Random Topps Card of the Day: 1979 Topps #16 Fred Stanley

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, January 8, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1979 Topps #16.
• Player Name, position, team: Fred Stanley, shortstop-third baseman, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: September 11, 1969.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1978 stats (Yankees): 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 Astros #8th, June 1966. Traded by the Padres to the Yankees 10/24/1972. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Went 5-for-15 with 2 Doubles in 1976 American League Championship Series."
• Commentary: Fredrick Blair Stanley made his MLB debut with the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and when he retired from the game in 1982, he became the last active player from the Pilots to do so. But even after playing for the Pilots/Brewers, Indians, and Padres, he made the most of his time playing for the Bronx Bombers during a time in which the Yankees were in the midst of another run of postseason/World Series appearances. Primarily a back up his first two seasons in pinstripes, Stanley was given the chance to be an everyday player from 1975-76. During that stretch (in which he appeared in more than 100 games in both seasons, the only time he'd make that many appearances while in New York), Stanley hit for a .230 average, one home run, 35 rbi's, and achieve an OPS of .568 in 227 games and 590 plate appearances. Once the Yankees acquired Bucky Dent from the White Sox for the 1977 season, Stanley returned to back-up duty (and then the Yankees would go on to win the World Series...but that's another story). In 1979, Stanley appeared in 57 games, hit .200 with 2 home runs and 14 rbi's, hit for percentages of .236/.270/.506. After one more season in New York, he signed on with the Oakland Athletics, finishing his career in 1972. He would go on to work within the Giants organization, first as a minor league manager, then named as the team's Director of Player Development in 2007. The back of Stanley's card, like many from 1979, has a section on the side of the statistics box asking "What Happened" on a certain date. On the back of the card, it asks "What Happened on July 29, 1908?" Answer: "Browns' Rube Waddell fanned 16 A's in winning 5-4."
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.10-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9.

Tomorrow's card will be 1997 Topps #283. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama