number of games he appeared during his six years in Seattle), Domingo would hit for a .264 clip with 3 home runs and 36 rbi's. He even made an appearance as a pinch hitter in the NLCS in 1989 (his lone at bat in the playoffs). It turns out that 1990 was his final season in the majors, so the final line of Major League totals is complete.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1995 Topps #218. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama