1988 calvin schiraldi

calvin schiraldi was traded from the red sox to the cubs in december of 1987. here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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the cubs decided to give schiraldi a shot at starting, since they replaced closer lee smith (who was sent to boston in the trade that brought schiraldi to town) with goose gossage. schiraldi went 9-13 with an era of 4.38 in 27 starts. he did manage to throw a 3-hit shutout against the phillies, but he struggled mightily the last two months of the season losing his last 6 starts. his final appearance of the season was only his second in relief, and he earned the save (a 3+ inning save at that) in a 9-7 win over the pirates.

voici à vous, 1988 calvin schiraldi!

1987 cecilio guante

cecilio guante was traded from the pirates to the yankees in november of 1986. here is his 1987 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

nowadays, such a trade would be a good thing for the player involved. not so back then. the pirates were on their way up and the yankees were making all the wrong moves. anyway, guante's era exploded from 3.35 in 1986 to 5.73 in 1987. still, the yankees kept him around for the 1988 season, and he responded with 11 saves and an era of 2.88 in 56 games. such a performance, along with impending free agency, meant that guante would be on the move again, and he was traded to texas in august of 1988.

voici à vous, 1987 cecilio guante!

1986 manny trillo

manny trillo was traded by the giants to the chicago cubs prior to the 1986 season. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

back in chicago, trillo was a super-utility guy, playing all over the infield. he had a couple of pretty good seasons, hitting just under .300 in both 1986 and 1987 while setting a career high in home runs with 8 in 1987. before the 1989 season, trillo became a free agent and signed with the reds for the final stop of his career. he was released in may of 1989 after appearing in just 17 games.

voici à vous, 1986 manny trillo!

1985 ray burris

ray burris was traded from the a's to the brewers in exchange for don sutton in december of 1984 exactly one year after the a's had acquired him from the expos. here's his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

burris started 28 games for the brew crew in 1985 and appeared in one other. he was 9-13 with a 4.81 era, which was considerably higher than the 3.15 era he had posted a year earlier in oakland. he did have a stretch of three straight complete games in august, although one of those complete games was of the 8-inning variety. after one year in milwaukee, burris was released and subsequently signed with the cardinals for the 1986 season. he finished his career by spending the latter half of the 1987 season in milwaukee.

voici à vous, 1985 ray burris!

1984 many trillo

manny trillo signed with the giants as a free agent prior to the 1984 season. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

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trillo split time at second with duane kuiper for the giants in 1984 and then pretty much took over in 1985. after that, he was on the move again, this time back to chicago to reunite with the cubs.

voici à vous, 1984 manny trillo!

1983 manny trillo

the phillies traded manny trillo to the indians prior to the 1983 season in the deal that brought von hayes to philadelphia. here's his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

trillo, who was coming off his second straight all star and gold glove season, spent just half a season in cleveland before he was traded again, this time to montreal. meanwhile, trillo's former mates (along with joe morgan who replaced trillo at second) were making their way back to the world series without him. after finishing the season with the expos, trillo became a free agent and signed with the giants, which we will cover tomorrow.

voici à vous, 1983 manny trillo!

1982 dan schatzeder

dan schatzeder was traded from the tigers to the giants in december of 1981.  here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

schatzeder had won a career high 11 games for detroit in 1980 with 9 complete games and 2 shutouts.  in 1981 however, his era ballooned to over 6.00 and he became expendable.  sent to the giants in exchange for larry herndon, schatzeder lasted just half the season in san fran before he was purchased by his old team, the expos.  after 4 seasons in montreal, schatzeder began the journeyman stage of his career with stops in philadelphia, minnesota, cleveland, back to minnesota, houston, new york (queens), and houston.  along the way he managed to win a world series ring with the twins in 1987 after pitching 4.1 scoreless innings against the tigers in the alcs.

voici à vous, 1982 dan schatzeder!