Random Topps Card of the Day: 1977 Topps #640 Carlton Fisk

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 17, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1977 Topps #640.
• Player Name, position, team: Carlton Fisk, catcher, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 18, 1969.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1976 stats (Red Sox): 134 G, 487 AB, 76 R, 124 H, 17 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 58 RBI, .255 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 07/22/1972. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 22. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Carlton hit .417 in 1975 A.L. Playoffs and belted 2 Homers in World Series. One came in 12th inning to win Game #6, 7-6."
• Commentary: Yes, I know that Carlton Ernest Fisk played for eleven seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Yes, I know he was a World Series hero and his dramatic twelfth inning homer will go down in baseball lore as one of the greatest moments of all time (depicted on 2001 Topps #791, the last card in the set)., Yes, I know that after a long but incredible career that he went into the Hall of Fame, wearing the bold "B" on his cap instead of the scripted "C". But for as long as I've been following baseball, Carlton Fisk will always be a member of the Chicago White Sox. In 1977, Fisk hit for a career high .315, had career high percentages of .402/.521/.922, hit 26 home runs, drove in 102 rbi's, became an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, and finished 8th in the MVP voting. When Topps came out with it's 2002 Topps Archives: The Best Years product, Fisk was included as a subject, and his 1977 season was selected as his best year (a close second would have been his 1985 season...37 homers, 107 rbi's, but a .238 average did him in). Yes, he played more seasons in the Second City, and the way the Sox ended his career wasn't the best way to go about it (letting him break the record for career games caught and then letting him go the next day). But there is no doubt in my mind that Pudge will always be one of baseball's best, and most durable, catcher. 
• Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 77 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1995 Topps #499. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1991 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama