1958 Topps, Mike Baxes

#302 Mike Baxes

I picked this card up in the Topps Diamond Giveaway last summer. I unlocked a '58 Topps card of a guy that no longer signs through the mail and was lucky enough to trade for someone that still does. So, I sent this card to Mike in the beginning of November last year and I had it back nine days later. This was the oldest card that I acquired in either of the Topps giveaway promotions.

Mike's Major League career lasted just two seasons with the KC A's and he got into 73 games with them each season. His first season was 1956 and he got just 106 at-bats and hit .226 with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 5 RBI, and his lone Major League home runs. He didn't appear in the Majors at all in '57, yet he still made it onto this Topps baseball card. Then, in '58, he managed to get 231 at-bats and hit .212 with 31 runs, 10 doubles, and 8 RBI. He was also thrown out trying to steal six out of seven tries.

Mike's brother, Jim, played professionally, too, and saw some Major League action with the Dodgers and Indians in 1959.

Like most of you, I really missed the Topps card giveaway this year. I know I bought more cards in 2011 than I did this year just because of the Diamond Giveaway promotion. This year's promotion did nothing for me even though I was lucky enough to actually unlock a card of Roberto Alomar, which I then traded for an Eric Hosmer. I probably have four or five code cards laying around from the update set that I need to submit, but I am in no hurry to unlock some virtual coins.