Random Topps Card of the Day: 2008 Topps #FS1 Kazuo Uzuki

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, April 1, 2026:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps #FS1.
• Player Name, position, team: Kazuo Uzuki, pitcher.
• Major League Debut: n/a
• Last Line of Statistics: n/a
• Any special information about player: Throws: right. Bats: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Already being called "The Uzi" by some for his 104 MPH fastball, Kaz will be the first Japan-based high-schooler to jump straight to professional baseball in America when he graduates in 2009. "He is, hands down, the best pitching prospect I've seen in 230 years,' said one MLB scout. And one unnamed American League GM said, "The contract this kid is going to get will be astronomical." At age fourteen, he was the youngest player invited to the WBC squad trials and - though he was cut on the last day - he made a lasting impression with his 17 Ks in 7 innings of work during intrasquad matches."
• Commentary: Inserted into packs of 2008 Topps Series 1 at a rate of 1:72 packs, this gimmick card became such a polarizing item during the beginning of my Hobby Blogging Journey. It was panned by many, but as the years have gone by (has it really been 18 years??!) has become a card of legend. Uzuki's name, Japanese for "The First Son of April" which should have been a hint about the player. But how many prospectors would have understood the joke when they were buying and selling this card for up to $15.00 when it first came out?
• Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.





I wrote about the man behind the glove, Sensen Lin, eight years ago. An alum of the New York University School of Law (class of 2008), he still works for GIC, a Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund that manages the country's foreign reserves. He is now the Managing Director, Regional Lead (Americas) within GIC's Legal & Compliance Department. 


Happy Kazuo Uzuki Day to those who celebrate. Just please keep the pranks to a minimum.


Sincerely,


JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1976 Topps #15 George Scott

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, July 22, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1976 Topps #15.
• Player Name, position, team: George Scott, first baseman, Milwaukee Brewers.
• Major League Debut: April 12, 1966.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Brewers): 158 G, 617 AB, 86 R, 176 H, 26 2B, 4 3B, 36 HR, 109 RBI, .285 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Red Sox as a Free Agent 05/28/1962. Traded by the Red Sox to the Brewers 10/10/1971. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his eleventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Has led Brewers in RBI's 4 years."
• Commentary: George Charles Scott found his way to the Brewers when he was included in a ten-player trade with the Boston Red Sox. He left the Red Sox after six seasons which saw "Boomer" hit .260 with 105 home runs, 390 rbi's, and an OPS of .743. He would have his best year as a Brewer in 1975, as he led the American League in both homers and rbi's (36 and 109 respectively), as well as being named to his second All-Star team, and finish 8th in the MVP voting. An extremely steady fielder at first, he also won his seventh Gold Glove award, Believe it or not, the Brewers traded Scott BACK to the Red Sox after the 1976 season, where he would continue his career in Beantown for another three seasons. After a short stints with the Royals and Yankees in 1979 (he was traded to KC in June, only to be released two months later), his MLB career was over. Although skipped over by the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the Boston Red Sox HOF in 2006. George Scott passed away on July 28, 2013. He was 69-years old.
• Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 8 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1979 Topps #435. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1979 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1996 Topps #114 Todd Stottlemyre

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, July 21, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1996 Topps #114.
• Player Name, position, team: Todd Stottlemyre, pitcher, Oakland Athletics.
• Major League Debut: April 6, 1988.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1995 stats (Athletics): 31 G, 209.2 IP, 14-7, 117 R, 106 ER, 205 SO, 80 BB, 31 GS, 2 C, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 4.55 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays #1st (Special), June 1985. Signed with the Athletics as a Free Agent 04/11/1995. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his tenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "On May 20, Todd's 30th birthday, he retired 22 consecutive Royals and allowed only 6 balls out of the infield in an 11-1 win. His 10 SO's that day tied a career high but, on June 16, he whiffed 15."
• Commentary: After seven seasons in Toronto, where he earned a 69-70 record, 4.39 ERA, 662 strikeouts, and two World Series championships in 206 games, Todd Vernon Stottlemyre took his talents to Oakland. With the strike finally over, and teams scrambling to get going after the long layover, the Athletics signed Todd to a one-year deal. While the Athletics finished in last place that year, Todd kept the A's competitive during his starts going 14-7 in 31 games. While it was Tony LaRussa's last season in Oakland, he did sign on to manage the St. Louis Cardinals. Among the players that followed the eventual Hall of Fame manager was Stottlemyre. Todd was traded to St. Louis for four players and what would be a three-year run, held down a steady job on the starting rotation. In his first year in St. Louis, Todd would earn a 14-11 record, achieve an ERA of 3.87, strike out 194 batters, and have a WHIP of 1.272 in 34 games and 223.1 innings of work. In the playoffs, he would earn the victory against the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, and split his two decisions against the eventual NL champion Atlanta Braves. His time with the Cards ended when Todd was shipped to Texas as a rent-a-player in 1998. The following year, he signed with the Diamondbacks, finishing his career with Arizona in 2002. He now spends his time as a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and company called Team World Class.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 18 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #15. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1959 Topps #490 Frank Thomas

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, July 20, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1959 Topps #490.
• Player Name, position, team: Frank Thomas, third baseman-outfielder, Cincinnati Redlegs.
• Major League Debut: August 17, 1951.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1958 stats (Pirates): 149 G, 562 AB, 89 R, 158 H, 26 2B, 4 3B, 35 HR, 109 RBI, .281 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Pirates as a Free Agent 07/23/1947. Traded by the Pirates to the Redlegs 01/30/1959. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his fourth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "The biggest trade of the Spring sent Frank to Cincinnati. Immediately Redleg fans contracted an ailment known as pennant fever. Frank is one of the real distance hitters and if you doubt it ask the Dodgers. He hit 7 homers in his first 8 games at Los Angeles in '58."
• Commentary: It's funny to see the word Redlegs on a baseball card in reference to the team in Cincinnati. But then again, there is some historical significance to it. To avoid being associated to what was then the USSR and the threat of being called Communists, the Reds organization changed their name to "Redlegs" from 1954 through 1959. So before there was a slugger named Frank Thomas, who crushed the ball for a long time as a member of the White Sox (then Athletics, then Blue Jays), there was Frank Joseph Thomas, a three-time All-Star with the Pirates. In his eight seasons with Pittsburgh, Thomas hit for a respectable .275, with 163 homers, 562 rbi's, and OPS of .807 in 925 games. No wonder Redlegs' fans were excited to get him and three other players in a seven-player exchange. In his lone season with Cincinnati, Thomas hit for a .225 average, 12 home runs, and drove in 47 rbi's, not really numbers that fans and the organization were expecting from the 30-year-old Thomas. By the end of the year, would be traded to the Cubs for three players, thus beginning a tour of duty that would include stops with the Milwaukee Braves, Mets, Phillies, Astros, and Atlanta Braves. He would play for 16 seasons, finishing with a .266 average, 286 home runs, 962 rbi's, and percentages of .320/.454/.774. 
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $4.00-$8.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2.

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: 1996 Topps #114. 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: 1989 Topps #774 Ron Oester

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, June 21, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1989 Topps #774.
• Player Name, position, team: Ron Oester, second baseman, Cincinnati Reds.
• Major League Debut: September 10, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1982 stats (Reds): 151 G, 549 AB, 63 R, 143 H, 19 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 5 SB, .359 SLG, 35 BB, 82 SO, .260 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Reds #9th, June 1974. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his tenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Ron enjoyed a 21-game hitting streak in 1984."
• Commentary: It's hard to believe, but it's been 25 years since the 1989 season of baseball card collecting was turned upside-down by the introduction of a fifth card company. From 1981 through 1987, Topps, Donruss, and Fleer were vying for people's Hobby dollars. In 1988, Score, with it's colored card backs, joined the fray. And then, 1989 happened. Upper Deck launched their first card product, and the Hobby, for better or worse, has never been the same since. Now it's 2014, all of the other companies are either gone entirely or are still making baseball cards, but on a lesser scale. In he meantime, Topps is using the 1989 design as one of the four featured "sets" for it's Topps Archives product, and then of course, the eponymous set has die-cut, mini card versions of the 1989 design (imagine if you took your 1989 Topps cards and then cut them along the colored borders, and voila!) as inserts. Too bad Topps couldn't figure out how to center the player's names within the colored team name in Archives. It looks goofy to see the names beginning all the way on the left and then have so much empty space on the right. Ronald John Oester's 1983 Topps card was previously featured as Random Card back on May 10, 2013, and I remember blabbing on about imagining if teams consisted of players who actually lived in the city? It seemed like every native Cincinnatian wound up playing for the Reds at one point in their lives or another. And second baseman Oester was no exception. He wound up playing his entire career for his home-town team, and in 1989, Oester hit for a .246 average with 1 home run, drove in 14 runs, and played nearly flawless defense at both second and short. In his last season in the majors, Oester and the Reds shocked the world by beating the heavily favored Athletics in the World Series.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 14.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1959 Topps #490. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2011 Topps Update Series #US265 Willie Harris

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, June 21, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2011 Topps Update Series #US265.
• Player Name, position, team: Willie Harris, outfielder, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 2, 2001.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2010 stats (Nationals): 132 G, 224 AB, 25 R, 41 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 5 SB, 33 BB, 60 SO, .362 SLG, .653 OPS, .183 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Orioles #24th, June 1999. Signed with the Nationals as a Free Agent 01/14/2011. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his seventh and final card.
• Blurb on the back: "Willie, who signed as a free agent for 2011, hit safely n his first five games with the Mets. His two-run double in the second of those gave his new club an extra-inning victory over Florida.
• Commentary: It figures. On all 660 cards in the base set, the color banner on the right hand side of the cards mentions a certain card that shares the same number. One of these years, someone, maybe me, will try and put all 660 highlighted cards in a gallery. Shouldn't be too hard, right (well if it wasn't someone would have done it by now). But it made me wonder if Topps would repeat the tidbit in its Update Series. And if so, how would they do it? I mean, excluding 1974, 1976, and even 1981, Topps' Traded sets were numbered 1-132T. Then since 2005, the Traded sets consisted of 330 cards. Would they do the same thing? Well, apparently they did not. Oh well, many of those #132T were checklists anyway. By the time William Charles Harris signed with the Mets for the 2011 season, he had already accomplished a lot, including a World Series ring in 2005. After three seasons with the Washington Nationals, Harris headed off to the Big Apple. In 126 games with New York, Harris hit for a .246 average with 2 home runs, 23 rbi's, and percentages of .351/.317/.668. After one season, he signed on with the Reds organization. While he did appear in 25 games for Cincinnati at the beginning of the season, he spent most of the year with their Triple-A club in Louisville. It would be his last season in professional baseball as a player.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 9 cards.

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Tomorrow's card will be: 1989 Topps #772. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1992 Topps Traded #126T B. J. Wallace

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, June 19, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1992 Topps Traded #126T.
• Player Name, position, team: B. J. Wallace, pitcher, Team USA.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1991 stats (Mississippi State University): 19 G, 127.1 IP, 9-3, 43 R, 38 ER, 145 SO, 35 BB, 14 GS, 7 CG, 4 SHO, 2 SV, 2.69 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "In 1992, B.J. set a Mississippi State University record for Strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher in history of the school to achieve two consecutive 100-Strikeout seasons. He tied a school standard with 4 Shutouts and was co-MVP of the NCAA Midwest Regional. B.J. established a career-best with 11 Strikeouts vs. Vanderbilt in 1991."
• Commentary: With Topps as one of the sponsors for the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, they had the rights to produce cards of each of the members of the team that would head to Barcelona. Unfortunately, the team would not win a medal in these games, finishing fourth out of the eight teams participating. But they did finish with a 5-2 record (the two losses being in the playoffs against Cuba and Japan in the Bronze medal game). But William J. Wallace performed well in the games, earning a W against Italy, striking out 14 batters in 8 innings of work in a 10-0 blowout. He was drafted by the Expos as the #3rd pick overall in the 1992 June draft. However, injuries kept him from performing to his potential, and after being on the DL for the entire 1995 season, and a short-lived comeback did not pan out the following season, Wallace did call it quits, never making it to the major leagues. He would take up coaching at the high school level. One interesting tidbit finds that in 2011, Wallace and his wife were arrested and charged "on suspicion of building a methamphetamine lab in their home." I think we'll stop there.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2011 Topps Update Series #US265. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1995 Topps #499 John Olerud

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, June 18, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1995 Topps #499.
• Player Name, position, team: John Olerud, first baseman, Toronto Blue Jays.
• Major League Debut: September 3, 1989.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Blue Jays): 108 G, 384 AB, 47 R, 114 H, 29 2B, 2 3B, 12HR, 67 RBI, 1 SB, .477 SLG, 61 BB, 53 SO, .297 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays #3rd, June 1989. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "So fundamentally flawless is John's swing that none other than Don Mattingly once watched a videotape of it to break out of a slump. A scout tells the story of watching Olerud for 10 games at Washington State before seeing him swing at a pitch and miss."
• Commentary: Rare is the player that makes it to the majors straight from the draft without touching the minor leagues. Even rarer is that he plays above and beyond the expectations once he arrives to his major league destination when just a couple of months prior he was facing college competition. Yes, he only appeared in six games, but that was the start of John Garrett Olerud's major league journey. He suffered a brain aneurysm during his college days, but it never affected his play on the field or on the mound (he was a pitcher as well). But he would play with a helmet when on defense, which made him easy to spot on the field. Two years removed from his second World Series title and his first batting title (AL leading .363 average), John provided a steady bat on a potent Blue Jays lineup and a nearly flawless glove at first (.997 fielding percentage). He hit .291 with 8 home runs and 54 runs driven in. Patient at the plate, he drew 84 walks while striking out only 54 times. A trade to the Mets after the 1996 season ended his stint with Toronto. His 17-year career would see him spending time with the Mets, Mariners, Yankees, and Red Sox (including his first and only games in the minors) before retiring. He was a two-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.10-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 32.

Tomorrow's card will be 1992 Topps Traded #126T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1977 Topps #640 Carlton Fisk

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 17, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1977 Topps #640.
• Player Name, position, team: Carlton Fisk, catcher, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 18, 1969.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1976 stats (Red Sox): 134 G, 487 AB, 76 R, 124 H, 17 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 58 RBI, .255 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 07/22/1972. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 22. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Carlton hit .417 in 1975 A.L. Playoffs and belted 2 Homers in World Series. One came in 12th inning to win Game #6, 7-6."
• Commentary: Yes, I know that Carlton Ernest Fisk played for eleven seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Yes, I know he was a World Series hero and his dramatic twelfth inning homer will go down in baseball lore as one of the greatest moments of all time (depicted on 2001 Topps #791, the last card in the set)., Yes, I know that after a long but incredible career that he went into the Hall of Fame, wearing the bold "B" on his cap instead of the scripted "C". But for as long as I've been following baseball, Carlton Fisk will always be a member of the Chicago White Sox. In 1977, Fisk hit for a career high .315, had career high percentages of .402/.521/.922, hit 26 home runs, drove in 102 rbi's, became an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, and finished 8th in the MVP voting. When Topps came out with it's 2002 Topps Archives: The Best Years product, Fisk was included as a subject, and his 1977 season was selected as his best year (a close second would have been his 1985 season...37 homers, 107 rbi's, but a .238 average did him in). Yes, he played more seasons in the Second City, and the way the Sox ended his career wasn't the best way to go about it (letting him break the record for career games caught and then letting him go the next day). But there is no doubt in my mind that Pudge will always be one of baseball's best, and most durable, catcher. 
• Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 77 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1995 Topps #499. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1991 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1999 Topps Traded and Rookies #T31 Tony Torcato

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, June 16, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2003 Topps Traded and Rookies #T71.
• Player Name, position, team: Tony Torcato, third baseman, San Francisco Giants.
• Major League Debut: July 26, 2002.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1998 stats (Salem-Keizer, Low A-Northwest): 59 G, 220 AB, 31 R, 64 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 4 SB, .418 SLG, 14 BB, 38 SO, .291 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants #1st, June 1998. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his second and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Te Giants were so enamored with Torcato's offensive potential and his sweet left-handed swing, they gambled a first round pick in the 1998 draft on the 6-1, 195-pound prep star. There were concerns about Tony's surgically repaired right shoulder and move from shortstop to third base, but results to date suggest San Francisco got a bargain."
• Commentary: The 1999 Topps Traded and Rookies set was the first "Update" set Topps had produced since 1995. When I first found out that there was a card shop near where I had worked, I had asked the man who ran the store when 2000 Topps was coming, he casually mentioned that he had 1999 Topps Traded in stock. What??! That was enough for me to make a beeline to his store. Anthony Dale Torcato is far from a bust as a major leaguer. There just wasn't room for him in the big club. In parts of four seasons in the majors, he appeared in a grand total of 43 games, hit for a combined .298 average, and drove in 3 rbi's. In the minors, however, Torcato was an everyday player, and a very good hitter. With the Bakersfield Blaze (A-California) in 1999, Torcato hit .291 with 4 home runs and 58 rbi's. He spent most of his minor league career in AAA-Fresno, waiting to be called up when necessary. Although his MLB career would end in 2005, his minor league career continued with the Chicago White Sox organization, and then with the Colonie Della Maremma Grosseto of the Italian Baseball League. He did return stateside in to play independent ball in 2008 with two teams from the Golden Baseball League. If you believe Wikipedia, Torcato is still an active player. Presently, Tony is an outfielder for the Pittsburg Mettle of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1977 Topps #640. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2001 Topps #384 Golden Moments Cal Ripken

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, July 14, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2001 Topps #384.
• Player Name, position, team: Cal Ripken, third baseman, Baltimore Orioles.
• Special: Golden Moments, Cal Ripken Breaks Consecutive Games Streak, September 5, 1995; Baltimore 4, California 2.
  
