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