Saturday, June 29, 2019

1971 Topps, Ray Fosse

Card No. 125

The man who was famously bowled over by Pete Rose in the 1970 All-Star Game, catcher Ray Fosse is today's Jukebox hit....Despite the ferocious home-plate collision, Fosse still completed the '70 season and earned an A.L. Gold Glove....Topps graced collectors with its first-ever black-bordered base card in 1971....This is Ray's second stand-alone Topps card....He shared a "Rookie Stars" card in 1969 with fellow Cleveland prospect George Woodson....Fosse repeated as both an All-Star and Gold Glover in '71.

*MK*

Friday, June 28, 2019

1968 Topps, Al Kaline

Card No. 240

Today the Jukebox serves up "Mr. Tiger" himself, Hall of Famer Al Kaline....A 10-time Gold Glover, Kaline played his entire 22-year career in Detroit....Fell just one homer shy of the 400 plateau and three points from a lifetime .300 average....You can find Al's rookie card in the 1954 set....He appeared in every regular Topps set from '54 to '74....The 1968 campaign marked the first time since his first full season in '54 that Kaline was not selected for the All-Star Game.

*MK*

Thursday, June 27, 2019

2006 Topps, Brad Radke

Card No. 86

A Minnesota Twin for his entire 12-year major league career, right-handed starter Brad Radke is today's Jukebox hit....Put up double-digit Ws in all but two seasons....Finished third in A.L. Cy Young voting in 1997 after notching 20 wins....Yielded a staggering 72 HRs over his first two years in the bigs....This card is Radke's final entry in the Topps catalog....His rookie can be found in the 1995 Traded series....Brad wrapped up his big league career with a 12-9 ledger in 2006.

*MK*

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

1997 Topps, Fernando Vina

Card No. 213

Second baseman Fernando Vina goes airborne to avoid the sliding Chris Hoiles in this great action shot from 1997 Topps....This is Vina's Topps rookie....For their '97 base cards, Topps gave red borders to A.L. players while the N.L. counterparts have green borders....This is back when the Brewers were an A.L. club, obviously....Fernando was originally drafted by the Mets in 1990, then traded to Milwaukee in December of '94....Slugged a grand slam off Jack McDowell, leading the Brewers to a 10-2 drubbing of the Indians, 4/18/97.

*MK*

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

2016 Topps, Trea Turner

Card No. 103

After appearing in just 27 games for the Nationals in 2015, Trea Turner received his Topps rookie card the following year....The 2016 set was a landmark offering, as it marked the first time a Topps base card design did not feature a border....Turner was drafted 13th overall by the Padres in the 2014 draft....Washington acquired Trea in a 3-team trade in June of 2015....Finished second in N.L. Rookie of the Year balloting after batting .342 over 307 ABs during the '16 campaign.

*MK*

Monday, June 24, 2019

1974 Topps, Vada Pinson

Card No. 490

A little horizontal flavor from 1974 Topps and 18-year big leaguer Vada Pinson....Vada spent his first 11 years with Cincinnati, putting together a .297 average and 1881 hits....Fell just 243 hits shy of the 3,000 plateau for his career....'74 marked the third and final year Pinson was featured as an Angel on his Topps card....His rookie card appeared in the 1958 set....His last Topps card is in the '76 set....Vada played with Kansas City during the '74 season, batting .276 in 115 games for the Royals.

*MK*

Saturday, June 22, 2019

1960 Topps, Duke Snider

Card No. 493

A central figure for the Brooklyn Dodgers' "Boys of Summer" team in 1955, the great Duke Snider is today's Jukebox hit....This is one of the most beautiful cards ever churned out by the Topps Chewing Gum Company....One of many amazing cards I inherited from my dad's boyhood collection....The "Duke of Flatbush" was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1980....His rookie card can be found in the iconic '52 Topps set....Nearing the end of his majestic career, Duke batted just .243 with 14 homers for L.A. in 1960.

*MK*

Friday, June 21, 2019

1981 Topps, Dave Winfield

Card No. 370

Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield proudly wears the rightful colors of the San Diego Padres on this blazer from 1981 Topps....The '81 base card design marks the seminal occasion of the Topps logo appearing on the card front....This is Winfield's final appearance in a Padres uni, as he donned Yankee pinstripes in the '81 Traded set....Dave's rookie appeared in the 1974 base set....His final Topps card can be found in the '95 set....Winfield earned an All-Star nod and a Silver Slugger Award in '81, his initial season in the Bronx.

*MK*

Thursday, June 20, 2019

2005 Topps, Carl Everett

Card No. 407

Topps went a little unorthodox with their 2005 base card design, opting to display the player's last name in large font in the area usually reserved for the team name....Although he seems to be waving goodbye, this isn't Carl Everett's final Topps card--that would come the following year....Everett wore many different uniforms--nine, to be exact--on his Topps cards over the years....His rookie issue was a "#1 Draft Pick" card in the 1991 base set....Carl mashed 23 homers for the White Sox in 2005, his final season in the majors.

*MK*

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

2013 Topps, Trevor Bauer

Card No. 61

The 3rd-overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft, Trevor Bauer is cocked and ready to fire in this snazzy 2013 Topps card....Trevor was a standout at UCLA where he was awarded the Golden Spikes Award following the '11 season....This is Bauer's first appearance in a Topps base set....His rookie card is part of the previous year's Update collection....Trevor was dealt to the Indians as part of a three-team deal with the D-Backs and Reds, 12/11/12....Spent most of '13 season at Triple-A Columbus but also made four starts for Cleveland (1-2, 5.29).

*MK* 

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

1972 Topps, Thurman Munson

Card No. 441

I've always been a sucker for catcher cards and this one of the great Thurman Munson is unquestionably among my favorites....Munson, who in 1976 became the first Yankees' captain since Lou Gehrig, tragically died in a plane crash in '79....Won the A.L.'s Rookie of the Year ('70) and MVP ('76) awards during his 11-year career....This is Thurman's second stand-alone Topps card....He shared his 1970 "Rookie Stars" card with first baseman Dave McDonald....Batted .280 with 7 homers and 46 RBIs for the Yanks in 1972.

*MK*

Monday, June 17, 2019

1961 Topps, Rip Repulski

Card No. 128

An All-Star for the Cards in 1956 and a World Series champ with the Dodgers in '59, this card finds Rip Repulski in the twilight of his career....Rip's given name is Eldon....Traded from L.A. to Boston during the 1960 season and promptly hit a grand slam in his first Junior Circuit at-bat....This happens to be Rip's final Topps card....His rookie card appeared in the 1953 Topps set....Saw action in just 15 games for the Red Sox during his final season of 1961, collecting seven hits in 25 ABs (.280).

*MK*

Saturday, June 15, 2019

2009 Topps, Zack Greinke

Card No. 193

Former first-round draft pick Zack Greinke stares down the camera (and you!) in this one, framed wonderfully within the classy confines of the 2009 Topps design elements....In terms of color scheme and unis, the Royals have one of the best, cleanest looks in the game....This is Zack's sixth Topps card....His Topps debut occured in 2004, where he shared a "Future Stars" card with fellow K.C. farmhand Jimmy Gobble....Easily captured A.L. Cy Young honors in '09 with 16 wins, 242 K's and a masterful 2.16 ERA.

*MK*

Friday, June 14, 2019

2004 Topps, Carl Crawford

Card No. 497

If you were making a Mount Rushmore of the (Devil) Rays franchise, Carl Crawford would clearly be your George Washington....Sits atop the Tampa Bay franchise list in batting average, base hits, triples and steals....This card marks Carl's first appearance in a Topps base set....His true rookie is found in the 1999 Traded and Rookies factory set....Led the majors with 19 triples and paced the A.L. with 59 steals during a monster 2004 season.

*MK*

Thursday, June 13, 2019

1995 Topps, Sammy Sosa

Card No. 11

While many fans, hobbyists and baseball media may wish to ignore Sammy Sosa and his place in the game's history, such is not the case within the Jukebox....It's pretty tough to ignore 609 home runs over an 18-year career....The 1995 Topps design effectively strikes the balance between being quintessentially '90s and also quite timeless....Sammy's rookie card can be found in the 1990 Topps set....Hammered 36 round-trippers during the '95 season, beginning a remarkable string of 10 straight campaigns with at least 35 homers.

*MK*

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

1963 Topps, Joe Adcock

Card No. 170

A fine fielder and a key power cog for the '50s Milwaukee Braves during his prime years, here we have Joe Adcock towards the end of his career....Although this is his final Topps card as a player, Adcock played for the Angels from 1964-66....Joe is featured in the '67 Topps set as Cleveland's manager....His rookie card appeared in the iconic 1952 Topps set....Joe once hit four home runs in a single game!....Smashed 13 homers with 49 RBIs in 97 games for the Indians in 1963--his lone season for the Tribe.

*MK*

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

2019 Topps, Miguel Cabrera

Card No. 230

Future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cabrera gets the nod to showcase the current year's Topps base card offering....As many have already observed, the design is clearly an echo to the L-shaped border ribbon on the 1982 cards....This is Miggy's 18th Topps card....He's been featured in every Topps base set since 2004....His elusive rookie card is part of the 135-card 2000 Traded and Rookies set....Entered the 2019 season ranked in the top-35 all-time in home runs and RBIs.

*MK*

Monday, June 10, 2019

1969 Topps, Larry Haney

Card No. 209

If something strikes you as odd about this card of Larry Haney, you're not wrong....Haney is in fact a right-hander and this photo is the reverse of the exact image Topps used for his 1968 card....Following their ill-fated inaugural season, the Seattle Pilots relocated in April 1970 and became the Milwaukee Brewers....Haney's Topps debut was a "Rookie Stars" card shared with fellow Orioles prospect Ed Barnowski in the 1967 set....Larry was traded by the Pilots to Oakland for infielder John Donaldson, 6/14/69.

*MK*

Saturday, June 8, 2019

2011 Topps, Freddie Freeman

Card No. 145

The 2011 Topps base set and Update series are replete with great rookie cards, including this one of Atlanta's All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman....The '11 design is neck-and-neck with 2015 in terms of my favorite of the decade....Freddie holds joint citizenship, as he was born in California while both his parents are from Ontario, Canada....Clouted his first big league home run, 9/21/10, against Hall of Famer Roy Halladay....Hit .282 with 21 homers during  the'11 season, his first full year in the majors.

*MK*

Friday, June 7, 2019

2007 Topps, Dontrelle Willis

Card No. 100

The man they called "D-Train," southpaw Dontrelle Willis and the unmistakable black borders of 2007 Topps combine for today's entry....The '07 set is one of two in Topps annals to feature a black border (1971 also)....Willis first appeared on a Topps card in the 2002 Traded and Rookies release....Made his base-set debut the following year, sharing a "Prospects" card with fellow Marlins minor leaguer Jason Stokes.... Nobody started more games (35) or yielded more earned runs (116) than Dontrelle did during the '07 season.

*MK*

Thursday, June 6, 2019

1962 Topps, Billy Martin

Card No. 208

Perhaps remembered more for his chaotic days as George Steinbrenner's whipping boy as Yankee manager, Billy Martin is today's featured Jukebox hit.... Played seven of his 11 big league seasons for the Yanks and served five(!) separate stints as the club's skipper....This is Martin's final Topps card as a player....He would pop up in future Topps sets as a manager 11 more times....Billy's rookie appeared in the iconic 1952 set....Concluded his playing days the year prior to this card's release, batting .242 in 114 games between the Braves and Twins.

*MK*

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

1970 Topps, Bill Mazeroski

Card No. 440

Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski takes a knee and chats it up on this sun-splashed beauty of a card from 1970 Topps....A defensive wiz at second base, Maz was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2001...Famously sunk the Yankees with a walk-off  homer in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series....Bill's rookie card can be found in the 1957 set....His final Topps card was right around the corner from today's Jukebox hit, as the '72 set was Mazeroski's cardboard swan song....Collected four hits including a double in an 11-0 pasting of the Dodgers, 8/23/70.

*MK*

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

1998 Topps, Dante Bichette

Card No. 155

A member of the inaugural 1993 Colorado Rockies team and a big part of the "Blake Street Bombers" from the mid-to-late '90s, outfielder Dante Bichette is shown taking a mighty cut on today's Jukebox hit....Posted a .316 average and 201 homers over seven prolific seasons in Denver....1998 is the first of two consecutive years Topps went with gold borders on their base cards...Bichette's rookie card is contained in the 1989 set....Dante led all of baseball with 219 base hits during the '98 season.

*MK*

Monday, June 3, 2019

2012 Topps, Jim Thome

Card No. 371

A 2018 Cooperstown inductee and a member of the 600 Home Run Club, Jim Thome is shown here in the midst of this second (albeit brief) go-round with the Phillies....I didn't even realize prior to writing this post, but this is Thome's final Topps card....Thome had three prior cards as a Phil, beginning with his 2003 Update entry....His rookie card appears in the 1992 base set....Jim split the 2012 season--his final is the big leagues--between Philly (30 games) and Baltimore (28 games), clubbing 8 total homers.

*MK*

Saturday, June 1, 2019

2002 Topps, Hideo Nomo

Card No. 210

In a span of four seasons beginning with 1998, Hideo Nomo played for five different ball clubs, including the Red Sox....How many of you knew the "Osaka Express" made a stop in Boston?....This isn't Hideo's only Topps card from 2002, as he also made an appearance in that year's "Traded and Rookies" set as a Dodger....You can find Nomo's rookie card in the 1996 Topps set....Back with the club he broke in with, Nomo made 34 starts for the Dodgers in '02, putting up a 16-6 mark with an 3.39 ERA.

*MK*