1980 gaylord perry

in february of 1980, the padres sent future hall of famer gaylord perry from whence he came - back to the rangers for willie montanez. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

perry had pitched well for the pads in 1979, a year after winning his second career cy young award and getting his 3000th strikeout (a dodger, no less), but the padres didn't give him as much support as he had enjoyed in 1978. his record was just 12-11 although he sported a 3.06 era over his 30 starts. he began the 1980 season 21 wins away from 300, but managed just 6 in his return to texas before they traded him to the yankees in mid-august. in the bronx, perry won another 4 games in 10 appearances, but left as a free agent and joined the braves for the 1981 season. unfortunately, he would have to wait until 1982 when he was a seattle mariner before he would earn his 300th win.
 
voici à vous, 1980 gaylord perry!

1979 dave rader

dave rader was traded to the phillies in february of 1979. here is his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the trade meant that rader was spending his fourth straight season with a new club. he was used sparingly by the phillies as a backup to bob boone and played in only 31 games. he garnered just 54 at bats, hitting .204 with a homer and 5 rbi in 62 plate appearances. the phils eventually traded rader themselves in a march, 1980 deal with the red sox, meaning it was 5 new teams in 5 seasons for the catcher.
 
voici à vous, 1979 dave rader!

1977 bob grich

both o-pee-chee and topps showed bobby grich as an angel on his 1977 cards, but o-pee-chee used a different photo, removed the all-star designation, and changed the location of his autograph.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

grich had signed with the halos as a free agent in november of 1976, leaving the orioles after 7 seasons, 4 gold gloves and 3 all-star apperances.  for the angels in 1977, grich moved from second base to shortstop but played in only 52 games before having surgery for a herniated disc that occurred as a result of a back injury sustained during the offseason when he tried to lift an air conditioner.  after the season, the angels sent jerry remy to boston, and grich moved to his more familiar spot on the diamond - second base.  grich was named to the al all-star team 3 more times in his career, but never as the starter, so he didn't get the all-star banner on any of his cards after 1977.

voici à vous, 1977 bob grich!

1992 craig worthington

craig worthington appeared in just 31 games for the orioles in 1991, and topps didn't think that was worthy of a card in their 1992 set.  o-pee-chee did, so here is worthington's 1992 o-pee-chee card:

since it's a checklist variation, there is no comparable topps card.  instead, here's the o-pee-chee back:

the funny thing about this card is that it could easily have had some "now with" text as the orioles traded worthington to the padres in february of 1992.  they didn't hold on to him long, releasing him towards the end of spring training that same year.  three weeks later, worthington signed a free agent deal with the indians and made a few appearances for them.  he bounced around in the minors after the 1992 season, and made his way back to the big leagues with the reds and rangers in 1995. 

here's the topps card that worthington replaced in the o-pee-chee set, the cecil fielder all-star card

and its back

voici à vous, 1992 craig worthington!

1991 rock raines

rock raines, fka tim raines, was given an opportunity to try his luck in the states when the expos traded him to the white sox in december of 1990.  here is his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in his first year in chicago, raines played in more games (155) than he had in any season since 1984. he also stole more than 50 bases (51) for the first time since 1987, and for the last time in his career. he also scored over 100 runs despite posting the third-lowest full season obp of his career (still a good .359).  raines spent 5 seasons with the white sox, helping them to the postseason in 1993, before heading to the yankees where he finally won a world series ring in 1996.

voici à vous, 1991 rock raines!

1990 rafael santana

rafael santana, who missed the entire 1989 season due to injury, was released by the yankees in november of that year.  he signed a free agent deal with the indians in january of 1990.  here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

santana's indians debut came in early april 1990 in the bronx against the yankees.  he went 0 for 2 with a gidp.  the indians decided shortly therafter that they were content with felix fermin at short as santana was released after appearing in just 7 games, all on the road i might add.  talk about never really feeling 'at home' with a club.  and that, as it turned out, was a career.

voici à vous, 1990 rafael santana!

1989 wil tejada

wil tejada was traded from the expos to the giants in november of 1988. here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

tejada never wore a big league uniform after he departed the expos, as the giants sent him to the minor leagues where he hit .212 and failed to earn a callup. he missed a season after being released by the giants in march of 1990, but then spent the 1991 season in the a's organization. after that, he played for a few years in the mexican league. tejada is currently managing an indians affiliate in the dominican summer league.


voici à vous, 1989 wil tejada!

1986 alex trevino

in december of 1985, something happened that had never happened before in my lifetime.  in fact, it has happened only once since.  on that day, the giants and dodgers completed a trade - the dodgers sent candy maldonado to the giants, and received alex trevino in return.  here's alex trevino's 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

trevino spent the 1986 and 1987 seasons with the dodgers, backing up mike scioscia behind the plate. in those two years, trevino hit .246 and hit 7 home runs, which were more than he had hit with any team. the dodgers released trevino at the start of the 1988 season, having brought rick dempsey on board. trevino signed with the astros a week later and repaid the dodgers by hitting both of his home runs that year against the blue at dodger stadium.


this is also the last of the 1986 o-pee-chee variations. another year done.
 
voici à vous, 1986 alex trevino!

1985 bob james

bob james was traded in december of 1984 from the expos to the white sox for vance law.  here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

james had saved 17 games for the expos since may of 1983 leading up to the trade, and the chisox decided to put him in the closer's role. he didn't disappoint in 1985, saving 32 games while posting an era of 2.13 and a whip of 1.03 in 110 innings pitched. unfortunately, james was unable to repeat the success he had in 1985, and was released by the white sox after the 1987 season.

voici à vous, 1985 bob james!

1982 ed farmer

ed farmer signed a free agent deal with the phillies prior to the 1982 season. here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

farmer had resusitated his career in the late 70's after being out of professional baseball for the entire 1976 season. his return to the big leagues pinnacled in 1980 when he saved 30 games for the white sox and was named to the american league all-star team. in 1982 with the phillies, farmer was part of a bullpen by committee along with ron reed, tug mcgraw and others, and he went 2-6 with 6 saves and a 4.86 era. he also made 4 starts that year. after starting the 1983 season 0-6, farmer was released by the phils. he was quickly signed by the a's, and he ended the season (and his career) in oakland.

voici à vous, 1982 ed farmer!

1981 ted simmons

ted simmons went from the cardinals to the brewers in the december 1980 rollie fingers trade. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

despite hitting just .216 for the brew crew in '81, simmons was named to the american league all-star team. in the midsummer classic, simmons hit a pinch-hit rbi single off of burt hooton to drive in the american league's 4th run of the game and give them a 2-run lead. rollie fingers would later give up a two-run homer to mike schmidt as the nl came back to win the game.

simmons had a much better season in 1982, with a .269 average, 23 home runs and 97 rbi, helping the brewers get back to the playoffs and into the world series for the first time. he may be the best eligible offensive catcher not in the hall of fame.


voici à vous, 1981 ted simmons!

1980 bob owchinko

bob owchinko was traded from the padres to the indians in february of 1980. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

owchinko did not seem to adapt well to the american league. for the tribe in 1980, he was 2-9 with an era of 5.27 in 29 games. he made 14 starts, and did have one highlight - a 4-hit shutout of the tigers in september. a few weeks later, he made his final start of the season at baltimore. owchinko went 11 innings and gave up 2 runs in the first game of a double header that the orioles eventually won in the bottom of the 13th on a walk-off homer from gary roenicke.

that would be owchinko's last appearance in an indians uniform, as he was sent to pittsburgh in the offseason as part of the bert blyleven deal. the pirates flipped him later in the offseason to the a's where owchinko made his lone postseason appearance. unfortunately for us, neither deal was captured in an o-pee-chee variation as owchinko was left out of the set, but his 1981 donruss card is pretty cool, especially since he wasn't a pirate once the season started.

voici à vous, 1980 bob owchinko!

1979 sam mejias

sam mejias was traded from the expos to the cubs in december of 1978. here is his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

mejias struggled with the cubs, hitting just .182 in 31 games with no extra base hits. in july, the reds purchased his contract and used him in 7 games over the rest of the season. in those games, mejias had two official at bats, getting a single in one of them. still with the reds in 1980, he played more regularly (he appeared in 71 games), and hit .278 as a result.

voici à vous, 1979 sam mejias!