1971 john bateman

o-pee-chee really wanted to make sure john bateman was included in their 1971 set, as they moved him up from number 628 in the topps set to number 31 in theirs, creating a checklist variation.  here's (one of) his 1971 o-pee-chee cards:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i said this is just one of bateman's 1971 o-pee-chee cards because they also issued a card, identical to the topps issue (with just the yellow coloring of the back), at number 628 in the set.  that's why this is just a checklist variation and not a photo variation.  bateman bumped eddie kasko to a later series, where he took ron hunt's spot which was vacated when hunt was moved to replace the coins checklist in the topps set.  make sense?

bateman debuted in 1963 with the colt .45's as a pinch hitter against the dodgers.  a tough way to break in, he faced sandy koufax and struck out.  5 years later, bateman became an original expo, and was their primary catcher in 1970 and 1971, playing in 139 games each season.  his tenure with the expos came to an end when they traded him during the 1972 season to the phillies for verbal diahrreaist tim mccarver.  in his final game in the big leagues, bateman caught steve carlton's 27th victory of the season.

voici à vous, 1971 john bateman!