Topps Baseball Card of the Day Archive

2/26/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 1993 Topps #258 Mike Schooler, Mariners

More Mike Schooler Topps Cards: 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

Maybe he wasn't leaping over walls to steal homers, or embarrassing foes with 100-mph gas, or showcasing arguably the finest righty swing of his time, or breaking hearts with one acrobatic sprawl after another.

But for a time, when discussing the early-90s Mariners trove of young talent, Mike Schooler could not be excluded—even if he lacked the upside of a Griffey, Johnson, Martinez or Vizquel.

Schooler, a 1985 #2 pick with low-90s heat and a good slider, was exclusively a starter through his first three pro seasons, and a decent one (at least statistically). In 1987-88 winter ball, Schooler switched to relief and was in the big leagues by the following June—closing, no less! The big righty became Seattle's all-time saves leader by 1990. (Granted, the franchise was only 14 seasons old and had had comparatively few leads to protect...but still.)

1991 proved humbling; a shoulder subluxation—in layman's terms, his arm almost literally fell off—left over from late 1990 plus a subsequent minors stint halved Schooler's season, but no one had given up on the 29-year-old entering 1992, the year represented on this card.

THIS CARD: I don't know Schooler's 1993 marital status, but if he was single and not using this card to pick up chicks, a potentially awesome icebreaker/pickup line was being wasted: "There's a BIG HITTER between my legs, baby!"

Entering late June 1992, Schooler was 13-for-16 in saves, and if you toss out an Opening Day massacre and another the following month—an aggregate nine runs in 1.1 IP—a 2.41 ERA accompanied it. Still, his stuff had diminished and he'd already been demoted from closing when disabled for over a month by a bicep strain. Schooler never saved another major league game again.

THE REVERSE: Schooler switched from uniform #40 to #29 in 1992...if it was for better luck, it didn't work. Those 98 saves still rank 3rd in M's history behind Kaz Sasaki (129) and J.J. Putz (101).

26 years of card collecting/MLB fandom and I'd never heard of A Wausau (Midwest League). Affiliated mostly with the Mets and Mariners, the team existed 1975-1990 before becoming the Kane County Cougars (several affiliations, currently with the Arizona Diamondbacks).

Although Schooler by far is the most accomplished of four future big leaguers on that 1986 pitching staff, one of his rotation mates was named Cork McCorkle, which is almost as cool as reaching the majors in my book.

The two-hitter was one of three minor league shutouts to Schooler's credit.

AFTER THIS CARD: Schooler, whether due to salary (his guess) or strictly baseball reasons, was cut by the Mariners shortly into Spring Training 1993. He hooked up with the Rangers, but following an extended minor league tune-up, Schooler allowed runs in 11 of 17 appearances and was released in September.

Though he got minor-league run in 1994-95, Schooler never returned to the majors.

Mike Schooler appeared in 1988 Topps Traded, then received base cards 1989-93.

CATEGORIES: 1993 Topps, Seattle Mariners

2/8/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 2014 Topps #288 Julio Teheran, Braves

More Julio Teheran Topps Cards: 2012 2013 2015

TSR apologizes for the lengthy COTD delay...sometimes dad duty can't be delayed.

Teheran (pronunced Tay-ron) is one of the better young righties in the game today, and the Braves (co) wins leader two years running. The young Colombian reached Atlanta in 2011, summoned to make a spot start against the Philadelphia Phillies—the same Phillies who'd reached the NLCS or beyond the preceding three seasons. No pressure, Julio.

Though the 20-year-old threw gamely, he wasn't ready to stick and wouldn't be until 2013.

This card represents that breakthrough season, one in which Teheran—who throws in the mid-90s with command and picks off a load of dudes—finished just one behind Kris Medlen for the team lead in wins (14) and gave Atlanta at least five innings in every last one of his 30 starts!

THIS CARD: Future Stars is back in 2014, even if most of them are "Current" Stars. Can't say I blame Topps—in the past, unprovens labeled by Topps as Future Stars often failed to become even Future Regulars or Future Key Reserves.

This uniform has been worn by Atlanta as a home alternate since 2012, paying homage to the 1966 team freshly transplanted from Milwaukee. The patch reads 1876—when the Boston Braves were founded—and replaces the "Screaming Warrior" originally featured, but long retired out of sensitivity to Native Americans.

THE REVERSE: I was going to mention Teheran's five scoreless starts of six or more innings above before spotting it in the blurb. For those of you not around 20 years ago, young Steve Avery was pretty damn good—not Kershaw/Bumgarner-level; more like Sale-level.

We could not dig up whose record Teheran broke—give us time—but we can tell you he led all 2013 rooks with a 3.78 K/BB ratio.

From now until the end of time, I will accidently confuse WHIP for ERA on modern Topps cards. Hard to adjust when you've been reading Topps card reverses a certain way for over 20 years.

AFTER THIS CARD: Though he was last seen being battered by the Dodgers in the '13 NLDS, Teheran was locked up for six years, $32M not long after this card was issued in early 2014—he is poised to take the ball when the Braves open SunTrust Park next year unless 2015 trade whispers materialize into an actual move.

Now financially set, Teheran turned in an even better 2014, making (but not playing for) the All-Star team! But he slipped in 2015, especially on the road—hence the aforementioned trade whispers, which the Braves haven't exactly refuted.

Julio Teheran has appeared in Topps annually since 2012.

CATEGORIES: 2014 Topps, Atlanta Braves

2/13/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 1998 Topps #221 Jim Bullinger, Expos

More Jim Bullinger Topps Cards: 1993 1995 1996

Jim Bullinger exemplifies why, regardless of goal, one should never give up on one's dreams. Entering 1990 he'd just completed a two-year run of batting .190 in almost 250 minor league games—and ended up in the Hall of Fame.

Granted, that was the New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame, but still.

Bullinger's weak bat prompted a conversion to pitching that landed him in the major leagues two years later—naturally, the lifetime .314 MiLB slugger homered in his first big league at-bat. The Cubs moved him into the rotation late in '92; he one-hit the Giants on 8/30 but lost his other six decisions and opened '93 in AAA.

But by '95, Bullinger was starting for Chicago full-time. In fact, until a late swoon, the 30-year-old's stats were among the NL's best (10-5, 3.16 thru August, but a 7.56 ERA and 1.99 WHIP afterward).

Opening '96 as the Cubs 4th starter, Bullinger threw eight scoreless innings at the Dodgers...then regressed, ultimately losing, re-gaining, and re-losing his rotation spot during the season. Bullinger finished 5-9, 7.40 in 20 starts but was exponentially better out of the bullpen (3.12, zero HRA in 26 innings).

Chicago gave up on the inconsistent righty after the season, and Montreal swooped in—potentially teaming Jim with his little brother Kirk, an Expo prospect (didn't happen).

THIS CARD: Bullinger wore #52 for all but the final two games of his MLB career. Outfielder Tony Scott was the first Expo to wear #52 (1973-75); Bullinger was one of nine pitchers to claim it afterward, but no Montreal position player ever did again.

If I'm correct, Bullinger's in mid-delivery at brand-new Turner Field. Despite two shutouts during the season, he carried a 5.68 ERA into mid-August and lost his rotation spot. This time, he wasn't any more effective in relief, at least not for a while.

All 1998 Topps baseball cards received parallel prints with the "Minted In Cooperstown" stamp. I built 75% of this set through packs; MIC editions popped up at random.

THE REVERSE: I alluded to the shutouts earlier. The home run was Bullinger's fourth and final in MLB; he smoked two in '96 along with the aforementioned '92 blast. The blown save: on 8/27 at St. Louis, Bullinger entered a 3-0 game in the 6th, gave up two, then allowed a David Bell tying homer leading off the 7th. The Cards eventually won 4-3.

AFTER THIS CARD: Cast off at season's end, the 32-year-old joined Seattle for '98. In his second game he started versus a star-studded Yankee team coming under serious fire for daring to begin the season 1-4. Beginning with their 10-run, 12-hit, three-inning demolition of Jim Bullinger—which ended his major league career—that club went on to a 113-44 finish.

Bullinger continued pitching professionally through 2005—most of it as a SP in the Independent League—ending his career with a rough 10-game stint with AAA Charlotte (White Sox) at age 39.

In addition to this card, Jim Bullinger appeared in 1993 and 1995-96 Topps.

CATEGORIES: 1998 Topps, Montreal Expos

2/16/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 2001 Topps #532 Al Leiter, Mets

More Al Leiter Topps Cards: 1988 1989 1990 1991 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005

Let's time-travel back to the year 1991. Imagine being asked what current major league pitcher would, in nine years, throw 142 of the gutsiest pitches in a postseason start ever.

Chances are your guesses would come from a pool of veterans like Roger Clemens, David Cone, Greg Maddux, Chuck Finley, or possibly an up-and-comer like Randy Johnson, Kevin Appier, John Burkett, Andy Benes, Ramon Martinez or John Smoltz.

You would not pick the one-time prospect who'd pitched 11 pro games in the past two seasons recovering from multiple arm surgeries, and who, because of constant battles with blisters, couldn't be counted on for half that pitch total even before the operations.

Al Leiter (pronounced Lighter), of course, is the man in question. A Yankees #2 pick out of high school in 1984, by '88 he was in their rotation and pitching well despite routinely leaving starts early. In fact, one start lasted exactly one pitch when Oakland's Carney Lansford drilled him in the arm with a liner.

Despite Leiter's upside, the 1989 Yankees needed to replace (injured) Dave Winfield's power, and sacrificed him to acquire unhappy Blue Jays slugger Jesse Barfield in May. From that point through the end of the 1992 season, Leiter pitched in nine major league games total (though, contrary to popular belief, he was not injured that entire time—he spent most of 1990 and 1992 starting regularly in the minors.)

Still only 27, Leiter re-emerged in 1993, joined the Toronto rotation full-time in '94, then blossomed into one of the game's better—and at times, best—lefties over the next decade. Here, the 35-year-old is fresh off that memorable 2000 performance referenced above—albeit in a losing effort—which followed a 16-win, All-Star summer for the Mets lefty.

THIS CARD: The Mets discontinued the black alternates a few years ago. Good riddance—I don't like alternates period, but I especially dislike those unmatched to a team color.

Our second consecutive card with a special logo stamp; "Home Team Advantage" is a parallel set with exactly zero other differences besides the stamp. Allegedly, HTA was sold as its own set, but I bought the standard 2001 factory set with loads of HTAs randomly mixed in.

THE REVERSE: As you can see, Leiter walked a lot of dudes early in his career. He curbed his command issues for a time, but eventually they resurfaced.

The Clemente Award has been issued since 1971 (renamed from The Commissioner's Award beginning in 1973). As a Met, Leiter was not only fan-friendly, but aided many causes through his foundation.

As late as 2001, Topps' bio boxes didn't include "with _____" in reference to trades. For the record, Florida acquired three prospects from the Mets—one being future star A.J. Burnett.

AFTER THIS CARD: Leiter—whose brother Mark re-ignited his own stalled career with Al's help—pitched four more oft-hard luck years in New York, who spent much of that time in or near last place. At 39, he re-signed with the Marlins for 2005, but was cut halfway through after putting up an ERA nearing seven and a WHIP nearing two.

The Yankees brought Leiter back to finish the year; Leiter also went to Spring Training 2006 with the club (during which he appeared on All My Children as an interviewee of Susan Lucci's Erica Kane) but didn't make it, and retired at 40.

He's stayed in baseball as a MLB Network analyst and a Yankee broadcaster—this year he will also call games for the Marlins; don't ask me how that works. (That's three stints with both clubs for those of you keeping count...obviously Leiter makes friends wherever he goes.)

Al Leiter was featured in Topps 1988-91, excluded for two years, returned in 1994-95, was one of many puzzling exclusions in 1996, then made annual appearances 1997-2005.

(Note the 1995 card was from Traded, and the 1988 card was initially an error print of fellow prospect Steve George; a corrected version was later produced.)

CATEGORIES: 2001 Topps, New York Mets

2/19/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 2014 Topps #44 Matt Carpenter, Cardinals

More Matt Carpenter Topps Cards: 2013 2015

As infrequently as they've been selected in the past, I never dreamed 2014 Topps would ever go on hiatus. But that's exactly what must happen—two of our past four Randomized selections are from that set.

I wish I could permanently hiatus the St. Louis Cardinals—regular visitors to COTD may be familiar with my contempt for that franchise dating back to decade's beginning. Gotta admit that despite routinely beating up on my Giants, Matt Carpenter—to date—escapes the vitriol directed at so many of his teammates. Why? Simply put, I like the way the guy plays. He's a tough out, and he always seems in control of every at-bat.

Seeing the repeat All-Star today, the uninformed can't grasp St. Louis depriving him of a roster spot until age 26. As a college junior, Carpenter found himself both overweight and injured (Tommy John surgery). That teamed to keep him undrafted until 2009's 13th round, by which time he was approaching 24.

A third baseman by trade, Carpenter sipped the bigs two years later, and won a roster spot out of Spring 2012. He got extensive run subbing for Lance Berkman at first base as well as in the outfield—where he'd never played as a pro before (at times it showed; all three of his OF errors led to runs in close games St. Louis eventually lost).

Here, the 28-year-old is coming off his first season as a major league starter, having beaten Daniel Descalso in camp for the second base job and taken over the leadoff spot. Carpenter's league-high run, hit and double totals, All-Star nod, MVP votes and one particularly memorable postseason at-bat validated Mike Matheny's decision.

THIS CARD: This is Carpenter's second Topps appearance, and he's depicted in a throwback Cardinals cream uni from the pre-expansion era. No, this wasn't Turn Back The Clock Day—the team added this as a regular alternate look for 2013 (specifically, Saturday home games).

The #9 sleeve patch is for Stan Musial, the Cardinals legend who passed away at 92 in early 2013.

I still can't immediately identify a 2014 Topps vs. a 2013 Topps without brief pause.

THE REVERSE: For more on Carpenter's work ethic, click here.

Finding out the other such three-category MLB leader proved far more difficult than expected, even with the World Wide Web's help. Ultimately, we're going with Pete Rose in 1976, even though his hit total only tied for the major league lead (with George Brett.)

I'm not totally certain that's who Topps was referencing, but since there's no reason not to identify Rose aside from Topps' recent refusal to so much as print the man's name on cards...it's a safe bet. No pun intended.

In 1954, 31-year-old rookie Joe Frazier notched 16 pinch-hits. Out of baseball by 1957, he went on to change ethnicities and become a pro boxer, taking on Muhammad Ali three times. Just kidding.

AFTER THIS CARD: Carpenter—who signed a 6Y/$52M extension in Spring 2014—switched back to 3B that year. Most of his numbers dipped—though not enough to keep him off the All-Star team. He exploded for 28 homers in 2015, leading the team by a lot and exceeding his entire three-year career total to that point!

Matt Carpenter has appeared in Topps annually since 2013.

CATEGORIES: 2014 Topps, St. Louis Cardinals

2/22/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 1996 Topps #199 Tony Phillips, Angels

More Tony Phillips Topps Cards: 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997

Just...wow. For the third time as many years, the baseball world says goodbye to a member of the 1989 World Champion Athletics long before ever expecting to. A fall claimed Bob Welch in 2014, a heart attack took Dave Henderson in 2015, and now Tony Phillips has also suffered a fatal heart attack at age 56. (Since my favorite baseball player ever, Rickey Henderson, was a member of that team, you'll understand if I'm more troubled by this pattern than the average person.)

You know how switch-hitting Ben Zobrist has largely been a full-time starter with no permanent position during his career? You do? Good. Well, take Zobrist, give him more edge, bat him leadoff and you have Tony Phillips, best known with the Athletics and Tigers in the 80's and 90's.

Though he got a lot of run with Oakland—even hitting for the cycle once—Phillips hit the D.L. often and didn't begin accumulating 500+ at-bats per year until joining Detroit as a free agent in 1990. Mostly batting leadoff, Phillips started at six defensive positions and scored 97 runs despite a .251 average (99 walks and Cecil Fielder helped with that.)

Phillips played and played well for Sparky Anderson in Detroit for five seasons, none of which the Tigers seriously contended, however. Here, Phillips has completed his first season with the Angels, who acquired him to boost their 1995 offense, rid themselves of moody Chad Curtis, and clear the contracts of both from their 1996 payroll. Yes, you read that correctly—California pulled an NBA and imported Phillips for his expiring contract.

THIS CARD: TSR forgoes the usual random selection process in memory of Phillips. Though 1996 Topps depicts him with neither of his closest-associated clubs, we chose this card because it is Phillips' only Topps base card with the Angels, and Phillips himself is now with the angels. Yes, I could barely keep from gagging while typing that. But there you go.

Also factoring in the choice: 1996 Topps is badly underrepresented in COTD; both picks to date have been special selections. I can state with confidence that 1996 Topps #199 would take approximately 400 years to randomly select.

There are several celebrity women I can identify by their legs, but not quite there yet with uniformed baseball players from 20 years ago. No interleague play yet in 1995, so that is either a Minnesota Twin, Chicago White Sock or New York Yankee sharing Phillips' card.

Like and miss that Angels logo—the "J.T. Snow Era" logo, as I call it.

THE REVERSE: Phillips had officially batted 211 times without going deep at the Red Sox home park prior to the 4th inning of that game. Thank you, Baseballreference.com, for allowing us to pinpoint that down to the at-bat.

That day, Phillips exploded for four hits, the two homers—both off Alejandro Pena—and four RBI in a 12-3 Angel rout. Interestingly, Pena wasn't even the losing pitcher; that distinction went to SP Brian Looney, who threw his final MLB pitch two days later.

Never knew Phillips was an Expo draft pick; he cycled through the Padres system for six months before joining the A's via trade in March 1981.

Topps gets the positions right—Phillips started 87 times at 3B and 47 more in the outfield in 1995.

AFTER THIS CARD: Phillips was indeed let go after the '95 season despite his role in California falling just short of a division title after years of mediocrity—they brought him back for the 1997 stretch run, but Phillips' off-field trouble spoiled the reunion.

By 1999, the Georgia native was 40—but playing regularly for the upstart Athletics again (for the paltry figure of $700K...that's how much he loved the game.) And he might still be playing had he not wrecked his left fibula breaking up a double play in Toronto in August—Phillips never played in the majors again.

But he was far from finished professionally, playing in Mexico in 2002 and in the Independent League as recently as 2015 when he was 56! And I don't mean cameos, either.

We'll leave you with a few words about Tony Phillips:

“He was a little red-ass, loud, major high-energy, perfect for that team...he could drive you nuts, but he was funny as hell. One of a kind.” — ex-teammate Dennis Eckersley

“He had so much energy, he was so feisty, full of piss and vinegar...nothing fazed him." — ex-manager Tony LaRussa

"He loved the game." — virtually everyone

Tony Phillips appeared in Topps annually 1983-97; 1983 was a Traded card. He should have been included in both 1998 and 2000, but being unsigned during both releases reduced that likelihood.

CATEGORIES: 1996 Topps, Los Angeles Angels

3/2/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 1995 Topps #218 Dave Hansen, Dodgers

More Dave Hansen Topps Cards: 1993 1994 2001

Hansen spent parts of 11 non-consecutive years with the Dodgers, largely as a pinch-hitter extraordinaire after 1992. The team's #2 pick in 1986, Hansen annually hovered around .300 in the minors and finally reached the majors in '90 following a .316, 11, 92 performance for AAA Alberquerque.

In '92, he was given a second-half audition at 3B and wound up starting 98 times there for the Dodgers overall, but was playing hurt and hit just .214—both he and fellow 3B Mike Sharperson were displaced by Tim Wallach the next year. While Sharperson's career quickly sputtered, Hansen became a force off the bench for Tommy Lasorda.

Here, the now-26-year-old is coming off his second straight year as one of the best—if not the best—pinch-hitters in the major leagues.

THIS CARD: Hansen looks in as third-base coach Joey Amalfitano flashes a series of signs that, judging by Hansen's expression, were not discussed prior to the game. He wears #5 here, though he began 1994 wearing #15 and switched for unknown reasons. (Hansen would also don #43 and #25 during his Dodgers career.)

THE REVERSE: The crash left Hansen with a "strain", although four years later he was diagnosed with three stress fractures in his back that Hansen couldn't trace to anything other than said crash.

AFTER THIS CARD: Hansen remained with LA through 1996, by which time his salary jumped from $100K to...$400K. He actually took less when signing with the Cubs for '97 ($325K), but still enjoyed a .311 season largely off the bench.

For the first time in years, the 29-year-old got to play regularly in 1998...for the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese League. The Dodgers offered him his old pinch-hitting job back for 1999, and he took it—receiving a whopping raise of $50K from his '96 salary. (Wow. Times have changed...these days Hansen could make $450K in a month, at least.)

Remaining with LA through 2002, Hansen became their career pinch-hit leader that year, departing with 110. He ping-ponged between SD and Seattle during his final three seasons; his lifetime total of 139 PH ranks sixth all-time. (The guy is at/near the top of too many all-time PH stat categories to be listed here.)

Now 47, Hansen has held a variety of coaching jobs since retiring and will be assistant hitting coach for the 2016 Angels under old teammate Mike Scioscia.

Dave Hansen appeared in 1993-95 Topps, then disappeared during the small-set era before returning one last time in 2001. (He also received a 1991 Topps Major League Debut card.)

CATEGORIES: 1995 Topps, Los Angeles Dodgers

3/7/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 2001 Topps #790 Golden Moments: Andruw Jones

More 2001 Topps Golden Moments Cards: 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 791

Topps' 50th Anniversary 2001 release closed with a 10-card Golden Moments subset that recalls great performances from baseball's past. This particular card recognizes rookie Braves outfielder Andruw Jones, who hit a home run in the 1996 World Series.

"...SO?" You may be asking. Oops—forgot to mention that every other man to homer in a World Series has been older than Jones was (19 years, 180 days) by at least 727 days.

Still, this is easily the least "golden" of the 10 moments selected—not a knock on Andruw's achievement, but he was grouped with nine of the most famous highlights ever. It's kind of like a limo opening, and out climb Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino and...John Stamos. Stamos is good, but he really doesn't belong with the others.

THIS CARD: We touched on the stamp in a previous COTD. Note how Jones remains on both feet throughout his swing—the longer he played, the rarer such instances became.

The bottom font belongs on a tombstone.

Card #790 is the penultimate card in 2001 Topps; I'd long believed the set consisted of 789 cards for some reason. Now I'm left annoyed at Topps for not adding one more damn card for old time's sake—throughout my adolescence until the 1994-95 strike, 792 was the standard! But after all those 400-something sets that closed out the 1990's, I dare not officially gripe about 791.

THE REVERSE: Jones smoked a 6th-inning shot off Mark Petkovsek in that Game 7 (won by Atlanta 15-0 over St. Louis), then tagged Yankees Andy Pettitte and Brian Boehringer in the respective 2nd and 3rd innings of WS Game 1—part of a three-hit, five-RBI explosion that helped the Braves to a 12-1 win.

Mickey Mantle had been the youngest to hit a World Series homer, doing so in 1952 Game 6 against Brooklyn three days shy of his 21st birthday.

Gene Tenace's 1972 blasts helped Oakland go up 1-0 against Cincinnati; he'd hit five total with nine RBI in the Classic and be named MVP.

AFTER THIS CARD: Jones went 8-for-20 overall in Atlanta's six-game 1996 World Series loss; in his only other WS (1999), he was 1-for-13. Still, he owns 10 career postseason home runs, slugging a respectable .433 in 238 at-bats over 76 games.

He retired from pro baseball this winter among the all-time Top 10 in many Division Series stat categories; only longtime teammate Chipper Jones has played more NLDS games (42 to 39).

CATEGORIES: 2001 Topps, Subsets

3/22/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 2009 Topps #143 Matt Joyce, Tigers

More Matt Joyce Topps Cards: 2008 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Remember how the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays stormed back from nine games down in the final month to steal the American League Wild Card from the Boston Red Sox in Game 162? You do? Good, that was among the greatest MLB games ever. (This writer dislikes the Red Sox greatly.)

Think back: who were the Rays' three All-Star representatives that year? If you guessed David Price, James Shields and Evan Longoria (the Game 162 hero), you'd be absolutely wrong—little-known outfielder Matt Joyce was voted to the team that year, not Longoria.

Joyce's selection was deserved—he led MLB with a .370 average entering June, accompanied by a .430 OBP and .636 SLG! And the Rays needed it; Longoria missed the first month to injury. Joyce's hot streak, while impressive, was not totally shocking; the corner outfielder/DH had shown good pop ever since being called up in 2008—the year represented on this card.

THIS CARD: This is not Joyce's official Rookie Card because he debuted in 2008 Topps Update.

Joyce was with Tampa Bay for so long, he now looks off in a Tigers uniform.

If Joyce had spent 2008 with the Rays, this shade of blue works. It does not work for the Detroit Tigers. Since Joyce was a Ray by the time I completed and albumed 2009 Topps, he could have very easily been accidentally grouped with Tampa because of said color.

THE REVERSE: Finally, we can play 6° Of Mantle together! 2009 Topps reverses carried several different list variants, most related to statistics. All were interesting; none were as fun as the Mantle game.

If you're unaware, this is based on the (unofficial) theory that any film actor/director/producer could be connected to actor Kevin Bacon in six steps—"degrees of seperation"—or fewer. Angelina Jolie, for example, starred in Salt with Liev Schreiber, who appeared in The Butler with David Oyelowo, who appeared in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes with John Lithgow, who worked with Bacon in Footloose. Get it?

On this card, Joyce teamed with Polanco in 2008. Polanco played with McGee in 1998-99, McGee played with Littell in 1981-82, Littell played with McDaniel on the 1975 Royals, and McDaniel—who may be the most frequently-used fifth step in this game—teamed with Mantle during his farewell season of 1968.

(Topps uses six degrees exclusively; eventually, I will try to connect somebody in five or fewer. But not here.)

Caught a mistake in the blurb: Jason Thompson 1996 should have been Jason Thompson 1976. Understandable—there was a Jason Thompson active in 1996 (for the Padres), and there was a Justin Thompson on the 1996 Tigers.

Joyce's slugged a very solid .492 despite only homering twice in his final 133 at-bats after July 22—both in the same August game.

AFTER THIS CARD: The Rays moved expendable (and soon-to-be-expensive) SP Edwin Jackson to acquire Joyce after the '08 season. He remained with Tampa for six years, averaging over 100 starts and 18 homers annually 2011-13. Though his 2011 numbers came way back to earth following his scorching start, it still stands as Joyce's finest year overall.

By 2014, however, Joyce was earning about $4M. Rather than absorb another raise for 2015, Tampa dealt free-agent-to-be Joyce to the Angels for RP Kevin Jepsen. His Anaheim stint was a nightmare—Joyce spent three days of the year over .200, was benched over a start-time gaffe, and lost five weeks after being concussed in a July collision.

Joyce went from playing practically full-time in April/May to seven pinch-hit AB in September, finishing at .174 with five home runs. What a way to hit the open market for the first time.

As of this writing, Joyce is on a minor-league deal with the Pirates.

Matt Joyce has appeared in Topps or Topps Update annually since 2008, except 2010.

CATEGORIES: 2009 Topps, Detroit Tigers

3/28/16 Topps Baseball Card Of The Day: 1995 Topps #20 Denny Martinez, Indians

More Denny Martinez Topps Cards: 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 1997

El Presidente makes his second Card Of The Day appearance; his 1991 Topps card was chosen back on June 15, 2015. This card represents his first of three seasons with the upstart Cleveland Indians, who signed the near-40-year-old to a two-year, $9M deal in the 1993 off-season.

The longtime Expos ace started for Cleveland on Opening Day '94, and went on to complete seven starts (second in the AL) while tying for the team lead with 11 wins—remember, the last seven weeks were wiped out by greed.

THIS CARD: Second 1995 Topps selection in the past four. That means hiatus time.

It seems Martinez is bluffing a Royals runner back to second base, as another Royal runner scampers back to first at Kauffman Stadium. The Cleveland ace only made one 1994 start in KC, on April 10—but since we're unable to determine the blurry runner's face or number, we can't pinpoint the play. (He does seem to be white, but so was most of KC's lineup that day.)

I'm guessing this took place during the Royals' three-run 6th—it was either then or the 2nd, the only innings KC put men on first and second simultaneously. Cleveland ultimately lost 6-1.

THE REVERSE: Martinez' card lists his birth year as 1955; baseballreference.com says 1954. Somehow this discrepancy went unnoticed when we chose his 1991 card.

Check out 1979—four-man rotation, 39 starts, 292 innings, 18 complete games. If Martinez could do that at 25 and last 23 seasons, many of which were All-Star caliber into his 40's, why the hell aren't most current starters allowed to come within 75% of that?? In 2015 Clay Kershaw led MLB with 232.2 innings pitched. That's an abomination.

I'd assumed Martinez' 92 K (4.7/9, a six-year low) played a role in his completing seven games, but it turned out his average pitch count actually increased in '94 from the previous season without opposing pitchers to feast on 2-3 times per start...go figure.

AFTER THIS CARD: When the 41-year-old Martinez made the 1995 All-Star team on the way to a 12-5, 3.08 finish, the Tribe had little choice but to exercise his $4.5M option for '96. Unfortunately, his decade-long streak of durability was snapped by a bad elbow that disabled him three times that year, costing him ⅓ of the season.

When Cleveland didn't re-sign him, Martinez joined Seattle on an incentive-laden minor league deal for 1997. The good news: in his second start, Martinez returned to Cleveland and won. The bad news: in his other eight starts, his ERA hovered around nine and the league batted .350 against him—the Mariners mercifully cut him six weeks in.

Martinez soon retired, but off-season throwing sparked a comeback with the Braves for 1998; the now-44-year-old grandfather worked 53 games—five starts—for the NLE division winners.

Though the Brave bullpen blew potential Martinez wins in consecutive May starts, on August 9 he finally topped Juan Marichal as Latin America's most victorious pitcher ever with a relief win at—of all places—San Francisco (where Marichal starred for 14 years). Just before Spring Training 1999, Martinez walked away for good.

Denny Martinez appeared in Topps 1977-97, all as "Denny" rather than "Dennis".

CATEGORIES: 1995 Topps, Cleveland Indians