1981 fred lynn

perennial all-star fred lynn was traded by the red sox to the angels in january of 1981.  here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

it's one of my favorites, simply because of the translation of his all-star designation, which is something o-pee-chee did not do in 1979 or 1980.  here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i recall being pretty excited about lynn joining the halos in '81, even though it meant the loss of frank tanana.  unfortunately, lynn's first year in anaheim was disappointing - 76 games played, just 5 home runs and a .219 batting average.  he didn't homer after may 1st, and his average was in the .270s when the strike started, meaning that his second 'half' of the season really stunk.  still, he was named to the al all-star (vedette de la la) squad, and had a pinch-hit rbi single off of burt hooton in his only at bat of the game.

lynn rebounded in 1982, hitting .299 with 21 home runs and 86 rbi while helping the angels get to the postseason for only the second time in their history.  in the alcs, lynn went off, batting .611 with 11 hits and an ops of 1.539!  unfortunately, the angels dropped three straight to the brewers after winning the first two and failed to advance to the world series.

voici à vous, 1981 fred lynn!