Random Topps Card of the Day: 1956 Topps #88 Johnny Kucks

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

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #88.
• Player Name, position, team: Johnny Kucks, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: April 17, 1955.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (Yankees): 29 Games, 127 Innings, 8-7, .533 Pct., 122 Hits, 54 Runs, 48 E.R., 48 S.O., 44 Walks, 3.40 E.R.Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent before the 1952 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "After his Army discharge, Johnny went to the Yanks' spring training camp. His great pitching in exhibition games won him a job with N.Y. Johnny, with only 1 year of minor league ball is now a real major leaguer.
• Commentary: To market the cards for their target audiences (that would be kids), Topps took the unique step of replacing most of the boring text usually found on the backs of cards (if they even had them at all) with cartoons. And they were a hit. So much so that Topps continued the practice on and off over the decades. And although they are not as prevalent as they were in the 50's and 60's, there is still a bit of nostalgia that comes with these cartoons. They have come so close to iconic and recognizable that one can look at just a cartoon sketch and know that it came from or was to have been used on a baseball card. If only they replaced some of the long boring texts on some of the cards today with cartoons. I'm sure it would be more interesting to read card backs. The cartoon captions on the back of John Charles Kucks Jr.'s (last name pronounced as "Cooks.") card would have been just text in today's cardboard. But back then, the cartoons were the thing and were a perfect way to tell kids what he was doing before making it to the majors. Kucks career was a bit delayed due to his stint in Army. His best season would come in 1956, when he appeared in 34 games, 31 starts, achieved a record of 18-9, an ERA of 3.85, 67 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.315. Did I mention that he also completed 12 games, 3 as shutouts, and earned a trip to the All-Star Game? Some could argue though that the following year was better statistically for Kucks, even with the losing record of 8-10 as he had better numbers across the board (3.56 ERA, 78 K's, 1.271 WHIP are all career bests). But during the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn, Kucks appeared in three games, started Game 7, and earned the shutout victory as the Yanks trounced the Dodgers 9-0. After that fantastic 1956 season, Kucks spent time between the starting rotation and bullpen, but he could not maintain the numbers that made him an All-Star, and after appearing in nine games for the Bombers in 1959 became part of the infamous NYY-KCA pipeline, going to the Athletics with two others in exchange for Ralph Terry and Hector Lopez. His major league career ended after the 1961 season, with Kucks finishing with a career 54-56 record, a cumulative 4.10 ERA, 338 strikeouts, two World Series rings, and as the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the last pitcher Jackie Robinson faced in the Majors?". He became a stockbroker after his playing days ended. Johnny Kucks passed away on October 31, 2013 due to cancer at a hospice in New Jersey. He was 80 years old.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $7.00-$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: 1995 Topps #125. 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: 1956 Topps #145 Gil Hodges

(Before I begin, I'd like to wish my daughter Lynn a Happy 13th Birthday. Geez, I'm getting old. It seems like it was yesterday that she was born.)

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, April 28, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #145.
• Player Name, position, team: Gil Hodges, first baseman, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: October 3, 1943.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (Dodgers): 150 Games, 546 At Bat, 75 Runs, 158 Hits, 24 2b, 5 3b, 27 H.R., 102 R.B.I., .289 B.Avg, 1291 P.O., 106 Assists, 14 Errors, .990 F.Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent before the 1943 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 21. This is his twelfth and final Topps card as a player.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: The Topps Card Randomizer never ceases to amaze me. This is the first time ever in its history that it picked the same subject for two consecutive Retro Sunday segments. Last week, it chose Gil Hodges' 1963 Topps card, his final card as a player. For today, it's his card from 1956, from seven years earlier. Since I wrote a lot about Hodges in last week's segment, I'll just review his 1956 season today. The Brooklyn Dodgers had just won their first (and only) World Series title the year before and were the toast of the baseball world. Hodges was a bona fide All-Star (in 1955, he had made his seventh consecutive All-Star Team). The first baseman had hit 27 homers and drove in 102 rbi's, finishing the year with a .289 average and an OPS of .877 for the champions. In 1956, some of his hitting numbers may have been down, but on the heels of 29 doubles and 32 home runs, his slugging percentage went up seven points. He finished the season with a .265 average as the Dodgers had him playing not only at first and in the outfield, but he even took in a game at catcher, his first action behind the plate since 1948. This may have been an off year for Hodges because the following year (1957), not only did his batting average improve (back to .299), but he was named to his eighth (and final All-Star Team), and was awarded the first of his three Gold Gloves. The back of Hodges' card includes three large cartoons sketches. The first indicates that in 1955 "Gil Drove in over 100 runs for the 7th straight year." That streak would end in 1956, as he drove in 87 rbi's. The second says that "He's averaged 30 homers per year in 8 full seasons at Brooklyn." The third says that in 1950, "Gil hit 4 homers in one game." In an August 31st game against the Boston Braves, not only did he hit the four homers, but he went 5-6 that day, drove in 9 rbi's (three 2-run homers and a 3-run blast in the sixth), with the Dodgers winning in a 19-3 romp over Warren Spahn and company. Incidentally, the only Braves pitcher to have any success over Hodges that day (meaning did not allow a HR) was Mickey Haefner, who induced Hodges into hitting a ground out to the third baseman. 
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $35.00-$60.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.

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: 1956 Topps #149 Dixie Howell

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, April 7, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #149.
• Player Name, position, team: Dixie Howell, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 14, 1940.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (White Sox): 35 Games, 74 Innings, 8-3, .725 Pct., 70 Hits, 27 Runs, 24 E.R., 25 S.O., 25 Walks, 2.92 E.R. Avg.
• Any special information about player: Contract purchased by the Indians before the 1938 season. Contract purchased by the White Sox from the Giants 5/22/1952. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: The Topps Card Randomizer seemed to like the 1956 Topps set when I last used it because it chose three cards from that set for the five-week period that I schedule these posts. Last week, the TCR chose a card from the 1956 set featuring a Cub (Hank Sauer). This time, it picked a card of a player from the other side of the city. Before I begin, I have to ask this (long-winded) question (bear with me please). I had read in the past that on many occasions that if a player had a last name, he was automatically "nicknamed" a specific moniker. Every Durham was called "Bull," every Rhodes "Dusty," every Deaf player "Dummy," (okay, I know that Deaf players don't share a last name...but still almost every Deaf player until the 1940's was called this now out-of-date name). How is it that players who shared the last name Howell were nicknamed "Dixie?" During the time of Millard Fillmore Howell (named Dixie), there was another Howell (catcher Homer Elliot Howell) who was also called "Dixie." Today's subject is the pitching Howell. Howell had a long career in professional baseball, but you wouldn't know it based on his major league numbers. He began his pro career in the D-Level Mountain State League Logan Indians in 1937. The following year, the Cleveland Indians purchased his contract. It would be three years later that he would make his debut with the Tribe, a three-game, five-inning cup of coffee in the last weeks of the season. It would not be until 1949, almost nine seasons, until Howell would make his next big league appearance, this time with the Reds. In between that time, when he wasn't toiling away with the Syracuse Chiefs for five seasons, Howell enlisted with the US Army and served valiantly in France and Belgium during World War II. He was even captured by German Troops and liberated by the Allied forces six months later. When he was honorably discharged from duty, he returned to the Reds organization. In 1949, Howell appeared in five games for the Reds, going 0-1 with a 8.10 ERA and 7 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work. His contract was purchased by the New York Giants in 1950, but Dixie never played in New York. With enough pitching on the big league franchise, Howell was playing the veteran pitcher for the AAA Minneapolis Millers. It was when his contract was purchased by the White Sox that Howell was able to join a big league roster for good. After three seasons with the Memphis Chickasaws, the White Sox called up Howell and for three seasons did not have to worry about travelling to the minor leagues. In 1956, Howell pitched in 34 games, went 5-6 in his decisions, had an ERA of 4.62, and struck out 28 in 64.1 innings of work. In fact, in his four seasons with the Pale Hose, Dixie earned a record of 19-14, a cumulative ERA of 3.55, struck out 90 and had a WHIP of 1.462. Dixie returned to the minors for the 1958 and 1959 seasons. Tragically, on March 18, 1960, Dixie Howell suffered a heart attack during running drills during the Indianapolis Indians' spring training camp and died. He was only 40 years old. On a happier note, it has been said that every player has his one "game" or that many players hold some kind of "record," no matter how obscure it can be. Dixie Howell holds two unique records: he holds the record for longest period of time between his major league debut and his first career victory (16 years...he debuted on on 09/14/1940 and earned his first win on 06/25/1955); and in 1955, he set the regular season record for most hits (5) in a season without collecting a single (3 home runs, a double, and a triple). It doesn't get any more obscure than that. The cartoons on the back of the card summarize Dixie's career rather well. The first indicates that "after almost 20 years in the minors, Dixie made the Majors last year (I'll teach 'em respect for elders says the quote bubble on the pitcher). The second says that in 1943, he had a short trial with Cincinnati as an outfielder ("What am I doing here?"). The last caption reads that Dixie "has a good slider, sinker, change-up, and control.
• Beckett value: $6.00-$12.00.
• 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: 1977 Topps #617. 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: 1956 Topps #41 Hank Sauer

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 31, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #41.
• Player Name, position, team: Hank Sauer, outfielder, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: September 9, 1941.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (Cubs): 79 Games, 261 At Bat, 29 Runs, 55 Hits, 8 2b, 1 3b, 12 H.R., 28 R.B.I., .211 B. Avg. 122 P.O., 4 Assists, 2 Errors, .984 F. Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent before the 1937 season. Traded by the Reds to the Cubs 06/15/1949. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: What an awesome action shot that was included on Sauer's picture. If Sauer had a card in today's baseball card world, we would have seen the picture of Sauer making that kind of leap. If the card was included in the 2013 set, it would have been short printed. But I digress. Hank Sauer was a very popular player for the Cubs in the early 50's, especially on some really horrible teams. Teaming with Ralph Kiner and Frank Baumholtz, they comprised an outfield that was supposedly so slow that Mike Royko called them the "Quicksand Kids." But Sauer was the one that packed the power in the Cubs lineup, and in 1952, thanks to leading the NL in 37 home runs and 121 rbi's, he was named the NL MVP. In fact, in his seven seasons with the Cubs, Sauer hit for a .269 average, 198 home runs, drove in 587 rbi's, had an OPS of .860, and was a part of two All-Star Teams (in 1950 and 1952). Now Sauer didn't play for the Cubs in 1956. Why? It is said that he was holding out for more money, and instead of signing the slugger for more pay, the Cubs traded him off to the Cardinals for Pete Whisenant. In his lone season with the Cards, Sauer appeared in 75 games, hit 5 homers, drove in 24 rbi's, and hit for a good .298 average. However, he was released by the team after the season ended. Ten days later, he signed on with the NY Giants, just in time to be one of the few that can claim to be Giants on both coasts (the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958). The back of his Topps card features three large cartoons, the first mentioning his 1952 MVP campaign, the second says that Sauer uses "the heaviest bat in the majors" at 40 ounces. The third says that "Hank hit 41 home runs in '54. His 18 against the Pirates is a Major record. Now as with many of the older players, the SABR BioProject has an article about Hank Sauer. Hank Sauer passed away on August 24, 2001, of a heart attack while golfing. He was 84 years old.
• Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5.

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: 2001 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

Thanks Scott!!! Looks Like the Mantle Mystery is Solved.

Scott Crawford may have come up with the answer to "Is This Real?: 1956 Bowman Mickey Mantle."

It seems that the card may have been an insert from a Baseball Cards Magazine from October, 1988. The theme was "The Cards that Never Were" and included a 1974 Topps "Washington Nat'l League" Dave Winfield, a 1952 Bowman Jackie Robinson, and the aforementioned 1956 Bowman Mantle.

An auction is on eBay right now for this exact panel with the Mantle card.  Here are the pictures:

That solves the mystery I guess. Unfortunately, because the card is an insert, specifically from a competitor that no longer exists, even The Number One Source in the Hobby won't even price this card. So I'm going to have to inform Mr. Flachs that his card is an insert and might not be worth much.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Is This Real?: 1956 Bowman Mickey Mantle

I get emails all the time from people asking about cards and how much they are worth. This one threw me for a loop. After getting permission to post the pictures onto the blog, I am finally getting around to writing this one.

Patrick Flachs sent me this email on Monday, December 31:

I have a Mickey Mantle outfield New York Yankees card. It says #1 anC it is a Bowman card and I think it is 1956. Can't find the value of this card. Hoping you could help. He is holding a bat and looking to the right and it is brown card on the outside in a circled picture.

Thanks

Okay, a few red flags here. Bowman and 1956. Now we all know that Topps acquired Bowman before the company could make a set in 1956. So I responded:

Bowman did not make cards in 1956 as the company was bought by Topps that year. Also, none of Mantle's cards were #1, Topps or Bowman, during his playing days.

Based on your description, you have a 1955 Bowman #202 card (looks like an old tv)...

I asked him to send a scan of the card so I can get a closer look at it. This is what he sent:

What many might not know is that before the acquisition, Bowman sent surveys to boys (about 324) to determine what the design would be for their next baseball product. After surveying kids in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the choices were narrowed down to three: a knothole design, a two-picture design, and a full-bleed design with a black box holding the name, position, and team affiliation which looks similar to their 1953 effort. Books were created in a top-secret file titled "1956 Baseball Card Preference Study." But then Topps bought out Bowman, and these books were thought to be lost to the annals of time. It was not until 1983 when two of these books were found in the personal collection of Woody Gelman, the legendary Topps designer, who had saved these as keepsakes. The books, which were put on auction, sold for $10,440.00.  The Topps Archives also did a feature on these books.

Now Keith Olbermann, to call him a collector is an understatement, also had a copy of this book and brought it to Topps Headquarters. The designs were eventually used to create what is now 2003 Bowman Heritage. The knothole design was used for prospects cards within the set.

Back to the point.

I was stunned. STUNNED. Only because I remembered the history of how the Bowman Heritage set came to be (even though I never collected it, I should have the Beckett magazine somewhere that explains all of it...see, printed magazines are worth something after all). So when I saw the pictures...my jaw dropped. I had never seen this card before, and had to ask him:

Where did you find this card? While Bowman did not have a set because Topps bought them out...The card in your hands (the knothole design) would have been an example of what the 1956 Bowman set would have looked like if they made it...

If the card is indeed authentic, then what you have a real find on your hands as not too many of these cards have ever been seen before. Would you mind if I used your pictures and put them on my blog? I'm sure that there are people out there who would know a lot more about your card than I do.

After looking at the scans, all I can say is, "Wow!"

While Mr. Flachs did not go into specifics as to how he found this card, he did offer to send better pictures. Here they are:

Doing a quick check online, I did find one other picture of this Mantle card. But there is no explanation as to what it is, or anything about it's authenticity.

I also know that Hires Root Beer, in 1958, used this design for their baseball cards. But the checklist starts with #10 (Richie Ashburn), and if you look at the example of the Aaron card below, there is a dash between the position and team name. The Mantle card above uses a comma.  (Mantle was also not on the Hires checklist).

Okay, I am no vintage expert. All I have are old books that focus on cards of the past, and of course, the interwebs. I even went onto the Mantle Baseball Cards website and didn't find anything.

I did tell Mr. Flachs that I would put this on the blog to see if anybody out there can verify the truth of this card's existence, and if so, can give an estimated value on the card if it is fact real.

I wish the guy the best of luck.  If his card can indeed be verified as authentic, he has a real find on his hands.   But can somebody, anybody, provide more insight and information about this card?  I think we could all use the history lesson behind this card.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1956 Topps #63 Roger Craig

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 7, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #63.
• Player Name, position, team: Roger Craig, pitcher, Brooklyn Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: July 17, 1955.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (Dodgers): 21 G, 91 Innings, 5-3, .625 Pct., 81 Hits, 37 Runs, 28 E.R., 48 S.O., 43 Walks, 2.77 E.R.Avg..
• Any special information about player: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a Free Agent before the 1950 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 20 (ten as a player, two as a coach, eight as a manager). This is his first card.
• Blurb on the back: "Rog joined Brooklyn in July '55 after a 10-2 mark at Montréal.  He became a top Brooklyn Reliefer (SIC)  Rog started and won the 5th game in the '55 World Series"
• Commentary: The 1956 Topps set was the second of two sets in a row that was horizontally-oriented and the third of three designs that utilized a second "action" picture with the primary "headshot."  While it draws comparisons with last year's design, the 1956 set is unique because it uses pictures with an actual background instead of a fully colored one.  Most of us born after 1976 know Craig as the long-time manager of the San Francisco Giants.  But for Brooklyn Dodger fans everywhere, he will always be known as one of "Dem Bums" who helped take the team to the promised land.  A rookie pitcher asked to start a pivotal Game 5 in the 1955 World Series, Craig pitched six innings of 4-hit, 2-run ball, and gave the Dodgers a chance to win their third game-in-a-row against a mighty Yankees lineup, and send the series back to Manhattan with a 3-2 lead.  After following with the team to Los Angeles, Roger was selected as 6th pick in the 1961 expansion draft by the New York Mets.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $25.00-$40.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards (as manager).

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: 1992 Topps #421. 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

Topps 60 Best Cards...#35!

And sure enough, Topps hasn't added any new cards to their countdown since this card was announced on Friday, so I guess it's safe to put this post on by itself before the next card or cards make their debut. On Friday, the Topps Company announced which card took in the 35th most votes.

Card #35 is...

(drumroll please)

1956 Topps #33 Roberto Clemente


Thoughts: Although not his rookie card, you have to love the background shot of him leaping against the outfield wall. A classic card in a set that was full of them, I think the ranking here is justified. But that better mean that his 1955 RC is higer up on the countdown. This was also the last card until 1970 that referred to him as Roberto Clemente. From 1957 to 1969, his cards included the name Bob Clemente. Why is that?

Beckett has this listed between $250.00-$400.00 (January 2011)

Card #34 on the countdown will be announced today, or tomorrow, or whenever Topps feels like updating their site.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1956 Topps #265 Sandy Consuegra

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, August 29, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #265.
• Player Name, position, team: Sandy Consuegra, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: June 10, 1950.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (White Sox): 44 G, 126 Innings, 6-5, .545 PCT, 120 Hits, 42 Runs, 37 E.R., 35 S.O., 18 Walks, 2.64 E.R. Avg (yes, that's how the stat headers read).
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Senators as a Free Agent before the 1949 season. Contract purchased by the White Sox from the Senators 05/12/1953. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Consuegra's first regular Topps card (total includes regular cards only). If you wanted to see older cards of Sandy Consuegra, you'd have to look for his Bowman issues, as this is his only Topps card. The 1956 Topps design differs from the one the previous year due to the fact that instead of a colored background with a cropped drawing of the player, you now have an action shot from a live game (albeit still in drawing form). The art on the front of the cards are beautifully done, even though many headshots of players are from the previous two years (see Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, et. al). Above the statistics is a large box for cartoons. Sandy has three cartoons depicting his career in the majors. The first reads that "in 1954, Sandy's .842 W-L percentage (16-3, .842) was tops in the AL and set a White Sox Record." The second shows that Consuegra had a 6-0 mark with the Senators in 1952. The third says, "Stingy about giving up runs, Sandy's posted less than a 3.00 ERA for the past 3 years." It's a shame that Topps doesn't have room anymore to use cartoons like these in a regular fashion, often relegating them to a trivia question, or a quick note about the player. Consuegra had himself quite a career going into the 1956 season. He was used mostly in relief, but did his fair share of starting. He went 48-28 going into the year. But his contract was sold to Baltimore in 1956, and he finished his season as an Oriole. Consuegra would pitch for just one more season (with the Orioles, and the New York Giants, who picked him up on waivers) before calling it a career.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $6.00-$12.00.
• 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.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH321. 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