2002 Topps, Mike Sweeney

Card No. 21

A member of the Royals Hall of Fame and a current member of the team's front office, professional hitter Mike Sweeney gets today's Jukebox nod....The era of colored borders on Topps base cards continued in 2002 with one of my favorite designs of the era....Sweeney made five All-Star teams as a Royal....He's second in team annals in home runs (197) and third in BA (.299)....His first Topps card appeared in the 1997 set....Mike cracked 24 homers and collected 86 RBIs for K.C. during the '02 season.

*MK*

1993 Topps, Bo Jackson

Card No. 400

Certainly not the most iconic card in the Bo Jackson library, but it's still one of my favorites....An elite athlete and arguably the greatest two-sport star of all-time....Bo played four years for the NFL's L.A. Raiders (1987-'90) while simultaneously starring for the Royals on the diamond....His '86 Topps Traded rookie is one of the great cards in the hobby's history....His final Topps card appeared in the '95 set as a member of the Angels....Slugged 16 homers in just 284 ABs for the White Sox in 1993.

*MK*

2011 Topps, Roy Halladay

Card No. 300

I still can't believe that Roy Halladay is no longer with us....At the age of 40, "Doc" perished in a small plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017....Roy's impeccable resume got him posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in '19 on his first ballot....A 200-game winner and author of a perfect game and a postseason no-no....Roy shares his 1998 "Prospects" rookie card with Brian Fuentes and Matt Clement....Cy Young runner-up in 2011 after posting 19 wins and a 2.35 ERA for Phils.

*MK*

1997 Topps, Jay Bell

Card No. 259

Although Jay Bell didn't get many of the headlines, he was undoubtedly a key cog in those successful Pirates teams of the early '90s....Led the majors in sac bunts in 1990 and '91, setting the stage for many a Bonds and Bonilla RBI opportunity....That's Ricky Jordan of the Phillies getting tagged out(?) at second base....Bell's rookie card is part of the '88 Topps checklist....Was traded to Kansas City in the winter of 1996, thus Jay was no longer a Pirate by the time this card came out in '97.

*MK*

1969 Topps, Jerry Koosman

Card No. 90

Thanks to Nolan Ryan I'll never actually own a Jerry Koosman rookie card, so his second-year card from 1969 will have to do....Ryan and Koosman shared a "Rookie Stars" card in the '68 set....I snagged this beauty from a card show many years ago....The condition is less than pristine but I couldn't care less...."Kooz" is third in franchise history with 140 victories and is one of only three hurlers to register 100 W's as a Met....Pitched a complete-game gem in Game 5 of the '69 Series, as the Miracle Mets finished off the heavily-favored Orioles.

*MK*

1984 Topps, Pedro Guerrero

Card No. 90

A lifetime .300 hitter and the MVP of the 1981 World Series, Pedro Guerrero is today's jukebox hit....Looks like Pedro is playing up near the infield grass in this photo....If I had to guess, I'd say the Dodgers are playing at Candlestick Park....This is Pedro's fifth Topps card and his fourth stand-alone card....He shares a "Dodgers Prospects" card in the 1980 set with teammates Rudy Law and Joe Simpson...Though his production dipped in 1984 (16 HRs, 72 RBIs), Pedro still batted .303 and scored 85 runs for Los Angeles.

*MK*

2008 Topps, Luis Gonzalez

Card No. 442

Today's Jukebox entry represents the final chapter of the Luis Gonzalez story in the Topps library....It's his 20th Topps base card (including Traded/Update issues)....It's also his one and only card as a Marlin....Luis' rookie is part of the 1991 Topps Traded set....Gonzo's excellent career included 2,591 base hits plus the series-clinching hit off Mariano Rivera in Game 7 of the 2001 Fall Classic, as Arizona topped New York....In his final big league season, Luis batted .261 in 136 games for the '08 Marlins.

*MK*