Are You Ready for 2014 Yet??!

Where did the year go???

It really was a blur, wasn't it?

Didn't seem like a year has already come and gone, does it?

I mean, it couldn't have been that long when I posted last year's New Year's Eve post, was it?

Yet here I am again, taking a bit of time before heading out into the cold, snow, and other conditions to celebrate the remaining moments of 2013 and look forward to a brighter 2014.

I know for sure that 2013 didn't start off very well. I mean, I was out of a job and all, and the unemployment checks barely kept us afloat. I do not know how we managed to survive the first six months, but we pulled through. My family (that would be my kids, my wife, and me) somehow managed to save enough money to take a well deserved trip to St. Louis. Just getting away from it all, not worrying about all the struggles that we were going through for three days was wonderful, even if we were just across the Mississippi River.

Along the way, we became one of those "Dance Families" making treks to Aurora, Oakbrook, St. Charles, and Elgin, to watch my daughter and her dance troupe perform and become award winning dancers. We were able to do things that we otherwise would never have done (like camp outside the haunted Paramount Theatre in Aurora in sub-zero temps because the dance competition started at 7:30 and since we never drove down there, left at 4:30 in the morning, arrived just after 5, and waited...and waited...and waited for other people to show up). We had to travel from Elgin, to Chicago, and back to Elgin in one day because my daughter's confirmation was on the same day as the dance competition. That's a lot of driving.

But in June, I was able to go back to work, albeit on a temp basis. When the run at one job ended, another one soon followed. And after four months at a job that I wound up enjoying, I am now back where I truly belong, managing contracts and pricing for a specialty food company.

AND NOW I GET TO WORK FROM HOME!!!

It has been one incredible journey. It's cliche to say it, but I did really learn a lot about myself this year. I knew I grew as a person when I got married and started a family. But this year, I learned a lot more about responsibility that comes with being a person. I learned how to persevere when times were tough. I learned how to make those really tough choices when it comes to prioritizing the things I do in life.I even started to think about

Which now comes to the point of this post.

I am not naive to the fact that I lost a lot of regular readers from this humble, little blog. I mean, short of the Random Cards of the Day (which once again, I am falling behind on), I really haven't been posting too much or focusing on the Sports Card Blogroll. I know my lack of original posts here has kept people away. It's a shame. I have made promises on here that I have not been able to keep. And I will own up to it. I hate it. I knew going in that maintaining a blog, especially one that is so specially themed, takes commitment and I have been lacking in that. That's where the lessons in priorities come in. Heck, I've actually thought about if I should stop collecting all together. I mean, heck, I have a pretty good sized collection now. And for the first time in a long time, I was able to acquire all of the sets that I wanted from the 2013 product calendar:

• The eponymous Topps sets (and the Update Series)
• Allen & Ginter
• Gypsy Queen
• Archives
• Pro Debut
• Retail Team Sets

which added to my collection. I may reach 50,000 cards by the end of next year.

But let's make something crystal clear...

I have not given up on collecting Topps baseball cards. And I am certainly not giving up on this blog.

Not yet.

I am not going to make any promises about what I'm going to write about in the coming year. That always leads me to disappoint myself when I look back and realize that I didn't even do any of what I said I'd set out to do. The blog has evolved. Just like Dr. Who (that's the first time I think I've mentioned this), the blog is going through another transformation. It will still be, first and foremost, a blog about Topps baseball cards. There is a lot of history to this Hobby, and I am still learning about it as I get older. So maybe I'll cover that. Maybe I'll start looking at other sets I have. After all, there is more to my collection than basic Topps sets. There are other cards and sets waiting to see the light of day somewhere in my bookshelves.

Topps has been covering baseball for more than 64 years now. Even with advances in media and the ability to access information instantly, the cards Topps has produced, and continue to produce, still provide a sense of comfort and nostalgia. The designs become iconic, ingrained in our memories. The sets, and their subjects, offer a sense of how the game was played back then and you can see how the games have evolved as the years go by through them.

So let's get to it now.

Goodbye 2013!!!

Hello 2014!!!

Goodbye 2013 Topps Design!!!

Hello 2014 Topps Design!!!

May all your collections grow to new heights. Let's hope Topps makes it a bit easier on us insane set collectors (they probably won't but it's nice to dream.) Thank you for letting me into your computers this past year. I hope to be able to share more of my collection with you in 2014!!!

Topps' slogan for this year is "The Future is Now." I do not know where this next journey will take me. All I know is that I am going to enjoy the ride. Let's make it a good one. Join me, will you?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #539 Neal Heaton

