Thursday, December 15, 2016

1992 Topps #890 Tony Bernazard

Tony Bernazard played in the Major Leagues from 1979-1991. He came up in 1979 with the Expos, and played with them in 1980. He was with the White Sox from 1981 through the middle of 1983, when he was acquired by the Mariners. He spent 1984 through the middle of 1987 with the Indians, and then was acquired by the A's. He played in Japan from 1988-1990, then came back in 1991 for 6 games with the Tigers.

Tony first appeared in a Topps set in 1980, when he appeared on a 3-player rookie card with Randy Miller and John Tamargo. He got into both the 1981 regular and Traded sets. He got a regular 1982 card, and a regular and Traded 1983 card. He was in both the regular and Traded sets again in 1984, and then got into the regular Topps set in 1985 and 1986. For 1987, Tony got a regular issue, and an All-Star cad, as he put up his best numbers in 1986. He get his last Topps card in 1988. This 1992 Topps custom finished Tony's career Topps run, although he could probably be given a card in the 1991 Traded set.

I am currently working on templates for the 1994 Topps set, and if all goes well, I may have those, as well as the 1998 templates done by late tomorrow. I have a feeling that I will have pages up for the 1989-2001 sets up any day now on my other blog. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

1992 Topps #889 Pat Rice


Pat Rice played 1 season in the Majors, in 1991 with the Mariners. He went 1-1, with a solid 3.00 ERA. After his playing career, he was a coach for a few different organizations.

Pat only got 3 major issue cards during his career, which were a 1992 Fleer, Score, and Topps Debut issue. This 1992 Topps custom completes his career Topps run, and would've been Pat's only Topps card.

If you haven't seen it, Greg from Night Owl Cards did a post on the '92 Topps customs I sent him. I'm hoping to print out the rest of the '92 set, and as soon as I finish these crazy templates, complete some more Topps sets. Only parts of the 1994, 1998 sets, the whole 1995 set, and some touch ups on the 1997 set are left, and the 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 2001 checklists are done. Some cool things will be coming up soon. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Saturday, November 26, 2016

1992 Topps #888 Terry Mathews



Terry Mathews pitched in the Bigs from 1991-1999. He pitched for the Texas Rangers from 1991-1992, then signed with the Florida Marlins. He played with them until the middle of '96, when he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched for them in 1997 and -998, and played his final season in 1999 with the Kansas City Royals. 

Terry only got into 1 base Topps set, the 1995 set. He got a 1992 Topps Debut card, and that was it for his Topps cards. He technically got into the 1992 Topps set, but as a checklist replacement in the ToppsGold set. John Ramos, Rod Beck, Brian Williams, Tony Perezchica, Terry McDaniel, and Mathews were chosen as replacements for checklist spots in the '92 ToppsGold set. For those cards, I used the Gold cards and tried to give the cards regular nameplates on the front and regular backs. Now Terry is just missing cards from the 1993, 1994, and 1996-2000 Topps sets. 

Work has finally slowed down, and things are finally getting somewhat back to normal at home. Baby Kyler got here on the 6th, so that kind of put things to a crawl on this blog, but I have been making templates and finalizing checklists for a good amount of the Topps sets from 1989-2001. 1989, 1990 and most of 2001 have the checklists done. 1991 is almost done. The 1989-1993 sets, 1996-1997 (basically) sets, and the 1999-2001 sets all have templates done for every team. I'm working on 1994, 1995, and 1998, and I will do templates for each team in the 1997 set, but there is a basic template that you can steal team logos from the 1996 set and add to. Slowly some of these Topps sets will get completed and I might just have to make more blogs like this one. Thanks for checking out my latest post. 
-Jeremy

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

1992 Topps #887 Jim Hunter

Jim Hunter got into a total of 8 games in the Majors, all in 1991 with the Brewers.

He only has 2 baseball cards from major sets, a 1992 Score card, and a 1992 Topps Debut card. Jim never got a card in the 1992 Topps main set, which would've been his first and final Topps card. This custom finishes his short career Topps run.

I've been working on 1990 templates for my other blog, and I think I've found a breakthrough that will let me be able to make multiple templates for each team a lot easier. I'm hoping to test it out later tonight. I have the 1990 Topps checklist ready to finalize, so once I finish the AL templates, that set will be good to go. The 1991 set may take a while, so I might focus my efforts on finishing the 2001 checklist or perhaps making templates of the Detroit Tigers from 1991-2007 or so (they are my favorite team). I'll also work on making some pages on the sidebar with the main pages for each set I have complete checklists and templates for (1989, soon to be 1990 and 2001). The 1996 and 2000 Topps sets have the templates done, but I still need complete checklists for them. As I am finalizing the checklists, I am also working on making the checklist cards (front and back), and I am actually printing those out and putting them in my checklist binder, and they look pretty sweet and finalize the set.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy 

Thursday, October 27, 2016

1992 Topps #886 Mark Huismann

Mark Huismann pitched for 9 seasons in the Majors. He came up to the Bigs in 1983 with the Royals and played with them until the middle of 1986 when the Mariners acquired him. He was on the 1985 World Series winning club with KC in '85. He split 1987 with the Mariners and Indians. The Tigers signed him for 1988, and he played with the Orioles in 1989. He spent his final 2 years in the Majors with the Pirates in 1990 and 1991.

Mark only appears in 2 Topps sets, 1985 and 1987. He is missing a bunch of cards, which are from 1984, 1986, and 1988-1991. This 1992 Topps custom is Marks final Topps card. I couldn't find a color photo of Mark in a Pirates uni, so I had to take this black and white one and colorize it. I didn't get the greens the fright color, and I think if I can find a better photo, I will definitely update this one.

I finished the final checklist to the 1989 Topps set on my other blog. Here is a link to the checklist. I'll give the set it's own page at some point with the checklist and all of the templates soon. I probably won't get to working on cards right yet, choosing rather to work on templates and checklists for the 1990-2000 Topps sets. I have a few readers helping me make some of the cards and get checklists going, so if you think you could help with anything, feel free to email me at karensjer at gmail dot com. Thanks for checking out the latest '92 custom.
-Jeremy

Monday, October 24, 2016

1992 Topps #885 Al Leiter

I usually post new cards from my phone while I'm on lunch at work, and today our internet is going slow as all get out, and I'm going to try to get this post up before my hour is up, but who knows. 

Al Leiter pitched for 19 seasons in the Majors, starting with the Yankees in 1987. He pitched with them until April 1989, and was traded to the Blue Jays. Al played with the Jays through 1995, winning the 1992 and 1993 World Series with them. He signed with the Marlins in 1996, and was with them in 1997 for their World Series title.  In 1998, he signed with the Mets,  and was with them until the end of the 2004 season. 2005 was his final year in the Majors, and he spent it with the Marlins and Yankees. Al finished his career with a 162-132 record, 3 World Series rings, and a no-hitter. Not too shabby. 

Al got into his first Topps set in 1988, which has 2 versions, an error with minor leaguer Steve George pictured, and a corrected version with Leiter's photo on it. 1988 Topps Cards does a nice write up on the 2 cards. Al appeared in the 1989-1991 Topps sets, then was left out of the 1992 and 1993 sets. He got a regular card in the 1994 set, and was in the 1995 Topps Traded set. He is missing from the '96 set, but got Topps cards from the 1997 set through the 2005 set. He also got in the '05 Topps Traded set. Al didn't get a sunset card in 2006, but one of my readers, Richard made his '06 card, and he also made his '93 Topps card, which are shown here.

Al is just missing a card from the 1996 Topps sets after this '92 Topps custom and Richard's '93 Topps and  '06 Topps customs. Al actually got a '92 O-Pee-Chee card, which I used for this one, just changing the logos out.

Well, I finished the post and it hasn't crapped out on me yet. I'm hoping to work on some more templates tonight. I'll finish the '89 Topps customs, and with help from reader Paul B., I should have the checklist for the '89 Topps set finished as well. Thanks for checking out my latest post. 
-Jeremy 

Friday, October 21, 2016

1992 Topps #884 John Barfield


John Barfield pitched 3 years in the Majors, all with the Rangers, from 1989-1991.
He only had 1 Topps card, from the 1991 set, during his career. He did appear in the 1990 Topps Debut set, and got into the '92 Stadium Club set. With this '92 Topps custom, John is just missing his 1990 Topps rookie card to complete his career Topps run.

I played softball on Monday, but we lost 25-3 and I went 0-2 with a fielders choice and a line out to 2nd with the bases loaded. I knew I should've probably stayed home, but didn't think it would be that bad. I have to get 1 hit in my next 5 ABs to hit .300, 2 for .400. It's doable. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Thursday, October 13, 2016

1992 Topps #883 Mike Blowers



Mike Blowers played 11 seasons in the Majors. He spent his first 3 seasons with the Yankees from 1989-1991. From there, he spent 1992-1995 with the Mariners. He played 1996 with the Dodgers, and was back with the Mariners in 1997. He played with the Athletics in 1998, and finished out his career in 1999, spending it in Japan, and then coming back to the Mariners.

Mike got his first Topps card in the 1990 Traded set. He appeared in the 1991 regular set, then was left off of the 1992 and 1993 sets. He got into the 1994-1997 sets, was left out of the 1998 set, and got his final Topps card in the '99 set. He is missing cards from the 1992-1993, 1998, and 2000 Topps sets. This 1992 Topps custom leave Mike with 3 cards needed to complete his career Topps run.

This card actually gave me a difficult situation. Mike was traded to the Mariners on May 17, 1991, which would've been plenty of time to get a picture of Mike in a M's uniform. The only problem is that Mike never played with the Mariners in 1991, but with their AAA club in Calgary. I decided to leave Mike's photo as a Yankee photo, but to designate that he was traded (ala O-Pee-Chee). Here is a version I made without the traded designation.
While researching Wikipedia for info about Blowers' career, I found what looked like a fans' website devoted to Blowers listed as an external link. When I clicked the link, it sent me to some Japanese? website. When I translated it, it turned out to be a website about hair loss or something. I seem to be finding crazier and crazier things online while researching players in my project. 

I didn't get to work on as many customs as I wanted to yesterday night, but I am so close to finishing the 2000 Topps templates. Maybe by next week. I think I'll also try to finally finish that 1992 Topps Scott Brosius card to finally finish the '92 set. I think sub-consciously I have been putting the card off because Brosuis was one of those pesky Yankees in the '90's, which were the years when my Yankee-hating came to be.  Might as well finish the set though.  Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

1992 Topps #882 Greg Smith


Greg Smith played 3 years in the Majors. He came up in 1989 with the Cubs, played with them in 1990, was traded to the Dodgers in December of that year, and then played 5 games for them in 1991.
After his career, he became a scout.
Greg is on a 2-player rookie card in the 1990 Fleer set, sharing his with Auburn alum, former San Francisco Giant,  and Favorite Player of mine Stu Tate. I actually had a copy that was autographed by both after I had sent it in the mail to each player and received it back both times signed, but I think I sold it when I downsized a bunch of my autograph collection. I'll have to try to get a signed copy again.

Smith only has 1 Topps card, a 1991 version. He appeared in the 1990 Topps Debut set, but was left off of the main set, which seems strange, because he was considered a prospect for the Cubs back then. Greg is only missing his 1990 Topps rookie card after I made this 1992 Topps custom.

According to his Wikipedia page, it says Greg was homecoming king at his high school in 1985. It's kind of crazy the stuff I have learned about players while doing research for posts, and I will try to pass some along as I find it.

I'm still working on templates for the 2000 Topps set, and I should finish it by the end of this week and then move on to the '89 Topps set. I'll try to post every single template that I have in the next month before baby comes so if you want to try to do a custom set like this one that you will have some templates to help get you started. No softball game last night, I guess because of the rain. I might just have to end up finishing the season with the .667 Batting Average. If we get 2-3 more rainouts, it will be time for baby, and by the time I'm ready to play again, the season should almost be over. If only I would've swung at that last pitch, maybe I'd have a 1.000 Average for the season!  Next year!  Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Sunday, October 9, 2016

1991 Topps #881 Jason Grimsley




Jason Grimsley pitched in the Majors for 15 seasons, and won 2 World Series titles, but had a rather abrupt end to his career. He came up to the Bigs in 1989 with the Phillis, and played with them until the end of 1991. He pitched in the minors in 1992, and played for the Indians in 1993-1995. The Angels signed him for 1996, then he spent 1997 and 1998 in the minors. During that time, he decided to use steroids to recover from an injury so he could hang on and play a few more seasons in the Majors. He hooked up with the Yankees, and performed well for them in 1999 and 2000, helping them win the World Series both years. He pitched with the Royals from 2001 through the middle of 2004.  He was acquired by the Orioles, and finished out the rest of the '04 season with them. He played with them in 2005, then signed with the Diamondbacks for 2006. In June, federal investigators raided his home looking for illegal steroids, and he requested his release from the Diamondbacks shortly after. The whole Mitchell report started from that incident, and we all know what happened after that. Grimsley would never pitch again in the Majors, and should he ever attempt to come back, he would have to serve a 50-game suspension once he is on the 40 man roster of any team. Kind of a sad way to finish out a career, but I can see why he would be tempted to take steroids. As a middle reliever trying to hang on and needing to support your family, it would be tempting to take steroids to recover from an injury faster. If you look at the Mitchell Report, the majority of the players you see are ones who weren't stars wanting to hit for more power, but were scrub guys just trying to hang on or recover from an injury. As a Type 1 diabetic, I take a long time to heal from stuff. I'm not saying it was ok for players to use illegal substances, but I can see why some would do so.
Grimsley first appeared in the 1990 Topps set. He got into the 1991 set, then was left off until the 2001 set. He got a 2001 Topps Traded card, and that was it for him. He is missing cards from the 1994-1996 Topps sets, the 1997 set, the 2000 set, and the 2002-2007 sets. His 1992 Topps card is now covered, but there are still a bunch of cards to make to finish his Topps run.
Our house survived the hurricane with only some broken tree branches in the yard and the power going out for about a day. Not too bad. I'm off tomorrow, and we may or may not have a softball game. If we don't, I might stay up and work on some templates for the 2000 Topps set. Hopefully by then I will be watching the Cubs taking Game 3 from the Giants. I'm not a Cubs fan at all, but I don't see how anyone could like the Giants. They weren't the best team in baseball in any of the 3 years they won he World Series in the last decade. The '10 Rangers, '12 Tigers, and '14 Royals were better, and I just don't care for dynasties, unless it's a team I've been following or rooting for, like the Red Sox. I think it will be the Cubs and either the Red Sox or Blue Jays in the World Series. I think Papi can bring the Sox back, but I can't believe they are down 2-0 to the Indians. The Jays look strong, but I don't think anyone can stop the Cubs and this will be their year. Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

1992 Topps #880 Chuck Cary


Chuck Cary played 8 years in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the 7th round by the Detroit Tigers in 1981 after a nice career at UCLA Berkeley, whom he pitched for in the 1980 College World Series. He got called up by Detroit in 1985, and pitched for them in 1986. He got into a total of 20 games for the Braves in 1987 and 1988. He was injured for the better part of the '88 season, prompting the Braves not to resign him. The Yankees took a gamble on him, and he responded with a 3.26 ERA for them in 1989. He played the 1990 and 1991 seasons with the Yankees before opting to play in Japan in 1992 with the Tokyo Giants. He pitched one last season in the Majors with the Chicago White Sox in 1993.

Cary got his first Topps card in the 1987 set, got another in the 1989 Traded set, and got his last 2 cards in the 1990 and 1991 regular sets. He is missing cards from the 1986, 1988, 1992, and 1994 Topps sets. I guess since Chuck only appeared in 10 games in 1991 that Topps decided to leave him out of the 1992 set, but now he has his 1992 Topps card, and is only missing 3 cards for his career Topps run.

I'm here at work getting prepared for hurricane Matthew to approach us. I live near Daytona, so we'll probably feel some effects of the storm, but hopefully it won't be as bad as everyone says it will be. Everyone is buying a ton of bread from the bakery and we've been swamped the let 2 days, and I'm hoping corporate decides to close us down on Friday, because that is my only day off until Monday, and I would really love to relax a little and later in the day try to unpack more, but should we stay open Friday, I have a feeling I'll be called in. Fingers crossed. If I am working, I'll try to post some cards on my lunch. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

1992 Topps #879 Erik Pappas


Erik Pappas played in the Majors for 3 years. He got his first taste of Big League action in 1991 with the Cubs. He got into 7 games that year, and spent 1992 in the minors. He got back to the Majors in 1993 with the Cardinals, and played his final season with them in 1994. 

Erik has 2 Topps issues, coming in the 1993 Topps Traded and 1994 Topps sets.  It's kind of strange that Topps got him into the '93 Traded set even though he didn't appear in the Majors in 1992.  He needs a 1992 Topps card, and a 1995 Topps card to complete his career Topps run. Erik actually appears on a number of Topps brand cards, including a '91 Bowman, '92 Stadium Club, '92 Topps Debut, '94 Topps Finest, and '94 Stadium Club issue. This custom gives Erik his '92 Topps card, and only leaves him with a '95 Topps card needing to complete his career Topps run.

I actually remember when I was 9 pulling a '92 Stadium Club Pappas from a pack. My family was in Michigan for my Aunt Mary Jo's wedding, and we stopped at Meijers, the local grocery store to get something. I convinced my parents to get me 2 packs of '92 Stadium Club, and the Pappas was one of the cards I pulled. I liked looking at the backs of the cards and seeing the rookie cards. I thought the Topps debut cards were so cool, but I was never able to get any of them because I was so young and didn't know that a hobby store would probably have them. Eventually, I got some Topps debut cards from a few repacks, as well as COMC, and I still have the '92 Stadium Club Pappas in my Cubs binder.

We should officially close on the house tomorrow, and hopefully everything will get squared away in the next few weeks. My posts might slow down a little, especially the ones from my laptop, but I can always post from my phone while on lunch at work. In other news, my softball team got blown out 15-5, and I went 1-2, with a single in the 3rd, and a strikeout looking in the 6th. I fouled off 2 pitches, and the next one looked close to me, and I thought it might be a little inside and high, but it came down, and I watched it cross the corner of the plate as it was too late. The ump took a while to call the pitch, and a few teammates thought it was a bad call, but I guess I'm ok with it and am a little disappointed that I didn't swing. I'm no longer batting 1.000, but hey, .667 isn't bad. I got to play the first inning of the game in right field, and a ball was hit to me, and I started drifting back, and the ball kept going back, and if I had ran back instead of backpedaling, I might have had a chance, but I think in the end that the ball ended up going a few feet behind my glove. I did make it into the stat book later in the inning, by registering a clean Chance as a ball got by the first baseman and I cleanly fielded it and got it back to the cutoff man.  We have a doubleheader next week, so hopefully I can get a few hits, score my first run of the season, and get my first RBI. Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Friday, September 23, 2016

1992 Topps #878 Rod Beck


Rod Beck played for 13 seasons in the Major Leagues. He made his debut in 1991 with the Giants, and stayed with them through the end of the 1997 season. He played with the Chicago Cubs in 1998 and 1999, but was traded to the Red Sox midway through the '99 season. He was with the Sox until the end of the 2001 season. He had Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2001 season, and spent 2002 in the minors at Iowa with the Chicago Cubs organization. During the season, he lived in a mobile home behind the stadium, letting fans come over while he would sign autographs and offer free beer. In 2003, he made it back to the Majors with the Padres, and finished his career with them in 2004.  Unfortunately, Beck passed away in 2007. I was fortunate enough to have got Beck's autograph through the mail in 2006 on a '93 Topps Gold and '98 Bowman Chrome card.

Rod never got a 1992 Topps card in the main set, but he did get in the '92 set (sort of). 1992 was the first year that parallel sets came inserted in packs, and Topps made a parallel ToppsGold set, where the box with the player and team names were highlighted in gold foil. Every card in the '92 set had the ToppsGold parallel card, but the set had 6 checklists in it. Instead of making ToppsGold checklist cards, Topps decided to give 6 players that weren't in the regular Topps set a ToppsGold card. Those players were Brian Williams, Terry Mathews, John Ramos, Terry McDaniel, Tony Perezchica, and Rod Beck. I chose to add these players to my custom 1992 set, since they didn't have regular Topps cards in 1992. I did this as well to players who appeared in the 1992 O-Pee-Chee set as All-Star replacement cards. 

Rod appeared on a decent amount of Topps sets during his career. 1993 was the first set he appeared in, and he was in every Topps set from then until 1999. He was skipped from the 2000 and 2001 sets, and appeared on a 2002 Topps card, which was his final Topps card. He presumably wouldn't have got a card in the 2003 set since he didn't play in the Majors in '02. The '04 and '05 sets are missing Beck cards, which would've been his final 2 Topps issues. This custom gives him cards from the '92-'99 sets, leaving him with cards from the '00-'01 sets, and '04-'05 sets to give him a career Topps run.

I am making some headway on the checklist of the 2001 Topps set on my other blog. All of the NL teams are done, and I have all of the templates for the NL clubs done as well. I will probably start on the AL team checklists and templates sometime in October once we are moved into the new house and time warrants it. I hope to have them all done by the end of the year, but I don't know what's going to happen once our baby arrives in November. If you enjoy seeing these cards, check out my other blog. I basically am doing customs from the 1989-present Topps sets, and I am attempting to complete the 2001 set right now, followed by the 1989 set, 1990 set, 1991 set, and so on. I have been getting some help making the customs by a reader or two, so if that sounds like something you are into, please let me know.  Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

1992 Topps #877 Tim McIntosh


Tom McIntosh was a top prospect for the Brewers in the early '90's. He made his debut in 1990 with the Brew Crew and  stayed with them until the first few days of the 1993 season. He was selected off waivers by the Expos and finished the '93 season with them. He stayed in the minors in 1994, played the 1995 season in Japan, and played his final season with the Yankees in 1996.
I got to meet Tim a few years ago when he was a minor league coach. He signed a few cards for me and talked about his time with the Yankees. He said he didn't get a ring in 1996 (even though he was part of the club that won the World Series that year), but that he still respected George Steinbrenner. That really surprised me because if I didn't get a ring, I would be pissed, and I would probably blame the top, which would've been ol' Pennybags Steinbrenner. The fact that Tim was so nice made me even more sad that he didn't get a ring and didn't get much of a shot in the Majors.

Tim appeared on a 1991 Topps future stars subset card, was skipped in 1992, and got in the 1993 set, which was his final Topps card. He is missing from the '92, '94, and '97 sets. This 1992 Topps custom leaves Tim with only 2 cards needing to be made to complete his career Topps run.

My softball game got rained out on Monday, which sucks, because it was a doubleheader, but I guess it was ok, because my Batting Average is still 1.000 for another week. The closing date got pushed back on our house due to them needing some papers that might take 10 days to get in their hands. Now we are scheduled to close on the 28th and have to be out of the apartment by the 1st. Not looking forward to the short deadline, but I think we can do it. We have a baby shower on Sunday, and couple that with the entire bakery being on sale at work, and I'm about ready to go crazy. Just 1 more month, and hopefully we'll be moved in, people will be back from vacation at work, and I will have some normalcy in my life. I'll keep making customs when I can. Thanks for checking out my latest one.
-Jeremy

Thursday, September 15, 2016

1992 Topps #876 Donnie Scott


Donnie Scott is one of those strange players that you find in a set who has a big gap in between MLB seasons on the back of his card. He came up in '83 with the Rangers, played with them in 1984, then had a season with the Mariners in 1985. He toiled in the minors from 1986-1990, then got into 10 games with the Reds in 1991, his final season. 

Donnie appears on 3 Topps cards, a 1985 regular card, a 1985 Traded card, and a 1986 regular card. He is missing cards in the 1984 and 1992 Topps sets, and this custom brings the total down to 1. 

It's going to get crazy here in the next week, as the DeJong household will be hopefully closing on our first house on Thursday. Work has been getting crazy for me, as we are already shorthanded, and apparently another bakery is worse off than we are, so we have to give them some people, so between work and moving, I think I'm going to go insane. I still might try to post some cards during my lunches at work just to escape the insanity for a little while. Soon it will be back to normal I hope. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

Saturday, September 10, 2016

1992 Topps #875 Jim Presley


Jim Presley played in the Big Leagues for 8 seasons. He came up in 1984 with ten Seattle Mariners. He was one of their first superstars, hitting 28 Home Runs in 1985, and driving in 107 RBIs in 1986. He was named to the 1986 AL All-Star team. After the 1989 season, he signed with the Braves, and spent the 1990 season with them before playing his last season in 1991 with the Padres. After his career, he became a coach, spending 1998-2000 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2006-2010 with the Marlins, and 2012-now with the Orioles. I almost missed that he was with Arizona. I normally search Wikipedia for info, and his D-Backs tenure wasn't listed. When I looked on Trading Card Database, he had a 2001 Diamondbacks card, so I checked their roster, and sure enough, he was a coach. I would've figured it out soon enough, as I am working on completing the 2001 Topps set next, and he is on my checklist, but it's a little unsettling to think that some of the places where I get my info are incomplete.
Jim appeared in the 1985 Topps Traded set, and was in the regular set from 1986-1991. He also had a 1990 Topps Traded card. This 1992 Topps completes his Topps run as a player. He needs 1999-2001, 2007-2011, and 2013-2016 Topps cards for his coaching tenure.

My car finally gave up the ghost last night, so to add to all the stress of my life I now have to look for another car and deal with paying for that. I guess it is good because I really did need a new safe car for when baby comes, but it just sucks having to spend money I wasn't quite yet planning on spending. On the bright side, softball season is 2 days away. Can't wait. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

Thursday, September 8, 2016

1992 Topps #874 Turner Ward


Turner Ward played in the Majors from 1990-2001. He played with the Indians from 1990-the middle of the 1991 season, when he was traded to the Blue Jays. He stayed with them through the 1993 season, winning the '92 and '93 World Series with them. He spent 1994-1996 with the Brewers, then played with the Pirates from 1997-August of 1999. He signed with Arizona, and spent the rest of the '99 season with them, as well as all of 2000. He spent his last season with the Philadelphia Phillies.
After his playing career, he became a coach, and became assistant hitting coach for the Diamondbacks in 2013. He stayed with them through the end of the '15 season, and became the hitting coach for the Dodgers in 2016.
Turner got his first Topps card in 1991, but was skipped from the 1992 and 1993 regular sets. He did get a card in the '94 Traded set. His only other Topps card came in the 2001 set. He is missing cards from the '92-'94 regular sets, the '95-00 sets, and the '02 sets during his playing days, and the '14-'16 sets from his coaching career.
I've always kind of liked Turner since I found out he went to the University of South Alabama. In 2001-2002, I went to the University of Mobile, which was near South. A few decent South Alabama players appeared in the '01 Topps set, including Juan Pierre, Mike Mordecai, and Ward, so it was kind of cool getting their cards out of packs that year.
I found out my first softball game is at 6:30 on Monday. I'll try to post how I do after the game if I'm not too drained. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Sunday, September 4, 2016

1992 Topps #873 Wayne Edwards


Wayne Edwards played in the Big Leagues for 3 years, all with the White Sox. He got into 7 games in 1989, 42 in 1990, and 13 in '91.  He spent '92 in AAA, and isn't shown to have played anywhere in 1993. He played in AAA in '94 and '95 before spending 1 final season in single-A ball in 1996. 

Edwards got into the '90 Topps Traded set, and appeared in the '91 regular set. He missed the 1992 set, but did appear in the 1992 O-Pee-Chee set. I used the front and back of the OPC card to make this one. This card completes Wayne's career Topps run.

It should also be noted that even though he didn't pitch in the Majors in 1992 that his name did appear on the back of a 1993 Topps card. On Jack McDowell's card back it says that McDowell, Edwards, and minor league pitcher Lee Plemel  were members of a rock band called VIEW. I found a little info about the band online. Apparently McDowell played guitar and sang lead, Plemel played bass, and Edwards was the drummer. They released 2 albums and disbanded in 1992. Here's the back of the '93 McDowell.
In 8 days, it will be full-on crazy in my household. We will hopefully have just closed on our first house, we will be 1 week closer to welcoming our first child in mid-November, and I will be lacing up my spikes again to play for my church's softball team. I did decent last year, going 9-29 (.310), scoring 5 runs, and driving in 7 RBIs and drawing 1 walk. I got better as the season wore on, and if not for a 2 game slump, I would probably have batted closer to .400. If I can just be consistent this year and keep improving with making contact and fielding, I think I can be a valuable player and maybe hit closer to .400 and play multiple positions in the field. Time will tell, and I will keep you updated. Thanks as always for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Friday, September 2, 2016

1992 Topps #872 Jamie Moyer


Jamie played in MLB for 25 seasons. He came up all the way back in 1986 with the Cubs, and played with them through 1988. He spent 1989 and 1990 with the Rangers, and 1991 with the Cardinals. After spending 1992 in the minors, he played with the Baltimore Orioles from 1993-1995. He spent the first part of 1996 with the Red Sox, and then got traded to the Seattle Mariners, whom he pitched with for the next decade until the middle of the 2006 season. He was traded to the Phillies that year, and stayed with them through 2010, winning a World Series title in 2008 with them. He missed the entire 2011 season with an injury, and spend his last season with the Rockies in 2012 before retiring.

He got his first Topps card in the 1987 set, and appeared in the next 4 sets. He missed the 1992 set, but was back for 1994 and 1995. He was left off of the 1996 set, and then appeared in the regular Topps set from 1997-2009. He got a card in the Update set in 2010, and was back in the regular set for 2011. Even though he didn't pitch in 2011, he got a card in the 2012 Update set (2 in fact, as one was a season highlight checklist). The '12 Update cards would be his last 2 Topps cards, since he was left off of the 2013 set. So for pitching in 25 years, that's not to bad, only left off of 3 sets. This 1992 Topps custom checks 1 off of the list, only leaving his 1996 and 2013 cards to give him a complete Topps run.

It was pretty tough to find picture of Moyer in a Cards uniform, and I had to steal this one from his '91 Stadium Club card. This card was one of the few cards I had to make with the League Leader designation on the back since he led the NL in Earned Runs in 1987. 

Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

1992 Topps #871 Shane Turner


Today's card is probably the one that gave me the most trouble to make. Before I get to that, here's the lowdown on Shane Turner.
Shane made his MLB debut in 1988 with the Phillies. He got back into the Majors in 1991 with the O's, and played one final season with the Mariners in 1992.
Shane only has 1 regular Topps issue, his 1993 card. He is missing a 1989 and 1992 card to complete his career Topps run, and this 1992 custom only leaves his '89 card left. Turner didn't have that many cards issued during his career, only an '89 Fleer, '92 Donruss The Rookies, '92 Fleer Update, '93 Fleer, '93 Stadium Club, and the previously mentioned '93 Topps card.
Since Shane only played 4 games for the Orioles, I had a heck of a time trying to find a photo of him wearing an Orioles uniform. Nothing on a Google image search, nothing on any of his cards, I even went so far as to search YouTube for a video of any of the games he played in and came up empty. The closest thing I could find was an image of him in his Rochester uniform on a minor league card that I tried to photoshop an Oriols cap on, and you can see how that turned out. I'm not proud of this card, but it is all I have so far. If you have any ideas of how to fix it or how to find a photo of him in an Orioles uniform, please let me know.
Thank for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Monday, August 22, 2016

1991 Topps #870 Danny Heep


Danny Heep got his first taste of the Majors in 1979 with the Houston Astros. He stayed with them through 1982, then spent 1983-1986 with the Mets, winning the '86 World Series with the club. In 1987, he signed with the Dodgers, and spent 1988 as a key pinch-hitter for their Championship team. He spent 1989 with the Red Sox, hitting .300 in 320 At-Bats, by far the most in a season for him, as a platoon DH and Outfielder. He was back to bench duty with the Sox in 1990, and spent his final season with the Braves in 1991.

Danny got his first Topps card in 1981, and appeared on every set through the 1990 set. His only missing Topps cards are from the 1980, 1991, and 1992 sets. It was hard as heck to find a decent picture of Heep in a Braves uni. The only one I could find was very small, so this was the best I could do for his '92 card.

Back when I collected autographs, I tried to get every 1988 Dodger to sign their 1989 Topps card. Heep was one of the few I still needed, along with Tim Crews, Brian Holton, Ramon Martinez, Jeff Hamilton, Tommy Lasorda, Mike Scioscia, and John Shelby. Kind of makes me wish I would've done customs back then so I could've done everyone on the team.

I have some projects going on for my other blog, those, along with trying to finalize the purchase of a house, moving, and my wife and I preparing for our first child in November have been taking up my wine lately, but I will try to post new cards on here when I have a chance, and once I finish templates and a checklist, I may try to put up another blog like this where I will finish the 2001 Topps set with some help. Stay tuned. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy 

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

1992 Topps #869 Bruce Walton


Bruce Walton played 4 seasons in MLB, getting time with the A's in 1991 and 1992, the Expos in 1993, and the Rockies in 1994. After his playing career, he became a coach, making it back to the Majors with the Blue Jays from 2002-2012.
Walton didn't appear in any Topps regular issues during his career, only making it into the 1992 Topps Debut set and '92 Stadium Club set. He doesn't appear in that many non-Topps issues either, only getting a '91 Score Rookie/Traded card, a '92 Donruss The Rookie card, a '92 Fleer Update card, and a '92 Fleer Ultra card. I have a card of just about anyone who appeared in MLB from 1989-the mid '00s, and I don't believe I have any Walton cards in my collection. Needless to say, Bruce is missing cards from the '92-'95 Topps sets, and coach cards from the '03-'13 Topps sets. This '92 Topps Walton rookie gives him his first Topps card.
Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

1992 Topps #868 Barry Manuel


Barry Manuel was drafted out of LSU in 1987. He got his break in 1990 where he was the closer for the high-A Charlotte Rangers. He set a Florida State League record with 38 Saves (the record was tied by John Kelly of St. Petersburg in 1992 and R.A. Dickey of Charlotte in 1998). Manuel jumped to AAA Tulsa in 1991 and had 25 Saves before being called up to the Rangers. He pitched for Texas in 1992, then spent a few years in the minors before coming back to the Bigs in 1996 with the Expos. He spent '97 with the Mets, and pitched his final year in the Majors with the Diamondbacks in 1998.
Barry only appeared on 1 Topps set during his career, the 1992 Debut set. His only other 1992 card is his '92 Donruss issue. He only has a few other mainstream issues during his career, a '93 Pinnacle, '93 Score, a '97 Fleer, a '97 Ultra, and a '98 Pacific Online card. It should be noted that he has a cool '98 Tucson Sidewinders team issue card showing him with his 2 kids, one of which is a newborn. Here is a link to the card. This card gives Barry his rookie card, but he is 4 cards (1993, 1997, 1998, and 1999) away from a career Topps run.
I've been working on printing some of my customs out. So far, I've done a few checklists, and a few of a relative who plays in the minors. They've come out pretty well, and I think I'll work on some of my favorite players and then maybe work on printing out the '92 Topps set. Thanks for checking out the latest card.
-Jeremy