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!