• Blurb on the back: "The record had endured for a half-century without threat it would take someone very special to approach Lou Gehrig's standard for consecutive games played. That someone was named Cal Ripken. On September 4, 1995, Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game before a packed house at Camden Yards. When the game became official in the fifth inning, the fans stood to give him a 22-minute ovation. Showing his flair for the dramatic, Cal also brought Orioles fans to their feet with a home run."
• Any special information about this specific card: To celebrate Topps' 50 Years in the baseball card market, Topps looked for what they called "Golden Moments." It was definitely a no-brainer to pick this special moment, one we will probably never see again in our lifetimes, for inclusion in this subset towards the end of Series 1. Many fans can tell you where they were that night. Me? I was in the parking lot of an Ulta3, listening to the game while my mom was inside the store. And when Ripken, with a popout to second which ended that fifth inning ended, it became official, and the celebration began. It seemed longer than 22 minutes and the station never left for commercial break.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1966 Topps #187. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2007 Topps #500 Pedro Martinez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, June 13, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2007 Topps #13.
• Player Name, position, team: :Pedro Martinez, pitcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 24, 1992.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2006 stats (Mets): 23 G, 132.2 IP, 9-8, 72 R, 66 ER, 137 SO, 39 BB, 23 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.11 WHIP, 4.48 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent 06/18/1988. Signed with the Mets as a Free Agent 12/16/2004. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 18. This is his sixteenth card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a
• Commentary: I have finally figured out a way to scan these black-bordered 2007 Topps cards. Instead of putting them in the holders and then onto the scanner, I will put the card directly on the scanner with the holder "framing" the card. As you can probably see with this card, the images came out rather well. Previously, the 2007 Topps cards would expose how scratched up the plastic holders really were. After seven extraordinary seasons in Boston, including one World Series title, Pedro Martinez decided to sign as a free agent with New York. Not to his long-time rival the Yankees, but to the Mets. He left Boston with an incredible 117-37 record, a dominating 2.52 ERA and 1683 strikeouts. With the Sox, he also won two Cy Young awards and was on the AL All-Star Team four times (including the starting job in 1999...in Boston). But now with the Mets during what should have been the twilight of his career, he was still one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. But in 2007, injuries began taking its toll and limited Martinez to only 5 games. But those five games showed that he still had it. He was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA, and struck out 32 batters in 28 innings of work. He would work sparingly in 2008, and then after a hiatus in 2009, returned during the end of the campaign with to help the Phillies back to the World Series.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 91 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2001 Topps #384. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1996 Topps #409 Todd Hundley

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, June 12, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1996 Topps #409.
• Player Name, position, team: Todd Hundley, catcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: May 18, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1995 stats (Mets): 90 G, 275 AB, 39 R, 77 H, 11 2B, 0 3B, 15 HR, 51 RBI, 1 SB. .484 SLG, 42 BB, 64 20, .280 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Mets #2nd, June 1987. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "With 31 HR's and 93 RBI in 566 AB's over the last two years, Todd has forged into the upper strata of catchers. He slugged two grand slams in the first eight days of the '95 season. The first was on Opening Day, and will go in the books as the initial slam at Coors Field. The second beat the Expos in the 10th inning."
• Commentary: As an esteemed graduate of Palatine High School (1994), I should, by nature, hate Todd Hundley. Not because he's a bad guy or anything, Not because he didn't produce during his time with the Cubs. Those aren't the reasons. I should hate the guy because he is an alumni of my rival high school. I remember how much they made a big deal out of him making it to the majors (the first player from that high school to make it to the show...on an unrelated note, three players from my HS were drafted, including one of my classmates, but either he never reported, or decided to take a pass). I don't know if Todd Randolph Hundley still makes his home in Palatine, IL (as it says on the back of his 1996 card), but I'm sure it was nice to be "home" during his two year stint with the Cubbies. Hundley's best years came during the 1996-1997 seasons. Sure he was already earning a reputation of being a power-hitting catcher, but in 1996, he made the first of two All-Star Teams. In 1996, which statistically was his best season, he hit .259 with a career high 41 home runs, drove in 112 rbi's, also a career high, and had percentages of .356/.550/.906. Behind the plate, he threw out 32 base-stealers and had a fielding percentage of .992. Todd would be traded to the Dodgers after the 1998 season, filling the void left when the LA traded their superstar catcher Mike Piazza to the Marlins (who after eight games, was traded to...the Mets). He would sign with the Cubs as a Free Agent after the 2000 season. After two decent years with the Cubs, he was traded back to LA for the right side of the Dodgers' infield (Mark Grudzielanek and Erik Karros). 
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 23.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2007 Topps #500. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1991 Topps Traded #48T Luis Gonzalez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, June 11, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps Traded #48T.
• Player Name, position, team: Luis Gonzalez, outfielder, Houston Astros.
• Major League Debut: September 4, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Astros): 12 G, 21 AB, 1 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, .286 SLG, 2 BB, 5 SO, .190 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Astros #4th, June 1988. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 19. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Luis was signed as a 4th round Draft selection of the Astros, June 2, 1988 by Scout F. H. 'Jug' DeFord."
• Commentary: Topps concluded their 40th Anniversary celebration with its annual Topps Traded set. With light reddish/pink backgrounds and blue text on white cardboard (depending on where it was printed...Ireland had the white card-stock), the backs of the cards were easy to read. And among the 131 players that included members of the 1991 Team USA squad was the rookie card of Luis Emilio Gonzalez. A 12-game cup-of-coffee in 1990 led the Astros brass to believe that he would be a star player for them for years to come. And he did fairly well in his first full season in Houston. With the Astros in 1991, Gonzalez appeared in 137 games, hit for a decent .254 average, hit 13 home runs, drove in 69 rbi's, and had percentages of .320/.433/.753. As the team's primary left fielder, he committed 5 errors in 305 total chances for a .984 fielding percentage. At the end of the season, Topps awarded Luis with one of the three outfield spots on their 1991 Topps All-Star Rookie team. He go on to play for the Astros for another 3+ seasons before being traded to the Cubs with Scott Servais for Rick Wilkins. But after the 1996 season, Gonzo returned to the Astros for one more season. He then played for one season with the Tigers before being traded to the fledgling Diamondbacks. Three seasons later, not only did he make his first of five All-Star teams (all with the D-Backs), but in 2001, he, and the rest of the Snakes, would take down the Yankees and win the World Series in seven games.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 62.

Tomorrow's card will be 1996 Topps #409. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1976 Topps #41 Tippy Martinez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 10, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1976 Topps #54.
• Player Name, position, team: Tippy Martinez, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: August 9, 1974.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Yankees): 23 G, 37 IP, 1-2, 15 R, 11 ER, 20 SO, 32 BB, 2.68 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 07/22/1972. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: I don't know about you, but when I think of the Yankees, the last color I think about is green (interpret it any other way, fine, but I'm not thinking money or grass). But Topps seemed to think that the color would work well with the Yankees cards from 1976. Eh. While Felix Anthony Martinez would go on to find success as a closer for the Baltimore Orioles (including an All-Star roster spot in 1983), Tippy started his years with the Yankees organization. In 1976, Martinez was having a pretty good season in the Bronx. He had appeared in 11 games, saved 2 of the 3 games he finished, had a 2-0 record, a 1.93 ERA, and struck out 14 of the 108 batters he had faced in 28 innings of work. But on June 15, 1976, the Yankees and AL East rival Baltimore Orioles conducted a ten-player trade, with each team sending what would be the equivalent of a fifth of a 25-man roster to each other. Martinez and four other players were now wearing the orange and black of Baltimore. And Martinez' production made it look like the O's got the better of the deal. In 28 games with the O's, the reliever earned a 3-1 record, saving 8 of the 18 games he finished, struck out 31 batters, and achieved an ERA of 2.59. Martinez would go on to a very solid career with the O's, saving 115 games in an 11 season career.
• Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 12 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1991 Topps Traded #48T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1991 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1984 Topps #332 Kevin Gross

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, March 31, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1984 Topps #332.
• Player Name, position, team: Kevin Gross, pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies.
• Major League Debut: June 25, 1983.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1983 stats (Phillies): 17 G, 96 IP, 4-6, 46 R, 38 ER, 66 SO, 35 BB, 17 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 3.56 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies #1st, January 1981 (Special). Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "His Single produced Game-Winning RBI and he earned Victory in 3-1 win vs. Expos, 6-30-83."
• Commentary: It's hard to believe that this set is now 30-years old. That means that 30 seasons ago, the Cubs made their first appearance in the postseason for the first time since 1945. That means that 30 years ago, I still knew nothing about baseball or baseball cards for that matter. The one thing I do remember is that when I finally was able to afford to buy this set from one of the many card shops in Chicago (now, not so many...what a shame), I realized I was missing one card from it. No, it wasn't the card of Kevin Frank Gross, today's subject, but of Dodgers' first baseman Greg Brock. Fortunately the card store managed to have one available (after digging through their inventory in the basement. I regret not accepting the invitation to go down there to see the place. I can only imagine tons of boxes with cards all over the place. That would have been awesome to see. Anyway. From 1983 through 1988, 2/25ths of the Phillies roster shared the name Gross, and both men were not related. Greg Gross was a veteran outfielder/first baseman who had spent time with the Astros (ROY runner up) and Cubs before joining the Phils and enjoying a successful 10 year career. Kevin was the rookie pitcher who impressed enough to earn a spot on the pitching staff, first as a swingman (reliever who could start from time to time) to a starting pitcher (an All-Star in 1988). In 1984, Gross appeared in 44 games, starting 14 of them, earn a record of 8-5, one save, strikeout 84 batters, achieve an ERA of 4.12, and a WHIP of 1.426. The following year, he earned a spot in the starting rotation, where he would stay the rest of his time in Philly. In six seasons, he would pitch in 203 games for the Phillies, achieve a 60-66 record, an ERA of 3.87, and strikeout 727 of the 4764 men he faced. He was traded to the Expos on December 6, 1988. After two seasons with the Expos, he spent time with the Dodgers (pitching a no-hitter in 1992), Rangers, and Angels before retiring as an active player. He was inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 17 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #41. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1972 Topps #94 1971 AL Pitching Leaders

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 30, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1972 Topps #94.
• Player Name, position, team: Mickey Lolich, pitcher, Detroit Tigers; Vida Blue, pitcher, Oakland A's; Wilbur Wood, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Special: 1971 AL Pitching Leaders
• Commentary: Nothing too fancy about the card above other than it features three All-Stars from the 1971 season who led the American League in wins. This was before the Sabermetrics, the WAR, and all of those other new-era statistics. This was when your best pitchers were judged by their won-loss record. And in their defense, the three gentlemen featured here wouldn't need those kinds of numbers to tell how good they were in '71. Combined, Lolich, Blue, and Wood started 126 games, completed 75 of them, 19 were shutouts. They were a combined 71-35, had a combined ERA of 2.25, a combined WHIP of 1.036 (with Wood having an even 1.000 WHIP - 334 hits and walks in 334 innings of work), and struck out a combined 819 batters. The back of the card just lists the top 10 players in the AL in wins, even though it doesn't mention that specifically. Rounding out the top 10 in wins are Jim Hunter (21) of the A's, Dave McNally of the Orioles (21), Joe Coleman of the Tigers (20), Andy Messersmith of the Angels (20), and three more Orioles, Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, and Jim Palmer, each with 20 wins. You have to remember that in 1971, the Orioles featured four starters who would wind up with 20 or more wins, propelling the O's to the AL pennant and their third straight World Series appearance..
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $1.00-$2.50.

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: 1984 Topps #332. 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: 1998 Topps #468 Rich Butler

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, March 29, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1998 Topps #468.
• Player Name, position, team: Rich Butler, outfielder, Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
• Major League Debut: September 6, 1997.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1997 stats (Blue Jays): 7 G, 14 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, .357 SLG, 2 BB, 3 SO, .286 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Blue Jays as a Free Agent 09/24/1990. Drafted by the Devil Rays #5th, 1997 Expansion Draft. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "The clue was in the hands. Butler showed little power, but astute scouts could see his bat speed through the zone would soon produce HRs. Last year, it did, and a prospect was born."
• Commentary: The second series of 1998 Topps series 2 not only featured Topps' first card of Topps-holdout Alex Rodriguez, but also in somewhat of an order, the draft picks and free agents of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. A life-long Blue Jays minor leaguer (signed with the team when he was seventeen), the Canadian born Richard Dwight Butler finally made it to the big club after a long tour of duty within the Jays' minor league system. But his career with his hometown team was short lived as the expansion Devil Rays made him their fifth pick (tenth player overall chosen). Butler would appear in 98 games for the D-Rays, hitting .226 with 7 home runs, 20 rbi's, and percentages of .278/.364/.643 in 72 games. With the Rays signing big-name free agents for the 1999 season, Butler spent most of the year in Durham, only appearing in seven games that year. Those would also be the last games Butler would play in the majors. He signed with the Mariners as a minor league free agent in 2000, and after spending time in both the Mariners and Rangers' farm systems, Butler ended his playing career, save for a 25-game comeback in the independents.
• Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1972 Topps #94. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2000 Topps #13 Magglio Ordóñez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, March 28, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2000 Topps #13.
• Player Name, position, team: Magglio Ordóñez, outfielder, Chicago White Sox
• Major League Debut: August 29, 1997.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1999 stats (White Sox): 157 G, 624 AB, 100 R, 188 H, 34 2B, 3 3B, 30 HR, 117 RBI, 13 SB, .510 SLG, 47 BB, 64 SO, .301 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the White Sox as a Free Agent 05/18/1991. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his second and card.
• Blurb on the back: "Two years into his professional career, Magglio was a .206 hitter. And six years into it, he still hadn't appeared on one of those top-10 team prospects lists in Baseball America. In 1999, however, Ordóñez was an All-Star. Combining contact and power, he has become a White Sox building block"
• Commentary: I purchased and received the sell sheets for 2000 Topps. This was the set that featured Mark McGwire and Hank Aaron during Topps' "compare-a-legend-to-a-current superstar" stage. The sell sheets actually came in a folder, looks really nice, and the sell sheet discusses what Topps plans were for the coming year, including the incorporation of a "Topps 2000" logo on every player card. Magglio Ordóñez was such a great young ball player that the fans started chanting his name during every plate appearance. I don't think I can spell it, but it sounded like "O-E-O...Maaaaaaag-lio." And with the Sox, he was one of the key figures in bringing the White Sox their first divisional championship since 1993. Maggs hit .315 with 32 home runs, drove in 126 rbi's, stole 18 bases, and had percentages of .371/.546/.917. He was named to his second All-Star team, and won his first Silver Slugger Award. He was among the Sox' offensive leaders every season through 2003. In 2004, injuries took a toll and he missed most of the season. Willing to prove that he still had it, he signed with the divisional rival Tigers. And while he missed out on being part of that World Series team, he found his offensive stroke in Detroit, and led the Tigers, who had wallowed in inferiority for most of the decade, back to relevance and by 2006, back to the World Series.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 68 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1998 Topps #468. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1980 Topps #456 Frank Taveras

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, March 27, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #456.
• Player Name, position, team: Frank Taveras, shortstop, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 25, 1971.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Mets): 153 G, 635 AB, 89 R, 167 H, 26 2B, 9 3B, 1 HR, 33 RBI, .263 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Pirates as a Free Agent 01/0/1968. Traded by the Pirates to the Mets 04/19/1979. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Set Pirates' club record by grounding into 4 double plays in 702 Plate Appearances, 1978. Had three 4-hit games in 1978."
• Commentary: I have to wonder how well the Randomizer works. Because it turns out that this card was already picked by as a subject back in 2010 (September 10, in fact). I know my Frank Taveras collection hasn't grown much, so it's safe to say I still own the nine cards that have him on it. What did I write back then? "Taveras was the shortstop of the fun-loving Pirates during the 1970's. He played in both the 1974 and 1975 NLCS (so says the cartoon caption on the left side of the back of the card). Traded to the Mets early in the 1979 season, he managed to lead the majors in games played with 164. Yes, that's right. He played 11 games with the Pirates before being traded to the Mets where he participated in 153 games. I thought that was a mistake too. He was very fast on the base paths, stealing 70 bases in 1977. He played for the Mets for two more seasons before ending his big league career with the Expos in 1982." With the Mets in 1980, Taveras hit for a career high .279 average with 25 runs driven in, stole 32 bases, and achieved percentages of .308/.327/.635. Defensively, he committed 25 errors in 609 total chances for a .959 fielding percentage and was part of 63 double plays.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2000 Topps #13. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama