1997 Topps #532 Bucky Buckles/Eric Dinyar/Roy Halladay Prospects

Today's card is a prospect card of 2 guys who should've made the Majors but got injured, and a guy who I think would've been a Hall of Famer if he wasn't injured and played maybe 4 more years.

Bucky Buckles is a guy in my Favorite Player Collection. I followed him in the minors, got his 1995 Topps card out of a pack that year, and besides having a cool name, he was a nice closer.
I actually saw Dinyar pitch a few times in 1996. I was 13, so I didn't pay attention to stats and players as close as I should have, but I went to enough Lakeland Tigers games that year that I'm sure I saw Dinyar pitch, and I probably have his autograph about 5 times between baseballs, a pennant, and random checklist/team cards (if I didn't have a card of a certain player when I first started getting autographs, I would have them sign a checklist card or a team leaders or team logo card).
Halladay is one of a select few players to throw 2 no-hitters in a season, and he is one of only 2 players to throw one in the playoffs. I saw the tail end of both of them. It's a shame that he didn't win a World Series with Philly, and although he was dominant, I don't think he will get voted in to the Hall because he was closer to 2000 K's than 3000. If he wasn't injured and played a couple more full seasons, I think he'd be a lock for the Hall. Maybe the voters will consider this and vote him in, because he was dominant for a 10-year stretch.

I've added some new names and a new template to the 2001 Topps Page, and did a ton of customs for the 1994 set today. Finished all of the season/postseason highlight cards, finished the All-Star cards, and did a few random ones as well. I think I'll probably work on some more '94 cards tomorrow and also try to add a team or two to the 1999 Topps Page. If things keep going at a steady pace, perhaps my goal of every player in the '90's getting a card will happen sometime in the next 5 years. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

World Series Winners Part 4: 1994 Topps #814 Ken Dayley

It's been a while since I've posted an actual card, so here is a 1994 Topps Ken Dayley. Ken pitched for the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays who won the '93 World Series. He came up to the Majors in 1982 with the Atlanta Braves, and pitched with them in 1983 and 1984. Midway through the '84 season, the Cardinals traded for him, and he played with them until the end of the 1990 season. He signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent, and pitched for them in 1991. He was injured for all of 1992, and
came back in 1993, his final season.

Ken got his first Topps card in the 1983 set. He got a regular card and a Traded card in the 1984 set. He was left off of the 1985 set, then appeared in the 1986-1992 sets. Ken is missing a 1985 Topps card to complete his career Topps run after I made this 1994 Topps custom. I may put him in the 1993 set as well.

I updated the checklist page and made a partial checklist for the 2017 Topps set, since Topps has the 2017 templates on their customs page. I will be listing the managers/coaches for now, and add draft picks and the rest of the players once the draft happens and the checklists for Series 2 and Update come out.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1997 Topps #505 Frank Viola

Frank Viola came up to the Majors in 1982 with the Minnesota Twins. He pitched with them until the 1989 trading deadline, when he was dealt to the Mets. Viola was a 20-game winner with the Twins in 1987, and also won a Cy Young Award, World Series title, and World Series MVP honors that year. He won 20 games in 1990 for the Mets, becoming one of only a few pitchers to win 20 games in a season in both leagues. After spending 1991 with the Mets, Viola pitched for the Red Sox from 1992-1994. In Spring Training in 1993, Frank and teammate Cory Bailey pitched a combined no-hitter against the Phillies. Frank spent 1995 with the Reds, and his final season was 1996 with the Blue Jays.

Frank appeared in every Topps set from 1983-1994. He also was in the 1992 Topps Traded set. The only cards Frank is missing are from the 1995-1997 Topps sets. This 1997 Topps custom gives Frank a sunset card, and leaves him 2 cards away from getting a career Topps run.

I finished the 1989 Topps templates, and am basically done with the checklist, with big thanks to reader Paul B. for helping me with them. Still haven't figured out whether I will make the checklists front and back. I'm leaning towards front and back and possibly printing them and putting them in my binders. Once I figure out how many checklists will be in the set, all I need to do is make a few All-Star cards for the managers and coaches of the '88 game, make some postseason highlight cards, and I will have the final total number of cards for the '89 Topps set. It's amazing that I'm a little over 2 years that I have completed 1 set (1992), and almost finished the checklists to 2 others (1989 and 2001), and completed templates for 2 others (1996 and 2000). This project is coming along faster than I had hoped, and I am grateful to all of the people who have helped out so far.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

World Series Winners Part 1: 1994 Topps Mark Eichhorn

This is the first post in a new segment I am calling 'World Series Winners'. It will feature cards of players who won a World Series the year before but never got a Topps card in the next years' set.

Mark Eichhorn pitched on both the '92 and '93 Toronto Blue Jays championship teams but didn't get in either the '93 or '94 Topps sets. If I am correct, his '92 Topps card was his final one even though he pitched until 1996. That means he missed getting a Topps card in his final 4 seasons (he didn't play in the Majors in 1995).

He had a 2.72 ERA for the Jays in '93 and had a scoreless appearance in the ALCS and World Series that year. That's no reason for Topps to not give him a card, but I guess they just don't make cards for relievers like they used to, even in the overproduction era.

It was nice seeing Denver win yesterday to give Peyton Manning a shot at a title in what might be his last year. I would've rooted for the Pats since I hate the Yankees and have to root for all things Boston, but they won last year and I just think Manning would be a better story for the big game. With all that being said though, I am going to root for the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton to win it all. I am a big Auburn Tiger fan and I would love to see Cam take home a NFL title to go with his NCAA one from 2010. Hopefully that will shut the Bama fans up a little bit 'cause somebody needs to take the wind out of their self-righteous sails before all of us innocent people who root for someone other than the Crimson Tide go crazy.

I'll have to find some way to make a baseball custom to go along with whichever team wins the game in 2 weeks. Maybe a Rockie if Denver wins and maybe an Auburn alum if Carolina wins, I don't know. Until then, I'll be making customs when I can. Thanks for checking out my latest one.
-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

1994 Topps Joe Carter World Series Highlights

This is another World Series Highlight card that Topps missed between 1982 and 1997. Most people know the story, but if not, I'll refresh everyone's memory. The Toronto Blue Jays were up 3 games to 2 on the Philadelpha Phillies in the 1993 World Series. They were down, however, by the score of 6-5 with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out when Joe Carter stepped to the plate. He belted a Mitch Williams pitch into the seats for a World Series-winning Home Run. The Jays won the championship, and that has been their last appearance in the playoffs.

I decided to use the Blue Jays design from the 1994 Topps set for the front, and use a horizontal back without a picture cutout. As I have said before, I think 1994 Topps is one of the hardest designs to work with as a custom card maker. I will be using it again soon, as the next card is a 1994 Topps highlight card of the Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura fight.

1992 Topps Mike Piazza/Carlos Delgado Prospects

This card could've realistically happened. Both Piazza and Delgado appeared in the 1992 Bowman set, Lopez made it on Bowman a year earlier, and Wilson appeared on the 1991 Topps set in the #1 Draft Picks subset. They weren't as far along in the minors as Brad Ausmus and Dave Nilsson (who appeared on the original 1992 Topps Catchers Prospect card), but all 4 had potential. Piazza is a Hall of Famer in my mind, and I really think he should already be in. You could make a case for Lopez and Delgado. Lopez was the #1 catcher for most of the successful Atlanta Braves teams of the '90's, and he hit a good amount of Home Runs. Delgado had a 4-Home Run game, and he was at the top of the charts in HRs and RBIs at his peak. While probably not a Hall of Famer, Wilson played a good decade as the Seattle Mariners #1 catcher, and was an excellent defensive catcher. Finishing this card means there are only 4 more cards left in Series 1. There are some fun cards coming up, and I can't wait to get started.

1993 Topps Outfield Prospects

This was a difficult card to make. I was hoping GIMP would have a wider variety of fonts, but it didn't, so it was difficult to use fonts on the back that were true to the original set. I don't know what I'm going to do for the 1994 Topps fronts...Topps left Manny Ramirez and Shannon Stewart off their 1993 set. Manny had a card in 1992 when he was drafted, and in 1994. Stewart was a high Draft Pick that year, but Topps chose to give Todd Steverson a card instead. Now they, along with Rondell White and Kevin Roberson (the best guy in AAA that I could find that didn't debut in 1992) have a card.

1992 Topps Dave Parker

This card has been featured in my Completing the 1992 Topps set blog already, and is the 5th card in my first series of custom cards. Dave "Cobra" Parker had a 1991 Topps Traded card, but was left off of the 1992 set. I could've sworn he was a Hall of Famer, but I guess the injuries kept him from putting up the stats he needed. Here is Mr. Parker's final Topps card.