1977 bill travers

as you can see by the fact that his hat is closer to the top of the photo window and his facsimile autograph is shifted to the right, bill travers' 1977 o-pee-chee card is a photo and an autograph placement variation.  here is travers' 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

travers had posted a 2.81 era in 1976, but in 1977, his era was 5.25. he made only 19 starts and had a record of 4-12, although he did manage to throw a shutout in his third start of the season.  travers missed all of june and most of july due to injury, and when he returned, the brewers called on him to start the back end of four august double headers.

i am guessing the bullpen was pretty depleted, because on august 14, 1977, in the second game of a double header (their third in 13 days), travers was allowed to pitch 7.2 innings in which he allowed 14 earned runs (a feat equaled most recently by vin mazzaro of the royals in 2011)!  his era jumped over an entire run that day!  he was 4-5 entering that game, but wound up losing it and 6 of his next 7 starts.

voici à vous, 1977 bill travers!

1977 willie montanez

there is a slight difference in the cropping of willie montanez's photo, and his facsimile autograph is at a different angle on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

montanez spent the entire season with the braves in 1977 - the only full year that he spent in atlanta, and the first season since 1974 that he didn't split between two clubs.  he hit .287 with 20 home runs and 68 rbi over the course of the regular season, and was named to the all-star team for the first (and only) time in his career.  in the midsummer classic, he replaced steve garvey in the 5th inning and went 0 for 2 the rest of the way.  incidentally, i learned this summer that the phillies had tried to acquire steve garvey from the dodgers back before he became entrenched at first base for the dodgers, and the main player they were going to send to la was willie montanez.  luckily, al campanis said no to that proposal.

voici à vous, 1977 willie montanez!

1977 dave parker

there's a slight difference in the north-south alignment of dave parker's photo on his 1977 o-pee-chee card, and his stacked facsimile autograph is also in a different spot and rotated.  here is the cobra's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1977 was parker's coming out year - he led the league with 215 hits, 44 doubles, and a .338 batting average.  he also won his first gold glove award and finished third in the league mvp voting.  he had 21 home runs on the year, with three two-homer games and a walk-off.  parker was also named to the all-star team for the first time, starting for the national league in right field.  he was 1 for 3 in the game without any outfield assists, but would return in 1979 to take care of that.

voici à vous, 1977 dave parker!

1977 jim sundberg

rangers' catcher jim sundberg got a slight left-to-right cropping photo variation and a autograph placement variation from o-pee-chee in 1977.  here is sundberg's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

sundberg caught in all 149 games in which he appeared  for the rangers in 1977, and hit a career high .291.  he had 6 homers, including his first walk-off blast, and his 65 rbi proved to be a career best.  he won his second consecutive gold glove (he would eventually win 6 straight), and finished 15th in the league mvp voting.

voici à vous, 1977 jim sundberg!

1977 larry parrish

o-pee-chee wanted to give us a closer look at expos' third baseman larry parrish in 1977, so that's exactly what they did.  in addition to cropping the photo more tightly than topps, they also moved his facsimile autograph.  here is parrish's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as the text says, parrish did not play in aaa - he made the jump to the big leagues straight from aa in 1974.  maybe that was fairly rare back then, but it seems to be more commonplace now.  anyway, parrish was just 23 in 1977 and already he had a couple of full major league seasons under his belt.  in 1977, he hit .246 with 11 home runs and 46 rbi.  he hit two home runs in a game against the braves in mid-may, and then later in that month he launched three homers in a game against the cardinals.  parrish manned the hot corner in montreal until he was traded to the rangers in the spring of 1982, making way for tim wallach to take over.

voici à vous, 1977 larry parrish!

1977 gene tenace

gene tenace signed a free agent deal with the padres in december of 1976.  that was early enough for topps to airbrush the former athletic into padres attire, so all o-pee-chee could do was crop the image a little bit tighter and move the facsimile autograph.  here is tenace's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

o-pee-chee could have gone with a position variation, too, as tenace played a handful of games at third base for the padres in 1977.  he hit 15 home runs and drove in 61 runs over the course of the season, with three two-homer games to his credit, along with his seventh career grand slam.  tenace led the national league in walks in 1977 with 125, and in hit by pitch with 13.  i found this interesting because he didn't hit in the 8 spot ahead of the pitcher as i first assumed.

voici à vous, 1977 gene tenace!

1977 bill madlock

in february of 1977, the cubs traded the two-time reigning national league batting champion bill madlock to the giants.  as a result, o-pee-chee went to work on a team and photo variation, and they moved the facsimile autograph as well.  here is madlock's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in 140 games for the giants in 1977, madlock hit .302 with 12 home runs and 46 rbi.  twice that year he hit two home runs in a game - the first time coming against doug rau and the dodgers.  defensively, the giants played madlock at second base for the first time in his career in 1977.  in 1978, he played primarily at that position and did not man the hot corner at all until he was traded to the pirates during the 1979 campaign.

voici à vous, 1977 bill madlock!

1977 lyman bostock

a slight left-to-right photo variation, plus the ever present facsimile autograph adjustment, add up to a double variation for lyman bostock on his 1977 o-pee-chee card.  but first, let's take a moment to remember bostock who was 27 years old when he was murdered on this date in 1978.

here is bostock's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bostock spent the 1977 season patrolling centerfield for the twins, hitting .336 along the way.  that was good enough to finish second on the american league batting average leader board to teammate rod carew (he hit .388), and he scored 104 runs, hit 12 triples and 14 home runs with 90 rbi as well.  bostock hit the only walk-off home run of his career in 1977 - a 12th inning blast to beat the a's in july.  in may, he tied the major league record (and set the american league record) of 12 putouts in a single game by a centerfielder (since tied by jacoby ellsbury).  1977 was his last year in minnesota as he signed a free agent deal with the angels in november of that year.  here's a link to a lyman bostock tribute page.

voici à vous, 1977 lyman bostock!

1977 duane kuiper

o-pee-chee moved duane kuiper's photo down slightly and his facsimile autograph up a bit when they created a card for him in 1977.  here is kuiper's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1977 was a big year for kuiper as he 'slugged' his one and only career home run that year.  the solo blast came off of the white sox's steve stone in the first inning of the game on august 29 - just about 35 years ago.  for comparison, kuiper's play-by-play partner, former pitcher mike krukow, hit 5 home runs in his career.  kuiper also hit 8 triples and had a career high 50 rbi in 1977.

voici à vous, 1977 duane kuiper!

1977 mike schmidt

it looks to me like o-pee-chee left mike schmidt's photo alone and just straightened out his facsimile autograph on his 1977 release.  here is schmidt's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

schmidt hit 38 home runs for the third straight season in 1977, but it wasn't enough to lead the league as it had been in 1975 and 1976.  schmidt also failed to lead the league in strikeouts for the fourth straight year, so it wasn't all bad.  he won his second gold glove in 1977, and was named to his third all-star team.  he also finished in the top ten of the league's mvp voting for the third time in his career up to that point.  schmidt hit the second (and last) inside the park home run of his career on july 3, 1977 against the pirates.  i'm thinking there was a collision in the outfield.

voici à vous, 1977 mike schmidt!

1977 bill greif

bill greif looks a lot better in real expos gear than he does in airbrushed attire.  he was traded from saint louis to montreal after the 1976 season, and o-pee-chee took the time to photograph him during spring training of 1977.  while they were at it, o-pee-chee also unstacked his facsimile autograph, and the result is a pretty decent card for the times in which it was created.  here is greif's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

i'm not sure what kind of jersey topps thought that the expos wore back then.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

guess what? o-pee-chee and topps went and did all that work for nothing, as greif never appeared in the major leagues as an expo.  he was released by the team at the end of spring training and eventually signed on with the mets organization.  he pitched in a few games for their aaa team in 1978, but unfortunately never made it back to the big leagues.

voici à vous, bill greif!

1977 rick reuschel

while the relocation of the stacked facsimile autograph is the most noticeable variation, i contend that there is also a north-south shift in the cropping of rick reuschel's 1977 o-pee-chee card.  judge for yourself, if you dare.  here is reuschel's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

there is slightly more grass on reuschel's topps card.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

where was the record breaker card in 1976 highlighting reuschel's feat of three putouts in an inning?  i feel cheated.

in 1977, reuschel won 20 games, made the all-star team, and finished third in the cy young voting.  he threw a scoreless inning in the midsummer classic (unlike his start in the 1989 all-star game in which he allowed that massive lead-off home run to bo jackson, and then another long ball to the next batter, wade boggs).

voici à vous, 1977 rick reuschel!

1977 fergie jenkins

fergie jenkins makes another appearance on the blog thanks to a little north-south cropping difference and a relocated facsimile autograph on this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

has anyone seen tug mcgraw's comic strip?

jenkins was just 10-10 for the red sox in 1977.  he made 28 starts (completing 11 of them), and had a 3.68 era and a singular shutout - a tidy three-hitter against his 'hometown' blue jays (jenkins was born about 200 miles from toronto).  the red sox traded jenkins back to the rangers in december of 1977, and he promptly won 18 games for his new/old team.

voici à vous, 1977 fergie jenkins!