1981 mario mendoza

mario mendoza was traded by the seattle mariners to the texas rangers on december 12, 1980 as part of an 11 player deal.  here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

one cannot post a card of mendoza and not mention the 'mendoza line'. i am of the opinion that when george brett coined the term, he was referring to mendoza's actual batting average, and not a .200 average. mendoza, of course, was usually pretty close to .200. in fact, in his first season in the american league (1979), mendoza hit .198 as the mariners' everyday shortstop. in 1980, he raised his 'line' all the way to .245. and, in his first season in texas, he hit .231. his final year in the majors was 1982, in which his batting average sunk all the way to .118, although he played in only 12 games before being released by the rangers in june.

this is also the last of the 1981 variations. pretty soon this blog will become a back-and-forth between 1977 and 1992.

voici à vous, 1981 mario mendoza!

1981 victor cruz

victor cruz was part of the december 1980 trade between the indians and pirates that sent hall of famer bert blyleven (congrats bert) to the indians, while cruz landed in pittsburgh. here is cruz's 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

this is one of those cards that, for some reason, isn't listed with the 'now with...' text in the major publication checklists. i don't know why - it's a pretty obvious variation. anyway, the trade marked the third time in three years cruz had been traded in december. in 1977, he went from the cardinals to the blue jays, and then toronto sent him to cleveland for alfredo griffin a year later.
 
cruz had been 7-3 with a 1.71 era in his rookie year with the blue jays, numbers that could support a team trading away an everyday shortstop prospect like griffin. cruz stumbled, however, in his two years with the indians although he did record a total of 22 saves. in pittsburgh, he pitched well, appearing in 22 games and compiling a 1-1 record with 1 save and a 2.65 era in what was a sort of bullpen by committee for chuck tanner. the pirates wound up trading him to the rangers on the eve of the 1982 season, and he resurfaced in the big leagues for texas in 1983.
 
voici à vous, 1981 victor cruz!

1981 ted simmons

ted simmons went from the cardinals to the brewers in the december 1980 rollie fingers trade. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

despite hitting just .216 for the brew crew in '81, simmons was named to the american league all-star team. in the midsummer classic, simmons hit a pinch-hit rbi single off of burt hooton to drive in the american league's 4th run of the game and give them a 2-run lead. rollie fingers would later give up a two-run homer to mike schmidt as the nl came back to win the game.

simmons had a much better season in 1982, with a .269 average, 23 home runs and 97 rbi, helping the brewers get back to the playoffs and into the world series for the first time. he may be the best eligible offensive catcher not in the hall of fame.


voici à vous, 1981 ted simmons!

1981 carney lansford

carney lansford was one of the many players going between the angels and the red sox prior to the 1981 season. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lansford took to the east coast quite well as he banged out 134 hits in 106 games and led the american league in batting with a .336 average in the strike-shortened season. he finished 6th in the mvp voting that year, and won a silver slugger award. after the season, however, the red sox traded lansford to the a's where he settled in to a dynastic run as their third baseman.

voici à vous, 1981 carney lansford!

1981 joe rudi

about 4 and a half years after charlie o finley tried to sell joe rudi to the red sox, the outfielder finally made it to boston. joe rudi was traded by the angels to the red sox in january of 1981. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

rudi had a horrific year for the red sox in 1981. he played in just 49 games and hit .180. he had only 22 hits all year, although 9 were for extra bases (3 doubles and 6 home runs). he became a free agent after the season and signed with his old team, the oakland a's.

voici à vous, 1981 joe rudi!

1981 randy jones

randy jones was traded to the mets 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:

in the four years after winning 42 games for the pads over the 1975 and 1976 seasons, jones won only 35 games despite a cumulative era of 3.62, and the hapless padres sent him to the equally dismal mets. jones was 1-8 with a 4.85 era in the strike-shortened season, and only marginally better in 1982, when he went 7-10 with a 4.60 era for the metropolitans. he did manage a 4-hit shutout of the astros in may of 1982, striking out a season high 6 batters in the process.

voici à vous, 1981 randy jones!

1981 bob knepper

bob knepper was traded in december of 1980 to the astros for enos cabell. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

for the third year in a row, knepper won just 9 games. however, this was 1981 - the strike-shortened season - and knepper did it while posting a miniscule 2.18 era. he was named to the all-star team, and he pitched two scoreless innings in relief (striking out willie randolph, george brett and rod carew along the way) in the game. his astros also made the postseason, but lost to the dodgers in 5 games in the division series. knepper started game 3 in that series (the potential clincher for the astros), and took the loss with 5 innings pitched and three runs allowed, including steve garvey's first inning two-run bomb.

voici à vous, 1981 bob knepper!

1981 sixto lezcano

sixto lezcano was part of the december 1980 trade between the brewers and cardinals that saw him head to saint louis. here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lezcano played in 72 games during the strike-shortened season and hit .266 with 5 home runs and 28 rbi. his fifth home run of the season came against dave stewart of the dodgers in the top of the 9th on september 3rd, and was a game winner. after the season, lezcano was traded again, this time to san diego.

voici à vous, 1981 sixto lezcano!

1981 terry kennedy

terry kennedy was part of the rollie fingers trade between the padres and the cardinals 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:

kennedy, who instantly became the padres' starting catcher for the next six seasons, was named to the all-star team in 1981.  he grounded out in his only appearance in the midsummer classic, but hit .301 for the pads during the season.  in 1982, kennedy busted out with 21 home runs and 97 rbi, finishing 14th in the league mvp voting.

voici à vous, 1981 terry kennedy!

1981 ken reitz

ken reitz was traded to the cubs, the team against which he got his 1000th hit (thanks topps) in the bruce sutter deal in december of 1980.  here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

reitz, who had started at third for the national league in the 1980 all-star game (mike schmidt was hurt), was installed as the cubs' third baseman, and he did not respond as they had hoped.  he hit just .215 with 2 home runs and 28 rbi in 82 games during the strike-shortened season.

in 1982, the cubs released him at the close of spring training, and he was signed shortly thereafter by pittsburgh.  unfortunately, he went 0 for 10 as a pirate and was released.

voici à vous, 1981 ken reitz!

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!

1981 jerry martin

in december of 1980, the cubs sent their center fielder, jerry martin, to the giants for phil nastu and joe strain.  here's martin's 1981 o-pee-chee card:

that's a wide stance.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i remember martin as the guy who hit a 9th inning pinch-hit home run off of bobby welch in the 1978 nlcs.  it didn't matter, though, as the dodgers still won the game. speaking of long balls, it should be noted that martin hit 5 of his 85 career home runs against john candelaria.  in fact, martin seemed to enjoy victimizing pitchers in spurts.  looking at his home run log, we see that 2 of his first 3 home runs were hit off of pete falcone, and 6 of his first 10 were hit against just 3 different pitchers (falcone, candelaria, and jon matlack).  later in his career, his 25th, 26th and 27th career home runs came at the expense of bob knepper in two separate games.  weird.

in 1981, martin lasted just one season with the giants (hitting .241 in 72 games), before he was traded again.  this time, he was headed to the american league and the kansas city royals.  unfortunately, he didn't make the cut for the o-pee-chee set in 1982, so we are denied another nice variation.

voici à vous, 1981 jerry martin!

1981 elliott maddox

elliott maddox attempted a return to the yankees in 1981 as a non-roster invitee to spring training after being released by the mets.  here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

maddox had his best season in 1974 as a yankee, and was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle a second time.  unfortunately, maddox was released by the bronx bombers towards the end of spring training, effectively ending his career.  he would later bring a lawsuit against the city of new york for what he felt was a career ending knee injury that he suffered in 1975 during a yankee game played at shea stadium.  the case was dismissed in 1985.

voici à vous, 1981 elliott maddox!