Random Topps Card of the Day: 2010 Topps Update Series #US299 Xavier Nady

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, December 18, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Update Series #US299.
• Player Name, position, team: Xavier Nady, outfielder, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: September 30, 2000.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2009 stats (Yankees): 7 G, 28 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 4 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 6 SO, .429 SLG, .739 OPS, .286 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Padres, #2nd, June 2000. Signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent 01/29/2010. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his eleventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Coming off Tommy John surgery in 2009, Xavier was an 'X Factor' for the Cubs when they signed him for '10.  He hit a three-run homer in his fifth at-bat for them and provided bench pop all season."
• Commentary: You know you're a journeyman when of your fourteen regular Topps cards (including traded ones), that half of them are found in the Traded/U&H/Update Series products sold at the end of the year.  And of those seven, four of them are his only cards featuring that year's Topps design, including this one.  Xavier was one of those rare players who made his major league debut without stepping foot in the minor league system.  He was drafted in June of 2000, signed with the Padres on September 17 (three months later), and made his major league debut on the second-to-the-last-day of the 2000 MLB season.  He didn't return to the Padres' major league roster until 2003, being the team's primary right fielder.  He was traded to the Mets after the 2005 season, and was then traded off to the Pirates in a 2006 deadline deal.  Two productive seasons with the Pirates later (where he was one of the Buc's better players, hitting .301 with 36 homers and 152 rbi's, along with a career high .835 in OPS), he was traded once again to the Yankees in time for the Bomber's playoff push.  I guess playing nine games for the Yankees before undergoing Tommy John surgery will not even give Topps cause to give you a card in the base set (although having a pie-in-the-face will do it).  So it was that after the Yankees won their 27th World Series championship, Xavier found himself looking for another team that could use him. Enter the Chicago Cubs, who needed a lot of bench help.  And as the card states, he delivered.  With the Cubs, he entered 119 games, (and after my daughter's favorite player ever Derrek Lee was traded away, became the team's primary first baseman) and hit a decent .256 average with 6 home runs, 33 runs batted in, and had an OBP/SLG/OPS of .306/.353/.660.  His stint in Chicago lasted a year as he signed with the Diamondbacks in 2011.  In 2012, he signed with the Nationals, was released, and signed on with the Giants, just in time for the team's run to the World Series.  Nady will appear in a Kansas City Royals' jersey heading into the 2013 campaign.  It will be his sixth team in five seasons.
• Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 28 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be:  1981 Topps #223. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1981 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1985 Topps #2 Steve Garvey Record Breaker

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, December 17, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1985 Topps #2.
• Player Name, position, team: Steve Garvey, first baseman, San Diego Padres.
• Special: Record Breaker:  Most Consecutive Errorless Games, 1B.
• Headline on the Back: "Garvey's Streak of Consecutive Errorless Games sets Standard"
• Any special information about this specific card:  On September 30, 1984, Steve Garvey finished the season without committing an error.  It would be his 188th consecutive game doing so, which became the new record for first basemen.  He broke the record 10 games prior, when his 179th consecutive errorless game broke the record set by Mike Hegan of the Brewers and A's from September 24, 1970 through May 20, 1973.  The streak continued into the next season. But in the sixth game of the year, on April 15, 1985, in a game against the Giants, Garvey committed an error in the top of the ninth inning, missing a foul ball hit by Giants catcher Bob Brenly.  Brenly eventually struck out looking, but the streak had finally come to an end at 193 games (the streak began on 06/26/1983).  The record has since been broken by Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis (238) then by the Angels Casey Kotchman (274)
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2010 Topps Update Series #US299. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1965 Topps #105 Chico Salmon

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, December 16, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1965 Topps #105.
• Player Name, position, team: Chico Salmon, outfielder, Cleveland Indians.
• Major League Debut: June 28, 1964.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1964 stats (Indians): 86 G, 283 AB, 43 R, 87 H, 17 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 25 RBI, .307 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Senators as a Free Agent before the 1959 season. Traded by the Braves to the Indians in October, 1963.  Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Chico made a favorable impression upon Cleveland's fans in 1964.  The young rookie had the Tribe's top batting mark, though he only appeared in 86 ballgames.  In 1960, Chico's first year (as a professional), the outfielder led the Pioneer League with 182 hits."
• Commentary: The 1965 Topps set utilized pennants as the main design element, holding the team name of each player.  The colored borders also made it easy to sort cards by teams.  Looking back, it would have been fun to try and combine players into "fantasy teams" based on the colored border of the cards, regardless of team affiliation.  Although I guess there may have been some colors more used than others, it would make it a bit of a challenge.  Ruthford Eduardo Salmon was a fairly good hitter who played during the mid 60's through the mid 70's for both the Indians and Orioles.  He could, and did, play any position in the infield or outfield, earning himself the nickname of "Super Sub." Although he did not hit for power (31 home runs and 149 rbi's in 9 seasons), he was always able to hit and get on base.  In 1965, Salmon appeared in 79 games for the Tribe, hitting .242 with 3 home runs and 12 runs driven in.  He was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft after the 1968 season, but was traded before the 1969 season to the Orioles.  With the Orioles, he appeared in two consecutive World Series, and was on hand as the O's won the 1970 championship.  Chico Salmon passed away on September 17, 2000 in Panama from a heart attack.  He was 59 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: 1985 Topps #2. 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: 1980 Topps #380 Garry Maddox

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, December 15, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #380.
• Player Name, position, team: Garry Maddox, outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies.
• Major League Debut: April 25, 1972.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Phillies): 148 G, 548 AB, 70 R, 154 H, 28 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 61 RBI, .281 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants, #2nd, January 1968. Traded by the Giants to the Phillies 05/04/1975. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his eighth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Had 20-game hitting streak for the Phillies during the 1978 season.  Swiped 4 bases in one game for Phillies vs. Pirates, 05/29/1978."
• Commentary: Topps' 1980 baseball card set is mostly remembered as being the home of Rickey Henderson's rookie card.  But there are a lot of other cards that are usually overlooked when discussing this set.  Like this one for example.  What other card features a player whose hair could only rival what was underneath the cap of Oscar Gamble's 1976 Topps Traded card?  Garry Maddox was Phillies regular center fielder from the time the Giants traded him to Philly in 1975 to 1985.  He won eight straight Gold Glove awards (from 1975 to 1982), earning him the nickname "Secretary of Defense."  In 1976, hit career highs with a .330 batting average to go with an OBP/SLG/OPS of .377/.456/.833.  During the 1980 season, his averaged dipped to .259, but he hit 11 home runs, drive in 73 rbi's, and stole 25 bases for a team that would go on to win its first World Series in franchise history.  Although he ended his career early in the 1986 season, he maintained his ties to the city he called home as a player.  Maddox founded a promotional products company.  He became a majority owner and CEO of an office furniture company in 1995.  In 2003, he even began a four-year term on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  He also hosts the Garry Maddox Barbecue Challenge, a fundraiser held outside the Phillies' stadium.  
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13.

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: 1965 Topps #105. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1988 Topps #317 Tom Nieto

(Before I begin, I would like to wish my youngest sister Kylie a Happy 25th Birthday!!!)

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, December 14, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1988 Topps #317.
• Player Name, position, team: Tom Nieto, catcher, Minnesota Twins.
• Major League Debut: May 10, 1984.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2001 stats (Angels): 31 G, 170 IP, 5-12, 96 R, 90 ER, 82 SO, 71 BB, 28 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 4.76 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants, #15th, June 1989. Signed with the Pirates as a Free Agent 02/09/2002. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 5. This is his fifth and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Tom recorded 466 Putouts and 58 Assists while leading Texas League catchers with .994 Pct. in 1982."
• Commentary:  The first real set that I started collected thanks to those two neighborhood kids in the late 80's, I have a soft spot for the 1988 Topps set.  Yes, Topps produced millions and millions of every card.  Yes, Donruss, Fleer, and Score were on the market or just starting.  Yes, this was the last year before Upper Deck unleashed to the masses their revolutionary card product.  But I love how the team name was somehow obstructed by the player, making it appear that the letters were just hanging above the player.  It's just a shame that Topps can't seem to get the fonts right whenever they've attempted to reproduce this set.  What I'm mostly afraid of is what will happen in 2037 when Topps Heritage finally reaches 1988 for their design.  Yikes.  Tom Nieto was primarily a guy who was called up by his organization whenever the primary catcher was out.  His only season out of the minors was in 1985 when he played backup catcher to Darrel Porter (although he appeared in more games than Porter).  In 1988, he started the season with the Twins, splitting time with Tim Laudner behind the plate.  However, he was sent to the minors again after May because he was not hitting (at a low .043 after May 22) and made his return to the Twin Cities in September.  In 24 games, he hit a resoundingly low .067 (4-60).  He was traded to the Phillies after the 1988 season with Tom Herr and Eric Bullock for pitcher Shane Rawley.  He was a coach for the Mets in 2008 and returned to the Twins organization in 2010 to manage their AAA team in Rochester.  In 2012, he managed the Yankees rookie team in the Gulf Coast League.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 6.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1980 Topps #380. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Twitter Pictures I Missed

Apparently the Topps Company is counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training. Until that day comes, they have been showing pictures of what is to come in 2013. While they have been showing preliminary sheets of products like Heritage, since I don't really collect that brand, I'm skipping them.

What I will be showing instead are things that are of interest to me, and may be to you as well. Here we go.

Hey, we get a sneak peek into what to expect for 2013 Topps Archives. By the looks of things, 1972, 1982, and 1985 Topps designs look to be a contenders for one of the four designs used for the pseudo-Heritage base set.

The 1972 Topps minis look really good. I guess they couldn't photoshop a Blue Jays jersey fast enough on Jose Reyes.

The yellow field on these minis (which I'm guessing are for autos) really defeats the purpose of utilizing the 1972 Topps design. Why couldn't they stick with the original plans of just fading the bottom portion of the card for the stickers???

Now this is what I'm talking about. These look nice with or without autographs.

Topps Black parallel cards. Maybe later they'll show the green, or the camouflage, or even pink.

What every collector will be looking for once they hear 2013 Topps cards are on shelves everywhere.

On an unrelated note, with all the commotion that has taken place within the last couple of days in LA (for both Dodgers and Angels) should we be expecting super-short print cards of Josh Hamilton in an Angels jersey and Zack Greinke in a Dodgers uniform?  You never know.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T46 Victor Zambrano

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, December 13, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies #T46.
• Player Name, position, team: Victor Zambrano, pitcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: June 21, 2001.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Devil Rays): 34 G, 188.1, 12-10, 97 R, 88 ER, 132 SO, 106 BB, 28 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.44 WHIP, 4.21 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent 08/19/1993. Traded by the Devil Rays to the Mets 07/30/2004. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Victor is known for pitches with exceptional break, so much so that finding the strike zone can be a challenge for him.  He posted a splendid 22-17 record with the Devil Rays in the year and a half before his trade, even though he led the American League in wild pitches, walks and hit batsmen. "Victor has an uncanny ability to work out of a jam," explained Devil Rays manager Lou Pinella."
• Commentary: As the Devil Rays were the doormat of the AL East for the earlier part of their existence, it would not be a stretch to believe that many players would have been happy to get out of there.  Zambrano probably wasn't one of them.  He was doing rather well for himself down there, going 35-27 with 372 strikeouts, an ERA of 4.47, and a WHIP of 1.491 in 135 games, 61 of them starts.  But just before the trading deadline, the Devil Rays sent him and Bartolome Fortunato to the mets in exchange for Scott Kazmir and Jose Diaz.  With the Mets, Zambrano went 2-0 down the stretch in 3 starts.  While the Mets didn't make the playoffs that year, Victor was slated to be in the Mets rotation for 2005.  He didn't fare so well that year, with a 7-12 record and 4.17 ERA. Tommy John surgery knocked him out after May in 2006.  Zambrano signed on with the Blue Jays, but couldn't find the success he did at Tampa Bay.  In 2008, he spent the year with both the Rockies and Yankees minor league systems, and after two years playing in Taiwan and the Mexican League, he retired from baseball.
• Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 6 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1988 Topps #317. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama