1977 rick manning

the north-south cropping is different, and the facsimile autograph is tilted on this, rick manning's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

a gold glove winner in 1976, manning played in only 63 games in 1977, thanks to a back injury he  suffered in seattle.  he missed most of june and all of july and august after having surgery on his back, and it was during that time that manning became involved with teammate dennis eckersley's wife, creating the awkward situation that resulted in eckersley being dealt to the red sox.

manning continued to play good defense for the indians into the 1980's, although he never won another gold glove or achieved the same level of offense that he had shown in 1976.  in 1981, manning caught the final out of len barker's perfect game.

voici à vous, 1977 rick manning!