1979 sparky lyle

the yankees traded 1977 cy young award winner sparky lyle to the rangers after the 1978 season.  here is his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i believe it was graig nettles who said 'from cy young to sayonara' when lyle was traded.  the yankees had signed goose gossage for the 1978 season, so the lefty was deemed expendable.  with the rangers in 1979, lyle was the lefty specialist as jim kern was the team's primary closer.  lyle managed 13 saves and a 3.13 era that season, and he added 8 more saves in 1980 before he was traded to the phillies in september.  he was good down the stretch in philly, a 1.93 era in 10 games with 2 saves, but was not eligible for the postseason roster and so missed out on the phillies' world series win.

voici à vous, 1979 sparky lyle!