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, December 31, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #539.
• Player Name, position, team: Neal Heaton, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: September 3, 1982.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Pirates): 42 G, 147.1 IP, 6-7, 55 R, 50 ER, 67 SO, 55 BB, 18 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.05 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Indians #2nd, June 1981. Traded by the Expos to the Pirates 03/26/1989. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 5. This is his fourth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Neal was signed as a 2nd round Draft selection of the Indians, June 24, 1981 by Scout Leon Hamilton. Neal is a 1979 graduate of Sachem (N.Y.) High School."
• Commentary: Of the six colors Topps used for their 1990 design, I think the light blue looks the best. Sure any Oakland Athletics card with green borders looked great, and the red borders suited teams like the Cardinals and Red Sox, the blue looked great with for almost EVERY team. Including the Pirates, who did not have a single blue element in their logo, uniform, lettering, etc. Case in point? The card of veteran pitcher Neal Heaton of the Pirates. Now, although Heaton had been in the majors full-time since his eight game cup-of-coffee in 182, for some reason, he did not appear in his first Topps card until 1987, long after his days with the Indians and Twins (although there were no issues joining those other companies apparently). All of Heaton's hard work paid off when he was named to his first and only All-Star Team in 1990. In fact, during that rain soaked affair, the NL skipper, Roger Craig, held Heaton back in the event that the game would go into extra innings. I remember the broadcasters that night saying something to the effect of "Craig could use Heaton to pitch nine innings if he had to." I'm sure Heaton's real manager, Jim Leyland, would not have agreed, but considering he was a durable starter with a lot of relief experience, if it had to come down to it...well (it never happened as the AL won 2-0 in the rain-delayed affair). Heaton would finish the year with a 12-9 record in 30 games, a 3.45 ERA, 68 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.24. He would pitch for one more season with Pittsburgh before being traded in 1992 to the Royals in exchange for Kirk Gibson (who quite frankly, I don't recall seeing him on a Topps card in a Pirates uniform). After spending most of the season in KC, Heaton was released and signed on with the Brewers (he appeared in one game for Milwaukee). In 1993, he pitched for the Yankees. Upon being released from the Bronx in June of that year, Heaton retired from playing.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps #286. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2009 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T81 Justin Orenduff Draft Pick

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, December 30, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T81.
• Player Name, position, team: Justin Orenduff, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2004 stats (Virginia Commonwealth): 15 G, 100 IP, 5-5, 33 R, 27 ER, 129 SO, 34 BB, 15 GS, 3 CG, 5 SHO, 1.18 WHIP, 2.43 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Dodgers #1st, June 2004. 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: "Justin is a huge movie buff who majored in small-business management. "One of the things I'd like to do...is my own DVD/theater place," he said. First, though, he's concentrating on his Big League dream. The 33rd overall pick in the 2004 draft, Orenduff owns a lively fastball and a wicked slider .The combination helped him go 19-5 over his first two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth."
• Commentary: Justin A. Orenduff spent his professional baseball career within the Dodgers' minor league system. Upon graduating Virginia Commonwealth, Orenduff, after being drafted by LA in 2004, was assigned to the team's Rookie League franchise in Ogden, Utah. With the Raptors, Justin would appear in 13 games, ten as the starter, earn a 2-3 record with a 4.74 ERA, 57 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.626 in 43.2 innings of work. In 2005, he split time with both the Vero Beach Dodgers (High A-Florida State) and the Jacksonville Suns (AA-Eastern), earning a combined 10-5 record in 26 games (25 as the starting pitcher), even earned a spot in the Florida State League All-Star Team. From 2006-2007, he remained with the Suns, going a combined 12-7 with 167 strikeouts in 37 games before finally earning the promotion to AAA-Las Vegas. Here, Orenduff struggled, going 3-7 with a 6.55 ERA and a WHIP of 1.891. After one more run (a 15 game stint in the bullpen of the Inland Empire 66ers of the California League), Orenduff retired, albeit briefly. In 2011, he re-signed with the Dodgers, joining the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. But after nine games, an ERA of 8.74 and a WHIP of 2.118, he decided to end his career for good, never making it to the major leagues. Orenduff has found great success as a writer on both twitter (where you can follow him at @justinorenduff) and on a baseball website called Baseball Rebellion where he shares his insights on the art of pitching. According to his bio, Justin is the lead pitching instructor at ITS Baseball, Baseball Rebellions research facility.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps #539. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #58 Grant Buckner

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #399.
• Player Name, position, team: Grant Buckner, first baseman, Briston White Sox.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: Rookie-Appalachian League, Chicago White Sox.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 61 G, 235 AB, 39 R, 73 H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 2 SB, 18 BB, 42 SO, .468 SLG, .852 OPS, .311 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the White Sox #26th, June 2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: n/a.
• Blurb on the back: "The pure-hitting Buckner made an impression in his pro debut for Bristol by swatting .311 with 20 doubles in 61 contests. The former Big East Conference batting champ also led his team with 39 runs scored, 73 hits, 110 total bases, 36 RBI and a .383 OBP."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: Grant Charles Buckner has been gradually climbing the White Sox' organizational ladder. But with Jose Abreu tabbed as the Pale Hose's first baseman of the foreseeable future, it makes sense that he try to learn to play other positions if he were to make it onto the big league roster. As he is only 25 years old, he still has time to develop and possibly make an impact for the Sox or any other team. In the meantime, Buckner spent his 2012 season with the Kannapolis Intimidators, the White Sox' A-Southern Atlantic League team in North Carolina. With the Intimidators, Buckner hit .254, tallying 6 home runs and 59 rbi's while learning the ropes at third and in left field. In 2013, he was promoted to the Winston-Salem Dash, the Sox' High-A Carolina League team. He made appearances in both corner infield spots as well as in 62 games in the outfield, committing only three errors (all at first) in 539 chances (a ridiculous .994 fielding percentage). On offense, Buckner hit .254 with 10 home runs, 62 rbi's, and percentages of .331/.396/.727. He could see time in AA or AAA in 2014.

Next week's featured card will be: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #225. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1954 Topps #213 John Fitzpatrick

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, December 29, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #213.
• Player Name, position, team: John Fitzpatrick, coach, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Last Line of Statistics: n/a.
• Any special information about subject: Joined the Pirates coaching staff in 1953.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "John, starting his 29th season in Baseball, joined the Pirates as Coach in '53. A former Catcher and 1st Baseman, he hit .306 at Portland (PCL) in 1932 and in '35 he helped Oklahoma City win the Texas League Crown. As player-manager at Olean in '44, he hit .342. John also managed Pueblo and Newport News, and coached Hollywood from 1949 thru 1952."
• Commentary: Although John Arthur Fitzpatrick never played in the major leagues, the Pirates hired him as a coach thanks to his nineteen plus seasons as a minor league player and player-manager. It also helped that he had a long association with the Bucs' manager Fred Haney, who made sure to include "Foghorn" in his inner circle. And how many people can lay the claim as not to strikeout even once during a season, let alone a season-and-a-half (as it stated in one of the three cartoon blurbs below the stat box)? Granted, he had 391 at bats in 127 games, but you have that luxury to get in the game when you're a player-manager. He must have been some kind of coach to be given one of the 250 elusive spots in Topps' eponymous set. Heck, skipper Haney even got a card in this set (#75). So did Topps include Coach Fitzpatrick as a tribute to his long professional career? Or was it because of their battle with Bowman that Topps (note that one Mickey Mantle wasn't in this set) that Topps filled their set with whoever they could sign? Who knows. What we do know is that the Bucs were 50-104 in 1953, and 53-101 the following season. Jeez, it makes the Cubs of 2012-2013 seem like world-beaters, huh? Maybe I should simulate a series with these two franchises and see who'd be the best among the worst. Fitzpatrick stayed on with the Bucs until after the 1955 season, and then followed Haney to the Milwaukee Braves (where they fared a bit better). A baseball lifer, John Fitzpatrick passed away on November 19, 1990 at the age of 86.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T81. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2009 Colorado Rockies

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2009 Colorado Rockies
• Record: 92-70, second place, NL West Division.
• Managers: Clint Hurdle & Jim Tracy
• Card on the Top: Troy Tulowitzki

The checklist consists of the following players:

• COL1 Troy Tulowitzki
• COL2 Ubaldo Jimenez
• COL3 Garrett Atkins
• COL4 Jeff Francis
• COL5 Clint Barmes
• COL6 Ryan Spilborghs
• COL7 Brad Hawpe
• COL8 Huston Street
• COL9 Todd Helton
• COL10 Dexter Fowler
• COL11 Chris Iannetta
• COL12 Aaron Cook
• COL13 Ian Stewart
• COL14 Jeff Baker
• COL15 Coors Field

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2009 Topps eponymous set:

• The regular card of Troy Tulowitzki shows him getting ready during spring training:
  
  

• The retail card of Jeff Francis utilizes another shot of the former 1st round draft pick:
  
  

• Clint Barmes' eponymous card is horizontally-oriented:
  
  

• Here's Ryan Spilborghs' base card...getting ready to make a spectacular catch:
  
  

• When Topps says that they get close to the game...can it get any closer than this shot from closer Huston Street?:
  
  

• Mr. Rockie himself, Todd Helton, getting ready to take the throw at first on his base card:
  
  

• On his regular Topps card, Chris Iannetta models the tools of ignorance:
  
  

Of the 14 players included in this set, 7 players have different pictures on the retail set compared to the base set, and none were of the same-photo-different-cropping variety. A fantastic set to collect if you're a Topps collector because of all of the photo variations.

Next week's featured set will be the 2010 Detroit Tigers. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates Series sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1991 Topps #635 Andy Hawkins

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, December 28, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps #635.
• Player Name, position, team: Andy Hawkins, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: July 17, 1982.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Yankees): 28 G, 157.2 IP, 5-12, 101 R, 94 ER, 74 SO, 82 BB, 26 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 5.37 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Padres #1st, June 1978. Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 12/08/1988. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his ninth and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Andy enjoys hunting, fishing, watching the Dallas Cowboys and raising cattle on his ranch. He and his wife have three children: Katy, Libby, and Curtis."
• Commentary: When I read the blurb on the back, I just had to check. No, Curtis Hawkins, Andy's son, is not the WWE wrestler "Curt Hawkins." Hey, I was curious. I loved the 1991 Topps set as well. Yes, it was massively overproduced. But this was the first time that Topps acknowledged (blatantly) how long they have been in the business of making baseball cards. It's a clean design (and a wonderful relief on the eyes after the multi-colored 1990 set). Team-colored borders frame the card and a simple pennant sticks out with the team's name logo. Now the 1991 Topps set, in its initial run, was chock full or errors. And yes, I was one of those lucky few to get my hands on a complete set with all the errors. Not bad for a 14 year-old (the set actually came in December...I think.) I remember Melton Andrew Hawkins as card #9 in the 1988 Topps set. I also remember that he took the loss in a no-hitter that he pitched against the White Sox. What I didn't know was that his next start wound up being an extra inning affair, a 2-0 loss to the Twins. The significance that is lost in this game is that Hawkins pitched 11.2 innings of this game. You definitely won't see this in today's game. Eleven and two-thirds. Wow. Hawkins spent part of the 1991 season in Yankees' pinstripes. After four games in which he earned an 0-2 record and a 9.95 ERA, the Bombers released the former Padres ace. Hawkins would sign with the Athletics, and return to the west coast. As an Athletic, Hawkins found a bit of success, appearing in 15 games with a 4-4 record and 4.79 ERA to show for it. By August 20, 1991, the Athletics released Hawkins. After a minor league run within the Mariners organization in 1992, Hawkins ended his playing career. Today, he is the bullpen coach for the Texas Rangers.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 12 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: 1954 Topps #213. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T147 Scott Dohmann

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, December 27, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T147.
• Player Name, position, team: Scott Dohmann, pitcher, Colorado Rockies.
• Major League Debut: May 15, 2004.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Tulsa, AA-Texas): 50 G, 93.2 IP, 9-4, 47 R, 43 ER, 102 SO, 29 BB, 4 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1.31 WHIP, 4.13 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Rockies #6th, June 2000. 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: "When injuries and ineffectiveness tortured the Colorado Rockies middle-relief crew in 2003, Scott became a primary option, earning multiple recalls from Colorado Springs (AAA). The former Ragin' Cajun (he helped Louisiana-Lafayette to the '00 College World Series) has led two Minor Leagues in starts, but now is being developed as a reliever. In '02, Dohmann was third in the system with 13 wins for Salem (A)."
• Commentary: Funny, how did Christopher Scott Dohmann make his MLB debut in 2004, when his Topps card says that he was called up multiple times in the 2003 season? I think it's a typo...making this an uncorrected ERROR CARD!!! Dohmann was an effective reliever for the Rockies when he was on the 25-man roster. In 41 games, he earned an 0-3 record with an ERA of 4.11 and 49 strikeouts in 46 innings of work. In 2005, although 2-1, his ERA ballooned to 6.10 in 32 games. He would be traded off to the Kansas City Royals in a deadline deal in 2006. He would soon join the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007 and would be among those that shed the "Devil" name in 2008. He would sign minor league deals with the Diamondbacks in 2009 and Dodgers in 2010, although he would never make it back to the majors. He finished his career with a 9-8 record (he never lost a decision with Tampa Bay, going 5-0), an ERA of 5.32, 166 strikeouts, 96 walks, and a WHIP of 1.598. He only has one regular (which includes cards in the traded set), but in the 2005 Topps Total set, was paired with fellow reliever Brian Fuentes.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 1 card.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps #635. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1986 Topps #337 Darnell Coles

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, December 26, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1986 Topps #337.
• Player Name, position, team: Darnell Coles, third baseman, Seattle Mariners.
• Major League Debut: September 4, 1983.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2005 stats (Yankees): 9 G, 17 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 3 SO, .294 SLG, .544 OPS, .118 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics #2nd, June 1995. Signed with the Padres as a Free Agent 12/22/2005. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "In 2004 ALCS (Game 6), Mark hit a shot that was ruled a ground-rule double, but the call was changed to a three-run homer that ended up a game-winner."
• Commentary: After a very brief stint with the Yankees in 2005 (this after helping the Red Sox win the World Series the year before), Mark Christian Bellhorn, a former second round draft pick by the Athletics all the way back in 1995, signed with the San Diego Padres to provide veteran leadership to the young ballclub. Bellhorn, versatile in many positions, would play at the bags (third, first, and second) as well as a game in right field for the Friars. But a low .190 average (.285/.344/.629 percentages), with 8 home runs and 27 rbi's were a far cry from how he contributed to the 2004 champs, and did not sit well with the Padres fans and upper management. He was released at the end of the season and signed on with the Reds to a minor league deal. His 13-game stint with the Reds would be his last action in the majors. He signed minor league deals with both the Dodgers and Rockies (in 2008 and 2009 respectively) before deciding to call it a career. In 731 career games, he finished with a cumulative .230 average, with 69 homers, 246 rbi's, and an OPS of .735. One of the elements Topps brought back with the 2006 set was the cartoon, something that had not been seen on the back of Topps baseball cards since 1980. The player is wearing a crown and cape and the caption reads "Mark set the Cubs record for HR's by a switch-hitter (27 in 2002). He also would become the first player EVER to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in an inning, with the feat occurring on August 29, 2002.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1988 Topps #493. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1976 Topps #39 Pete Broberg

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, December 25, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1976 Topps #39.
• Player Name, position, team: Pete Broberg, pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers.
• Major League Debut: June 20, 1971.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Brewers): 130 G, 480 AB, 96 R, 138 H, 26 2B, 1 3B, 36 HR, 100 RBI, 7 SB, 66 BB, 80 SO, .571 SLG, .965 OPS, .320 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Senators #1st (Special), June 1971. Traded by the Rangers to the Brewers 12/05/1974. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his fifth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: I've been debating for a while now as to whether or not I should buy a set of 1975 Topps. It would be the first set I'd own that's older than me. Well, actually, that's not true. The 1976 Topps Baseball set is technically older than me too. But by the time the '76 season started, I was already born. And while I never heard of baseball until grade school, I can say that I own cards that were born before I knew what baseball was. And one of the cool things about doing these Random Cards of the Day is that when a player like Peter Sven Broberg comes along, I have to do a bit of research to know who this player was. Because up until now, I have never heard of the guy. From the back of the card, I can see that he was one of the members of the Washington Senators who made the move with the team (the second team to take the name Senators) left for the wild west of Arlington, Texas. After the 1974 season, Broberg was traded over to Brewers for Clyde Wright. In 1976, Broberg went 1-7 for the Brew Crew, had an ERA of 4.75, walked 72 batters (compared to striking out 28), and had a WHIP of 1.852. After the 1976 season, Broberg was exposed to the expansion draft to fill rosters for both the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. Broberg was drafted by the M's, but was then traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Jim Todd (who if you still follow this blog, was yesterday's subject for the Random Topps Card of the Day). After one season of languishing in the Cubs bullpen (when he wasn't with the Cubs, he was biding his time in the starting rotation for AA-Wichita), Pete was traded to the Oakland A's where he returned to the starting rotation. Broberg's one-season stint in the majors would turn out to be the last action he'd see in a major league uniform. He signed with the Dodgers, but was released before the 1979 season began. Overall, Pete Broberg went a combined 41-71, saved 1 game, struck out 536 batters, and walked 438 of the 4249 batters he faced. The back of Broberg's 1976 card shows a cartoon featuring Broberg's teammate Hank Aaron. "Hank Aaron was walked intentionally 289 times during his National League career," is the caption as a catcher stretches his right hand to signal for an intentional pass. Thing is that the Brewers were part of the American League at the time. For the record, he has 4 IBB's in the American League.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 4.

Tomorrow's card will be 1986 Topps #337. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

A Very Colorful Christmas or Yes, JayBee, You're Getting Baseball Cards This Year!!!

Last week, my son and his classmates took a special field trip to the local Dollar Tree to buy presents for their families. The assignment was either to write down what they planned on getting for each person in the family or ask what everyone wanted. We (the parents) were then to include a bit of spending money for their shopping spree. This was for a social studies/math related trip so it counts as an educational experience. Anyway, my son had included on his shopping list a pack of Topps baseball cards for me. I've seen these before. They're the five card packs that don't include any inserts or relics/autos or whatever. If you're looking just to collect the regular 660 card set (or 330 card series), and were on a very tight budget, or if you wanted to start a collection, this would be the ideal product to buy. A five-card pack of 2013 Topps Series 2 was inserted into a travel mug that he bought at the store for me.

So let's find out what was in the pack, shall we? Here are the cards that were inside:

From Taylor...a Five-Pack of 2013 Topps Series 2 cards.

• #575 Justin Morneau, Twins
• #471 Trevor Cahill, Diamondbacks
• #628 Martin Maldonado, Brewers RC
• #503 Clay Buchholz, Red Sox
• #497 Brett Myers, Indians

Not a bad pack. You have a former MVP (Morneau), a pitcher with All-Star numbers (Buchholz), a rookie card (Maldonado), and two other pitchers at different stages of their respective careers (Cahill is a four-year, former All-Star pitcher; Myers had some great seasons with the Phillies and Astros before joining the ranks of the journeymen).

Many of whatever readers I have left may know that I have other side collections besides baseball cards. (What? Is that even possible??!) I have been known to hoard...I mean...collect other items and over the years, those collections too have grown. Not as quickly as the baseball cards mind you, but from time to time, I like to take a look at some of the other items I've accumulated...I mean collected...over the years. One of my favorite things to collect are...Crayola Crayons!!!

(Those sirens you are now hearing in the background are the people rushing over to my house to take my "Man Card" away).

It's true. I've never brought this up on the blog before, but I have always loved Crayola brand crayons. Just like Topps is synonymous to baseball cards for my endeavors, Crayola for me is number one brand in the crayon world. Nothing else comes close. I have this huge box that is filled with nothing but unused Crayola crayons. Every time I open this box, that rush of wax scent just hits me and it takes me back to my younger days. Studies have shown that certain scents will have this kind of effect on people. Play-Doh, for example (you can smell it now, can't you??!), cookies baking in the oven, meat searing on a barbecue...you get the idea. Not to say that all is good (there are certain smells that can bring up unpleasant memories...not bringing that up now). But the smell of crayons are high on the list of items that bring up nostalgic memories for me.

The thing is that they are all UNUSED!!! I have only opened them to look at them, read the names on the labels, and then put them back in the box. This is how much of a hard-core collector I am. The crayons in question still have one name on them, not like they do now with the English name and then Spanish and French underneath. I even have an Indian Red crayon (which is now called Chestnut), Thistle (which was removed for Indigo), and Torch Red (which was renamed Scarlet). All I need now are the Flesh (now known as Peach) and Prussian Blue (now known as Midnight Blue) crayons and I will have a "Master Set." This year's "Crayola Holiday Tin" includes the 12-retired colors. I had the first eight, also from a Holiday tin from 1990, but twelve years later, my then two-year-old daughter used them. So I have to find this year's tin so that I have all of the retired colors too in mint condition (call the psych ward now...) I have been known to shed a tear or two when I see those melted crayon art projects (the ones where they take crayons, paste them together, and then somehow let them melt, leaving those lovely globs of colors dripping down). And why Crayola decided to make those "Crayon Makers," the ones where you take unwrapped crayons and melt them on a metal tray and then dip them into molds, is beyond me.

Okay, happy thoughts.

Every time I take my daughter to any of the big box stores, she literally has to pry me away from the crayon aisle. Especially at Target. Why? Because Target (and Walmart, I'm guessing) have these "Pick your Pack" 8-pack of Crayons with themes on them that are meant for kids (Super Heroes, Bejeweled, Fire and Ice, Dragons), and some are exclusive to a specific store (you'll see in a minute). Yes I know the crayons inside are just part of the regular 120-color lineup (shocked that I know this, huh?), but one could (sanely) compare these 8-crayon packs to the 17-card retail sets. There is a theme, and a reason why these colors were placed together. So with that in mind, my wife and daughter decided to get me (cue LeBron...)

Not one...Not two...Not three...

EIGHT 8-packs of themed Crayola Crayon packages.

Now don't get me wrong, the baseball cards were great. But these were more than enough to make my Christmas this year. 

Now, I'll show off the packs of crayons on this humble, little blog. I'll spare everyone the details of what was inside. This is what they bought for me:

From Zebeda and Lynn...Eight 8-Packs of Themed Crayola Crayon Sets!!!

As you can see, six of the packs are "Target Exclusives" meaning you can only find them...well, at Target. That means Walmart has to have something too. Maybe Toys R Us. The hunt begins in earnest!!!

On behalf of my family, Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Kwanzaa too (Hanukkah was in November, so I apologize for wishing all who celebrate a Happy one as well).

May you find the cards you need in your stockings and may we all add to our ever growing collections in the coming new year.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1979 Topps #103 Jim Todd

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, December 24, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1979 Topps #103.
• Player Name, position, team: Jim Todd, pitcher, Seattle Mariners.
• Major League Debut: April 29, 1974.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1978 stats (Mariners): 49 G, 107 IP, 3-4, 52 R, 46 ER, 37 SO, 61 BB, 3.87 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cubs #10th, June 1969. Traded by the Cubs to the Mariners 10/25/1977. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 6. This is his fifth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Traded by Cubs to A's for Champ Summers, April 6, 1975. Traded back to the Cubs for Joe Coleman, March 15, 1977. Released to the Mariners, October 25, 1977, completing deal in which Cubs acquired Pete Broberg, 4-20-77."
• Commentary: You could say that James Richard Todd was probably just one of those guys who filled a spot on a major league roster during his six seasons in the majors. And you'd be right, considering his career totals of 25-23, an ERA of 4.23, 194 strikeouts, 234 walks, and a WHIP of 1.526 in 270 career games and 511 innings pitched. But he had posted crazy numbers in the minors, including a 54-44 record, 3.28 ERA, and 467 strikeouts before making his MLB debut that the Cubs had no choice BUT to get him to the majors. But what does it say about your career when the blurb on the back of your baseball card doesn't talk about your numbers, or a game where you contributed to a team victory, but about the times you were traded, for whom, and when? Not much. Jim Todd's career with the Mariners lasted just the one season, for before the 1979 season, he was released by the M's and signed on with the divisional rival A's. With Oakland, the team that he had pitched for from 1975-76, Todd had a disastrous season, going 2-5 with a high 6.56 ERA, a high 1.963 WHIP, two saves, and finished 21 of the 51 games he was called in for duty. After one final run with the Phoenix Giants in 1980, Todd retired from the game.
• Beckett value: $0.10-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #39. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1976 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2005 Topps #597 Laynce Nix

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, December 23, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2005 Topps #597.
• Player Name, position, team: Laynce Nix, outfielder, Texas Rangers.
• Major League Debut: July 10, 2003.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Rangers): 115 G, 371 AB, 58 R, 92 H, 20 2B, 4 3B, 14 HR, 46 RBI, 1 SB, 23 BB, 113 SO, .437 SLG, .730 OPS, .248 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Rangers #4th, June 2000. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Laynce made a lot of noise early in the 2004 season, cracking eight home runs in his first 30 games. In July, however, a shoulder injury landed him on the DL and he never really revived his stroke. still, the Rangers regard Nix - who made just one error in center field - as a integral part of their future."
• Commentary: I have a hard time choosing which of the two sets from the 2000's - 2004 or 2005 - is my favorite from the decade. I lean towards the 2005 design when comparing the two only because the big bold letters of the player's name above makes it easy to read even when I'm not wearing glasses. If only Topps found a way to keep the widths of the font consistent from player to player in series one. The 2005 Topps set is probably the easiest to "photoshop" or make custom cards from because you can easily manipulate the letters above. It wouldn't matter which of the 30 teams you'd use, as long as you're able to remove the picture in the middle, you can add whatever picture you'd wish to use.When Laynce Michael Nix was drafted by his hometown Rangers, (he lived in the Dallas suburbs in 2000), it was a dream come true. Three years after beginning the climb up Texas' organizational ladder, Nix finally made it to Arlington for a 53-game run in 2003. He was the Rangers' starting centerfielder in 2004, but as the blurb on the back noted, was sidelined by shoulder injuries. It would be a shoulder injury and subsequent decision to have surgery that would affect his 2005 season. In 63 games during the 2005 season, Nix would hit .240 with 6 home runs, 32 runs driven in, 2 stolen bases, and an OPS of .664. A slow start (.094, 4 rbi's in 9 games) plus with Gary Matthews Jr. returning from injury himself, Nix was sent down to the minors in April, 2006. He would be traded to the Brewers in a six-player trade that saw Nelson Cruz and Carlos Lee going to Arlington. Mostly playing for the Brewers AAA team in Nashville throughout his time in the Milwaukee organization, he did appear in 30 games for the Brew Crew from 2006 through 2008. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds in 2009, and found himself playing in Cincinnati for two seasons. After a year in DC, he spent the last two seasons with the Phillies. A free agent heading into the 2014 season, he is hoping to latch on with another team in hopes of continuing his big league career.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 14 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1979 Topps #103. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2013 Topps Pro Debut #101 Matt Curry

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2013 Topps Pro Debut #101.
• Player Name, position, team: Matt Curry, first baseman, Indianapolis Indians.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: AAA-International League, Pittsburgh Pirates.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 2 G, 5 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 1 SO, .400 SLG, .900 OPS, .400 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Pirates #16th, June 2010. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: Pittsburgh Pirates #23 prospect after the 2012 season.
• Blurb on the back: "In 2011, Matt was the first player since Andrew McCutchen that the Pirates allowed to skip High Single A, and last year he was nudged up to Triple-A for his final two games. In his only start, he reached base three times and knocked in two runs. The former TCU star is a "selectively aggressive" hitter with above-average pull power."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: While the last line of Matthew Allen Curry's card reads that he only played 2 games with the Indians, he spent most of the 2012 season with the AA-Eastern League Altoona Curve. As the Curve's everyday first baseman, Curry hit .285 with 11 home runs, drove in 76 rbi's, stole 4 bases, and had percentages of .352/480/.832. Even though he ended the year with AAA-Indianapolis, he began his 2013 season with Curve. By May 4, Curry was hitting .248 with 4 home runs and 16 rbi's before fracturing his hamate bone in his right wrist, causing him to miss two months of the season. Curry would rehab with the Bucs' Rookie Team in the Gulf Coast League at the end of July. It is expected that Curry will land with the Indianapolis to begin the 2014 season, unless of course, he wows the Pirates managerial staff enough to make it onto their Opening Day roster.

Next week's featured card will be: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #58. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1958 Topps #396 Dutch Dotterer

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, December 22, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1958 Topps #396.
• Player Name, position, team: Dutch Dotterer, catcher, Cincinnati Redlegs.
• Major League Debut: September 25, 1957.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1957 stats (Nashville, AA-Southern Association): 129 Games, 455 At Bat, 82 Runs, 138 Hits, 29 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 79 RBI, .303 B.Avg; 673 PO, 57 A, 11 E, .985 F.Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Reds as a Free Agent before the 1950 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Dutch reminds a lot of people of the great Moe Berg because he also speaks several foreign languages. He batted .272 in his first pro season with Lockport in the Pony League."
• Commentary: First of all, "Pony League" should have been written as PONY League for it stands for "Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York," (Lockport, NY). Remember the fuss that was made when Gary Pettis' brother wound up on his 1985 Topps card? Well, for Henry John Dotterer's 1961 card (which would also be his final Topps card), it wasn't "Dutch" depicted on the card, but his brother Tommy Dotterer, who was in the Reds' minor league system at the time the card was produced. After three years in the Reds/Redlegs' minor league system, Dutch joined the US Navy and served during the Korean War. Upon his return, he returned to the Reds' organization, and finally made it to the big club in 1957. Although Dotterer made it onto the Reds' roster in 1958, Dutch spent most of the season with the Reds' AAA team in Seattle, returning in September. He appeared in 11 games that year, hit for a .250 average with 1 home run and two rbi's to his credit. He would remain the Reds' backup catcher until the end of the 1960 season. He was traded to the Kansas City Athletics in October that year, and then was left exposed for the 1961 expansion draft. He was selected 12th player selected (24th overall) by the Washington Senators. After appearing in seven games for the Senators, he would play for the Syracuse Chiefs, the minor league team in his hometown before calling it quits for good in1963. Dotterer made the most of his after-playing career. He became a bilingual education teacher at a high school in Santa Ana, California (hey, if you can speak "several foreign languages," why not teach?), then opened a bookstore in Syracuse when he "retired" from teaching. He was an incredible speaker, who could go on and on about topics ranging from his travels through baseball, and his time in the Navy (where he became friends with a young slugger from the Army named Willie Mays). Henry John Dotterer passed away on October 9, 1999, at the age of 67 due to complications from diabetes.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $4.00-$8.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2005 Topps #597. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2008 Chicago Cubs

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2008 Chicago Cubs
• Record: 97-64, first place, NL Central Division.
• Manager: Lou Piniella
• Card on the Top: Alfonso Soriano

The checklist consists of the following players:

• CHC1 Alfonso Soriano
• CHC2 Geovany Soto
• CHC3 Matt Murton
• CHC4 Kerry Wood
• CHC5 Rich Hill
• CHC6 Carlos Marmol
• CHC7 Ryan Theriot
• CHC8 Ted Lilly
• CHC9 Aramis Ramirez
• CHC10 Jason Marquis
• CHC11 Derrek Lee
• CHC12 Mark DeRosa
• CHC13 Felix Pie
• CHC14 Carlos Zambrano

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2009 Topps eponymous set:

• For the Cubs' retail set, Topps chose to crop Geovany Soto's picture, so you get a closer look at the eventual Rookie of the Year winner. Here is what his regular card looked like:
  
  

• The fact that his retail card depicts a clean-shaven Kerry only shows that the picture used could not have been recent, as seen by his eponymous card below:
  
  

• You could not find a more lights-out reliever from 2007 through 2010 than Carlos Marmol. Still the record holder for most K's per 9 innings, he was the closer-in-waiting, and the reason why the Cubs had no problem letting Kerry Wood move on to Cleveland for the 2009 season. He didn't get a card in the regular set, but thanks to an appearance in the 2008 All-Star Game, not only did was he included in the All-Star Team subset, but he got his base card as well:
  
  

• As was the case with Soto, Ted Lilly's 2008 retail card was a cropped version of his regular card:
  
  

• Ditto for Derrek Lee, my daughter's favorite Cub...EVER!!!:
  
  

Of the 14 players included in this set, 5 players have different pictures on the retail set compared to the base set, and three were of the same-photo-different-cropping variety.

Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Colorado Rockies. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1981 Topps #207 Ozzie Smith Record Breaker

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, December 21, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1981 Topps #207.
• Player Name, position, team: Ozzie Smith, shortstop, San Diego Padres.
• Special: Record Breaker: Most Assists by a Shortstop, Season.
• Headline on the Back: "Smith Sets New Assist Mark For Shortstops"
• Any special information about this specific card: On October 5, 1980, the final game of the season for both the Padres and Giants, Larry Herndon grounded out to Ozzie Smith, ending the fifth inning. Smith would be replaced in the bottom of the sixth defensively. When Smith made the throw to Gene Tenace at first base, it would be the 621st and final assist that Smith would make that year, which was now the new record for assists by a shortstop. Realistically, the "Wizard of Oz" set the record a week earlier against the Dodgers on September 26, when his second assist of the night (a Steve Yeager groundout) broke the mark established by Glenn Wright of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1924. As of the end of the 2013 season, the record has yet to be broken. Smith, who would be elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 2002 thanks in large part to his defense, presently holds the MLB record for assists by a shortstop with 8,375 (the active leader in this statistic as of the end of the 2013 campaign is the Yankees' Derek Jeter with 6,349). The MLB record for assists, regardless of position is held by Rabbit Maranville with 8,967 of them. But of that number, 7,354 were from the shortstop position, more than 1000 behind the Wizard.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.

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: 1958 Topps #396. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1997 Topps #353 Charlie O'Brien

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, December 20, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1994 Topps Traded #92T.
• Player Name, position, team: Charlie O'Brien, catcher, Atlanta Braves.
• Major League Debut: June 2, 1985.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1993 stats (Mets): 67 G, 188 AB, 15 R, 48 H, 11 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 0 SB, .378 SLG, 14 BB, 14 SO, .255 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Athletics #5th, June 1982. Signed with the Blue Jays as a Free Agent 12/15/1995. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his tenth and card.
• Blurb on the back: "When Charlie was with Atlanta, Greg Maddux called him, "the best in the league" at handling pitchers. Not coincidentally, O'Brien has caught nine hurles who have won Cy Young Awards, including Pat Hentgen last year."
• Commentary: So much has been discussed about Charlie O'Brien on this humble little blog as he his cards were previously featured as a Random Card of the Day before (including his 1994 Topps card...TWICE) that today's comment will focus on his time with the Blue Jays, specifically in 1997. Now the back of Charles Hugh O'Brien's card features the veteran catcher wearing his invention, the hockey-style catcher's mask, now seen protecting catchers all over baseball. It was with the Blue Jays that he came up with the design. Now I would have probably preferred this picture to the one on the front, because it would showcase the inventor and his creation, and I'm sure Topps would have done the same. But you really didn't see many shots of a player at the ballpark signing autos for fans on a card. O'Brien appeared in 69 games for the Blue Jays in 1997, hitting .218-4-27 in a limited role (primarily because the Jays signed Benito Santiago to be their main man behind the plate). He would go on to play for three more seasons with the White Sox, Angels, and Expos before retiring as an active player. So although this is his last appearance in a Topps set, the career numbers are incomplete.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 10 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1981 Topps #207. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama