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