1979 tommy john

tommy john became a free agent after the dodgers lost to the yankees in the 1978 world series, and must have figured 'if you can't beat em, join em' because he signed a deal with the bronx bombers just before thanksgiving. here is his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

for me as a young dodger fan, seeing dodgers and yankees on the same card, especially on john's card, was a bitter pill to swallow.  john turned 36 a month into the 1979 season, but he continued his amazing comeback from his eponymous surgery by winning 21 games and finishing 2nd in the al cy young voting. unfortunately for him, the orioles won the al east.

john would return to the fall classic in 1981, however, and face off against his former mates. john had thrown 9 scoreless innings against the dodgers before his game 6 start. according to tommy lasorda, the dodgers couldn't hit john and he was worried about a game 7. so, in the 4th inning with the game tied 1-1, he had burt hooton intentionally walk larry milbourne with two outs and a runner on second to bring up john's spot in the batting order. bob lemon's hand was forced, and he pinch-hit for john with bobby murcer. john was done, murcer flew out, george frazier came in, and the dodgers went on to win the game 9-2.

voici à vous, 1979 tommy john!