Random Topps Card of the Day: 1993 Topps Traded #81T Jeff Richardson

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, October 16, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1993 Topps Traded #81T.
• Player Name, position, team: Jeff Richardson, second baseman-shortstop, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: July 14, 1989.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1992 stats (Buffalo, AAA-American Association): 97 G, 328 AB, 34 R, 95 H, 23 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 5 SB, .399 SLG, 19 BB, 46 SO, .290 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Reds #7th, June 1986. Traded by the Pirates to the Red Sox 04/03/1993. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Jeff's first major league Home Run occurred for the Reds at St. Louis, 8-29-89."
• Commentary: There were two players in the majors named Jeff Richardson (the only two players named as such) from the period of 1989 through 1993. And believe it or not, both shared the same middle name (Scott). So in effect, there were not one...but TWO Jeffrey Scott Richardson's during this time in MLB (and MiLB for that matter). Jeff Richardson of Wichita, KS, was a pitcher who appeared in only one game for the California Angels, faced two batters, the first man he faced hit a bases-clearing triple, the second grounded out (1-3). He wasn't charged with any runs (even though he did allow those three runs to score), but he never pitched in the majors again, so his final numbers include a 0.00 ERA. Jeff Richardson, born in Grand Island, NE (I didn't know they had islands in Nebraska), is the player who is seen above. In 15 games with the Red Sox, Richardson hit .208 with two rbi's during a two month stretch in the 1993 season. After May 28, he was sent down to the minors, and never returned to the major leagues. Richardson's final MLB stats include 74 games played, 171 plate appearances, a .176 average, 2 home runs, 13 runs driven in, 1 stolen base, and percentages of .235/.255/.490. Now the good news for either Richardson is that both made their MLB debuts during the time Topps created and distributed their MLB Debut sets. So regardless of how short each Richardson's career was, both men were able to get onto a baseball card and own a sliver of cardboard history.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH15. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2008 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama