joe rudi was going to be a free agent after the 1976 season, so a's owner charlie o finley tried to sell him to the red sox in june of that year. the commissioner vetoed the deal, and rudi played out the season with the a's. in november, he signed a free agent deal with the california angels. here's his 1977 o-pee-chee card:
as expected, opc was quick to the punch - they had rudi in his angel gear. now, here's the topps front:
hey! way to go topps. now the o-pee-chee back:
and the topps back:
as we can see from above, the 1977 rudi card is an autograph placement variation, which is kind of boring. however, it is also the heretofore unrecognized by me 'position variation'. notice that o-pee-chee lists rudi as an outfielder, while topps gave him both first base and outfield. joe had spent most of 1975 (91 of 137 games) at first base, but made only 2 appearances there (with no starts) in 1976. in 1977, he didn't make any appearances at all as a first baseman. advantage, o-pee-chee.
rudi spent 4 seasons with the angels, and although he helped them reach the postseason for the first time in 1979, he was not the same player he had been with the a's. he managed 57 home runs during his tenure in anaheim, but his average steadily declined each season with the halos. as for the 1979 alcs, rudi missed the last month and a half of the season due to an achilles tendon injury and was not part of the angels' postseason roster.
voici à vous, 1977 joe rudi!
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