1980 dave cash

dave cash was traded from the expos to the padres in november of 1979.  here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

cash had lost his starting job with the expos in 1979, but still hit for high average as a pinch hitter and backup at second until he regained the starting spot in september.  with the padres in 1980, he was named the starting second baseman but hit just .227 on the season.  the padres released him when the season ended, and he never played in the big leagues again.

voici à vous, 1980 dave cash!

1979 pete falcone

pete falcone was traded from the cardinals to the mets in december of 1978.  here's his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

falcone was 6-14 for the mets in 1979 with a 4.16 era.  his best outing of the season was a 5-hit shutout against the pirates in june.  in a game against the phillies on may 1, 1980, falcone tied a big league record by striking out the first six batters of the game, which included pete rose, mike schmidt and greg luzinski. falcone took the loss that day, however, as the mets lost 2–1.


voici à vous, 1979 pete falcone!

1977 dave laroche

dave laroche's 1977 o-pee-chee card is a variation.  here it is, see if you can find the difference:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in the smallest of ways, this is an autograph placement variation.  see how the auto on the o-pee-chee card just touches his shadow, while on the topps card it is slightly above it?  that's the difference.  the only reason i can think of for this change is that o-pee-chee wanted to get the end of laroche's auto out of the black of his stirrup.

laroche did switch teams in 1977, although it was too late for a team variation card.  he was traded to the angels in may of the '77 season, and remained with the halos until just before the start of the 1981 season when they released him.  he signed with the yankees and made it all the way to the world series with them, although they lost to the dodgers that year.  he did make an appearance in the fall classic, though, pitching the last inning in the final game with the dodgers about to clinch the series with a 9-2 lead.  i remember davey lopes being over anxious at the plate, either because he wanted to get the game over with so the celebration could begin, or because he couldn't believe laroche was serving up 'la-lob'.  at any rate, laroche struck lopes out with what had to have been a 35 mph pitch.

voici à vous, 1977 dave laroche!

1992 moises alou

moises alou missed the entire 1991 season due to injury, and was not included in topps' 1992 set.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the o-pee-chee back:

here's the topps card that alou replaced, the jose canseco all-star card:

and its back:

alou had a good rookie season in 1992, finishing second to eric karros in the rookie of the year balloting.  he went on to have a better season in 1993, and in 1994, he was hitting .339 with 22 home runs for the first place expos when the strike started and dashed the hopes of expos fans everywhere.

alou never went 40-40, and he played his entire career in the national league so he never had canseco as a teammate, but in 1992 he got the best of jose in the o-pee-chee set.

voici à vous, 1992 moises alou!

1991 curt schilling

curt schilling was traded from the orioles to the astros in january of 1991.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the astros used schilling solely as a reliever, as the orioles had done in 1990.  he went 3-5 in 1991, with an era of 3.81 and 8 saves.  after the season, the astros traded schilling to philadelphia for jason grimsley.  the phillies put schilling back in the rotation as a starter and the march towards world series appearances and bloody socks began.

voici à vous, 1991 curt schilling!

1990 storm davis

storm davis signed a free agent contract with the royals in december of 1989.  here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

davis had won two world series rings - one with the orioles in 1983, and one with the a's in 1989 (although he didn't pitch in the a's sweep of the giants that year).  he also pitched in the 1988 world series, but lost both games he started to the dodgers.  for the royals in 1990, davis went 7-10 with a 4.75 era.  he was converted to a reliever and spent the rest of his career pitching mostly out of the bullpen.

voici à vous, 1990 storm davis!

1989 mike aldrete

mike aldrete was traded from the giants to the expos in december of 1988.  here's his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as a result of the trade, aldrete missed out on the giants' run to the world series in 1989.  he would do ok, though, despite bouncing around to 6 teams in 7 seasons, as he wound up with the yankees for the last half of the 1996 season, and was on their post-season roster when they won the world series. 

as an expo, however, aldrete hit only .221 in 1989 and .242 in 1990 and probably had expos fans intoning his 'berman' nickname - mike 'enough' aldrete.

voici à vous, 1989 mike aldrete!

1988 floyd bannister

floyd bannister was traded by the white sox to the royals in december of 1987.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bannister spent two years in kansas city and made 45 appearances, all as a starter.  bannister would pitch strictly in relief for the angels in 1991 and the rangers in 1992 after spending the 1990 season pitching for the yakult swallows in japan. bannister's son brian is following in his footsteps, having pitched for the royals and now by heading to japan for the 2011 season.

voici à vous, 1988 floyd bannister!

1987 eddie milner

eddie milner was traded from the reds to the giants in january of 1987.  here is his 1987 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

milner spent just the 1987 season in san francisco before returning to the reds for one last hurrah in 1988.  as a giant, milner hit .252 in 101 games with 4 home runs - the last two of which were lead-off shots.

voici à vous, 1987 eddie milner!

1986 sal butera

sal butera was traded from the expos to the reds in december of 1985.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

butera went from backing up mike fitzgerald in montreal to backing up bo diaz in cincinnati.  luckily for butera, the reds released him in 1987 and he was picked up by the twins to back up tim laudner.  as a result, he won a world series ring as the twins beat the cardinals in the 1987 fall classic.  butera also pitched in both 1985 and 1986, going one inning in each season without allowing any hits or runs.  in his 1986 appearance, he even struck out chico walker.  these days, his son drew takes after the old man, backing up joe mauer in minnesota.

voici à vous, 1986 sal butera!

1985 bob watson

after 19 years in the big leagues, bob watson retired from baseball as a player prior to the 1985 season.  here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

retirement treated watson well, as he became the general manager of the astros in 1983 and then the gm for the yankees in the mid '90's.  watson was their gm when they won the world series in 1996 but left the club after the 1997 season.  i am among those who feel that watson does not get enough credit while brian cashman gets too much.  watson was the one who hired joe torre, after all.

anyway, after leaving the bronx, watson moved on to the offices of mlb where he served as the 'punishment czar' until he retired - again - in november of last year.

voici à vous, 1985 bob watson!

1984 barry bonnell

barry bonnell was traded to the mariners in december of 1983.  here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back: 

bonnell spent three years with the mariners, mostly filling the role of a utility guy after the first half of the 1984 season.  apparently, that limited role was at least partially caused by 'valley fever' which bonnell contracted during spring training in 1984 and developed into pneumonia during the season.  

voici à vous, 1984 barry bonnell!

1983 joel youngblood

joel youngblood signed a free agent deal with the san francisco giants in february of 1983. here is his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the card backs acknowledge what has become youngblood's claim to fame - playing for two different teams in two different cities on the same day.  he even got a hit in each game.  with the giants in 1983, youngblood hit .292 and set a career high with 17 home runs.  he stayed with the giants through the 1988 season before returning to cincinnati for his final season - an appropriate bookend to his career.

voici à vous, 1983 joel youngblood!