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

Favorite Player Collection Part 9: 1999 Topps Jason Johnson

Jason Johnson doesn't have many cards in Topps sets, even though he pitched from 1997-2008 (spending 2007 in the minors).  He only appeared in the 2003-2005 sets. He is one of my favorite players because he, like me, is a Type 1 Diabetic, and was the first player to wear an insulin pump on the field. I really wish there was a jersey card of him because I would love to add it to my pc, as well as an autograph or two.

I featured him on a post a few months ago featuring his 1998 Topps card.

I will probably try to give him a complete run of Topps card, and I'm off to a good start knocking 2 of his first 3 cards out. Like the '98 Topps that I did, his 1999 card has foil that's hard to see because of darkness in the background. I should've switched photos for both cards, but I'm happy with the cards the way they are. 

This card marks the last card of the '98 Rays team that I will post for a while. I still have about 10 more cards to make to complete the project, but I have been working on some Draft Pick and Prospect cards lately, so the Rays project has been on hold for a little bit. The next post will be a card that I'm surprised nobody has made yet, as it features a Hall of Fame pitcher in his final season. Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy

1999 Topps Kerry Robinson

Kerry Robinson came up to the Bigs in 1998. He stayed there until 2004, spent '05 in the minors, and played 1 final season in the Majors in 2006. His only Topps cards came in the 2002 and 2003 sets.

Kerry was a decent spare Outfielder, getting some popularity with the Cardinals midway through his career. I will always remember him for the couple of time I've seen him in person. I would try to get autographs before games and any time I would ask Kerry for his he would reply "You don't want mine, I'm not famous" or something like that. He was a funny guy.

This would've been one of his first cards. It will be one of the final 1999 cards I do for a while, I promise. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1999 Topps Rich Butler

Rich Butler played in the Majors from 1997-1999. His older brother Rob Butler played in 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1999. Both came up in the Toronto Blue Jays system and were born in Canada. 

Rich played with the Jays in 1997, and was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 Expansion Draft after the season. He played with the Rays in his final 2 years. 

Rich appeared on the 1998 Topps set, but not in the 1999 or 2000 sets. This latest custom only leaves him with 1 card missing for his career. 

I always thought Butler would make a good outfielder with the Rays, hitting 20 HRs and stealing 20 bases, but he never got much of a chance in the Bigs. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

1999 Topps Kevin Stocker

Kevin Stocker played for the Rays in 1998, serving as their starting Shortstop for most of the season. For some reason, he was left off of the 1999 Topps set, I assume just because it was a small set and that the Rays weren't a big market. He did appear in the 1999 Stadium Club set, so what do I know?

Kevin played in the Majors from 1993-2000, appearing in the 1994-1998 sets, and again in the 2001 set. The custom above covers the 1999 set, so he is just missing a card from the 2000 set. I also made a card for him in the 1992 Topps set since he was a 1991 2nd Round Draft Pick. If you don't know, I do another blog called Completing the 1992 Topps Set, where I have made cards for every player and coach on a 1991 MLB roster, and showcase a new card every few days. Here is the '92 Stocker card. 

I worked on a few cards in the last week, doing a few highlight, World Series Winners, and sunset cards. Hoping to post a bunch in the coming weeks. Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy 

1999 Topps Mike Difelice

Mike Difelice was a catcher for the 1998 Devil Rays. He came up in 1996 with the Cardinals, and was selected by the Rays in the Expansion Draft in late 1997. He stuck around until 2008, never getting into more that 93 games in a season, but serving as a valuable backup catcher, playing with the Rays, Tigers, Cardinals, D-Backs, Mets, Cubs, and Royals.

His only Topps cards came in the 2001 and 2003 Traded sets. Backup catchers don't get many cards, but being a Rays fan who went to about 5 games a year from 1998-2011 or so, I really wish Topps would've made team sets back in the late '90's and early '00's so I could've had a few cards of Defelice to get autographed.

We are in the middle of a 7 card stretch of 1999 Topps Devil Ray cards. I know the guys featured probably aren't household names, but I figured posting each one individually would shed light on their careers and maybe make the posts a bit more interesting. There are some more well-known players to come afterwards, I promise. I'm working on some of those cards as we speak. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1999 Topps Tim Laker

Tim Laker was a journeyman catcher for most of his career. He came up to the Big Leagues in 1992 with the Montreal Expos, and got time with them in 1993 and 1995 as well. He was with the Orioles in 1997, the Rays in 1998, then on to the Pirates in '98 and '99. He stayed in the Minors in 2000, then made it up to the Indians for 2001, 2003, and 2004. It was back to the Rays in 2005, and then one final season with the Indians in 2006 before calling it a career. 

Tim only got 2 cards in Topps sets, 1993 and 1994. After I made this card, I realized that it wouldn't have been possible for Topps to make this card in 1999 since Tim signed with the Pirates in the middle of the '98 season and got into some games with them later in the year. Oh well, as part of my '98 Devil Ray set, I guess everyone who played in a game (even if they got time with another club in 1998) deserves a card, it just will bug me now that this card wouldn't be possible. 

As with many of the guys I've been doing customs of, I should probably try to make the rest of their Topps cards, but only time will tell. My wife is 11 weeks pregnant with our first child, so I suppose that in the coming months, I won't be making many customs and my posting will be sporadic, but we shall see. 

I've done a good amount of customs (mostly '90's cards, as those were fun years for me as a baseball fan and collector). I think I like the designs of  '90's sets as well too, which could be why I've done a majority of them too. I did do a custom 2016 Bowman card of Brody Koerner, who I'm related to through marriage. I'm hoping to see him pitch next week in Daytona, but just found out he was put on the 7 Day Disabled List on May 5th, so hopefully he will get off it before then. I'm going to try to print out the card and maybe give him a few. Might get a chance to see him play in July, but it would be cool to see him play twice. Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

'98 Devil Rays Set apart 1: 1999 Topps Larry Rothschild Manager

1998 was a big year for me. I was 15 then, I was getting a ton of baseball cards since I started getting 20 bucks a week to mow my grandpas yard, and there was finally a Major League Baseball team near me as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays started playing that year. I got a few Rays cards from packs in 1998, and in 1999 as the year went by I got even more, and this time with stats on the back for their first season. Topps probably left off a good 2/3rds of the team in their '99 set, so I am out to rectify that and give all of the '98 Rays team a '99 Topps card.

The first card I made for the set is one of Rays manager Larry Rothschild. Larry skippered the team until 2001. He didn't have much of a chance with the team as they only signed 2 really big free agents, Jose Canseco and Vinny Castilla, and one of them (Castilla) was injured for most of his tenure as a Ray. Perhaps if they would've got some pitching and signed a few big time hitters like Arizona, we wouldn't have had to wait until 2008 for our first playoff appearance and Larry could've stuck around a little longer.

Larry only has 1 Topps card, in the 2001 set. Had Topps put managers in their sets from '94 to '00, he would've been in probably 3 more sets as I suspect they would've included him in the '98 set. This is the first manager card I've made in the '99 set and I did it basically the same as I did for my 1999 Topps Dick Pole coach card, putting his Manager title in a box at the top of the card and his name underneath that. I'm going to try to make a page for my '99 Rays project with pictures to each card I have done. I'm probably about 1/5th of the way done so far.

I am also working on making 1992 Topps cards for every player/manager/coach who played in 1991 and wasn't in the original '92 Topps or Traded (rookies, not traded players) set. Larry was a coach for the Reds in '91, so I made his card in the set. It's just the front for now, but it is another card that Larry doesn't have.

I hope you enjoyed the 2 Cards that Never Were.  Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy