1992 Topps #946 Tony Castillo

Tony Castillo played in the Major Leagues from 1988 to 1998, with a season spent in the minors in 1992. He came up with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988, played part of 1989 with them until being traded to the Atlanta Braves with future playoff hero Francisco Cabrera. He spent 1990 with the Braves, and was traded to the New York Mets in 1991 for Alejandro Pena. He signed with the Detroit Tigers for 1992, spending all of it in the minors. 1993 found him back in Toronto, and he spent 1994, 1995, and most of 1996 with them until being traded to the Chicago White Sox. The last 2 years of his career (1997 and 1998) were spent with the Pale Hose.

Tony got his first Topps card in the 1990 set. His next card would come in the 1991 set, and he would be out of the Topps radar until his final Topps card, in the 1996 set. Tony is missing a slew of cards, those being from the 1988 Topps Traded, 1989 Topps, 1989 Topps Traded, 1991 Topps Traded, 1993 Topps Traded, 1994 Topps, 1995 Topps, 1996 Topps Traded, 1997 Topps, 1998 Topps, and a 1998 Topps sunset card.
In addition to the 1992 Topps custom, I also have created customs for Tony's 1994 and 1998 Topps cards.

I am dangerously close to finishing all of the missing player checklists from every Topps regular set ever made. Just 2/3 of the 2018 set and all of 2019 to go. Once that is finished, I will go back and update the Traded sets. After that, customs, baby!

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #945 Brad Komminsk

Brad Komminsk played in the Majors from 1983-1991, spending the 1988 season in the minors. He played with the Atlanta Braves from 1983 to 1986, spent 1987 with the Milwaukee Brewers, 1989 with the Cleveland Indians, 1990 with the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles, and his final season with the Oakland Athletics in 1991. There are some interesting things about his career after he was in the Majors, but we will get to that later.

Brad got his first Topps card in the 1985 set. He got in the 1986 set, then was in the 1990 regular Topps set, and 1990 Traded set. He is missing card from the 1983 Topps Traded, 1984 Topps, 1987 Topps Traded, 1988 Topps, 1989 Topps Traded, 1991 Topps, and 1991 Topps Traded sets to complete his career Topps run. I actually have finished his '83 Topps Traded and '84 Topps cards when I completed those sets, so here they are.

On to the interesting things after his Major League career. Brad is technically missing another Topps  card. According to some of the records I have from Spring Training of 1995 when the replacement players took part in games, Brad suited up for the Minnesota Twins in 1995 as a replacement player. I have a team photo of the replacement Twins, and Komminsk is in it, so it should be easy enough to make him a 1995 Topps card.
I also found out from his BBRef page that Brad played 1 game in AAA for the Detroit Tigers in 1997, 6 years after his last Major League game, 2 years after he suited up as a replacement player, and 4 years after playing his last minor league game. He went 2 for 3 with a double. Pretty good for not having played regularly in 4 years. 

One last thing, I actually met Brad in 2002 or 2003 when I was living in Lakeland, Florida. A golf course near my house had a tournament every spring where you could pay however much it was, and spend a morning playing golf with players and coaches from the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. Well, a friend of mine was playing on his company's team, and he had an extra spot in his foursome, and he knew I liked baseball, so he invited me. I had no idea which player I would be paired up with, so I stuffed my 5-6 binders of Indians and Tigers in my trunk and went to the course. Soon, I found out I would be golfing with Brad Komminsk, so I went to my car, got the cards of him that I had, and went to play some golf. I don't think I really asked him that many questions. He talked a little about Pascual Perez, Garry Maddox, but it's been so long that I don't remember too much of it. I think I made a nice chip or putt at some point. Brad was nice enough to sign the cards for me, and I have a picture somewhere of our foursome, but after spending about 30 minutes looking for it, I still haven't found it. If I run across it, I will put it up. Later that year, when I went to an Indians practice in Spring Training, Brad spotted me, and he was with pitcher Jason Davis (who I didn't have any cards of), and he introduced him to me like I didn't know who he was (I did). If only I was a little more internet savvy back then, I would've probably had a few Davis cards and been able to get an autograph. It was cool to do. Probably the closest I'll get to hang out with a Major Leaguer unless I go to a fantasy camp or something. One day.

Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy

1992 Topps #944 Francisco de la Rosa

Francisco de la Rosa got in to 2 games in 1991 for the Baltimore Orioles, which was the extent of his Major League Career.

He only appeared in 2 major issue sets, 1992 Topps Stadium Club, and 1992 Topps Major League Debut. He is just missing a card from the 1991 Topps Traded set.

Not much about this player or about his career. He pitched from 1985-1995 professionally, and with his 2 games in the Majors, he has 2 more than most of us can ever say. Now, he has a card in the 1992 Topps set.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #943 Barry Lyons

This is going to be a fun post. Barry Lyons played in the Majors from 1986-1995. He came up to the Bigs in 1986 with the New York Mets, and spent '86, '87, '88, '89, and part of '90 with them. The rest of 1990 was spent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he split 1991 between them and the California Angels. He spent 1992-1994 in the minors, and played the final season of his Major League career in 1995 with the Chicago White Sox.

Barry's first Topps card came in the 1987 Traded set. He then got cards in the 1988, 1989, and 1990 regular sets. He is missing a 1986 Topps Traded rookie card, a 1990 Topps Traded, 1991 Topps, 1991 Topps Traded, 1992 Topps, 1995 Topps Traded, and 1996 Topps card from his portfolio. I have actually made all of these missing ones, and here is where it gets fun.

Back in 2017, I had the chance to visit my mother in Houston while on vacation that June. While looking on Google for images for customs, I stumbled on an article about the Biloxi Shuckers minor league team having a camp for kids hosted by Barry Lyons. Barry is the Ambassador for the team (scroll down to Community Relations and Outreach), and is a lifelong resident of Biloxi. I will spare you a long story, but here is a link to Barry's personal story, highlighting his time as a player on the Mets, some downs with depression and drugs, and high points when he came clean and met his wife.

Since we were driving to Texas, I suggested a stop in Biloxi. My wife was born there, and I figured we could stop at the stadium and drop some duplicate cards of Barry to hand out to the campers. Before going up to the stadium, I made customs of Barry's 1990 Topps Traded, 1991 Topps, 1991 Topps Traded, 1992 Topps, and 1996 Topps cards. We got to the stadium, and I met up with a contact from the team, and she ushered me down through the dugout, and through the clubhouse to the underground batting cages where Barry was speaking. It was the first time I had been in a clubhouse, and it was a nice place. After he talked, Barry walked out to the dugout before a session, and I introduced myself, gave Barry his 'regular' cards, and asked if he had time to sign a few customs. I told him I made the White Sox photo out of an Angels photo, and he was impressed. I gave him extras of the customs to keep, thanked him for his time, and was on my way. It was an amazing day, and I now have Barry in my Favorite Player Collection, and I am saving all of the Barry Lyons cards I can so I can ship them out to Biloxi for future camps. 

Here are all of the Barry Lyons customs I have, including the ones I got signed, and some random Donruss and Fleer ones I made.

 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

1992 Topps #942 Hector Fajardo

Hector Fajardo pitched in the Majors in 4 different years. He got called up to the Majors in 1991 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was traded to the Texas Rangers on August 30. He finished the year with them, spent 1992 in the minors, and played 1993-1995, the last 3 years of his career with them as well.

Hector only got 1 regular-issue Topps card, in the 1995 Topps set. He is missing cards in the 1991 Topps Traded, 1992 Topps, 1994 Topps, and 1996 Topps sets. Besides the 1992 Topps custom I made, I have also made a 1994 Topps custom of Hector.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy 

1992 Topps #941 Rafael Ramirez

Rafael Ramirez played in the Major Leagues from 1980 to 1992. He was a good fielder, and made the NL All-Star team in 1984.
His got called up to the Majors in 1980 with the Atlanta Braves. He was with them through the end of the 1987 season, and spend the final 5 years of his career with the Houston Astros.
Rafael got his first Topps card in the 1981 Topps set on a combo rookie card with Tommy Harper and Ed Miller. He then got solo cards in the 1982-1991 Topps sets, as well as a 1988 Topps Traded card. That means that Ramirez is only missing cards in the 1992 and 1993 Topps sets. As it turns out, I have completed Rafael's career Topps run, since I have done this 1992 Topps custom and his 1993 Topps sunset card.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #940 Dave LaPoint

Dave LaPoint pitched for 12 seasons in the Majors. He came up in 1980 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He spent 1981 through 1984 with the St. Louis Cardinals, winning a World Series Championship with them in 1982. He was with the San Francisco Giants in 1985, the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres for 1986, and then was off to the Chicago White Sox. He spent 1987 and half of 1988 with them. He got traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in August, and spent the rest of '88 with them. He played the 1989 and 1990 seasons with the New York Yankees, and played the final season of his MLB career, 1991, with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Dave appeared on a number of Topps cards throughout his career. He missed getting cards in the 1981 and 1982 Topps sets, getting his rookie card in the 1983 set. He was in the 1984 and 1985 regular Topps sets, and got a 1985 Topps Traded card. He got a 1986 Topps and Topps Traded card, and was in the 1987 regular set. He had regular 1988 Topps and 1989 Topps cards, then got a 1989 Topps Traded card. His last 2 Topps cards were from the 1990 and 1991 main sets. He is missing cards in the 1981, 1982, and 1992 Topps sets, and from the 1980, 1981, 1987, 1988, and 1991 Topps Traded sets.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #939 Checklist #7

Well, we've finally made it to the first checklist in the set. Pretty impressive. The regular Topps set contained 792 cards and 6 checklists. Mine goes all the way up to 1367 cards for a total of 575 more cards, and added an additional 4 checklists to give it 10 for the total set. Not much to say here, but this card gets you through the first checklist, and you can zoom in and see some of the upcoming cards in the set.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #938 Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper only played one year in the Majors, in 1991 for the Houston Astros. He got 4 Hits in 16 At-Bats, for a .250 Batting Average. He had 1 Double and 2 RBIs.
Gary appeared in a few major baseball card sets, including 1992 Donruss, 1992 Pinnacle (Idols), 1992 Score, and 1992 Topps Debut. Interestingly, he didn't appear on a base Pinnacle card, but got into the Idols subset.
This 1992 Topps custom covers Gary's missing Topps cards, unless you decide to get technical. If you give him a 1991 Topps Traded card, as well as a 1995 Topps Traded card (since he appeared as a replacement player for the Montreal Expos in '95 Spring Training), then he is still missing 2 cards. I will probably add the '95 Topps card at some point, and if I get a craving to work on some Topps Traded checklists, I will add Gary's card to the 1991 page.
That covers the latest 1992 Topps custom. Stay tuned for more.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #937 Roy Smith

Roy Smith pitched in the Major Leagues from 1984 to 1991. He played with the Cleveland Indians in 1984 and 1985, he played for the Minnesota Twins from 1985 to 1990, and spend his final year in MLB with the Baltimore Orioles in 1991. He was on the 1987 Minnesota Twins World Championshp team. After retiring, he worked as a scout, assistant general manager, and vice president for scouting and player development.
Roy got his first Topps card in the 1985 Topps set. He got into the 1986 set, but went missing from the 1988 and 1989 sets. His last 2 Topps cards came in the 1990 and 1991 Topps sets, leaving him a missing 1992 Topps sunset card, which I made.  He technically also needs a 1986 Topps Traded and 1991 Topps Traded card with the missing 1987 and 1988 regular Topps cards to complete his career Topps run.
It's been a while since I updated this site, but I hope to keep doing a monthly 1992 Topps card, and maybe eventually finish in 2073.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #936 Stan Royer

Stan Royer played in the Major Leagues from 1991 to 1994. He was selected by the Oakland Athletics as the 16th pick in the 1988 MLB draft. He got swapped to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Willie McGee deal in 1990, and made his MLB debut with them in 1991. He played for the Cards in 1992 and 1993, and split 1994 with the Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.

Royer only has 1 Topps card, a 1993 Topps Coming Attraction card. He is missing cards in the 1992, 1994, and 1995 Topps sets. I have also added him to the '89 Topps set as part of the Draft Picks subset. This 1992 Topps custom takes care of his '92 card, and I have also made his 1994 Topps card while finishing that set a while back.

I may have actually saw Stan play in Spring Training of 1993. I was 10, and my dad took me to a Tigers-Cardinals game in Lakeland, FL where we lived. I don't remember who pitched or anything about who appeared in the game, but it was preseason, and many of the stars don't make road trips, so there was a decent chance that Stan appeared in the game at some point.

Things have been kind of crazy in my life lately, but perhaps, they are getting back to normal. I just got 200 9-page pockets, and will be putting in my loose cards of the last 4 important teams in the AL (Oakland, Seattle, Texas, and Toronto), then the loose Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay (Devil) Ray cards, then my Favorite Players (been waiting about a year to do so), then a few other special binder cards (Highlights, rookies, sunset cards, shiny cards), and maybe if there are enough pages left, the New York Yankees. You should be seeing some of this reflected in my other blog, as I will be updating my Favorite Player pages with pictures of all of the cards, as well as lists of what I have, to make trading easier. This may take a while, but stay tuned.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #935 Keith Comstock

Keith Comstock played in the Major Leagues from 1986-1991. He appeared first in 1986 with the Minnesota Twins, spent 1987 with the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, 1988 with the Padres, before finishing up his career in 1990 and 1991 with the Seattle Mariners. 

He is only appeared on 2 Topps cards, his first being in the 1988 Topps set, and his last being in 1991. He is missing cards from the 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1992 Topps sets, with this card crossing off his sunset 1992 one. 

Keith is kind of a baseball card legend, as he is featured on 2 error cards (in his only 2 Topps cards ever made), and 1 goofy photo in a minor league issue.

His first error card was in the 1988 Topps set. It features the Padres name at the top of the card in white instead of blue. Here is the error card and the corrected one.

His 1991 Topps card comes with a correct Mariners version, and an error listing him with the Chicago Cubs. Here is the error and corrected version.

This is the minor league card I was talking about.

Ouch. 

In spite of all of these crazy cards, I always thought his 1991 Donruss card was weird. When I would go to my endocrynologist as a kid, every time they had to draw my blood in the lab, I wouldn't really care, because they would give me a 3-card '91 Donruss pack afterwards. I pulled the Comstock card out of one of the packs, and I just thought it was crazy how it looked like there were bumps on Comstock's glove just like a basketball instead of being smooth like all of the other gloves I had seen on cards. Take a look for yourself.

If all of those crazy facts weren't enough, while researching for the back of the customs '92 TOpps I made, I discovered that Keith played an inning in Right Field for the Giants in 1987. Add that to the many interesting things I have discovered while researching things for the 1992 Topps set.

I have finished the 1984 Topps set, am a team or two away from finishing the checklist for the 1981 Topps set, and am making progress on making cards in the '93 Topps set. With all that being done, I am thinking about adding another thing to my plate by creating a Twitter account, mainly for all of the Topps cards that never were, not just the 1992 set. I just don't want to mess up if I do create the account and do everything professionally and not appear like a noob. So, a few questions...
First, what should I post? A random card? Groups of cards? A card of the day? What would attract people to follow my account?
Second, I notice there are a number of baseball players who I have made customs of that own Twitter accounts. Should I try to add them as followers first, and them post customs of them and tag them? Should I just post, and see if I can get the players as followers if these customs spread by word of mouth?
Third, should I add all of the MLB team accounts? Would Topps kill me if I added them and they saw that I was making customs using their designs?
I'm probably forgetting a few other questions, but these were the main ones. I don't even know if anyone would want to follow a Topps Cards that Never Were Twitter page, but if there is enough interest, I could create one. #ToppsCardsthatNeverWere.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps #934 Doug Strange

Doug Strange played in the Majors from 1989-1998. He came up with the Detroit Tigers in 1989, spent 1990 in the minors, and got back into the Bigs with the Chicago Cubs in 1991. He played with them in 1992, and spent 1993 and 1994 with the Texas Rangers. For 1995 and 1996, he played with the Seattle Mariners, then he spent 1997 with the Montreal Expos before finishing his career in 1998 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Doug's first Topps card came in the 1989 Topps set. He is missing a card in the 1992 set, which I fixed. He got in the 1994 set, and then is missing cards for the rest of his career. I made him a 1998 Topps card as an Expo, and Mark from Battlin' Bucs gave him a 1998 Topps Traded card as a Pirate.

On my other blog, I have been working on finishing the 1984 Topps and 1984 Topps Traded sets.  I have finished the Traded set, and am done with the NL in the regular set, as well as the Orioles and Red Sox. That leaves about 10 teams to go (the checklists says a little less than 200 cards, but a number have been done, so I think it's closer to 150 or less). I hope to finish that in a few months. I finished the 1982 Topps checklist, and am working on the 1981 checklist, bringing me steps closer to having missing player checklists from every set from 1978 to 2001. Eventually, I will work my way down through the '70's and '60's and down to 1951. Patience. Patience.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy