1981 carlton fisk

carlton fisk became a free agent after the 1980 season and signed with the white sox in march of 1981.  here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in the strike season, fisk hit just .268, and i am guessing red sox management was comforted by that performance as it was an unpopular decision to not re-sign pudge.  still, fisk made the all-star team and was awarded the al silver slugger award for catchers.  he rebounded a little bit in 1982, but the white sox truly benefited from fisk's presence in 1983 when he hit .289 with 26 home runs and 86 rbi en route to a third place finish in the al mvp balloting and more importantly an appearance in the alcs.

in his years with the white sox, fisk really stuck it to his old team.  his first home run as a southsider came against the red sox in fenway, when fisk took bob stanley deep for a 3-run blast that turned an 8th inning red sox two-run lead into a one-run deficit.  in 107 total games against the red sox, pudge hit .310 with 27 home runs, 68 rbi and an ops of .967 - his highest against any team.

voici à vous, 1981 carlton fisk!