1986 alex trevino

in december of 1985, something happened that had never happened before in my lifetime.  in fact, it has happened only once since.  on that day, the giants and dodgers completed a trade - the dodgers sent candy maldonado to the giants, and received alex trevino in return.  here's alex trevino's 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

trevino spent the 1986 and 1987 seasons with the dodgers, backing up mike scioscia behind the plate. in those two years, trevino hit .246 and hit 7 home runs, which were more than he had hit with any team. the dodgers released trevino at the start of the 1988 season, having brought rick dempsey on board. trevino signed with the astros a week later and repaid the dodgers by hitting both of his home runs that year against the blue at dodger stadium.


this is also the last of the 1986 o-pee-chee variations. another year done.
 
voici à vous, 1986 alex trevino!

1986 ed vande berg

ed vande berg was acquired by the dodgers from the mariners in december of 1985 for steve yeager. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

although vande berg was 1-5 for the dodgers in '86, he appeared in 60 games and had an era of 3.41. his whip, however, was 1.63 so i am guessing the relievers who followed vande berg were pretty good about not letting inherited runners score. after the season, vande berg became a free agent and signed with the indians. steve yeager, meanwhile, retired as a mariner, instead of going out as a career dodger.


voici à vous, 1986 ed vande berg!

1986 jerry mumphrey

jerry mumphrey was traded by the astros to the cubs in december of 1985. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

mumphrey, who had been the astros' primary right fielder in 1985, played mostly center for the 1986 cubs. he played well, hitting over .300 (.304) for the first time since 1982. three of his 5 home runs in 1986 came against the world champion mets, including two (one a pinch-hit 3-run blast that broke a 3-3 tie in the 8th) against their closer, roger mcdowell.


voici à vous, 1986 jerry mumphrey!

1986 sammy stewart

sammy stewart was traded in december of 1985 to the red sox for jackie gutierrez. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

stewart appeared in 27 games for the 1986 al champs, going 4-1 despite a then career-worst era of 4.38 and an actual career-worst whip of 1.76. he was used as a middle reliever and finished only 5 games with no saves. he was left off of boston's postseason roster, and he became a free agent after the season, eventually signing with the indians during the 1987 campaign.

sadly, he may be best known not for his major league debut in which he struck out 7 straight batters, nor for his 1981 al era title, nor even for his 1983 world series championship, but rather for his drug addiction that landed him in prison in 2006.

voici à vous, 1986 sammy stewart!

1986 bill laskey

only about two and a half months after they had acquired him from the giants, the expos sent bill laskey back to san francisco in an october 1985 trade. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

laskey, who had won 13 games as a starter for the giants twice earlier in his career, had gone 0-5 for the expos with a 9.44 era during his short stint in montreal. back with san francisco in 1986, he went 1-1 in 20 games, all in relief, and posted a 4.28 era. the giants released laskey after the season ended.


voici à vous, 1986 bill laskey!

1986 dave palmer

dave palmer signed as a free agent with the braves in february of 1986. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

palmer made 35 starts for atlanta in 1986, and finished 10th in the league with 170 strikeouts. unfortunately, he was 3rd in the league in walks with 102. still, he managed to keep his era at 3.65 and finished with an 11-10 record.

voici à vous, 1986 dave palmer!

1986 dave collins

dave collins was traded from the a's to the tigers in november of 1985.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

collins was reunited in detroit with his manager from his time with the reds - sparky anderson.  he hit .270 for the tigers in 124 games and stole 27 bases while playing all three outfield spots (mostly left) and occasionally dh'ing. he also hit the final home run of his career - an 8th-inning, game tying shot off of the royals' bud black.

after the season, collins signed a free agent deal with the expos who were on the verge of losing andre dawson and possibly tim raines.  raines stayed, and collins was released before the season began.  he was picked up by the reds, and played in cincy until 1990 when he ended his career with a stint in saint louis.  sadly, the 1986 card is his last o-pee-chee variation.

voici à vous, 1986 dave collins!

1986 gary roenicke

gary roenicke was traded from the orioles to the yankees in december of 1985.  here's his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

roenicke was moved further into a reserve role with the yankees in 1986.  he appeared in just 69 games and slugged a then-career low .368.  he hit .265 with 3 home runs and 18 rbi and became a free agent after the season.  roenicke signed with the braves prior to the 1987 season, and spent the last two years of his career in atlanta.

voici à vous, 1986 gary roenicke!

1986 ed romero

ed romero was traded from the milwaukee brewers to the boston red sox in december of 1985. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

romero had appeared in the postseason once with the brewers, back in 1981 when the brew crew fell to the yankees in the alds. in 1986, he made it all the way to the world series, although he had just 2 at bats in the alcs and on3 in the fall classic. during the regular season, romero hit .210 in 100 games for the bosox, and hit a career-high two home runs.

voici à vous, 1986 ed romero!

1986 gary redus

gary redus was traded from the reds to the phillies for john denny in december of 1985. here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

redus would spend just one season in philadelphia, hitting .247 with 11 home runs, 33 rbi and 25 steals. redus faced denny 8 times in 1986, and had two hits (both for extra bases - a double and a triple) and two strikeouts against him. the phillies traded him to the white sox just before the start of the 1987 season; too late for a 1987 variation, unfortunately.

voici à vous, 1986 gary redus!

1986 mike heath

mike heath was traded from the a's to the cardinals in december of 1985 for joaquin andujar.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

heath hit just .205 during his 65 game stay in saint louis.  in august of 1986, the cardinals sent heath to detroit for ken hill.  back in the american league, heath managed a .265 average over 30 games and matched the four home runs he had hit in saint louis over a longer period of time.  interestingly enough, heath faced andujar twice in 1986, and was 1 for 2 with a strikeout against him.

voici à vous, 1986 mike heath!

1986 gary lucas

gary lucas was acquired by the angels in december of 1985.  here's his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lucas was a lefty who wasn't a lefty-lefty specialist.  in his career, left-handed batters actually hit him better than right-handed batters, and he struck either one out with about the same regularity (16-17% of the time).  so, some people thought that there was really no benefit to the match up in game 5 of the 1986 alcs when lucas was called upon to relieve mike witt with 2 outs, nobody on base and a 5-4 lead in the 9th inning to face the left-handed hitting rich gedman.  in reality, witt had given up two runs in the inning already, gedman was 0 for 1 with a strikeout against lucas in the regular season, and lucas had again struck him out in game 4 of the series.  unfortunately, in game 5 lucas hit gedman with a pitch, gene mauch brought in donnie moore to face dave henderson, and the angels were on their way to a series defeat.  two days later, to the chagrin of angels' fans everywhere, lucas was called upon to face gedman once again in game 6, and he struck him out.  oh, what might have been...

voici à vous, 1986 gary lucas!

1986 john denny

the 1983 nl cy young award winner john denny was traded in december of 1985 to the reds.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1986 would wind up being denny's final year in the majors.  he won 11 games, including his last 4 starts.  denny's second-to-last big league start was a 3-hit shutout against the giants.

voici à vous, 1986 john denny!