Friday, February 22, 2013

Who Would Have Thought?

2001 Topps Who Would Have Thought #WWHT4 and #WWHT16, 2002 Topps Traded #T271
Topps came up with a clever idea for an insert set in 2001, producing 20 cards with two photos of each subject.  The first picture showed the player on his original team and the second photo showed the player on his new, somewhat surprising team.  The concept and the insert set was titled, "Who Would Have Thought".

Steve Carlton and Dale Murphy are featured within the original 2001 insert set.  While I wasn't alive at the time of the Carlton deal, I can agree it was surprising when the Phils acquired Murphy.  And who knows - I may have even remarked, "Who would have thought?" back on the night in August 1990 when Murphy first donned the maroon pinstripes.

Topps went back to the well with a 9-card subset included within its 2002 Traded & Rookies set.  Curt Schilling is the sole Phillie represented in the 2002 version of the set.  Which got me thinking - if Topps had continued this series of cards each year, who would have been the Phillies representatives?

Here's a small list of the subjects I came up with.  Who else am I missing?

Scott Rolen - Phillies to Cardinals
Jim Thome - Indians to Phillies
Bobby Abreu - Phillies to Yankees
Larry Bowa - Phillies manager to Yankees coach
Pat Burrell - Phillies to Rays
Cliff Lee - Indians to Phillies
Pedro Martinez - Mets to Phillies
Roy Halladay - Blue Jays to Phillies
Cliff Lee - Mariners/Rangers to Phillies
Jonathan Papelbon - Red Sox to Phillies
Shane Victorino - Phillies to Dodgers/Red Sox
Michael Young - Rangers to Phillies

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