1977 george hendrick

it's not a difference in cropping, o-pee-chee used a whole different photo of george hendrick (while also relocating his facsimile autograph) in 1977, thanks to the december 1976 trade that sent hendrick from the indians to the padres.  here is hendrick's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's true - i checked.  hank aaron and babe ruth both scored 2174 times in their careers.  i was worried that the elias sports bureau took away a run or two from one of them like they took two hits away from ty cobb, who now has 4189 career base knocks.  no such corrections - hank and the babe remain tiedfor fourth place all-time.

this post is about george hendrick, however, and those amazing hats he's wearing on his 1977 cards.  the padres cap is obviously airbrushed, but i don't know about the indians hat.  it almost looks like a visor because i think i can see some hair exposed on top of hendrick's head.  what do you think?  besides, i don't think the indians wore white caps. ever.

hendrick's first season in san diego was a good one.  he played in a career high 152 games and hit over .300 (.311) for the first time.  he hit 23 homers and drove in 81 runs on the season, and in june he hit the 100th home run of his career.

voici à vous, 1977 george hendrick!