1978 bobby bonds

i am going to make a prediction.  i believe, that when all is said and done, bobby bonds will appear on this blog more than any other player.  he fits the profile - a vagabond player from the late 70's and into the 80's.  we'll see.

here is is 1978 o-pee-chee card.

obviously, it's a text variation, but it's also a team variation, as bonds was traded from the california angels to the white sox.  the only real evidence of his affiliation with the angels in the photo, though, is the brim of his cap and the red collar on his jersey so it's not as obvious as most of the other team variation cards. 

this is a good time to point out that the 1978 o-pee-chee set was only 242 cards strong (as opposed to 726 for topps), and it did not match the numbering of the topps set at all.  the o-pee-chee set started with the league leaders (they were numbers 201-208 in the topps set) and ended with the record breakers (they were the first cards in the topps set).  i don't know of any rhyme or reason as to which players were included, and only the blue jays and expos have their team cards and manager cards in the set.  o-pee-chee did print the rookie cups and all star shields for those players in the set, unlike their 1977 release.

here's the front of the topps version of bonds' card

and the o-pee-chee back

so bright!  as you can see, the card is number 206 in the set.  i find it interesting that the trade between the angels and the white sox is not noted in the 'acquired' line, even though the team affiliation is updated on the bottom of the back.  bonds was traded, along with thad bosley and rich dotson, for brian downing, dave frost and chris knapp.  sadly, none of the other traded players are featured in the 1978 o-pee-chee set.

here's the back of the topps card

and it's number 150 in the topps set.  like i said, no rhyme or reason regarding the sequencing of the cards.

voici à vous, 1978 bobby bonds!