1980 jay johnstone

jay johnstone signed with the los angeles dodgers as a free agent in december of 1979. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

johnstone had been a member of the 1977 phillies that had lost to the dodgers in the nlcs, but was later traded to the yankees during the 1978 season and won a ring by 'helping' (he was 0 for 2) the bronx bombers beat the dodgers in the world series. after a season split between new york and san diego, in which he hit a combined .277 in 98 games, johnstone joined the dodgers.

he would play in 109 games (58 starts) for the blue in 1980, hitting .307 with a couple of home runs. his first dinger of the season was a big one as it came with one out in the bottom of the 9th with the dodgers down 1-0 to bob forsch and the cardinals. after johnstone tied the game, joe ferguson won it in the 10th with a solo shot off of forsch. unfortunately, johnstone could conjure no such magic at the end of the season as he went 0 for 4 and the dodgers fell to the astros in game 163, narrowly missing the postseason.

the next year, johnstone's real value was seen by the dodgers and their fans, and i'm not just referring to his numerous pranks at the expense of tommy lasorda. johnstone was 11 for 41 as a pinch-hitter, and hit all 3 of his home runs during the regular season in that role. then, in the world series against the yankees, he hit another pinch-hit home run, this one a two-run shot off of ron davis in game 4 that cut the yankees' lead to 6-5. the dodgers would go on to win the game and the series, and johnstone, now a world series hero, would go on to record and perform 'we are the champions' on solid gold.

this is the final variation from the 1980 set - we have now seen all 40 of them.

voici à vous, 1980 jay johnstone!