Random Topps Card of the Day: 1978 Topps #63 Don Zimmer

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, May 25, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1978 Topps #63.
• Name, position, team: Don Zimmer, manager, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: June 2, 1954. Managerial Debut: April 27, 1972.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1977 stats (Red Sox): 97-64 3rd (AL East).
• Any special information about manager: Promoted to Manager 07/19/1976.
• Any special information about this specific card: Zimmer's fifteenth regular Topps card, fourth as a manager (total includes both Topps and Topps Traded cards).
• Commentary: I love these manager cards that are found within the 1978 Topps set. Not only because Topps back then had room for managers, but because they were able to show us younger collectors (or those at least born after 1976) that many of the field skippers actually used to play baseball. I know that Night Owl recently posted an article featuring cards of many of today's managers when they were players. It's really hard to believe now that I have cards of the almost all of the managers when they were players. But my kids wouldn't remember, short of maybe guys like Robin Ventura and Mike Redmond, and possibly others, that these guys used to play. Heck, the first time I ever heard the name Don Zimmer was when he was promoted to manager of the Cubs, even though he was a coach for the Cubbies in 1984 through 1986. Back to the point. The back of Zimmer's card not only mentions when Zim was first hired as a manager (April 27, 1972), but that he "was San Diego skipper for two seasons, leading club to victory in 114 games." Please note that where these two tidbits of information were placed on the card was where you would play the "Play Ball" game that appeared on all the players' cards. The back of the card doesn't even mention anything about Zimmer's season with the Red Sox. In fact, what is on the back of his card is his complete batting statistics. In 12 seasons (1954-1965) with the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers again, and Senators, Zimmer appeared in 1095 games, with 3283 AB, 353 R, 773 H, 130 2B, 22 3B, 91 HR, 352 RBI, and a cumulative average of .235. In five seasons as Boston's manager, Zimmer led the Sox to a 411-304 record. In 1978, he led the Sox to a second place finish in the AL East with a 99-64 record. That's 163 games. Why? Because there had to be a one-game playoff to determine the winner of the division against the Yankees. I'm not going to continue on that track. He last managing job was with the Cubs, who he led to that magical 1989 season. But since then, he has been a valued coach to the Rockies, Yankees, and Devil Rays/Rays organizations. He is also the last remaining Brooklyn Dodger still active in some capacity in baseball, going into his 65th season in MLB as either a player, manager, coach, or senior advisor.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.25-$0.60.
• How many cards of this person do I own?: 13 cards.

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: 1969 Topps #181. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama