Random Topps Card of the Day: 1968 Topps #421 Ron Taylor

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 6, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1968 Topps #421.
• Player Name, position, team: Ron Taylor, pitcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: April 11, 1962.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1967 stats (Mets): 4-6, .400 PCT, 46 SO, 23 BB, 2.34 ERA
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Indians as a Free Agent before the 1956 season. Contract purchased by the Mets from the Astros 02/10/1967. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Ron was the Mets' top relief pitcher last season as he posted a fine 2.34 ERA and was credit with fie saves in addition to 4 wins. The righty reliever has tremendous control and uses his sinkerball effectively."
• Commentary: As Topps used a vertically oriented reverse for their 1968 player cards, there was room to list all of the places that Ronald Wesley Taylor spent time with as a professional player, both in the minors and the majors. He joined the Mets just as they were about to shock the world. With a pitching staff that included future superstars like Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Jerry Koosman, a guy like Taylor could have gotten lost in the proverbial shuffle. It is a good thing he was a very good pitcher in his own right. Sharing the closer role for the 1968 Mets, Taylor would earn a record of 1-5, an ERA of 2.0, finish 44 games, saving 13 of them. He struck out 49 batters and finished with a WHIP of 1.070. In the 1969 World Series, he finished two games, saving one and allowed no runs in 2.1 innings of work. Ron Taylor would play for the Mets until the end of the 1971 season. His contract was purchased by the Expos, allowing the native of Ontario to play for his home country. But he never suited up for Montréal, and signed with the Padres soon after he was released. But after four games (the final one, ironically was against the Expos), he was released by San Diego, ending his major league playing career. With his playing days over, Ron entered medical school and eventually returned to baseball. This time Dr. Ron Taylor signed on with the Blue Jays to be their team physician. On the back of his 1968 Topps card, there is a cartoon of a hitter swatting a ball with the number "19" on it. The trivia question: Who holds the Mets' Rookie Home Run record? The answer? Ron Swoboda - 19 in 1965."
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.
• 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: 2011 Topps #328. 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: 1968 Topps #213 Chico Ruiz

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, December 2, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1968 Topps #213.
• Player Name, position, team: Chico Ruiz, infield, Cincinnati Reds.
• Major League Debut: April 13, 1964.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1967 stats (Reds): 250 AB, 55 H, 12 2B, 4 3B, 0 HR, 13 RBI, .220 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Redlegs as a Free Agent before the 1958 season. Bats: both. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "A swift-footed infielder, Chico led the California League with 61 stolen bases in 1959, the Sally League with 55 thefts in 1960 and the American Association with 44 swipes in 1961!  In 1966, Chico was the Reds' top pinch-hitter with a fantastic .371 batting average!"
• Commentary: The burlap sack set.  The now iconic 1968 Topps set featured a unique pattern that has not been repeated since.  You have to admit that this was an interesting design choice.  The back of Ruiz' Topps card includes a cartoon trivia question asking, "Which Red pitcher set the club mark for winning 20 games?"  The answer:  Paul Derringer - 4 times.  Depending on how you spell his name, Giraldo (or Hiraldo) Sablon Ruiz tore up the bases in the minor leagues in during the 1960's.  So much so that the Reds decided to bring him to the majors in 1964.  For fans of the Philadelphia Phillies, Chico Ruiz' name is as infamous as Bucky Dent's to those in Red Sox Nation.  It is said that his steal of home on a fateful September 21 game, the only run scored that day, was the beginning of the end of the Phillies chances of winning the NL pennant.  Primarily used as a pinch hitter, he appeared in 105 games, a career high, in 1967 thanks in large part to an injury to teammate Leo Cardenas.  On days he would start, he comfortably covered 2nd and short for the Reds.  In 1968, Ruiz appeared in 85 games, again as a pinch hitter/pinch runner, although he did start at second for a majority of the Reds' games in September.  He hit .259 with 13 runs batted in, 2 doubles, 1 triple, stole 9 bases, and had an OPS of .558.  He was traded to the California Angels at the end of the 1969 season.  Tragically, Chico Ruiz' life was cut short on February 9, 1972, when he drove his car into a sign pole outside of San Diego.  He was only 33 years old.    
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.
• 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 #54. 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

The Answer for This Week's Trivia Question, October 6, 2008

Okay, so I don't have the 1968 Topps cards of each guy. Will reprints do???
I knew this question would be way too easy for you guys. As soon as I posted it, both Ryan Cracknell (Trader Crack's Card Blog) and the Night Owl (Night Owl Cards) both left the correct answer within minutes of each other.

Now, I think that you all understood what I meant when I asked the question, but maybe I should have been more specific (my fault, I'm sorry). When I asked "what year or years did all five players appear in the same set at the same time," I meant as "active" players. Of course there are many sets that would have all five players together, but most are from long after their playing days were over. Case in point, a thank you goes out to Don for pointing out that all five would have appeared in the 1975 set, only because Mantle, Mays, and Clemente were part of the MVP subset while Ryan and Aaron were still active players.

So as active players, all five (Mantle, Mays, Clemente, Ryan, and Aaron) appeared together in both the 1968 and 1969 Topps sets.

And the 1969 Topps Reprints. Gee, Hank hasn't changed a bit between 1968 and 1969. Why is that?
Mickey Mantle's final two Topps cards as an active player, as pointed out by Night Owl, were the '68 and '69 Topps cards. At the same time, those two years introduced the world to a young Nolan Ryan.

So there you have it. With the question being too easy, and with the answers coming so quickly, I had not yet determined a prize for this week. I'm sure if I can come up with a harder question, I'll add a prize for the first correct answer. Thanks for playing.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. Friend of the blog tlindgren commented "...You could even say 1970 if you include Mickey Mantle's Topps Wal-Mart card from 2006." I always wondered what would have happened if Mantle was able to play in 1969, thus getting a card included in 1970 Topps? Hmmmmm...

What do you think???

jba