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

1999 Topps #492 Scott McClain

Scott McClain got his first appearance in the Majors in 1998 with the Rays. He spent the next to years in the minors before playing in Japan from 2001-2004. He got time with the Cubs in 2005, spent 2006 in the minors, before playing his final 2 seasons in the Majors with the Giants in 2007 and 2008. He spent 2009 in Japan before retiring.
Scott put up some great power numbers in the minors and Japan, but was unable to get significant playing time in the Majors. He gained some notoriety in 2008 when he hit his first Major League Home Run, becoming at 36, the oldest position player to hit his first Home Run.

Scott doesn't appear on any Topps cards, so he is missing cards from the 1999, 2006, and 2008-2009 sets. He did appear on a 1996 Bowman card. This 1999 custom gives Scott his rookie card, and leaves him with just 3 Topps cards needed to complete his career Topps run.

I am thinking about possibly posting templates of a few different years of Topps cards just to help out the custom card making community. Templates are hard to make sometimes, especially when the set has a different one for each team, but if custom card makers can share templates, that means more cards can be made and enjoyed by more people. The next time I get to working on customs, I think I am going to try to get templates for the 2001 Topps set started. Let me know if you think this is a worthwhile idea. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

A little help from my friends

Recently, a fan of my blog, Richard, emailed me with some customs that he made off of my list of cards that never were.  Included were the '08 Topps cards, '13 Topps cards, and a 2016 Topps card. I must say that I like what Richard has done, and I am happy to get help on any of the cards that I have on my list. The list is ever-growing, and I'd be happy even to just get help on names of players/cards to put on the list. Eventually I want to just list every player needed to complete the set (like I have with the 1992 Topps set), but let me tell you, when I did it for the '92 set, it took probably close to a month, and I knew that set inside and out, so it was easier to know who was in it and who wasn't. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but I do think that I can get the list updated, at least maybe from the '89 set up through the 2000's at least at some point.

I would like to thank Richard for his work. If anyone else wants to help make cards off of my list, I'll be happy to add them and post them. Every card made gets us a little closer to having a Topps set be officially complete.

Things are changing in my life right now. My wife and I are expecting our first child in mid-late November, we are (hopefully) moving into (and owning) a new house in the next month or so, and I don't know if I'll be able to update this blog as much as I have in the past. That isn't to say that I won't add new cards. Lately I have been updating my 2 blogs (I have another blog called Completing the 1992 Topps Set if you didn't know) during my lunch breaks at work, and I can usually get a post up during my lunch as long as the wifi is good. The making of new cards might just be slow, because I'm sure it's going to take a while to unpack everything in the new place, and I don't have any clue as to what things will be like with a baby, but I am excited. I will still be here making my '90's through the present Topps cards, and hopefully with friend like Richard and other custom card makers out there, every Topps set will be as complete as it can be.  Thanks for checking out the latest post.

-Jeremy

1999 Topps #491 Aaron Ledesma

Aaron Ledesma made his Major League debut in 1995 with the New York Mets. He spent 1996 in the minors before making it back to the Bigs in 1997 with the Orioles. In the 1997 Expansion Draft he was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He played 1998 and 1999 with the Rays, before spending his final season with the Colorado Rockies in 2000.

Ledesma doesn't have any cards in Topps sets, although he has a 1993 Bowman card. He doesn't really have many non-Topps cards either, save for a '96 Score, '99 Fleer Tradition, and a few various Pacific issues. Aaron is missing a 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2001 Topps card to finish his career Topps run, and this custom covers his '99 Topps card.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1999 Topps #489 Jerome Walton

Former NL Rookie of the Year Jerome Walton made his Major League debut in 1989 with the Cubs. He won the '89 Rookie of the Year award, but was unable to capture the magic of his rookie season thereafter. He stayed with the Cubbies through the end of the 1992 season, then played with the Angels in 1993. He played with the Reds in 1994 and 1995, got time with the Braves in 1996, the Orioles in 1997, and spent his final MLB season with the Rays in 1998.

Walton appeared on a few Topps cards during his Cubs time, getting into the '89 Traded set, and the regular sets in 1990-1992. After 1992, he appeared on a few random sets, but no Topps cards and no Rays cards from any major sets. He is missing cards in the 1993-199 Topps sets, with today's custom finishing his sunset card.

I haven't got to work on customs in a month it seems, and it will be a while till I have any free time. My wife and I are in the process of (hopefully) buying a house, so most free time I have will be spent packing, and we also have our first child coming in the end of November. I hope all the craziness will die down towards the end of the year, but we'll see what happens. Thanks for checking out my latest 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