Why Ask Why?

Having an eBay seller pad the toploader with a bonus card is a fairly common occurrence. At least for me. I buy a lot of single cards because when I pick up a guy for my fantasy teams I lack the patience to wait until a COMC order makes sense.

Usually the card is trash worthy...a 1994 Flair Stan Javier or something along those lines. But a couple of weeks ago I pulled a toploader from a small envelope and in addition to my purchased card I found this 1974 Topps Ellie Rodriguez.

Is it in pristine condition? Nope. Is it a star player? Nope. Is it even a great shot? Nope. Is it even worth anything? Nope.

But the horrid airbrushed beauty of a '74 Topps Rodriguez  beats the hell out of a '94 Flair Stan Javier any day of the week. 1974 was Rodriguez' busiest year btw. He had 485 plate appearances and career highs in homers (7) and RBI (36).

He was originally a Yankee and was taken by the Royals in the '68 expansion draft. As a first year Royal he made the '69 All Star team but didn't play in the game and when he made the '72 All Star team while with the Brewers he again sat and watched. But hey, that's two more All Star teams than you or I made.

He twice led the AL in throwing out would-be base stealers and was in general a fine defensive catcher. He now serves as a consultant to the independent Atlantic League.