Random Topps Card of the Day: 1998 Topps #68 Butch Huskey

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, May 11, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1998 Topps #68.
• Player Name, position, team: Butch Huskey, first baseman-outfielder, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 8, 1993.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1997 stats (Mets): 142 G, 471 AB, 61 R, 135 H, 26 2B, 2 3B, 24 HR, 81 RBI, 8 SB, .503 SLG, 25 BB, 84 SO, .287 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Mets #7th, June 1989. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his fourth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Butch hit three dramatic homers - two as a pinch-hitter - in a single week last May. All were late-game decisive blows in narrow victories. None, however, inspired the sheer awe of the one on Sept. 15 in Philadelphia. His moonshot was the first ever to the 600-level (deep in the 26-year-old Vet's third deck) to leftfield. Only Willie Stargell had ever matched that distance in right. "I got chills," Huskey said. "It gave me goose bumps watching it.'"
• Commentary: Robert Leon Huskey was one of the last players in MLB to wear the number 42. When the number was officially retired throughout baseball, Huskey was among the players present at Shea Stadium when it was announced. He would go on to have his best offensive year that season. However, in 1998, he couldn't maintain the productivity he was expected to provide. Huskey hit .252 with 13 home runs, 59 rbi's, stole 7 bases, and had an OPS of .707, which would make for a pretty good season for a guy who appeared in 113 games. But it wouldn't be enough for him to keep a spot on the roster. He would be traded to the Seattle Mariners on December 14, 1998, leaving the Mets after five very good seasons. With the Mets, he hit a good .264 with 55 home runs and 214 rbi's. He would begin his journeyman career with the Mariners in 1999, but was traded to Boston in a deadline deal. Granted free agency, he signed on with the Minnesota Twins for the 2000 campaign; but was then to the Twins in another deadline trade. He signed with the Indians in 2001, but when he didn't make the team, decided to retire as a player at the age of 29.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 8.

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: 1965 Topps #474. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama