warren cromartie became a free agent after the 1983 season and chose to sign with the yomiuri giants of the japanese league. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:
here's the topps front:
now the o-pee-chee back:
and the topps back:
this is a favorite variation of mine, simply because it is such an oddball, which is why i saved it for last. yes, this is the end of the 1984 variation run for o-pee-chee. i decided not to consider it a 'now with' text variation, and rather categorized it as a 'now playing in japan' variation because its uniqueness should be celebrated. similar to the 1985 jim fanning card (yet to be featured on oh my o-pee-chee!) in that regard. anyway, cromartie was a good player for the expos, but was great in japan. he played under home run king sadaharu oh, and slugged over 30 home runs several times. in 1989, he led the central league in batting and won the mvp award. in his seven years in japan, cromartie compiled a .321 average with 171 homers and 558 rbi.
he returned to major league baseball in 1991 (with the kansas city royals), and for the first time in his career, he was playing home games in the united states. he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter by the royals, although he also appeared in 28 games at first base. he hit .313 overall with one home run (a pinch-hit game-winner against jeff reardon and the red sox) and an obp of .381. he retired after the game on september 15th, which ended with him hitting into a double play.
voici à vous, 1984 warren cromartie!
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