Random Topps Card of the Day: 1952 Topps #345 Sam White

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 17, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1952 Topps #345.
• Player Name, position, team: Sam White, catcher, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 26, 1951.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1951 stats (Red Sox): 4 G, 11 At Bat, 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Home Runs, 0 RBI, .182 Batting Average, 15 Putouts, 1 Assists, 0 Errors, 1.000 Fielding Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Red Sox as a Free Agent before the 1949 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Sammy still attends the University of Washington, where he starred in Basketball as well as Baseball before he turned pro. In his first time at bat for Seattle in 1949, Sam slammed out a Homer. He played for Roanoke in '50 where he made the Piedmont League All Star team. In '51, he was promoted to Scranton and was brought up by the Red Sox late in the season for a brief trial. Sam served in World War II"
• Commentary: It must have been a successful trial for Sammy White (his full name is Sammy Charles White). Because the Red Sox made him their primary starting catcher from 1952 to 1959. In his first full season in Boston, White hit a good .281 with 10 home runs and 49 runs batted in. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, and was considered in the MVP voting. He made his lone All-Star team the following year. During his nine year career in Boston, he hit 63 home runs, drove in 404 rbi's, and hit a good .264 with an OPS of .689 in 981 games. He became known for his defense, committing 76 errors in 5016 chances (for a .984 fielding percentage). He must have liked playing for the Red Sox because when he was traded off to the Indians in March of 1960, he refused to report to Cleveland. The trade would be subsequently voided and White did not play that year, opting to "retire." His contract was purchased by the Milwaukee Braves and he joined the team for 21 games. He was eventually released by the Braves after the 1961 season and signed with the Phillies in 1962, reuniting with teammate Gene Mauch, who was now manager of the Phils. He retired from the game after being released by the team after the 1962 season. A great athlete, he was courted by the Minneapolis Lakers to play in the NBA (the Red Sox didn't like the idea).  He had bought a bowling alley during his stay in Boston and became a professional bowler. When he left the mainland and relocated to Hawaii, he became a pro golfer. Sammy White passed away on August 5, 1991 at the age of 64 years old in Princeville, Hawaii.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $150.00-$250.00.
• 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: 1985 Topps #108. 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 Card of the Day: 1952 Topps #227 Joe Garagiola

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, January 31, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1952 Topps #227.
• Player Name, position, team: Joe Garagiola, catcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: May 26, 1946.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1951 stats (Pirates): 99 G, 284 AB, 33 R, 68 H, 11 HR, 44 RBI, .239 AVG. Fielding stats: 336 putouts, 36 assists, 4 errors, .989 fielding average.
• Any special information about player: Signed by Cardinals as a Free Agent before 1942. Traded by the Cardinals to the Pirates 06/15/1951. Bats: left, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Garagiola's first regular Topps card (his only Topps card as an active player). Joe spent three years in the military before making his major league debut in 1946. Along with the height and weight specs were eye (brown) and hair (brown) color. Played a major role in the Cardinals' World Series win in '46, batting .316 in the series. Garagiola went on to better things as a sports broadcaster and host of the Today Show. The card itself has been reprinted twice. The first time was for the 1983 Topps Archives 1952 reprint set. The second time in the 2001 Topps Archives set. As this was Joe's only Topps card, and the 2001 Topps Archives set consisted of reprint cards of a player's first and last Topps card, this card was reprinted into the set twice.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $50.00-$80.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

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. (By the way, loving the new features regarding viewing by card number!!!)

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1979 Topps #35. 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 Card of the Day: 1952 Topps #354 Fred Hatfield

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, January 24, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1952 Topps #354.
• Player Name, position, team: Fred Hatfield, shortstop, Detroit Tigers.
• Major League Debut: August 31, 1950.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1951 stats (Red Sox): 80 G, 163 AB, 23 R, 28 H, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .172 AVG. Fielding stats: 40 putouts, 124 assists, 7 errors, .959 fielding average.
• Any special information about player: Signed by Red Sox as a Free Agent before 1942. Traded by the Red Sox to the Tigers 06/03/1952. Bats: left, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Hatfield's first regular Topps card (his rookie card). Part of the high number series. "Hattie" served as a Army Paratrooper during 1943-45 reads the back of the card. Along with the height and weight specs were eye (hazel) and hair (brown) color. That's something we don't see anymore in our modern day cards. I don't have any 2001 Topps Heritage cards. Did they include eye and hair color for each of the players too? Fielding stats are on here as well.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $175.00-$300.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.

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. (By the way, loving the new features regarding viewing by card number!!!)

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps Traded #83T. 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

Jackie Robinson Day!!!

In honor of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut (April 15, 1947), all of MLB's players and coaches will be wearing the number 42.

So here on this humble little blog, I thought it'd be nice if we did the same thing.

Robinson's 1952-1956 Topps cards. No, I don't own any of them.

His 1997 Topps Card #42, honoring the 50th Anniversary of his MLB Debut.

His 2009 Topps Shortprint card #30.
Here's to you Mr. Robinson. Thank you.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Something I Learned Late Last Night Watching "What's My Line"

2001 Topps Archives Robin Roberts #235. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to play...WHAT'S MY LINE???
I couldn't sleep last night. I wasn't thinking about the past controversies that happened in the blogosphere these last few days. I wasn't even thinking about baseball the last few days (that's what happens when both Chicago teams get eliminated from the playoffs before the weekend...sigh).

Anyway, the Game Show Network shows old time game show programs after 2:00 CST. If you've never seen these shows, they're a real treat, and what contrast to game shows you see now. If you've never heard of What's My Line, the concept is you have four spectacularly dressed people on a panel (celebrities of the time) and their goal is to guess the line of work a person does by asking him or her yes or no questions about what their job is. If the panel is stumped, if the panel gets ten "no" answers, or if the panel fails to guess the person's job, then the subject wins something (based on the scorecard used, $50.00 was the biggest prize a person could win). Now if the person is a well known celebrity, or at least somebody that the panel knows personally, the panel is blindfolded. In this particular episode, the blindfolds were used because the subjects in question were the personal secretaries of three of the panelists.

The next person to sign in (they literally have to sign their name on the Helene Curtis blackboard...even then there was corporate sponsorship) was none other than superstar pitcher Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies. Now the panel knew he was a baseball player, as I would assume most of the people living east of the Mississippi River (remember, no teams west of St. Louis back then) but apparently that's not why he was there. The host asked the producers to show on the screen what his line of work was...(PRESIDENT FOR A FROZEN SHRIMP COMPANY). And I thought, "Wow. He and Forrest Gump have something in common."

In all reality, Robin Roberts, when he wasn't mowing the opposition down during the baseball season, was also President of the Gold King Seafood Company, which specialized in frozen shrimp. The panel failed to guess what his line was, but they came pretty close at the end.

Somehow I fell asleep after that and woke up to an infomercial about a Magic Bullet. Must...get...one.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama