1985 walt terrell

the mets traded walt terrell to the tigers in december of 1984 for howard johnson.  here's his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

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terrell had the best 3 seasons of his career, from a win-loss standpoint anyway, with the tigers starting in 1985.  he won 15 games in both 1985 and 1986, and then won 17 in 1987 as he and the tigers won the american league east.  terrell got the start in game 3 of the alcs, which was the only game the tigers would win in the series.  terrell didn't get the decision, though, as he surrendered 6 runs in 6 innings and was relieved by mike henneman.

voici à vous, 1985 walt terrell!

1984 ray burris

the expos traded ray burris to the a's in december of 1983. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

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burris had split time between the bullpen and the starting rotation during his last two years in montreal. in oakland, he was primarily used as a starter after beginning the year in the pen. after his first 6 relief appearances resulted in a win and and era of 1.10, burris was added to the rotation. in his first start, he pitched a 4-hit shutout against the twins, and never looked back. he wound up making 28 starts, winning 12.

exactly one year after the a's acquired burris, he was traded again - this time to the brewers for don sutton.

voici à vous, 1984 ray burris!

1983 juan eichelberger

in november of 1982, the padres traded juan eichelberger to the indians in the deal that sent eddie whitson to san diego.  here is his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i am guessing that there was some local joint in cleveland that immediately began serving an 'eichel' burger.  eichelberger himself served up 23 home runs in his final year in san diego, but he cut that number to 10 in '83 for the tribe.  he did have another losing season, though, going 4-11 in 28 games (15 starts). 

eichelberger was released by the indians just before the start of the 1984 season, and he bounced around in the minors after that with milwaukee, pittsburgh, and atlanta.  after 3 seasons in the braves' organization, he finally made it back to the bigs for 20 games in 1988, winning both of his decisions and posting a 3.86 era.

voici à vous, 1983 juan eichelberger!

1982 ozzie smith

in december of 1981, the padres traded ozzie smith to the cardinals. here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i had always thought that the deal was ozzie for garry templeton, straight up. it wasn't. sixto lezcano and steve mura and a couple of other guys also changed teams. at any rate, the deal had an immediate payoff for saint louis as they won the world series in 1982. ozzie had won his second straight gold glove in 1981 (on his way to 13 straight) even though his batting average and ops were still low. as i understand it, templeton did not get along with whitey herzog, the cardinals' manager and so a trade was sought. even the padres made it to their first world series a couple of years later, there's little doubt that they would have been better off in the long run had they not traded ozzie away.

voici à vous, 1982 ozzie smith!

1981 rick honeycutt

the mariners traded rick honeycutt to the rangers in december of 1980. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

originally drafted by the pirates, honeycutt made his debut for the mariners during their inagural 1977 season. he was 26-41 in his 4 years in seattle with a 4.22 era. in his first season with the rangers, he posted the first winning record of his career (11-6) with a 3.31 era. his best season (with the rangers or otherwise) was his 1983 season wherein he was 14-8 with a league leading 2.42 era. that was the year that he was traded to the dodgers in mid-august, and had the honor of appearing on cards in the 1984 set as both a dodger and a ranger.

in all, honeycutt spent parts of 21 seasons in the major leagues and amassed over 100 wins and 1000 strikeouts. he's currently the dodgers' pitching coach.
 
voici à vous, 1981 rick honeycutt!

1980 tom underwood

tom underwood went from the blue jays to the yankees in november of 1979 as part of the chris chambliss trade.  here's his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

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underwood went on to win 15 games for the yankees in 1980, and made two appearances in the alcs against the royals.  he gave up a couple of unearned runs in 3 innings of work as the royals advanced.  the following year, he was traded to the a's in may and wound up facing the yankees in the alcs, and was once again on the losing end.

voici à vous, 1980 tom underwood!

1979 jim todd

jim todd was released by the mariners prior to spring training in 1979, but was quickly signed by the a's.  here's his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

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it was the second time around for todd and the a's, and it ended with his release about a year later.  todd went 2-5 with a 6.56 era and 2 saves for oakland in 1979 in a long relief kind of role. 

voici à vous, 1979 jim todd!