Random Topps Card of the Day: 1954 Topps #213 John Fitzpatrick

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, December 29, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #213.
• Player Name, position, team: John Fitzpatrick, coach, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Last Line of Statistics: n/a.
• Any special information about subject: Joined the Pirates coaching staff in 1953.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "John, starting his 29th season in Baseball, joined the Pirates as Coach in '53. A former Catcher and 1st Baseman, he hit .306 at Portland (PCL) in 1932 and in '35 he helped Oklahoma City win the Texas League Crown. As player-manager at Olean in '44, he hit .342. John also managed Pueblo and Newport News, and coached Hollywood from 1949 thru 1952."
• Commentary: Although John Arthur Fitzpatrick never played in the major leagues, the Pirates hired him as a coach thanks to his nineteen plus seasons as a minor league player and player-manager. It also helped that he had a long association with the Bucs' manager Fred Haney, who made sure to include "Foghorn" in his inner circle. And how many people can lay the claim as not to strikeout even once during a season, let alone a season-and-a-half (as it stated in one of the three cartoon blurbs below the stat box)? Granted, he had 391 at bats in 127 games, but you have that luxury to get in the game when you're a player-manager. He must have been some kind of coach to be given one of the 250 elusive spots in Topps' eponymous set. Heck, skipper Haney even got a card in this set (#75). So did Topps include Coach Fitzpatrick as a tribute to his long professional career? Or was it because of their battle with Bowman that Topps (note that one Mickey Mantle wasn't in this set) that Topps filled their set with whoever they could sign? Who knows. What we do know is that the Bucs were 50-104 in 1953, and 53-101 the following season. Jeez, it makes the Cubs of 2012-2013 seem like world-beaters, huh? Maybe I should simulate a series with these two franchises and see who'd be the best among the worst. Fitzpatrick stayed on with the Bucs until after the 1955 season, and then followed Haney to the Milwaukee Braves (where they fared a bit better). A baseball lifer, John Fitzpatrick passed away on November 19, 1990 at the age of 86.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• 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: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T81. 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: 1954 Topps #65 Bob Swift

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, May 5, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #145.
• Player Name, position, team: Bob Swift, coach, Detroit Tigers.
• Major League Debut: April 16, 1940.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1953 stats (Tigers): 2 Games, 3 At Bat, 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 2b, 0 3b, 0 H.R., 1 R.B.I., .333 B.Avg, 13 P.O., 0 Assists, 0 Errors, 1.000 F.Avg.
• Any special information about player: Obtained by the Yankees from Augusta (South Atlantic) as part of a minor league working agreement before the 1937 season. Traded by the Philadelphia Athletics to the Tigers 10/11/1943. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his second Topps card and first as a coach.
• Blurb on the back: "Bob went on the inactive list last year and retired to the Coaches' box. In Baseball since 1934, he came up to the Majors in 1940 with the Browns. After 2 seasons at St. Louis he was traded to Philadelphia and joined the Tigers in'44. Always a defensive standout, Bob led the American League Backstops in Fielding in 1948 with a .991 Mark."
• Commentary: Is it weird to see Topps set aside a space in their set for a coach? Perhaps. I mean, the set 1954 Topps set only contained 250 cards, and two of them were of Ted Williams, who Topps was FINALLY able to sign to a deal to appear in their products. And perusing the checklist, there are at least 22 other cards of coaches that are scattered throughout the set. Now in later years, coaches, if they got cards at all, would be placed together on one card. So why did Bob Swift get a card? Because 1953 was his final year as a player, hence the lifetime statistics on the back are complete. Swift is depicted in one of baseball's famous pictures: as the catcher for the Tigers when Eddie Gaedel made his major league debut (and subsequently his lone plate appearance). But Swift had a productive 14-season career in the majors (1001 games, .231 average with 14 home runs, 238 rbi's, and a fielding percentage of .985 with 235 base stealers caught). And after being released from his contract as a player, was asked to stay on as a coach. He stayed with the Tigers in this position for two years, and then after a few seasons in the minor leagues to get some managerial experience, he returned to the majors as a coach for the Kansas City Athletics (1957-59) and Washington Senators (1960) before returning to Detroit in 1963. He did manage a few games in KC when manager Harry Craft was away, with the A's winning 13 of 15 games. In Detroit, when manager Chuck Dressen suffered a mild heart attack in spring training, Swift managed the Tigers to a 24-18 record in 1965. The following year, when Dressen suffered a second coronary, Swift again took over, credited with a 32-25 record. Unfortunately, Swift himself fell ill and during the All-Star break, tests revealed that he was suffering from lung cancer. Three months later, on October 17, Robert Virgil Swift passed away due to complications from the lung cancer. He was 51-years old.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $12.50-$25.00.
• 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: 2009 Topps #77. 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: 1954 Topps #172 Hal Brown

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, November 4, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #172.
• Player Name, position, team: Hal Brown, pitcher, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: April 19, 1951.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1953 stats (Red Sox): 30 Games, 166 Innings, 11-6, .647 Pct., 177 Hits, 94 Runs, 86 E.R., 62 S.O., 57 Walks, 4.66 E.R.A.
• Any special information about player: Signed by the Red Sox as a Free Agent before the 1946 season. Traded by the White Sox to the Red Sox 02/09/1953. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his second card.
• Blurb on the back: "Hal's 5-1 record in night games helped him post his best Big League record thus far. Called "Skinny," he was traded to the Red Sox by the White Sox in '53. Chicago brought him up to the Majors after he had a 16-6 mark at Seattle in '51. Hal's pro career started with Roanoke (Piedmont League) in '46 and in '47 he led the League with 19 wins."
• Commentary: The 1954 Topps set is mostly known for its Ted Williams bookends, the colored headshot and cropped black-and-white action picture, and the borders on three sides of the card (unless you have a player with a white background, then can you consider it borderless???).  It was also the first year that Topps included cartoons on the back of the player cards.  What made them cool was that the cartoons were made to be unique for each individual player and they told a story that wasn't covered in the bio on the back.  In Harold "Hal" Brown's case, the three panel comic explains how he played for many of the Red Sox' minor league teams for years, being overlooked by the Boston brass before joining the White Sox (it doesn't say how he did it, but he was a rule 5 pick from Seattle of the PCL).  The story concludes by saying that the Red Sox saw that they lost a winning pitcher, so they had to trade for him to get him back.  It's confusing that Beckett, and even Topps, recognizes him as Harold Brown on this specific card, even though all of his other cards call him Hal.  Heck, even this card calls him Hal.  But his formal name of Harold appears when you look for this card in their database, and even Beckett thinks that this is his RC (they list him as Harold too), even though he has a real rookie card in the 1953 set. Hal went 11-6 in 1953, in spite of having a 4.65 ERA (even then, it was a high average).  In 40 games pitched in 1954, "Skinny" went 1-8, with an ERA of 4.12, striking out 66 to go with a high WHIP of 1.415.  He was sent to Oakland of the PCL before the Orioles bought his contract.  In eight seasons with the O's, he won 62 of 110 decisions, struck out 422 batters, and even his WHIP went down to 1.167.  He finished his career with a 2-game stint with the Yankees and a two year run with the Houston Astros.  Topps has featured him the last 5 years in their Heritage Buybacks program.  
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: none.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And although the Baseball Card Cyber Museum has the reprint card from the 1954 Topps Archives set, I wanted to use a picture of the original card. However, thanks to Topps' Golden Giveaway (it used to be the Million Card Giveaway, and after that, the Diamond Giveaway), and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #1055.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps #406. 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: 1954 Topps #47 Ellis Kinder

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, September 12, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #47.
• Player Name, position, team: Ellis Kinder, pitcher, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: April 30, 1946.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1953 stats (Red Sox): 69 G, 107 Innings, 10-6, .625 PCT, 84 Hits, 30 Runs, 22 E.R., 39 S.O., 38 Walks, 2.64 E.R.A. (yes, that's how the stat headers read).
• Any special information about player: Contract purchased by the Browns before the 1944 season. Traded by the Browns to the Red Sox 11/18/1947. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Kinder's third regular Topps card (total includes regular cards only). The 1954 Topps set saw the use of two different pictures on the same card for the very first time. If you also notice, the white border goes along three sides of the card, leaving the top border open (and also meaning that cards were printed upside down on the original sheet). The bio on the back mentions that Ellis was the top AL relief pitchers in 1953. The cartoon below the stats are fully detailed drawings that really express the drama that Kinder was going through before the card was produced. It seems that a back injury caused him to have a subpar 1952 season, and he actually thought that he should retire because of it. He decided to give it another chance though, and had one of his best years statistically in 1953.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And although the Baseball Card Cyber Museum has the reprint card from the 1954 Topps Archives set, I wanted to use a picture of the original card. However, thanks to Topps' Million Card Giveaway, and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #926.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2000 Topps #391. 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: 1954 Topps #129 Forrest Jacobs

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, May 9, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #129.
• Player Name, position, team: Forrest Jacobs, second baseman, Philadelphia Athletics.
• Major League Debut: April 13, 1954.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1953 stats (Fort Worth Cats-AA Texas): 154 G, 645 AB, 102 R, 182 H, 23 2B, 5 3B, 0 HR, 40 RBI, .282 AVG, 421 Putouts, 421 Assists, 20 Errors, .977 Fielding Average.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics from Brooklyn Dodgers in Rule 5 draft, 11/30/1953. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Jacob's first regular Topps card (his rookie card). The 1954 Topps set is famous for having the first and last cards in the 250-card set with Ted Williams. But I digress. The set was unique in that it featured it was the first design that utilized three borders (the top of all the cards had the predominant colored field "break through the box"). The pictures of the player consisted of a really large headshot and a black & white colored "action shot", the player's name above (along with team affiliation and position) and a rather large team logo (even then, they knew...), and the facsimile autograph makes a return appearance in this set. Jacobs, nicknamed "Spook," was an extremely fast runner, leading three minor leagues in stolen bases (33 in 1947, 47 in 1948, and 22 in 1950). The back of the card features a three cartoon paneled story about how Spook is "one of the smallest players in the Majors" who "hasn't missed a week of baseball in five years," and "spent the off-season playing in the Latin American Leagues."
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And although the Baseball Card Cyber Museum has the reprint card from the 1954 Topps Archives set, I wanted to use a picture of the original card. However, thanks to Topps' Million Card Giveaway, and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #1012.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2005 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH75. 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: 1954 Topps #27 Ferris Fain

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 28, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1954 Topps #27.
• Player Name, position, team: Ferris Fain, first baseman, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: April 15, 1947.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1953 stats (White Sox): 128 G, 446 AB, 73 R, 114 H, 18 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 52 RBI, .256 AVG, 1108 Putouts, 106 Assists, 13 Errors, .989 Fielding Average.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics from San Francisco (PCL) in Rule 5 draft, 11/01/1946. Traded by the Athletics to the White Sox 01/27/153. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: Fain's fourth regular Topps card. The 1954 Topps set is famous for having the first and last cards in the 250-card set with Ted Williams. But I digress. The set was unique in that it featured it was the first design that utilized three borders (the top of all the cards had the predominant colored field "break through the box"). The pictures of the player consisted of a really large headshot and a black & white colored "action shot", the player's name above (along with team affiliation and position) and a rather large team logo (even then, they knew...), and the facsimile autograph makes a return appearance in this set. Fain was already an established all-star, and batting champion, and the back of the card features a three cartoon paneled story about how a bat discarded by a bunch of kids helped him break out of his batting slump and helped him win the batting title in 1951. A great story...can somebody confirm the truth to it? The bio on the back mentions that although "Ferris hit over .300 only twice in his Major League career, he won the AL batting title both times..." and talks about his minor league exploits with the Pacific Coast League in 1947. He also led the AL in walks and was second in assists at first base in 1953 (which was another all-star season for Fain). The Number One Source in the Hobby's website indicates that there is a "GB" variation to the card. The story goes that a Canadian company printed the first 50 cards (which would include Fain's) in a gray card stock, compared to the regular cards in a white card stock.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $12.50-$25.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card. And this time I was not able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. However, thanks to Topps' new promotion, the Million Card Giveaway, and after figuring out how to find a card by it's numeric ID, I was able to snag the image you see above. For the record, the card in Topps' baseball card library is #886.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps #453. 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

Card That Makes You Go...What??! of the Week: 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Tommy Lasorda #82

2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Tommy Lasorda #82. What was Topps thinking when they designed this card???
Tommy Lasorda was a pitcher in the major leagues for three seasons, two with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and one with the Kansas City Athletics. He was used sparingly, only getting into 26 games in his three year Major League career. He did, however, eventually become manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was voted into the Baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee.

So what did the poor guy do to deserve this abomination of a card??!

The concept of the All-Time Fan Favorites series (2003-2005) was simple. First, it was an offshoot of the wildly popular Topps Archives set, which reprinted the first and last cards of very popular players from the last five decades (2001), reprinted cards from each player's best year (2002, this is an issue to deal with at another time). The ATFF sets incorporated Topps' vast photo library with its catalog of baseball card designs, thus creating cards with pictures never used before. Some of the cards in these sets look better than the original cards they intended to honor. However, there were some questionable choices that the editors of Topps baseball made. One that comes to mind was the 1995 Topps Kirk Gibson card (with a picture from the early 80's, not the early 90's, it just looked way too ridiculous). But this, THIS, this, I don't know how to describe it, card was included in the set as well.

Now Lasorda did have a card in the 1954 Topps set, with a picture of a rosy-cheeked headshot of Tommy along with a black & white "action" shot. That looked good. Couldn't any one find other pictures of him in his playing days buried in their archives (look, heh heh, he said archives)??? The pictures themselves would have been better used with an 80's or early 90's Topps design. But for 1954??? And to keep it consistant with the '54 design, they labeled him as a pitcher.

A PITCHER!!!

Does he look like he's doing any pitching on this card??? NO!!! These pictures were taken way long after his pitching career ended. For those of you who actually have this card, please note the fantastic crop job on the "action" photo. Is it my imagination, or does he only have four fingers on his left hand? Where's his thumb??? Who in the Topps company thought this was a great way to honor one of the all-time greats?

He's one of the best managers I watched growing up and, being in LA, was a celebrity (remember those Slim Fast commercials???) in his own right. But Topps dropped the ball on this card, and could have done a whole lot better when thinking to include the man in the set.

Now, the 2004 and 2005 ATFF's were much better as they incorporated the right pictures with designs from the right decade. And this is not to say that the first set was poorly designed. By no means was it a bad looking set overall. But Topps, please tell me..."What were you thinking??!"



Ahhhh. That's better.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama