The 1988 Topps baseball card #443 features American outfielder Ken Phelps from the Seattle Mariners baseball team. Some key details about this card:
Ken Phelps was born on November 3, 1959 in Carlyle, Illinois. He attended Washington University in St. Louis and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2nd round of the 1980 MLB draft. Phelps made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 1981 at age 21. He spent parts of 5 seasons with Baltimore from 1981-1985, having his best season in 1983 when he hit .266 with 25 home runs and 78 RBI in 146 games played.
Prior to the 1986 season, Phelps was traded by the Orioles along with Billy Ripken and others to the New York Mets in exchange for Lee Mazzilli. Phelps spent one season with the Mets in 1986, hitting .238 with 12 home runs and 45 RBI in 126 games. Following the 1986 season, Phelps was then traded by the Mets along with Walt Terrell to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Bob Brower, Rich Bordi, and Bill Wilkinson.
This led to Phelps playing for the Mariners during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, which is when the 1988 Topps card #443 features him as a member of the Seattle team. On the card, Phelps is shown in a standard batting stance, wearing the teal road jersey of the Mariners with the number 4 on his back. In the background is a generic baseball field with no defining features to indicate a specific stadium.
Some key stats listed on the back of Phelps’ 1988 Topps card include:
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6’1″, Weight: 195 lbs
Born: November 3, 1959 in Carlyle, IL
Major League Debut: September 2, 1981 with Baltimore Orioles
1987 Stats with Seattle: .255 batting average, 15 home runs, 51 RBI in 138 games played
It also provides a brief career overview highlighting his best seasons with Baltimore in 1982-1983 and time split between the Orioles, Mets, and Mariners from 1981-1987 prior to the 1988 season.
In 1988, Ken Phelps went on to have another decent season split between Seattle and Toronto. He began the year with the Mariners, hitting .255 with 8 home runs and 27 RBI in 55 games for Seattle. Then on July 15, 1988, Phelps was traded by the Mariners to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Mike Timlin and Jeff Schneider. With Toronto, Phelps finished out the 1988 season hitting .264 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI in 56 games.
For his career, Ken Phelps played in the majors from 1981-1991 for the Orioles, Mets, Mariners, Blue Jays, Angels, and Reds. He had his best offensive season in 1983 with Baltimore when he slugged 25 home runs and 78 RBI. In 1,322 career games over 11 seasons, Phelps hit .247 with 134 home runs and 486 RBI. He retired following the 1991 season at age 31.
The 1988 Topps baseball card #443 provides a snapshot of Ken Phelps during his time with the Seattle Mariners in 1987-1988. It highlights some of his career stats to date and his strong offensive season he had for the Mariners in 1987 leading up to the 1988 season. While not a superstar player, Phelps enjoyed a decent 11-year major league career splitting time with several teams and was a serviceable offensive contributor and part-time starter for most of his career.
