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!