Coaches Center Part 11: 1999 Topps #498 Rick Williams Coach

Rick Williams never made it to the Majors as a player, but he did as a pitching coach. Rick, who is the son of Hall of Fame Manager Dick Williams, was the pitching coach for the Florida Marlins from 1995 to 1996. After his time in Florida, he became the pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays during their first season in 1998. He held the position until the end of the 2000 season.

Rick doesn't appear on any Topps cards, so he needs ones in the 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2001 sets. This custom for his first year with the Rays knocks out his 1999 Topps card.

Our softball team lost again tonight, 15-5. I went 1-2 at the plate, hitting a bloop single in between third base and the pitcher in my first At-Bat. I got to second when the next hitter singled, but was thrown out on a close play to 3rd on the next play. In my 2nd At-Bat, I hit lefthanded (I normally hit righty, but we had a runner on 1st, and I wanted to pull the ball towards first so I could try to at least advance the runner). I fouled off 2 pitches, so I was in the hole 1 ball and 2 strikes with no fouls left. The pitch came in and looked a tad high, and inside, and I froze and decided not to swing. The pitch nicked the corner of the plate, and the ump called me out on strikes. It may have been a ball, and the ump didn't give very distinct strike calls, so I was unsure if I was out or still alive for a second. A few of my teammates thought the pitch was a ball, but the ump didn't, and I am no longer batting 1.000. I still haven't scored a run, and have only come to bat once with a runner on base. Clearly we need to hit better.
I also played an inning in Right Field. A lefty came up in the 1st Inning, and hit it to me. I started drifting back towards the fence, and the ball kept carrying and I couldn't see it very well in the lights, and it went over my head a few feet. Don't know if I could've caught it if I ran faster, but it did allow a run to score. That was the only inning I played the field, and I was ok with that. We needed our best guys out there. A few guys made some nice catches, but we also had some close calls that were missed, and ended up giving up a Grand Slam because of 2 of them.

My wife and I are both off tomorrow, and I hope to pack the last of our stuff tomorrow afternoon and evening, maybe give the dogs a bath, and load up our van with as many boxes as will fit. That way, late Wednesday when the house finally closes, we can get right to dropping boxes off, and maybe even getting the U-Haul and starting on furniture. If not, Thursday and Friday will hopefully have enough time to do that.  We also have a 3-D ultrasound on Wednesday, and I'm excited to see what our first son will look like hopefully. We toured the hospital where my wife will give birth today, and it seemed pretty nice. Not exactly what I expected, but what do I know, I'm not a doctor or anything.
On a kind of sad note, I'm sure all of you know that Arnold Palmer passed away on Sunday. The hospital we will be delivering at is Winnie Palmer Hospital, and Arnold Palmer Hospital is right next to it. It was kind of eerie going there and knowing that the person who the main part is named after passed away yesterday. I expected to see flags at half mass, and maybe something about it on the random TV screens that we passed by, but for some reason, we didn't see anything. I didn't see any flags, and I'm sure they were half mast. Maybe the hospital didn't want to dwell on the sadness that Arnold had passed and were trying to keep it low key. It is sad to see such a legend go, and also sad to see a young life like Jose Fernandez snatched away too quickly. You never know when your last day is, so don't hesitate to be at peace with your Maker and be at peace with those in your lives.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 10: 1999 Topps #497 Greg Riddoch

Greg Riddoch first got into the Majors as a coach for the Padres. He served as a coach with the Friars from 1987 through the middle of the 1990 season, when he took over the managerial duties. He stayed on as Padres manager until the last few days of the 1992 season when Jim Riggleman replaced him. I'm not sure what he did from 1993-1997. Wikipedia doesn't mention anything, but I would assume he was in some kind of coach or player development role with a team. In 1998, he was a coach with the Devil Rays in their first season, and remained with them the next year, which would be his final one in the Majors.

Greg appeared in the 1990 Topps Traded set, and got into the 1991 and 1992 regular sets. He is missing from the 1988 and 1989 sets as a Padre (I will make a card of him in the 1990 regular set as well as a Padre coach), and he is also missing from the 1999 and 2000 sets as a Devil Ray. This '99 card gives him his 2nd to last Topps card.

My 2nd season as (hopefully if we get enough and don't have too many players) First Presbyterian DeLand's starting right fielder will begin on Monday at 6:30. My wife has an appointment at one of her pregnancy doctors earlier in the day, so we will probably head there after I get off work, grab some dinner, and then head to the ballpark. If I'm not zonked, I'll probably post a card and how I did at the game. High goals for this year will be to bat .400 with a hit in every game, an extra base hit, maybe a walk-off RBI, and a few decent plays in the field. Realistic ones are maybe hitting .300, scoring a few runs, driving in 3-5 RBIs, and making 2-3 putouts in the field. Hopefully my stats will fall somewhere inbetween and we will actually win a few games this year too.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 9: 1999 Topps #496 Frank Howard Coach

Frank Howard is a longtime player/coach/manager.  His career began in 1958 with the Dodgers. He stayed with them until 1965 when he was traded to the Washington Senators. He stayed with the franchise (which became the Tecas Rangers in 1972) until the middle of the aforementioned '72 season, when his contract was sold to the Detroit Tigers. He played the '73 season with Detroit before trying to keep playing by going to Japan in 1974. In his first At-Bat for the Taiheiyo Lions, he swung fiercely, and was injured, ending his playing career.
His coaching career started in 1977 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He stayed with the through the 1980 season. He managed the San Diego Padres for the 1982 season, and then became a coach for the New York Mets from 1982-1984. He also was the clubs manager for part of the '83 season. It was back to the Brew Crew for 1985 and 1986, then he went to Seattle in 1987 and 1988. He coached the Yankees in '89, skipped the 1990 season, before coming back to them for '91 and '92. He didn't coach in 1993, then came back to the Mets from 1994-1996. His final coaching stint came in 1998 and 1999 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

'Hondo' appeared on many cards as a player, and even a few as a manager. Topps hasn't made coach cards since the mid '70's, so Frank is missing many cards as a coach. I will start with the '89 set since that's the set that my blog is starting with (the first set I remember getting packs of from my parents/grandparents as a kid). Howard is missing cards from the '89-'90 sets, the 1992 and 1993 sets, the '95-'97 sets, and the '99-'00 sets as a coach. This '99 custom crosses that one off of the list, and I made this '92 Topps card for my other blog.

I might try to work on some customs late tonight. I have a first time fathers class from 6-9, so maybe after I get back from that. Tomorrow I'll be stuck at the doctors for a while, so I might try to work on finilizing some rosters for the '01 set. This could be the last chance I have to work on customs the next week or five. It looks like we should close on the house next week, so that means all the craziness of packing/unpacking/painting should start, and between that, softball season, work, random doctor appointments, and preparing for the baby, I think I'll be just begging for time to sleep. If I can just get through the end of the year, I think I'll be fine. I'm sure someone can relate. Thanks for checking out the latest card in my custom set. 

-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 8: 1999 Topps #495 Steve Henderson Coach

Steve Henderson played in the Majors from 1977-1988.  He played for the Mets from 1977-1980. He played for the Cubs for the next 2 seasons, then saw time with the Mariners from 1983 to 1984. He played for the Oakland A's from '85-'87, and then spent his final season with the Astros in 1988. After his playing career, he coached for the Astros from 1995-1996, got 1 season with the Devil Rays in 1998, coached in the minors for a while, then coached again for the Rays from 2006-2009, and then with the Phillies from 2012 to now.
He got Topps cards from 1978-1986, was skipped in the '87 set, and got a final card in the 1988 set. He is missing cards from the 1987 and 1989 sets from his playing career and from the '96, '97, '99, '07-'10 sets, and '11-'16 sets from his coaching career.
I met Steve in 2002 when he was coaching in Orlando with the Rays organization, and he was nice, signing his '84 and '86 Topps cards for me. I think I've met him a few other times over the years when he was coaching for the Rays.
I wish I would've taken a picture of him and the other Devil Rays coaches in 1998 and 1999 during the dozen or so games that I went to during that period. I was unable to find a picture of him in the original Rays uniform that was worn during their first 2 years ('98-'99). The best I could do was find this picture from 2006 I believe, and photoshop the old Rays logo on it, but the colors on the sleeves and hat totally don't match the old logo. Oh well. This custom crosses his 1999 Topps card off of the list.
I'll have some free time tomorrow night and Friday, so I hope to work on some customs. I think I'm going to try to do some cards of a friend that plays in the minors, maybe in the '17 Topps design and finish the back to a '16 Pro debut card. I also kind of want to try some '89 Topps cards and other sets that have a curved writing style ('98 -'99 prospects, '99 draft picks, '02 and '06 Topps mainly), since I recently got Microsoft Office and I believe that Word will let me write text on a path. I will let you know how that goes. I also might try to post some templates on here. They will probably be random ones, but hopefully someone will be able to use them.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 7: 1999 Topps #493 Orlando Gomez Coach

Orlando Gomez is a longtime player, coach, and minor league manager. As of this year, it marks his 53rd consecutive year in baseball at some position. His time in the Majors started in 1991 as the Bullpen Coach for the Texas Rangers. He served as the Rangers First Base Coach in 1992. He got back to the Majors in 1998 with the Devil Rays as their Bullpen Coach after 5 years in the minors. He stayed with the Rays through the end of the 2000 season. His final 2 years in the Majors came in 2003 and 2004 as the Seattle Mariners Bullpen Coach. 

Orlando doesn't have any cards in any major sets, but does appear in a number of minor league issues.  He is missing cards from the 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005 Topps sets. 

I knocked out the 1999 set with today's card, and I also made his 1992 Topps card (front and back) as part of my other blog, Completing the 1992 Topps Set.  

Thanks for checking out the lastest custom.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 6: 1999 Topps #494 Billy Hatcher Coach

Billy Hatcher was a Big League Outfielder from 1984-1995. He played for the Cubs from '84-'85, then it was on to the Astros in 1986. He stayed with them through the middle of the 1989 season, then was traded to the Pirates. He spent 1990-1991 with the Reds, winning the 1990 World Series with them. He played with the Red Sox in 1992 and 1993, spent 1994 with the Phillies, and his final season was with the Rangers in 1995.
His coaching career began in the minors in 1997, and he got promoted to the Majors to start the 1998 season with the Devil Rays. He remained with them through the end of the 2005 season. In 2006 Billy started coaching with the Reds, and remains with them today as a coach.

Billy started appearing in Topps sets in 1986, and was in every set through 1995. He is missing a 1985 card and a 1996 card from his playing days, and 1999-2016 cards from his coaching career.

It was tough to find pictures of Billy in the pre-2000 Devil Rays uniform. I wish I would've took more pictures during the 10 or so games I went to in 1998 and 1999, but I was 15 and technology was pretty new back then and I didn't know what a custom baseball card was back then. Oh well. The photo I found will work for the card. This card marks the start of a ton of '99 Topps Devil Ray cards, but once they are done, I have some neat cards coming up, stay with me. Thanks for checking out the latest card.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 5: 2001 Topps Bobby Dews

BIO: Bobby Dews was a coach for the Braves from '79-'81, 1985, and '97-'06. He also served in various roles like roving instructor before and after those periods.

TOPPS SETS APPEARED IN: None

TOPPS SETS MISSING FROM:  1980-1982, 1986, and 1998-2007

WHY I MADE THIS CARD: Bobby was one of the nicest guys in the game. I've seen him at least twice in person during spring training. The first time I mistakenly thought he was Bobby Cox, and I handed him Cox's 2002 Topps card to get signed. Dews signed it and told me it wasn't him. I was embarrassed but happy to have the autograph all the same. The second time, he was hitting flies to outfielders during BP, and I jokingly told him to hit some left handed to confuse the outfielders. He then told me that he was actually a switch hitter and he probably could. After he was done he gave me a ball and signed a Braves sticker for me. I heard Dews' name a lot watching Braves games on TBS as a kid, so I had always wanted to get a card of him, so those are the main reason I chose to give Dews a card. I decided to use the '01 Topps design in honor of the '01 Topps Cox card that he signed.

I've been doing a ton of '99 Topps Devil Ray customs and am 8 away from finishing the set. That means at some point there will be like 30 posts of Devil Rays in a row, but I may do 5 cards in a post or maybe do all of them in one, not sure. I also have a number of cards in the Dick Pole Project coming up (2000-2009). I'll probably do them one by one, but most of them use designs that I haven't used for coaches yet, so I feel justified in posting them individually. Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 4: 2001 Topps Jose Cardenal

Jose Cardenal gets my fourth coaches card, this one from the 2001 Topps set. I figured I'd do one from one of my favorite teams, so Jose and the Rays were who I picked. The 2001 Topps set featured manager cards for the first time since 1993, and I chose to use the manager design for the coaches as well. I think it works well and the hardest part really was changing the "G" in manager to a "C" and "O" in coach.

Jose played in the Bigs from 1963-1980, and coached from 1993-2003. For those of you wondering, yes, he did play (and coach) for the Cardinals.  He was part of the Rays staff from 2000-2001, after winning 3 titles with the Bankee$ as a coach. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2012 at Rays fan fest, and I wish I would've had this custom made back then so I could show him and have it signed.

