1998 Topps, Vladimir Guerrero

Card No. 5

Sometimes the confluence of great player, awesome photo and attractive design elements occurs resulting in one fantastic baseball card....Today, its name is Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, 1998 Topps....Sadly, '98 Topps is one of those complete sets I've yet to track down....Vlad shared his first Topps card with three other "Prospects" in 1996, most notably Andruw Jones....He last appeared in the '11 Update set with Baltimore....Vlad's explosive '98 season for Montreal included 200-plus hits, 38 homers and a .324 average.

*MK*

1983 Topps, Rick Dempsey

Card No. 138

Another day, another catcher card here at the Jukebox....Today it's 24-year big leaguer and member of the Orioles Hall of Fame, Rick Dempsey....Spent half his career in Baltimore, where he contributed to a pair of A.L. pennants and a World Series title....His first appearance in a Topps set came in 1972 when he shared a "Rookie Stars" card with two other Twins neophytes....Rick was named MVP of the '83 Series when he hit a blistering .385 with a homer and 2 RBIs, helping the O's thwart the Phils in five games.

*MK*

1967 Topps, Elston Howard

Card No. 25

One of the all-time great backstops and the man who broke the New York Yankees' color barrier in 1955, hats off to Elston Howard....I picked this card up at a show a few summers ago and was elated to do so....This is Elston's penultimate Topps card and his final as a Yankee....He's wearing a Boston uniform on his Topps swan song in '68....Howards' rookie appeared in the beautiful '56 set....The Yanks traded the former MVP and 12-time All-Star to the rival Red Sox on August 3, 1967.

*MK*

2016 Topps, Marcus Stroman

Card No. 479

A fired up Marcus Stroman takes center stage on today's edition of the Jukebox....You can tell by the sleeve patch that this photo was snapped during the 2015 postseason....The Stro Show made three playoff starts in '15, all at home, so it's tough to tell which of those games this is from....This is Stroman's third Topps card; his rookie came in the '14 Update series....Notched his first and only career postseason victory with 6 1/3 innings of four-run ball in Game 3 of the ALCS vs. Kansas City.

*MK*

1960 Topps, Frank Malzone

Card No. 310

From his boyhood days, my dad had a nice stack of 1960 Topps, including this one of Frank Malzone, that he somehow kept in pretty fine condition over the years....Dad was just 9 when this card came out, so kudos to him....Malzone was a slick fielder, winning three consecutive Gold Gloves (1957-'59)....An eight-time All-Star and a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame....His rookie card can be found in the '56 Topps set....Frank turned in an All-Star season in '60, clubbing 14 homers with 79 RBIs.

*MK*

1989 Topps, Damon Berryhill

Card No. 543

Undoubtedly one of my favorite cards as a kid, Damon Berryhill and 1989 Topps team up for today's Jukebox hit....As a backstop all throughout my Little League career, catcher cards naturally appealed to me....Plus, as I may have mentioned before on this blog, '89 Topps is THE set of my childhood....Damon's 'true' rookie card came in the '88 Traded set....His final entry in the Topps calalog would come in the '94 Traded set....After finishing sixth in N.L. ROY voting the prior year, Damon hit .257 with 5 homers and 41 RBIs for the Cubs in '89.

*MK*

2000 Topps, Bartolo Colon

Card No. 366

Believe it or not, the svelte looking man on this card is none other than the "Big Sexy" himself, Bartolo Colon....No other Latin American pitcher has won more career games than Bart (247)....Last appeared with a major league club in 2018 (Texas)....Signed with Monclova of Mexican League in February 2020....Colon's first appearance in a Topps set was 1996 on a four-player "Prospects" card....Represented 10 different clubs on Topps cards over his career....Went 18-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 32 starts for the Tribe in 2000.

*MK*