Random Topps Card of the Day: 1983 Topps #556 Willie Upshaw

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, October 24, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1983 Topps #556.
• Player Name, position, team: Willie Upshaw, first baseman, Toronto Blue Jays.
• Major League Debut: April 9, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1982 stats (Blue Jays): 160 G, 580 AB, 77 R, 155 H, 25 2B, 7 3B, 21 HR, 75 RBI, 8 SB, .443 SLG, 52 BB, 90 SO, .267 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Yankees #5th, June 1975. Drafted by the Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft, 12/05/1977. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Willie collected 3 Hits including a Home Run in Blue Jays' 11-inning,5-3 win at Seattle, 6-23-82."
• Commentary: As of the end of the 2013 season, there have been only 54 baseball players in the major leagues whose last name began with the letter "U." Until guys like Uggla and the Upton brothers did it in the last couple of years, Willie Clay Upshaw was the all-time home run leader for a guy whose last name started with "U," (and with that, our Sesame Street moment is over). Upshaw's best season in the majors would be in 1983, when he hit what would be career highs in many of the hitting numbers (.306 average, 27 homers, 104 rbi's - becoming the first player in Blue Jays' history to reach the century mark in this category), .809 OPS, 11th on the MVP voting). He would be a steady presence in the Jays lineup at first base throughout the mid 80's. By the time he left Toronto (they had some guy named McGriff waiting in the wings as their future first baseman) for Cleveland, Upshaw finished his run with Toronto with a cumulative .265 average, 112 home runs, 528 runs driven in, percentages of .336/.426/.762, and 88 stolen bases in 1,115 games played. After a year in Cleveland, Upshaw took his talents to Japan, playing for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 1989-90 (hitting 33 home runs in '89) before retiring as an active player. He has gone on to be a first base coach of both the Indians (2000-2005) and the Giants from 2006-2007 (was the first person to congratulate Barry Bonds on his 756th home run) and minor league manager. He recently finished his fourth season (seventh overall) as manager of the independent league (Atlantic) Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1989 Topps Traded #124T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps #256 Alex Gonzalez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, October 23, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #256.
• Player Name, position, team: Alex Gonzalez, shortstop, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: April 4, 1994.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Cubs): 152 G, 536 AB, 71 R, 122 H, 37 2B, 0 3B, 20 HR, 59 RBI, 3 SB, 47 BB, 123 SO, .409 SLG, .704 OPS, .228 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays #14th, June 1991. Traded by the Blue Jays to the Cubs 12/10/2001. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his thirteenth  Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Over the first 10 days of May, Alex hit three homers (two of the walk-off variety) - all to win games in the 10th inning."
• Commentary: You can blame that Bartman guy all you want, but if it wasn't for this guy muffing what should have been a double play to end that fateful 8th inning, it would have been the Cubs running for the World Series...or that's what we're told in some places. But it doesn't matter now, even if it has been 10 years after that sting. Alex Scott Gonzalez (not to be confused with Alex Gonzalez, the one whose career has continued through the 2013 season) was acquired from the Blue Jays after Ricky Gutierrez left the team via free agency. And to be honest, Gonzalez did fill in quite nicely in those first two years. In 2004, after 37 games in which he was hitting .217 with 3 home runs and 8 rbi;'s in which he spent all of June on the DL, Gonzalez was part of the massive 4-team trade that saw eight players change hands. When the dust settled, Alex was sent to Montreal, with Nomar Garciaparra taking over at short. Gonzalez did much better in Montreal, hitting .241-4-16 in 35 games. But in September, the Expos traded him to the Padres, where he finished the season with cumulative .225-7-27 numbers. He signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, and after a successful season, signed with the Phillies in 2006. After 20 games with Philly though, Alex Gonzalez retired. He would "un-retire" the following year, but couldn't latch on with either the Royals or Nationals. He has since become an analyst for NBC and the MLB Network, as well as a principal of Miami Sports Management.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 15 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1983 Topps #556. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1981 Topps Traded #843 Jason Thompson

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, October 22, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1981 Topps Traded #843.
• Player Name, position, team: Jason Thompson, first baseman, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: April 23, 1976.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1980 stats (Angels): 102 G, 312 AB, 59 R, 99 H, 14 2B, 0 3B, 17 HR, 70 RBI, 2 SB, .526 SLG, 70 BB, 60 SO, .317 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Tigers #4th, June 1975. Traded by the Angels to the Pirates Yankees 04/01/1981. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: A two-time All-Star with the Tigers in the late 70's, Jason Dolph Thompson found himself traded to the Angels on May 27, 1980 for rightfielder Al Cowens. He would be traded just before the end of spring training in 1981 to Pittsburgh in exchange for Mickey Mahler and Ed Ott. During the strike-shortened season, Thompson appeared in 86 games, hit for a .242 average with 15 home runs and 42 rbi's. It would be the following year that he would prove that the Bucs received the better end of the trade. In what would be his third All-Star season, Thompson hit .284 with 31 home runs, 101 rbi's, 100 walks (becoming the third player in Pirates history with 100 rbi's and walks during the same season) and had percentages of .391/.511/.902. He finished with a .993 fielding percentage, committing 10 errors in 1510 chances. During his stay in the Steel City, Thompson hit for a cumulative.259 with 93 homers, 354 rbi's (the same number or rbi's he drove in with Detroit), and an .808 OPS. In 1986, he was traded to the Montréal Expos. After 30 games in which he hit for a .196 average, and with a young up-and-comer named Andres Galarraga taking over the reins at first base, Thompson was released, thus ending his MLB playing career.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 12 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2004 Topps #256. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2004 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #67T Mike Marshall

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, October 21, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #67T.
• Player Name, position, team: Mike Marshall, first baseman, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 7, 1981.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Dodgers): 105 G, 377 AB, 41 R, 98 H, 21 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 2 SB, .408 SLG, 33 BB, 78 SO, .260 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Dodgers #6th, June 1978. Traded by the Dodgers to the Mets 12/20/1989. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his tenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "His first 5-Hit major league game: 4-22-84. He belted 100th major league Home Run: 7-17-87. He belted 1st World Series Home Run: 10-16-88."
• Commentary: After nine seasons, a .271 average, 137 home runs, 484 rbi's, an All-Star Game selection, and one World Series title, the Los Angeles Dodgers traded Michael Allen Marshall (not to be confused with the pitching workhorse Michael Grant Marhsall) to the New York Mets with pitcher Alejandro Pena for All-Star second baseman Juan Samuel. I'm sure he would have loved to move back to his natural first base position, after years of spending time in right field at Chavez Ravine. But they already had Eddie Murray, a player they traded for in 1989, at first. So it was off to the bright lights of the Big Apple. His stay with the Mets, however, was short lived. After appearing in 53 games from April through June 12, 1990, in which his hitting numbers included a .239 average with 6 homers and 27 rbi's, Marshall was traded to Boston for three minor leaugers. He entered 30 games for Boston, hitting a better .286-4-12. An injury riddled 1991 campaign saw him play for both Boston and the California Angels before taking his talents to Japan in 1992, where he joined the Nippon Ham Fighters for a season before calling it quits for good. Since then, he's been running around the independent leagues, working in various capacities from manager to team president, general manager, to vice president of baseball operations for four different organizations.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1981 Topps Traded #843. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2011 Topps Pro Debut #260 Kendal Volz

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2011 Topps Pro Debut #260.
• Player Name, position, team: Kendal Volz, pitcher, Greenville Drive.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: A-South Atlantic League, Boston Red Sox.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 26 G, 116.1 IP, 6-5, 53 R, 48 ER, 94 SO, 14 BB, 24 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.212 WHIP, 3.71 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Red Sox #9th, June 2009. Bats: right. Throws: left.
• Major League Debut: n/a.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: n/a.
• Blurb on the back: "A former star at Baylor and veteran of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, Volz signed too late in 2009 to start his pro career. The 22-year-old right hander opened '10 at Single-A Greenville, where he compiled a 6.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: n/a.
• Commentary: Originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 50th round during the 2006 draft, William Kendal Volz opted to go to college instead, attending Baylor University. He spent the first four months of the season with the Red Sox' minor league team in Salem, as a reliever (he was a starter the previous season). In 31 games, Volz went 2-3 with 2 saves, an ERA of 3.33, 56 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.052. He was traded at the deadline to Kansas City as one of the prospects the Royals wanted for infielder Mike Aviles, and after 6 games with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, was promoted to the Royals AA team, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He returned to the Naturals in 2012, pitching in 16 games, finishing 11 of them, a record of 3-1, and 16 strikeouts when a muscle tear ended his season. In a surprising move, Volz opted to retire from baseball on July 20, 2012.

Next week's featured card will be: 2011 Topps Pro Debut #311. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1951 Topps Blue Back #24 Sherman Lollar

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 20, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1951 Topps Blue Back #24.
• Player Name, position, team: Sherman Lollar, catcher, St. Louis Browns.
• Major League Debut: April 20, 1946.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1950 stats (Browns): N/A (no statistics found on the 1951 Topps cards).
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Browns as a Free Agent before the 1943 season. Traded by the Yankees to the Browns 12/13/1948. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the front: "Batting and throwing right-handed, the 6', 180 pound St. Louis Browns' catcher had a .280 batting mark in 1950."
• Commentary: In 1951, Topps jumped into the baseball card market with two series of 52 cards that were to be used to play a simple game of baseball. Each card, along with the black-and-white headshot of a player from one of the 16 teams in the majors, was a play that would determine the outcome of an at bat (ball, strike, home run, etc). If you and a friend were to play this game, and Sherm Lollar was on the card, you would get is a strike called. While John Sherman Lollar made his MLB debut with the Indians, and spent parts of two seasons with the Yankees (winning a World Series title in 1947), it wasn't until he was traded to the St. Louis Browns that he began not only to get regular playing time, but become a star. In 1950, on the heels of batting .314 through the first half of the season, he earned his first trip to the All-Star Game. He finished the year with a .280 average, 13 home runs, and 65 rbi's for the Browns. The following season, he would appear in 98 games, but still hit .252 with 8 homers and 44 rbi's. He was traded to the White Sox at the end of the season. For 12 productive years on the southside, Lollar would go on to play 1358 games for the Pale Hose, hitting a cumulative .265, with 124 home runs, 631 driven in, percentages of .358/.402/.759, earn 6 more trips to the All-Star Game, and win three Gold Glove awards for his defense. Upon retiring, Lollar became a coach for the Orioles (1964-68) and A's (1969). In 2000, Lollar was named to the White Sox' All-Century Team. He is considered one of the best catchers in the Golden Era, and is eligible for consideration on the Hall of Fame Ballot for 2014. He was one of 32 players listed in the book The Case for Those Overlooked by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. Seven players mentioned in that book have since been inducted into Cooperstown. Sherm Lollar passed away on September 7, 1963 at the age of 53 years old.
• 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: 1990 Topps Traded #67T. 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 Team Set of the Week: 2011 Topps Cincinnati Reds

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2011 Cincinnati Reds
• Record: 79-83, third place, NL Central Division.
• Manager: Dusty Baker
• Card on the Top: Joey Votto

The checklist consists of the following players:

• CIN1 Joey Votto
• CIN2 Jay Bruce
• CIN3 Edinson Volquez
• CIN4 Johnny Cueto
• CIN5 Bronson Arroyo
• CIN6 Scott Rolen
• CIN7 Francisco Cordero
• CIN8 Homer Bailey
• CIN9 Edgar Renteria
• CIN10 Aroldis Chapman
• CIN11 Ramon Hernandez
• CIN12 Jonny Gomes
• CIN13 Mike Leake
• CIN14 Brandon Phillips
• CIN15 Drew Stubbs
• CIN16 Travis Wood
• CIN17 Home of the Reds

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2011 Topps eponymous set:

• Francisco Cordero's cards use the same photo, but on the retail card the top of the card nearly touches the top border:
  
  

• Whose arm appears in the background of Homer Bailey's retail card? Because you can't see it on the base card:
  
  

• Edgar Renteria was a Giant in 2010, and it looks like for the retail Reds card they photoshopped the Reds jersey over his Giants uniform. For the record, here for your viewing pleasure are both his base and Update Series cards:
  
  

• I'm pretty sure that this is a different picture used on Aroldis Chapman's rookie card...isn't it?:
  
  

• Jonny Gomes is getting ready to step onto the plate on his base card:
  
  

• Definitely a different picture used for Travis Wood.:
  
  

So of the 16 players included in this set, four have picture variations and two use the same picture, but cropped differently. This is a set that is a good example of why team collectors (and regular collectors too) should buy the retail sets. Yes, it may be the same players, yes, there might be the same pictures. But when there are variations...it's pretty cool to compare.

Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Chicago Cubs. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama