1977 bill singer

bill singer was selected by the blue jays from the twins in the 1976 expansion draft.  here's his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

topps obviously had time to airbrush a blue jays cap on singer's head, but they didn't bother to 'remove' the tell-tale collar of his twins jersey from around his neck.  now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

because topps' 1976 traded set only featured players dealt before the season started (like singer was, from the angels to the rangers), we are left without a cardboard record of singer as a twin.  oh well.

singer, who made just one opening day start previously, was the first starting pitcher in blue jays history, getting the call for their first game of their inagural 1977 season.  while the team won the game, singer was left with a no-decision.  he lost his next 4 starts before picking up the final two wins of his career.  the jays released singer in july, effectively ending his career.

voici à vous, 1977 bill singer!

1992 junior ortiz

junior ortiz left the world champion twins after the 1991 season and signed a deal with the cleveland indians. here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the twins had obtained ortiz from the pirates a couple of years earlier in exchange for a minor leaguer who now does the news here in the twin cities. anyway, ortiz took his ring to cleveland and hit .250 as a backup to sandy alomar jr. or maybe it was a platoon, as ortiz set career highs in runs, hits, and rbi while playing in 86 games. he also was part of a play at the plate with gary gaetti that topps captured quite nicely in their 1993 set.

voici à vous, 1992 junior ortiz!

1991 willie wilson

willie wilson had spent his entire career with the royals until he signed as a free agent with the a's in december of 1990. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

wilson hit just .238 his first year in oakland, the lowest batting average he had posted since his rookie year of 1978. he also stole 20 bases, which was the lowest full season total of his career. in 1992, the a's moved wilson back to centerfield full time, and he responded by hitting .270 and swiping 28 bases. he also returned to the postseason for the first time since winning the world series with the royals in 1985.

voici à vous, 1991 willie wilson!

1990 carmelo martinez

carmelo martinez signed with the phillies as a free agent a few days before the padres acquired fred lynn and joe carter. i don't think carmelo was in their plans for 1990. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as a phillie, martinez hit .242 with 8 homers and 31 rbi in 71 games before he was traded to the pirates in august. with pittsburgh, martinez hit 2 more home runs, the first of which came against the phillies. he was 2 for 8 with 2 doubles and 2 rbi for the pirates in the 1990 nlcs against the reds.

voici à vous, 1990 carmelo martinez!

1977 paul splittorff

paul splittorff's 1977 o-pee-chee card features a relocated facsimilie autograph:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

splitt won 16 games for the royals in 1977 and made 2 starts against the yankees in the alcs.  he was 1-0 with a win in game 1 and a quality start in game 5, a game in which the royals led going into the 9th inning before the yankees rallied to win the pennant.

voici à vous, 1977 paul splittorff!

1992 mike jackson

mike jackson was traded from the mariners to the giants in december of 1991. here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

jackson was one of those players that wore number 42 when he was able, and he did so with the giants in 1992. i appreciate that kind of acknowledgement of the history of the game. he was 6-6 with a couple of saves for the giants that year as part of a bullpen that also featured rod beck and dave righetti. jackson was 6-6 once again in 1993, but also led the league with 81 appearances. he would eventually become a closer in cleveland where he saved 40 games in 1998.

voici à vous, 1992 mike jackson!

1991 barry jones

barry jones was traded from the white sox to the expos in december of 1990.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

jones wound up leading the national leagues in games pitched in 1991 with 77 appearances for montreal, saving 13 games along the way. it turned out to be his only season with the expos as they flipped him to the phillies for darrin fletcher in december of 1991.

voici à vous, 1991 barry jones!

1990 mike maddux

mike maddux became a dodger for the first time when he signed as a free agent in the winter of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the dodgers used maddux as both a starter and a reliever over the course of the season. in all, he made 11 appearances (2 as a starter) and was 0-1 with a 6.53 era. he became a free agent after the season ended, and maddux moved on to san diego, new york, pittsburgh, boston, seattle, san diego (again), and montreal before rejoining the dodgers in 1999. he and his brother greg share the honor of being dodger double dippers.

voici à vous, 1990 mike maddux!

1977 willie stargell

willie stargell had his facsimilie autograph rotated by o-pee-chee in 1977.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

stargell only appeared in 63 games in 1977, but still managed to hit 13 homers, including the 400th dinger of his career.  two years later, pops hit 32 homers and won his second world series, picking up mvp awards for the regular season, the nlcs and the world series along the way. 

voici à vous, 1977 willie stargell!

1992 todd benzinger

todd benzinger was traded from the royals to the dodgers for chris gwynn in december of 1991.  here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

benzinger was going to help fill the gap between the departed eddie murray and the rookie eric karros at first base, but karros played well enough to win the national league rookie of the year award and render benzinger to a reserve outfielder role. in 121 games, benzinger hit .239 with 4 homers, two of which were grand slams.

voici à vous, 1992 todd benzinger!

1991 pete harnisch

pete harnisch was traded (with curt schilling and steve finley) by the orioles to the astros for glenn davis in january of 1991. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the astros decided to hold on to harnisch (and deal schilling) after the 1991 season as he won 12 games with a 2.70 era on the year. he also represented the astros in the all-star game in 1991, pitching a scoreless inning of relief in the game. harnisch followed up 1991 with a 9-10 campaign in 1992, but rebounded to win 16 games for houston in 1993.

voici à vous, 1991 pete harnisch!

1990 fred lynn

fred lynn signed as a free agent with the padres in december of 1989 as they continued to revamp their outfield.  here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the pads acquired joe carter on the same day that they signed lynn, and with lynn in left and carter in center, the padres hope for big things. they got 30 home runs and 138 rbi from the pair, but lynn played only about a quarter of the season in the field and contributed just 6 long balls and 23 rbi in what would be his final season in the big leagues.

voici à vous, 1990 fred lynn!

1977 john mayberry

o-pee-chee didn't level out the stadium in which john mayberry was photographed for his 1977 card, but they did move his facsimilie autograph around a bit.  here's his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

this is a cool cartoon on the back, too.  i notice o-pee-chee didn't bother to convert the value to canadian currency.  back then the wagner card would have been about $1300 in the great white north if i recall correctly.  anyway, i couldn't convince my dad to spend $25 for the complete 1977 topps set at the swap meet, so i don't think he would have spent $1000 on a wagner card, unfortunately.

mayberry had a good 5-year run in kansas city leading up to the 1977 season.  he hit 23 home runs (plus another in the nlcs against the yankees) that year, but had his contract sold to the blue jays prior to the following season.

voici à vous, 1977 john mayberry!