Random Topps Card of the Day: 1991 Topps Traded #48T Luis Gonzalez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, June 11, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps Traded #48T.
• Player Name, position, team: Luis Gonzalez, outfielder, Houston Astros.
• Major League Debut: September 4, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Astros): 12 G, 21 AB, 1 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, .286 SLG, 2 BB, 5 SO, .190 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Astros #4th, June 1988. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 19. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Luis was signed as a 4th round Draft selection of the Astros, June 2, 1988 by Scout F. H. 'Jug' DeFord."
• Commentary: Topps concluded their 40th Anniversary celebration with its annual Topps Traded set. With light reddish/pink backgrounds and blue text on white cardboard (depending on where it was printed...Ireland had the white card-stock), the backs of the cards were easy to read. And among the 131 players that included members of the 1991 Team USA squad was the rookie card of Luis Emilio Gonzalez. A 12-game cup-of-coffee in 1990 led the Astros brass to believe that he would be a star player for them for years to come. And he did fairly well in his first full season in Houston. With the Astros in 1991, Gonzalez appeared in 137 games, hit for a decent .254 average, hit 13 home runs, drove in 69 rbi's, and had percentages of .320/.433/.753. As the team's primary left fielder, he committed 5 errors in 305 total chances for a .984 fielding percentage. At the end of the season, Topps awarded Luis with one of the three outfield spots on their 1991 Topps All-Star Rookie team. He go on to play for the Astros for another 3+ seasons before being traded to the Cubs with Scott Servais for Rick Wilkins. But after the 1996 season, Gonzo returned to the Astros for one more season. He then played for one season with the Tigers before being traded to the fledgling Diamondbacks. Three seasons later, not only did he make his first of five All-Star teams (all with the D-Backs), but in 2001, he, and the rest of the Snakes, would take down the Yankees and win the World Series in seven games.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 62.

Tomorrow's card will be 1996 Topps #409. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama