1977 luis tiant

o-pee-chee had the good sense to put luis tiant's facsimilie autograph in a reasonable spot when topps did not.  here's el tiante's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

tiant was coming off of his 4th and final 20-win season in 1977. he wound up going 12-8 that year (although the bosox were 22-10 in games he started), with his best game being a 3-hit shutout against the rangers in which he struck out 8. he also had a 2-hit shutout against the orioles two starts later, but he walked three and only struck out five that day. tiant would get a proper variation in the 1979 o-pee-chee set when he signed a free agent deal with the yankees.

voici à vous, 1977 luis tiant!

1992 greg swindell

the indians traded lefty greg swindell (first name: forest) to the reds in november of 1991.  here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

swindell pitched for the cross-state rivals for just one season.  he went 12-8 and posted his career best era as a starter in 1992 - 2.70.  he parlayed that performance into a 4-year, $16 million contract with the astros after the season ended.  houston wound up releasing swindell during the 1996 season when he was 0-3 with a 7.83 era after 8 appearances.  the indians picked him up for the remainder of the season, but left him off of their postseason roster.

that's ok, though, because eventually swindell found his way to arizona and won a world championship as part of the 2001 diamondbacks team that vanquished the yankees.

voici à vous, 1992 greg swindell!

1991 kevin gross

kevin gross signed with the dodgers as a free agent after the 1990 season. here is his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the dodgers used gross primarily as a reliever after the first few weeks of the season. he wound up pitching in 46 games, 36 of them in relief, and had a record of 10-11 with 3 saves. he twice struck out 9 batters in a game, including once during a 5-inning relief stint. gross returned to the starting rotation in 1992 and hurled a no-hitter against the giants on august 17th, which was also his wedding anniversary.

voici à vous, 1991 kevin gross!

1990 mitch webster

mitch webster was traded by the cubs to the indians in november 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:

webster was installed as the indians' primary center fielder in 1990, and he hit .252 with 12 home runs in 128 games for the tribe.  he returned to cleveland in 1991, but was traded to the pirates after playing in just 13 games.  he played in 36 games for pittsburgh before they sent him to his third team of the season, the dodgers.  in la, webster appeared in another 58 games in the 1991 season, and he went on to play for the dodgers for another 4 years.

voici à vous, 1990 mitch webster!

1989 ron kittle

ron kittle became a free agent after spending the 1988 season with the indians, and he chose to sign a contract with the white sox for the 1989 season. here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in his return to the south side, kittle topped .300 for the first time in his career. granted, he played in only 51 games, but he still managed to hit 11 home runs and post a career high obp of .378. the former dodger farmhand was traded to the orioles during the 1990 season, but returned for a third stint with the white sox for the 1991 campaign which turned out to be his last in the majors.

voici à vous, 1989 ron kittle!

1988 bob welch

bob welch was part of the december 1987 three-team deal that saw the dodgers pick up alfredo griffin, jay howell, and jesse orosco while the a's got matt young along with welch. here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card, which is the last of the variations from the first set to feature exclusively text variations:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

just like with rick rhoden yesterday, i was a big fan of welch with the dodgers and was sad when he was traded. still, i loved this trade in hindsight. the dodgers won the world series in '88 against welch and his a's, with welch starting game 3 for oakland - the only game of the series they would win. welch wound up having 7 productive seasons in oakland.

he won 17 games for the a's in 1988 and 1989, and then earned 27 victories and the cy young award in 1990. he also picked up a second world series ring in 1989, although he did not pitch in the a's sweep of the giants due to the earthquake delay which allowed dave stewart and mike moore to make two starts apiece.

welch finished his career in 1993, still in oakland, and wound up with 211 wins and just under 2000 strikeouts.

voici à vous, 1988 bob welch!

1987 rick rhoden

rick rhoden was traded in november of 1986 from the pirates to the yankees in the deal that sent future cy young award winner doug drabek to pittsburgh.  here's his 1987 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i loved these kinds of deals in hindsight - mcgriff to the blue jays, buhner to the mariners, and drabek to the pirates - the yankees got the short end of the stick. that's not to say i thought rhoden was bad - he was a favorite dodger of mine and he won 16 games for the yankees in 1987 - but clearly the yankees probably would have fared better had they kept drabek in their system.

rhoden followed up his 16 win season with a 12-12 effort in 1988. his first start that year was a 3-hit shutout against the twins. after the season, he was traded back to the national league in a 3-for-1 deal with the astros.

voici à vous, 1987 rick rhoden!

1986 gary redus

gary redus was traded from the reds to the phillies for john denny 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:

redus would spend just one season in philadelphia, hitting .247 with 11 home runs, 33 rbi and 25 steals. redus faced denny 8 times in 1986, and had two hits (both for extra bases - a double and a triple) and two strikeouts against him. the phillies traded him to the white sox just before the start of the 1987 season; too late for a 1987 variation, unfortunately.

voici à vous, 1986 gary redus!

1985 mike fitzgerald

mike fitzgerald joined the expos prior to the 1985 season as part of the return package for gary carter. here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

fitzgerald, who was the catcher on topps' all-rookie team following his 1984 season, had the unenviable task of replacing the kid behind the plate in montreal. he hit a career high .282 in 1986, and established a personal best of 9 home runs for the expos in 1990. he eventually finished his big league career with the angels in 1992.
 
voici à vous, 1985 mike fitzgerald!

1984 lary sorensen

lary sorensen signed a free agent deal with the a's in january of 1984.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

he started the season 1-4 before being moved to the bullpen for a short stint in early may. after that, he bounced between the pen and the starting rotation, picking up a total of 6 wins and 13 losses (and one save) along the way. his best game was a complete game victory at baltimore in august in which he held the orioles to 4 hits and 1 run (a wayne gross home run).

after a singular year in oakland, sorensen went to chicago to pitch for the cubs in 1985.

voici à vous, 1984 lary sorensen!

1983 lee mazzilli

lee mazzilli was traded from the yankees to the pirates in december of 1982. here is his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

with a lurking robin yount!

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

mazzilli had spent time with both the yankees and the rangers in 1982 after spending the first 6 years of his career in new york with the mets. with the pirates in 1983, maz hit .240 with 5 home runs and 24 rbi in 109 games. he spent two more mediocre seasons in pittsburgh before being released by the pirates and subsequently picked up by the mets during the 1986 campaign, where he wound up winning a world championship.

mazzilli made me nervous in 1988 when he singled as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 12th inning of the pivotal nlcs game 4 between the mets and the dodgers. that put the tying run on second with no outs. thankfully, tim leary got gregg jefferies to fly out, jesse orosco got darryl strawberry to pop out, and orel hershiser got the save by getting kevin mcreynolds to end the game with a fly out.
 
voici à vous, 1983 lee mazzilli!

1982 lonnie smith

lonnie smith was traded from the phillies to the cardinals in november of 1981. here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

it's kinda sad that o-pee-chee didn't bother to move the signature a bit.  it would have made more sense to do it in 1982 than it did in 1977, that's for sure.  here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as a rookie in 1980, smith had been a part of the phillies' first world series championship. now in saint louis for the 1982 season, he helped the redbirds get back to the world series for the first time since the days of bob gibson and curt flood.

during the 1982 regular season, smith led the national league in runs with 120, finished second in the mvp voting to dale murphy, and made the all-star team for the only time in his career (he was a defensive replacement for dusty baker in the 9th and never got to bat).

in the postseason, smith hit .273 in the nlcs and .321 in the world series, as he won his second ring. he would win his third ring in 1985 with the royals after the cardinals traded him in midseason. who did the royals beat that year? none other than smith's old team, the cardinals.
 
voici à vous, 1982 lonnie smith!

1981 jerry martin

in december of 1980, the cubs sent their center fielder, jerry martin, to the giants for phil nastu and joe strain.  here's martin's 1981 o-pee-chee card:

that's a wide stance.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i remember martin as the guy who hit a 9th inning pinch-hit home run off of bobby welch in the 1978 nlcs.  it didn't matter, though, as the dodgers still won the game. speaking of long balls, it should be noted that martin hit 5 of his 85 career home runs against john candelaria.  in fact, martin seemed to enjoy victimizing pitchers in spurts.  looking at his home run log, we see that 2 of his first 3 home runs were hit off of pete falcone, and 6 of his first 10 were hit against just 3 different pitchers (falcone, candelaria, and jon matlack).  later in his career, his 25th, 26th and 27th career home runs came at the expense of bob knepper in two separate games.  weird.

in 1981, martin lasted just one season with the giants (hitting .241 in 72 games), before he was traded again.  this time, he was headed to the american league and the kansas city royals.  unfortunately, he didn't make the cut for the o-pee-chee set in 1982, so we are denied another nice variation.

voici à vous, 1981 jerry martin!