the forgotten five of 2007

no, these aren't 'cards that should have been' although one could argue that they should have been included in the base set rather than inserted by topps into team-based factory sets.  i think jaybee refers to them as 'cards that will never see the light of day'.  well, i fell for topps target marketing strategy and bought the set, but i'll be cussed if i'm going to leave these cards hidden away.  let's take a look at the 5 players topps deemed worthy of making a card that many will never see.

marlon anderson

anderson was a late season pickup from the nationals in 2006.  he had 73 at bats for the dodgers that year and hit .375.  he also hit one very big homerun in the 4+1 game.  i approve of this card.

brady clark

the dodgers acquired clark late in spring training 2007 in exchange for elmer dessens.  clark was a dodger for about 3 months in which he hit .224.  after the dodgers released him, he went to san diego where he hit over .300 for the padres.

olmedo saenz.

the killer tomato.  this guy was hurt by the smaller sets, as he would definitely have had multiple cards with the dodgers if he had played back in the 70's or 80's.  at any rate, 2006 was his third year with the club and he had a pretty solid season - 11 homers and a .296 average - coming mostly off the bench.  he was with the dodgers for the entire 2007 season although he hit below .200.  topps did make a 2008 card of the guy which, despite his signing with the mets that year, serves as his final tribute card.

brett tomko

tomko was a free agent pickup prior to the 2006 season.  he pitched mostly in relief but spent the first 3 months of the season as a starter.  he was actually 5-1 with a 2.88 era after his first 8 starts, and then it all went downhill.  he wound up going 8-7 on the season.  he was back in 2007 and was 2-11 with an era of 5.80 when the dodgers released him.  like clark, he went to san diego and played a little bit better.

chin-hui tsao.

tsao was a free agent pickup from colorado.  he spent 2007 with the dodgers losing his only decision in a horrific outing against the braves.  he had been unscored upon after 9 appearances and then gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning in atlanta, although he did strike out chipper.  tsao signed with the mets after the 2007 season, but did not appear in a game for them.

thanks topps for making these cards, although it would have been nice if i hadn't had to buy a factory set to get them.