Random Topps Card of the Day: 1962 Topps #577 Dave Nicholson

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 13, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1962 Topps #577.
• Player Name, position, team: Dave Nicholson, outfielder, Baltimore Orioles.
• Major League Debut: May 24, 1960.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1961 stats (Little Rock, AA-Southern): 121 Games, 419 At Bat, 61 Runs, 104 Hits, 17 2B, 7 3B, 20 HR, 73 RBI, .248 Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Orioles as a Free Agent before the 1958 season. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Dave was given a hefty bonus by the Orioles when they signed him in 1958. The Baltimore front office thinks that this is the year that Dave will make it big in the majors."
• Commentary: David Lawrence Nicholson's 1962 Topps card is one of 43 cards that were short-printed within the final series of cards produced that year. And because it was distributed towards the end of the year, the cards within this series are a bit harder to find because most of the collectors (kids) were focused on football. While Nicholson did toil in the minors during his 1961 campaign, he did make the Orioles out of spring training in 1962 and appeared in 97 games as a reserve outfielder, playing all three positions in the field. He would hit for a .173 average, with 9 home runs and 15 rbi's in a limited role. He was traded to the White Sox in the deal that sent future HOF Luis Aparicio to Baltimore. After three seasons in Chicago, he was traded once again, this time to the Astros for a season. While he did finish the major league portion of his career with the Atlanta Braves in 1967, he did play for two more seasons in the minors for the Triple A teams for the Braves and the Royals. 
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $12.50-$30.00.
• 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: 2003 Topps #670. 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: 1962 Topps #277 4th Series Checklist #265 to #352

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 10, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1962 Topps #277.
• Special: 1962 Fourth Series Checklist #265 Joe Adcock - #352 Frank Sullivan
• Commentary: The Randomizer has finally done something it has not done since it made it's debut back in 2010: that's select a checklist of any kind. This one is from the fourth series from 1962 Topps and gives the collector a place to check off the cards they have from the 88-card series. The nine Action Cards (#'s 311 through 319) were of that famous subset featuring Tony Kubek, Warren Spahn, Roger Maris, Rocky Colavito, Whitey Ford, Harmon Killebrew, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Mike McCormick. For posterity, this is the first time that I am also showing the back of the card, so you can see the names of the players on the back of the list. Bet many kids were disappointed when they opened their one card pack to find this card staring at them instead of say Hank Aaron (#320), or Willie Mays (#300), Billy Williams (#288), or even Frank Robinson (#350). Looking back, it would not have been such a bad thing to have.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $8.00-$20.00.

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: 2007 Topps #515. 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: 1962 Topps #315 Ford Tosses a Curve

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: 1962 Topps #315.
• Player Name, position, team: Whitey Ford, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Special: "Ford Tosses a Curve."
• Last Line of Statistics: 1961 stats (Yankees): 30 G, 283 IP, 25-4, .862 PCT, 210 SO, 92 BB, 3.21 ERA.
• Commentary: In the big book from the Number One Source in the Hobby, this card is described as Whitey Ford IA (In Action), part of a nine-card subset of cards (#311-319). What is pretty cool about this card is not necessarily what is on the front of it. Yes, today's RoTC shows four pictures of Edward Charles Ford's delivery of a curveball to whichever batter he was facing at that time (most likely than not, the poor guy may have swung and missed the pitch). It is what is on the back of the card that makes it truly special. Because it isn't a long winded description of how Ford throws a curve, nor does the back of the card describe the scene on the front. The back of the card shows Ford's full career statistics (the eight that mattered at the time). On his regular card (#310), you get a long blurb, his previous year's statistics (the above eight plus hits allowed, runs allowed, and earned runs allowed) and career totals. Card #315 shows all of Ford's yearly numbers from his professional debut year of 1947 (with the Butler Yankees of the C-Middle Atlantic League) through his minor league stops in Norfolk, Binghamton, and Kansas City, to his MLB debut year in 1950. It also reserves a line to let fans know that from 1951-52, he was out of the game due to military service (he served in the Army during the Korean War). The year before (1961), Ford led the American League in wins (25) and innings pitched (283.0) en route to winning that year's Cy Young Award. He also went 2-0, allowing no runs whatsoever in 14 innings of work, during the 1961 World Series. The following year (1962) was an off year for him, even though he finished with a 17-8 record with an ERA of 2.90 and 160 strikeouts. After 16 years in Yankees pinstripes, Ford would retire as the all-time team leader in wins (236) and his career ERA of would be the lowest in all of baseball among starting pitchers since 1920.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $6.00-$15.00.

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: 2010 Topps #161. 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: 1962 Topps #374 Gene Mauch

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, September 5, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1962 Topps #374.
• Player Name, position, team: Gene Mauch, manager, Philadelphia Phillies.
• Major League Debut: April 18, 1944. Managerial Debut: April 16, 1960.
• Last Line of Statistics: n/a (no statistical to speak of except in bio) 1961 Phillies: 41-107.
• Any special information about manager: Hired as Manager 04/15/1960.
• Any special information about this specific card: Mauch's third regular Topps card, second as a manager (total includes both Topps and Topps Traded cards). The 1962 Topps set was the first to use a wood grained design. Norm Abram would have been proud to use the wood for a bench or something. I never noticed the 3-D effect Topps tried to pull until I saw the cards up close for the first time. The picture curls up on the bottom right corner, exposing the player's name, team, and position that would have been hidden underneath it. The resulting curl is grey, and I thought that was to show that the picture was surrounded by a metallic frame. What a trick. Gene Mauch was a manager for 26 seasons, first with the Phillies, then with the expansion Expos, the Twins, and finally the Angels. It is said that a team can only get better after having a really bad year. Truer words could not be spoken for the Phillies in the early 60's. The 1961 team finished with an abysmal 41-107 record. But the following season, finished above .500 at 81-80, beginning a streak of five winning seasons for the Phil's. He even got to manage an All-Star Game (in 1965 when they played two ASG's a year). He finished his term with the Phillies in 1968, and left Philadelphia with a 646-684 record. The back of his 1962 card features a bio that takes up almost the entire card. It starts with the fact that Mauch spent 17 seasons in both the minors and majors before becoming a manager. IT talks of his playing days (from the Dodgers to the Pirates, back to the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, and Cardinals). He joined the Red Sox in 1957. He gained his managerial experience with Minneapolis of the American Association before coming to the Phil's.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $4.00-$10.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10 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: 2009 Topps #235. 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: 1962 Topps #324 Joe McClain

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 21, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1962 Topps #324.
• Player Name, position, team: Joe McClain, pitcher, Washington Senators.
• Major League Debut: April 14, 1961.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1961 stats (Senators): 33 G, 212 IP, 8-18, .308 PCT, 220 H, 105 R, 91 ER, 76 SO, 48 BB, 3.86 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed by Cardinals a Free Agent before 1953 season. Drafted by the Senators from Charleston of the American Association 12/14/1960. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: McClain's second regular Topps card. Before the 1987 set, with it's wood grain borders, there was the 1962 set. Like looking at pictures over a freshly stained piece of maple wood, the 1962 Topps cards were classy, even down to where it looks like they rolled up the bottom right corner of the picture to let the player's name, team name, and position make an appearance. Joe was drafted by the newly formed Senators in time for the 1961 season (the original Senators left for Minnesota prior to this re-incarnation). The back of his card states that McClain, in his rookie season, led the team in innings pitched 212. Prior to that, he won 13 games in Peoria in 1956 and posted a 2.06 ERA in the Sally (South Atlantic League) the following year. There is a cartoon included on the card, with the caption "King for a Day," explaining that Joe pitched 6.1 innings of a 7 inning no hitter in 1957. Either Topps couldn't get a new picture of the man, or they decided to save a bit of money by using the exact same picture you see above for the following year's set.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $2.50-$5.00.
• 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 #5151. And all three of McClain's cards (the above card, along with his 1961 and 1963 cards) have been redeemed.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. And in honor of the Million Card Giveaway, I'm giving the randomizer the week off, and the blog will feature seven cards that I "won" from Topps' site. Tomorrow's card will be: 1987 Topps #430. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama