1978 willie montanez

willie montanez was traded from the braves to the mets in the huge december 1977 deal that saw bert blyleven go from texas to pittsburgh and al oliver go from pittsburgh to texas. somewhere in there the braves and mets got involved. here's montanez's 1978 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

montanez had been named to the nl all star team in 1977, and he had another good year in 1978. he drove in 96 runs and had 32 doubles for the mets in 159 games. he suffered a bit in 1979, and they traded him midseason to the rangers where he hit .319 with 8 home runs and 24 rbi in just 38 games. too bad texas didn't get him in that 1977 deal. montanez was also the recipient of another 1978 variation - the topps zest card that showed him in full mets regalia.

voici à vous, 1978 willie montanez!