Random Topps Card of the Day: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH92 Eric Hinske

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, October 30, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH48.
• Player Name, position, team: Eric Hinske, outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays.
• Major League Debut: April 1, 2002.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (Red Sox): 84 G, 186 AB, 25 R, 38 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 3 SB, 28 BB, 54 SO, .398 SLG, .715 OPS, .204 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cubs #17th, June 1998. Signed with the Rays as a Free Agent 02/06/2008. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "After some up-and-down seasons, Eric got back to his 2002 Rookie of the Year form with the Rays in '08. Signed as a Minor League free agent, he made the club as a non-roster invitee."
• Commentary: Personally, I'd like to see more action on my baseball cards. Perhaps because the space for a picture on the 2008 design was too small for a wide action shot. But you have to admit, it's a pretty unique shot of Eric Scott Hinske sliding into second (I think) and not see the fielder ahead. Was he safe? Was he out? You can't even tell who the Rays were playing on this day (or night...they play indoors remember) to figure it out. He looks like a reverse letter "l" in this shot. Awkward? Perhaps. But definitely a unique nonetheless. After four-and-half very solid years with the Blue Jays (in which he hit .259 with 78 home runs and 313 rbi's), Hinske, a former American League Rookie of the Year, found himself traded to the Boston Red Sox. Although mired by injuries during his stay with Boston, Hinske proved versatile enough in a reserve role to help the Sox win their second World Series title in four years. In the offseason, he signed a minor league contract with the newly-christened Tampa Bay Rays, a team that had never reached the postseason, let alone a winning record. He impressed the managerial staff enough to add him to the 40-man roster and make the big league roster. With Tampa Bay, Hinske appeared in 133 games, hit a cool .247 with 20 home runs and 60 rbi's. He would be added to the postseason roster during the 2008 World Series, hitting a home run in two postseason at-bats. His stay with the Rays was brief as Hinske signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2009 season.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 28 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1998 Topps #23. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama