Random Topps Card of the Day: 1961 Topps #567 Danny Murtaugh NL All-Star Manager

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 14, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1961 Topps #567.
• Manager Name, team: Danny Murtaugh, All-Star Manager, National League.
• Commentary: This technically wouldn't count as one of Murtaugh's regular MGR card as this card was part of the All-Star subset sponsored by Sporting News (his regular card is #138 in the 1961 Topps set).  Murtaugh inherited a team in 1957 that was 36-67 before taking it over.  He finished the year with a respectable 26-25 record.  Three years, and three winning records later, the Bucs beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series.  And as the manager for the 1961 All-Star Game, the NL beat the AL in the first game (they played two back then) 5-4 in ten innings and went to a 1-all tie in the second game.  In fifteen years as the Pirates manager, his teams went 1115-950, won two World Series.  He passed away on December 2, 1976, after leading the Pirates to a 92-70 record.  
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $12.50-$30.00.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2010 Topps #482. 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: 1990 Topps #527 Ron Hassey

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, October 13, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #527.
• Player Name, position, team: Ron Hassey, catcher-designated hitter, Oakland Athletics.
• Major League Debut: April 23, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Athletics): 97 G, 268 AB, 29 R, 61 H, 12 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 1 SB, .328 SLG, 24 BB, 45 SO, .228 AVG.
• Any special information about players: Drafted by the Indians, #10th, June 1976. Signed with the Athletics as a Free Agent 12/06/1987.  Bats:  left.  Throws:  right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his fourteenth card.
• Blurb on the back: none.
• Commentary: Normally, I would say that maybe all the cards of the Athletics players should have been printed with the green borders (see Jose Canseco's 1990 Topps card). It makes sense visually.  But I look at the background on Hassey's card and the "indigo" borders work here as well.  It is not as striking visually as let's say Pat Perry's card (a pitcher from the Cubs, his card has red borders) or Kal Daniel's card (Dodgers with an orange border).  Ron Hassey is one of those players who may not have the Hall-of-Fame credentials, but during his 14-year career in MLB, he's been involved in a lot of historic events.  Hassey caught not one, but TWO PERFECT GAMES, (Len Barker's on 05/15/1981 and Dennis Martinez' on 07/28/1991). Chicago Cubs fans will recognize him as one of the players sent to the Cubs in the Rick Sutcliffe trade (the one which sent Joe Carter to the Indians).  He was a part of three Oakland A's World Series rosters (winning it all in 1989).  In 1990, he was Bob Welch's personal catcher, the year in which he won the Cy Young award on the strength of a 27 win season.  After one last go with the Expos in 1991, he went to become a coach with the Rockies (1993-1995), Cardinals (1996) and Mariners (2005-2006), a scout with the Diamondbacks (1997-2003), a minor league manager, and a minor league manager, spending the 2012 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 17.

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: 1961 Topps #567. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1998 Topps #437 Rod Beck

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, October 12, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1998 Topps #437.
• Player Name, position, team: Rod Beck, pitcher, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: May 6, 1991.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1997 stats (Giants): 73 G, 70 IP, 7-4, 31 R, 27 ER, 53 SO, 8 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 37 SV, 3.47 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics, #13th, June 1986.  Signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent 01/15/1998. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "The Cubs, who have had a fluid closer situatiohn since Randy Myers left after the 1995 campaign, grabbed one of the best in Beck during the free agent raids last winter.  Since 1993, in fact, only Myers has recorded more saves.  His first save for Chicago will make him the 21st in history to amass 200 in a career..
• Commentary: The 1998 Topps set was the first of six sets in a row where a colored border replaced the traditional white one.  In fact, the color used for the border of this set is so hard to replicate, that even Topps can't get it right (and they've tried countless times, believe me).  It's not a bright orange (see 2005 Topps Rookie Cup reprints and 2006 Topps 1998 Mickey Mantle card) but a tannish gold???  Anyway, Rod Beck joined the Cubs before the 1998 season, and what a year he had.  He appeared in 81 games for the Northsiders, and saved 51 of them.  Normally, 51 would lead any league, but the save leader in the NL that year was Trevor Hoffman with his 53.  Anyway, he was one of the key reasons why the Cubs wound up playing for, and winning, the Wild Card spot in the 1998 playoffs (and we all know how that ended, right???)  "The Shooter" finished 18th in the MVP voting.  He could not capture the same success in 1999, and was traded to Boston on August 31, 1999.  After a few years bouncing around with the Red Sox, he returned to the Cubs as a minor league free agent in 2003.  Playing for the Iowa Cubs, he would park his trailer behind the centerfield wall.  He played for the Padres in 2003, filling in for an injured Hoffman no less, converting 20 saves in 20 opportunities, good enough for Comeback Player of the Year.  Sadly, the Shooter passed away on June 23, 2007.  He was only 38 years old.
• Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps #527. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2008 Topps #126 Brandon Jones

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, October 11, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps #126.
• Player Name, position, team: Brandon Jones, outfielder, Atlanta Braves.
• Major League Debut: September 16, 2007.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (Mississippi AA-Southern / Richmond AAA-International): 136 G, 535 AB, 84 R, 158 H, 33 2B, 7 3B, 19 HR, 100 RBI, 17 SB, 61 BB, 120 SO, .490 SLG, .856 OPS, .295 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Braves, #24th, June 2003. 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: "Brandon was just too good for the Minors in 2007, as he peppered both AA and AAA pitching en route to his MLB debut on September 16.  Although he was the least famous of the three Jones boys in Atlanta's lineup that day, that won't be for long, according to Philip Wellman.  "He could be on the verge of some big things," said Brandon's manager at Mississippi."
• Commentary: When I first started this humble, little blog in 2008, the few bloggers at the time had literally put this design through the proverbial wringer.  Circus circles is what the few said about the shapes that were used to encircle the letters.  It must have been popular because Topps used it for their football and basketball cards as well.  The picture isn't as large as it could have been, especially when Topps logo dips into the picture frame.  I looked into the game log for Brandon's MLB debut.  There were not one, not two, but THREE men who share the same last name (Jones), and none were related.  This Jones batted eighth that night, with Andruw Jones batting ahead of him and Chipper batting third.  While Manager Wellman thought Brandon was "on the verge of some big things," he never had the opportunity to show it with Atlanta.  Playing in parts of three seasons with the Braves, he hit a decent .257 with 1 home run and 22 rbi's.  In 2008, he was inserted into the lineup 41 times, driving in 17 RBI's and hitting his lone home run on June 14, 2008.  He has spent the last three seasons in the Pirates, Tigers, and Brewers minor league systems and in 2012, played for the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association.
• Beckett value: $0.60-$1.50.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 3 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1998 Topps #437. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

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

• Team: 2011 Philadelphia Phillies
• Record: 102-60, first place, NL East Division.
• Manager: Charlie Manuel
• Card on the Top: Cliff Lee

The checklist consists of the following players:

• PHI1 Cliff Lee
• PHI2 Roy Halladay
• PHI3 Ryan Howard
• PHI4 Cole Hamels
• PHI5 Chase Utley
• PHI6 Domonic Brown
• PHI7 Roy Oswalt
• PHI8 Raul Ibanez
• PHI9 Jimmy Rollins
• PHI10 Shane Victorino
• PHI11 Wilson Valdez
• PHI12 Ben Francisco
• PHI13 Carlos Ruiz
• PHI14 Ryan Madson
• PHI15 Brad Lidge
• PHI16 Placido Polanco
• PHI17 Citizens Bank Park

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:

• Cliff Lee as he was originally pictured as a Ranger, and as he appears in '11 Update Series:
  
  

• In the base set, Domonic Brown is batting:
  
  

• In Update Series, Wilson Valdez is fielding in mid-air:
  
  

• Ben Francisco is fielding in the base set:
  
  

• Ryan Madson's card in the eponymous set was set horizontally:
  
  

We could play "If This is His Topps Card, What Card is This?" all day long with this set as five of the sixteen players have different cards found exclusively in this team set.

Next week's featured set will be the 2012 Houston Astros.  Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Update Series.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2010 Topps Update Series #US-85 Starlin Castro

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, October 10, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Update Series #US-85.
• Player Name, position, team: Starlin Castro, shortstop, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: May 7, 2010.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2009 stats (Daytona A-Florida State / Tennessee AA-Southern): 127 G, 469 AB, 56 R, 140 H, 23 2B, 6 3B, 3 HR, 49 RBI, 28 SB, 29 BB, 53 SO, .392 SLG, .734 OPS, .299 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent 10/25/2006. 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 back: "Starlin bolted from rookie ball to the Majors in less than two years, slapping around pitchers at four levels along the way. When he reached the Cubs for the first time on May 7, 2010 (after whacking .376 in 26 games at Double-A to start the year), Castro proved he was ready. He homered in his initial at-bat and set a modern-day debut mark with six RBI."
• Commentary: When Topps became MLB's (and MLBPA's) lone exclusive, what best way to celebrate than by creating a card where the actual team name's word mark logo. Yes, the colored curves on the left side of the card kind of dig into the picture, the rather large team name logo makes the cards easy to sort by your favorite team. Of the 17,941 players to make their debut in Major League Baseball, none had the kind of debut that young Starlin Castro had on May 7, 2010. I remember driving to dinner that evening and turning on the radio, Pat and Ron were talking about this shortstop who was making his debut that night. It was the top of the second inning, and both Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto reached base. On Castro's first at-bat, he cracks a "long drive into deep right field. This ball's got a chance....LONG GONE!!! WELCOME TO THE MAJORS STARLIN CASTRO!!!" Not a bad first at-bat, and this kid just turned 20 two months ago...making him the first major leaguer born in 1990. (Do I feel old). In the fifth inning, with the bases loaded, Castro was up again, and cracked a triple between left and center. At the end of the day, Castro set a MLB record for most rbi's in a debut (6). He hasn't stopped since. Granted, he still has a few issues on the field, but that should get better with experience. By the end of the 2012 season, he is a two-time All-Star, an incredible hitting machine, leading the NL in hits in 2011, and one of the building blocks that many Cub fans hope will once day help lead the team to the promised land. This card is actually card #US-85a as there is a variation card #US-85b of another Cub legend, Andre Dawson.

• Beckett value: $1.25-$3.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 29 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 2008 Topps #126. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Check Out My Cards From comc.com

(Please note that this is not a paid testimonial to Check Out My Cards' website...although if you guys do want to send a check my way, send me an e-mail.)

I knew it existed. I knew they had a lot of cards that I needed. Yet, I never had thought of actually buying from Check Out My Cards .com (or comc.com).

Maybe it was because I thought you had to be a member to buy cards from their site (you don't). Maybe it was because I thought you had to sell cards on the site to buy cards from their site (you don't). Whatever it was, I thought I wasn't able to purchase cards from comc.com.

So what made me decide to finally take the plunge? I had read somewhere (I don't know if it was on twitter, facebook, a message board, something) that they had just re-designed their site. So I was curious and looked. I'm sure there were massive changes to the website's design (at least the logo was different). But then I started looking at cards. Then, I became curious about some of the cards that I had on my want list and decided to look for them on the site. Lo and behold, there they were...and the prices were kind of reasonable. Oh, what's this, a cart? Why not. So I started placing cards I wanted into this virtual shopping cart.

After thirty minutes, I had 35 cards in my cart and the total price started to climb higher. I decided to stop there and "check out." They take PayPal? Great. And just like that, I became a customer of comc.com.

So what exactly did I buy?

Let's start with:

• Fifteen 2010 Target Red Backs (2) and Walmart Blue Backs (13)

• Six 2009 Topps Hobby Factory Exclusive Rookie Cards (the other four are now added onto the wantlist) that would have otherwise never see the light of day...EVER!!!

• The last five 2009 Topps MLB Legends SP cards. I now have all 61 SP'd cards from the 2009 set.

• Two 2009 Topps Target Exclusive Legends of the Game Cards (now just need one more...the Nolan Ryan #LLG25 to complete this entire series).

• Four 2012 Topps MLB SP cards. Just missing the DiMaggio, these are probably the only 2012 Topps SP cards I want...other than the Pujols and Reyes cards from Series 1 and the first seven Update Series SSP's.

• One 2011 Topps Sticker of Jacoby Ellsbury (need four more)

• One 2010 Topps SP Hank Greenberg #1b. I would have liked to buy more, but the price was getting too high. This was the last card I bought last week.

• I lied. I finally have my Balut card from 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter.

Great haul. It really made a dent in my wantlist. And now that I know I have other options, I think I'll start saving up for some other cards that have been taking up space on the sidebar. We'll see. To the fine people at COMC, thank you very much.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama