Todd and the Todd-lers Thursdays #3

Last week was "One Card Wonders Week" here at the Quarry in which I showed off the Rockies with which I have a single card.  Because of the sheer amount of one card wonder in the Todd and the Todd-lers era, I decided to show Part 2 this week.  For those of you that may have missed it, click here for Part 1.

Let's go ahead and finish out the One Card Wonders with the final dozen from the 2000-2005 era.

TODD-LER(S) OF THE WEEK

The One Card Wonders

Total Cards Owned = 1 each

Let's start off with the two biggest names on this list.  Kent Mercker is remembered as a Brave.  With Atlanta, he took part in two no hitters (1 solo), but he wasn't nearly as good for the Rockies.  He pitched in 58 games in relief for the 2002 Rockies.   His card is similar to the Sandy Alomar from last week in that I only have the gold parallel of the short printed 1st 100 from 2002 Topps Traded.  Turk Wendell is remembered more for his quirkiness than his pitching (although he wasn't that bad).  Wendell pitched 12 games for the 2004 Rockies to end his career.

Next up is a pair of solid workhorse relievers.  Mike Myers was a journeyman that was one of the best left-handed relievers in Rockies history.   He pitched in 151 games over two seasons and deserves more than one card in my collection.  Rick White was a bright spot in the bullpen for some really bad Pirates and Devil Rays teams in the late 90s before he joined the 2002 Rockies.  His spot dimmed quite a bit in Denver and he was released in mid-season after pitching in 41 games.  I do love that 2002 Topps card though with the excellent shadow behind him.

Now here are a pair of back up catching prospects that never really found their footing with the Rockies.  Adam Melhuse, pictured on this great 2002 Upper Deck card, played in 63 games with the 2000 and 2001 Rockies before finding a bit more success in Oakland.  He returned to the Rockies in 2008 for a quick 7 game stint.  Jorge Piedra is another one of those players in which I possess the parallel, but not the base card.  This one is from 2003 Topps Traded.  Piedra played in 142 games for the Rockies from 2004-2006.  He bounced around the minors for a few years after that, but never saw the big leagues again.

Next up is the final three position players in my collection.  Chris Richard, shown on a 2003 Topps Total card, had a couple of good years for the Orioles before joining the 2003 Rockies.  He only played in 19 games in Colorado before taking a six year break from the majors.  Elvis Pena, shown on a 2001 Fleer Triple Crown card, is from the shortstop hotbed of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.  He never panned out in the big leagues though and only played in 10 games for the 2000 Rockies.  Jason Romano, shown on a 2003 Fleer Tradition card, played in 18 games for the 2002 Rockies before bouncing around the majors with several other teams.

Javier Lopez began his career in Colorado by pitching in 142 games for the Rockies from 2003-2005.  He is still active in the bullpen for the Giants in 2012.  Over 12 seasons Kevin Jarvis pitched for 10 different franchises including two stints with the Rockies.  He pitched in 24 games in 2000 and 2 games in 2004 for Colorado.  Mike James was a decent middle reliever for the Angels and Cardinals before joining the 2002 Rockies.  He only pitched in 13 games in 2002 before his major league career ended.

I'll close this out with a pair of pitchers that you may have forgotten about, if you ever knew them in the first place.  Allan Simpson pitched in 34 games for the 2004 and 2005 Rockies before being traded to the Reds.  Cory Vance was a highly thought of pitching prospect that pitched in 11 games for the 2002 and 2003 Rockies before injuries ended his career prematurely. 


That concludes my look at my One Card Wonders.  Hopefully, I can add a handful more new guys to this list while removing some guys by getting more cards of them in the future.

Thanx for reading.