1985 al oliver

al oliver brought his number '0' to the dodgers when the phillies traded him to la for pat zachry in february of 1985. here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i was always a fan of oliver's. he looked so sad on his 1978 topps/o-pee-chee card despite having some good years for some good pirate teams, including having a world series championship under his belt. then he had some good years in texas and that monster 1982 season in montreal. if only he had played in a bigger market during those years. by the time he arrived in la, he was 38 years old and had split the previous season between san francisco and philadelphia.

oliver started the 1985 season as the dodgers' left fielder, but soon became a bat off the bench. in all, he hit .253 as a dodger - .258 in 17 games as a left fielder, and .235 in 18 plate appearances as a pinch hitter. in july, the dodgers sent scoop to the blue jays in exchange for the 'tuz - len matuszek. oliver helped the jays get to the alcs, but despite his .375 average in the series against the royals, the team was unable to advance to the fall classic.

oliver's career ended with the 1985 seasaon, and he seems destined to remain in the 'hall of very good' with his 2743 hits, .303 career average, 1326 rbi, and .986 fielding percentage. that's bad news for me, as oliver's closest career comparative is none other than steve garvey.

voici à vous, 1985 al oliver!