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!