1977 don carrithers

more slight cropping and unnecessary facsimile autograph moving is at play on don carrithers' 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's too bad, really.  this card could have been awesome, as carrithers joined the twins in april of 1977, but apparently, o-pee-chee was printing or had already printed at that time.  carrithers appeared in 7 games for the twinkles, posting a loss as his only decision and allowing 11 earned runs in 14.1 innings.  ironically, the last two games in which he pitched were the two best performances he turned in all year, including a 4.2 inning relief appearance in late september (in which he allowed just an unearned run) which would be his final big league appearance.

voici à vous, 1977 don carrithers!

1992 ron tingley

ron tingley is the second of the angels' backstops to get no love from topps in 1992. here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

and here's the back:

tingley and john orton both lacked cards in the topps set, and mike fitzgerald, their other primary catcher in 1992 was still with the expos (and failed to get a text variation indicating that he was on his way to california). that means that the three primary angels' catchers in 1992 were not recognized as such by topps. to answer the obvious question, lance parrish was the only catcher featured by topps as an angel in their 1992 flagship release, and he and greg myers were the only other catchers on the halos' roster that year.

as for tingley, he had played in 45 games for the angels in 1991, but like orton, he surpassed that total in 1992 as he saw action in 71 games. he hit 3 homers and threw out 45% of the runners who dared try to steal against him.

here's the topps card that tingly threw out of the o-pee-chee set - front:

and back:

too bad there was no inter league play in 1992 - tingley might have thrown hojo out for real!

voici à vous, 1992 ron tingley!

1977 doug rau

i thought that topps did a pretty good job with the placement of doug rau's facsimile autograph on his 1977 card, but o-pee-chee saw fit to adjust its location slightly and slightly modify the photo cropping as well.  here is rau's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

nice to see walter alston get some love on a 1977 card (shameless plug for my card that should have been)!  rau had a decent year in 1977 - he won 14 games in 32 starts, posted an era of 3.43 and had 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. his most memorable moment of 1977 came in the postseason, however.


rau was called upon out of the dodger bullpen in the nlcs, making just one appearance in the series, which happened to be in game 3 when he retired larry bowa, mike schmidt, and greg luzinski in order, preserving what was then a tie game in the 7th inning.  then, in the world series, rau got the call to start game 4 and was famously pulled in the second inning after giving up three straight hits (a double to reggie jackson, a run-scoring single to lou piniella, and a double to chris chambliss) to lead off the frame. rau argued with lasorda about being relieved, stating that he could strike out the next batter, lefty graig nettles whom he referred to as a, well, to use the term dick williams coined, 'mawdicker'. indeed, it was "f-ing great for [rau] to be standing out [there] talking to [tommy] like that." rau came back to pitch 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in game 6 of the and did indeed strike that "m-f"er (nettles) out, but it was too late.


voici à vous, 1977 doug rau!

1992 kirk mccaskill

after leading the league with 19 losses in 1991, the pride of kapuskasing, ontario, kirk mccaskill, signed a free agent deal with the white sox. here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

mccaskill went 12-13 for the chisox in '92, making 34 starts and pitching 209 innings. the team was 18-16 in his starts, and mccaskill probably pitched well enough to merit 18 victories for the season. mccaskill pitched for the white sox for 4 more seasons, although he did so primarily from the bullpen.

voici à vous, 1992 kirk mccaskill!

1991 charlie hough

charlie hough signed a free agent contract with 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:

hough left texas as the franchise's winningest pitcher, with 139 career victories. he wound up winning 9 for the chisox in 1991 while losing 10. he made 29 starts, and for the first time since 1983, hough appeared in a game as a reliever. in fact, hough, who began his career as a reliever with the dodgers, made two relief appearances in 1991, and they turned out to be the last two of his career. after a second year in chicago, hough joined the marlins, and was their inagural opening day starter when he beat the dodgers 6-3. in other news, this is the last of the 1991 o-pee-chee variations. we're down to 1977 and 1992.

voici à vous, 1991 charlie hough!

1977 ted simmons

it looks like o-pee-chee was up to their typical tricks again in 1977, this time adjusting ted simmons' photo ever so slightly, and moving his facsimile autograph around.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

it looks like the photo just got moved up in the window slightly as there is more of simmons' back pocket showing on the o-pee-chee version with less head room.

now the o-pee-chee back:

a babe ruth comic!

and the topps back:

simmons caught in 143 games in 1977, down slightly from his career high of 154 in 1975.  he did set a career high with his .318 batting average which he posted along with 21 homers and 95 rbi.  he was named to the all-star team for the fourth time (he went 0 for 3 in the game) and finished 9th in the 1977 national league mvp voting.

voici à vous, 1977 ted simmons!

1992 eddie taubensee

eddie taubensee was traded from the indians to the astros in the december, 1991 deal that netted the tribe kenny lofton. here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

taubensee platooned behind the plate with scott servais for the astros, and he hit .222 in 104 games. he had 5 homers on the year and threw out 34% of the would-be base stealers who ran against him.

voici à vous, 1992 eddie taubensee!

1991 darryl strawberry

in november of 1990, darryl strawberry signed a free agent deal with the dodgers. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

strawberry enjoyed his last good season as a big leaguer with the dodgers in 1991. he hit 28 homers and drove in 99 runs while making the all-star team for the final time. injuries and personal issues derailed his career to various degrees over the following seasons, although he was able to be a part of two of the yankee world championship teams of the late 1990's.

voici à vous, 1991 darryl strawberry!

1977 del unser

del unser didn't change teams in 1977, but o-pee-chee decided to update his photo anyway.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

kudos to topps for actually having a photo of unser in his expos' duds, as he had been traded to the expos by the mets during the 1976 season, and 1977 was his first full year with montreal.  unser wound up replicating his 1976 power numbers, hitting 12 homers and driving in 40 runs, but he did so in 33 fewer games.  he also raised his batting average by almost fifty points, hitting .273, while playing all three outfield positions as well as some first base for the first time since his rookie year of 1968.

voici à vous, 1977 del unser!

1992 don robinson

don robinson signed as a free agent with the angels in january of 1992. here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

robinson was squeezed out of the giants' pitching staff with their acquisition of bill swift, dave burba and michael jackson in the kevin mitchell deal. as an angel, robinson made 3 starts and was 1-0 with a 2.20 era when they released him in may after he returned from the disabled list. according to the la times, the angels chose to keep bert blyleven instead of robinson, whom they feared was repeating a pattern of injury. robinson picked up with the phillies, but was 1-4 in 8 starts for them with a 6.18 era and was released in july. there was a bright spot, however, as robinson, a three-time silver slugger winner, hit .389 (7 for 18) during his brief return to the national league.

voici à vous, 1992 don robinson!

1991 dwight evans

dwight evans was a lifelong red sox (sock?) until he was released by boston after the 1990 season. he then signed as a free agent with the orioles. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

note to topps:  the umpire is not airbrushed out in this fantastic card from the 1991 set, a la that manny ramirez stadium club card from a few years ago. 

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the orioles put evans back in right field (he had been boston's dh in 1990), and he hit .270 with 6 outfield assists in return. he also hit the final 6 home runs of his career, including a pinch-hit grand slam against the a's in july. evans re-upped with the orioles for another season, but was released by the team in spring training of 1992.

voici à vous, 1991 dwight evans!

1977 tom poquette

o-pee-chee may not have leveled off the field upon which tom poquette stood, but they did remove his topps rookie cup and move his facsimilie autograph around.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

poquette's 1977 season was almost a clone of his 1976 campaign.  he played in two more games and had nine more plate appearances in 1977 than he had the previous year, scored an identical 43 runs with the same number of homers (2) and one fewer rbi, but his hit total dropped by four to an even 100, and his average wound up at .292, a ten-point drop.
he suffered through the royals' three consecutive defeats to the yankees in the alcs (1976, 1977, and 1978) but was not around in 1980 when they finally made it to the world series.  by then he had been traded to the red sox for george scott straight up.

voici à vous, 1977 tom poquette!

1992 bill swift

bill swift was traded from the mariners to the giants in december of 1991 as part of the kevin mitchell deal. here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the mariners had transitioned swift from a starter to a reliever over the course of the previous few seasons, culminating with swift's turn as their closer in 1991. the giants, however, moved him back to the starting rotation and got immediate dividends. swift was 10-4 in 22 starts for the no-cals before being sent to the bullpen for the month of september and making 8 relief appearances and earningn a save for his troubles. i am guessing the giants were trying to limit his innings as he was pitching well at the time of his 'demotion'. in fact, swift wound up leading the league with a 2.08 era. it was all a precursor of things to come as swift won 21 games in 1993 and finished 2nd in the cy young voting.

voici à vous, 1992 bill swift!