I'm counting down the days until the 2016 Topps release and I'm sure you are too. I'm hoping to run by Target on my lunch break at work on Wednesday and pick up a blaster if they have them. I hope to pull some cards of Jacob deGrom, Ben Zobrist, Cory Kluber, Sam Fuld, other players I collect that are in the checklist, Rays and Tigers, and hopefully maybe a jersey card or two (just as long as they aren't some manufactured crap that counts as a hit). I hope you pull all the players/teams/cards you are looking for on Wednesday and look forward to seeing posts about the '16 set. Thank for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 3: 2004 Topps Jeff Cox

I never really knew or cared about Jeff Cox until I was watching something on WGN during a rain delay of a White Sox game a few years ago, and it was talking about White Sox coach Jeff Cox. Cox seemed like a colorful and fun guy and seemed like he got along well with his players. I picked up a few of his cards on COMC and decided to try to get his autograph ttm. If I recall correctly, he had some great stats as far as stolen bases. He signed the cards, and I have been a fan of his ever since, even though I really don't care for the Marlins or the White Sox. 

Jeff was a coach on the '03 Marlins World Championship team that beat the Bankee$ that year. Topps hadn't made coach cards in forever, and still doesn't (except for maybe a team set or two), so this card wouldn't have seen the light of day if not for me deciding to make it. I feel that everyone who puts on a uniform and plays a part in the decisions of a game should get a card (coaches, managers, and players), as well as maybe the stadium and a team photo. It's too bad that these kind of cards don't get made anymore. .

The card was a little troublesome to make. I had to take a regular '04 Topps Marlins card and blend the silver Marlins logo from their '04 team card to make it. The fonts matched up really well, and so did the coloring of it. I think it looks just like a card that you could've found in '04 Topps packs had Topps produced it.

Thanks for checking out my first post of 2016!

-Jeremy

Coaches Center part 2: 2002 Topps Bob Melvin coach

I decided to skip the next card in my custom set ( a 1993 Topps Phil Nevin Draft Pick card) because I wanted to fill in his missing Topps cards ('94, '95, '98-'00). While I'm working on those cards, here is a 2002 Topps coach card of Bob Melvin. For now, I'm making coach cards for teams that won the championship the year before. Melvin and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Bankee$ in 2001, and this is what the coach cards from th '02 Topps set could've looked like. I basically combined a manager card and a prospect card and was able to get the lettering to spell 'coach' and have it look similar to manager cards in the set. Doing the lettering for the name proved difficult. I have a few ideas I might try in GIMP to get it to work. For this one I used a white background and rotated the name, but when I did a screen shot and tried to paste the rotated name in Paint, it came out all pixelated. I think if I can put the background color behind the letters and then rotate it and paste it I think it might look better. 

Next time it will either be the missing Nevins or a '96 Topps card of one of my favorite players. Thanks for checking out my latest card. 

-Jeremy

Coaches Center: 1993 Topps Larry Hisle/Rich Hacker

This card is the first card in a segment I will be calling "Coaches Center". In each one, I will make a card of a coach or coaches that Topps left out of one of their sets. Since Topps hasn't produced coach cards in many sets, I should have plenty of ones to choose from.

I used the 1993 Topps Managers design, and had coaches from the same teams on the same card (with the managers in the set, Topps chose to do 1 from the AL and one from the NL on a card). It turned out pretty well, I think (thanks GIMP!), and I might have to use the design to make a '93 Topps Traded Dick Pole card for the Dick Pole Project). 

Larry Hisle payed for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers from 1968-1982. He came to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, and won the first of 2 consecutive championships with them as their hitting coach.  

Rich Hacker played 1 season for the Montreal Expos (1971), and then went on to coaching. He was the St. Louis Cardinals 1st Base Coach from '86-'87, then coached 3rd base from '88-'90. He went to the Blue Jays from their, coaching with them from '91-'93. He was fairly successful, winning 2 titles with the Jays, and appearing in a World Series with the  Cardinals in '87.  He also has a card I made for the 1992 Topps set (on my other blog, I have completed the '92 Topps set by giving a card for every player and coach that Topps didn't have in that set). 

I hope you enjoyed the first segment of Coaches Center. Hang tight, because I have 1 more card to post on Monday, and then I will show a card that I have heard a good number of bloggers say that they would love to see have made. Thanks for checking out my blog. 

-Jeremy