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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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