Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Jim Thome Chronicles

 

I've discussed this on the blog before, but growing up, Jim Thome was one of my favorite players.

In the early days of Citizens Bank Park, I went to a lot of games, basked in Philly fandom, and began to appreciate the raw power and skill of Jim Thome. Then, once Thome got hurt, the Howard-Utley era took hold and they became the playoff monolith I always wanted them to be. Thome's years definitely set the stage though, with help from people like Randy Wolf, Billy Wagner, Bobby Abreu, Endy Chavez and Mike Lieberthal. I do have a lot of nostalgia for those teams.

Of course, I followed Thome throughout the rest of his HOF career, as he sort of mellowed into a one-dimensional bat/bench bat/DH type. After a solid couple seasons in Chicago replacing Frank Thomas as the heart of the lineup, Thome was traded to the Dodgers in a waiver deal in August 2009. That surprised me. But the Dodgers were making a playoff run, so I went with it.

In all honesty, Thome's Dodgers numbers weren't too great, hitting .235 in 17 games, used solely as a bench bat, without any of his trademark home runs. His postseason numbers were slightly better, and he had a hit in his only plate appearance in the NLCS, but the Phillies, ironically, took out LA en route to another World Series. 

Topps did a Thome Dodgers card for 2009 Heritage High Number and in 2010 Topps, but he never got a flagship release for the year he actually played for the Dodgers, hence why I made one. 

Topps figures him out soon after. He signs a 2-year deal with the Twins to be their DH, he hits more homers as a bench tool and DH, gets his 600th homer, and he gets Twins cards in 2010 and 2011, all is well.

And then in 2011, another waiver deal claims Thome.

Thome's old team, the Cleveland Indians, came calling, as they were chasing a wild card spot that would eventually go to Tampa. They purchased his contract from the Twins, he came to Cleveland and immediately got back to his old tricks. In 22 games, he hit .296, had 71 at-bats [THEY STARTED HIM], and 3 more homers. It was a welcome return to form for the Indians legend, and the fans were absolutely stoked to have him back.

Topps, unlike the Dodgers issue, decides to omit this stint entirely from the records, obviously not doing a card in 2011 as it was past the cutoff, and already moving onto the Phillies for 2012 Topps [which I thank them for]. Hence this version.

Now, under normal circumstances, I'd make a 2012 Topps card of Thome's half-year stint on the Baltimore Orioles, also for a stretch run, but by a technicality, one already exists. Topps made a Thome card in Update...but the bastards short-printed it. It will never cease to piss me off how Topps will short-print actual traded players in a traded set. So an Orioles Thome issue exists, it's just maddeningly hard to find. It's not like the 2017 Yu Darvish where I can pay like 2 bucks for it online cause it's surprisingly well printed. The Thome one is just...rare as hell. So I don't know if I'll ever own it, but it's a nice dream. 

But that's why I didn't make a 2012 O's one. Cause Topps, in their own twisted way, already did.

Whatever, made my job slightly easier anyway.