1988 bob welch

bob welch was part of the december 1987 three-team deal that saw the dodgers pick up alfredo griffin, jay howell, and jesse orosco while the a's got matt young along with welch. here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card, which is the last of the variations from the first set to feature exclusively text variations:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

just like with rick rhoden yesterday, i was a big fan of welch with the dodgers and was sad when he was traded. still, i loved this trade in hindsight. the dodgers won the world series in '88 against welch and his a's, with welch starting game 3 for oakland - the only game of the series they would win. welch wound up having 7 productive seasons in oakland.

he won 17 games for the a's in 1988 and 1989, and then earned 27 victories and the cy young award in 1990. he also picked up a second world series ring in 1989, although he did not pitch in the a's sweep of the giants due to the earthquake delay which allowed dave stewart and mike moore to make two starts apiece.

welch finished his career in 1993, still in oakland, and wound up with 211 wins and just under 2000 strikeouts.

voici à vous, 1988 bob welch!

1988 jay howell

jay howell was part of the three team trade that included the mets, dodgers and a's in december of 1987.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the dodgers picked up two relievers in the deal, howell and jesse orosco, but howell would be the one to go on to become the primary closer for the dodgers in 1988.  he pitched well, with an era just over 2.00, 21 saves and a whip of 1.00 and helped the dodgers get back to the postseason.  he didn't do much in the nlcs against the mets, except get ejected in game 3 after being caught with pine tar in his glove.  then in the world series, howell gave up the game 3 walk-off home run to former teammate mark mcgwire in the dodgers' only loss of the series.  the following night, however, he got the save as he pitched the final 2.1 innings of the dodgers' pivotal 4-3 victory.

howell had 4 more really good years for the dodgers before going to atlanta as a free agent prior to the 1993 season.  he finished his career with the rangers in 1994.

voici à vous, 1988 jay howell!

1988 mike davis

mike davis signed a free agent deal with the dodgers in december 1987.  here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

davis sprained his ankle during spring training and never seemed to get on track during the season.  he had been oakland's primary right fielder for a few years and was understandably frustrated when tommy lasorda used him so sporadically.  in fact, he once even held up a sign during a national game of the week that said 'mike davis is alive and well in los angeles'.  it all worked out in the postseason, as davis worked the biggest walk in dodger history off of dennis eckersley in game 1 of the world series.  he then stole second and scored on kirk gibson's walk-off home run.  davis hit a home run of his own - his only hit in the series - in the decisive game 5.

voici à vous, 1988 mike davis!

1988 rafael ramirez

rafael ramirez was traded to the astros in december of 1987.  here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

ramirez became the astros' everyday shortstop and hit .276 in 155 games. 

voici à vous, 1988 rafael ramirez!

1988 glenn wilson

glenn wilson was traded from the phillies to the mariners in december of 1987.  here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

wilson played in seattle for just 78 games before being traded again.  he went back to pennsylvania, although this time he was playing for the pirates.  in all, wilson hit .256 with just 5 home runs in 1988, the lowest total in his career up to that point.

voici à vous, 1988 glenn wilson!

1988 brett butler

brett butler signed a free agent deal with the san francisco giants after the 1987 season.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i wish i could say that butler stunk up the joint, but i can't.  his three years in san fran were very very good as he scored at least 100 runs in each of them (including a league leading 109 in 1988) and led the league in hits with 192 in 1990.  he received mvp votes each year, finishing 17th in '88 and '89 and 24th in '90. 

so, while i can't say that butler sucked as a giant, i am happy to say that he had his best season in 1991 when he was a dodger.  unless you consider war.  then 1988 was his best season.  dangit.

voici à vous, 1988 brett butler!

1988 dave parker

the reds traded dave parker to the a's in december of 1987.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

parker replaced the retiring reggie jackson on the roster, and helped the a's get to the world series in both 1988 and 1989.  he went to milwaukee for the 1990 season, and then split 1991 between the angels and the blue jays.  sadly, there are no o-pee-chee variations to mark those movements. 

voici à vous, 1988 dave parker!

1988 richard dotson

richard dotson was traded from the white sox to the yankees in november of 1987. here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

 now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

dotson began his tenure with the yankees in good form.  after 11 starts, he was 6-1 with an era of 2.89.  that 11th start resulted in his 100th career victory, and it came in a complete game win against the orioles.  after that point, however, dotson went 6-8 and finished with an era of 5.00.  dotson returned to the white sox as a free agent following his release from the yankees during the 1989 season.

voici à vous, 1988 richard dotson!

1988 floyd bannister

floyd bannister was traded by the white sox to the royals in december of 1987.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bannister spent two years in kansas city and made 45 appearances, all as a starter.  bannister would pitch strictly in relief for the angels in 1991 and the rangers in 1992 after spending the 1990 season pitching for the yakult swallows in japan. bannister's son brian is following in his footsteps, having pitched for the royals and now by heading to japan for the 2011 season.

voici à vous, 1988 floyd bannister!

1988 joe johnson

joe johnson was selected by the angels in the 1987 rule v draft.  here's his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

johnson did not pitch against the halos in 1986, but in 1985, he faced them in his second american league start after being traded from the braves to the blue jays.  in that start, he went 6.1 scoreless innings and gave up 4 hits while striking out 6.  he must have made an impression.  the angels and blue jays apparently worked out a deal after the rule v draft because johnson spent all of 1988 with the angels' aaa affiliate rather than on the big league roster.  he didn't play in 1989 but signed on with the red sox organization for the 1990 season.  unfortunately, johnson never made it back to the majors.

voici à vous, 1988 joe johnson!

1988 bob dernier

bob dernier returned to philadelphia as a free agent in 1988 after spending a few seasons with the cubs.  here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

dernier hit .289 in his return to philadelphia, but just .171 in 1989, his final year in the majors.  he managed to hit one home run in each of his final two seasons, and they were literally bookends to his career.  his only round-tripper in 1988 was a lead-off shot on the road, the sixth lead-off homer of his career.  his last home run, hit on 5/15/89, was an inside the park walk-off job against the padres.

voici à vous, 1988 bob dernier!

1988 phil bradley

phil bradley was traded from the mariners to the phillies in december of 1987. here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bradley had averaged 146 games and 84 runs scored while hitting right around .300 in his 4 full seasons with the mariners, including a pretty darn good 1985 season. in philadelphia, he struggled comparitively, hitting just .264 and scoring only 77 runs.
 
voici à vous, 1988 phil bradley!

1988 dan pasqua

this is day 4 of dave lapoint days, but since lapoint didn't have an o-pee-chee variation in 1988, we'll showcase someone else.  since it's 1988, we'll feature a teammate of lapoint's on the 1988 white sox.  a guy who also enjoyed facing lapoint, as he had a .556 average against him with 5 hits in 9 at bats with 2 walks.  that man is dan pasqua.  pasqua was traded from the yankees to the white sox in november of 1987. here is his 1988 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

pasqua had that big sophomore season in 1986 (16 hr, 45 rbi, .293 average, .924 ops) but stalled badly in 1987 (17 hr, 42 rbi, .233 average, .741 ops). after the trade, pasqua hit a career high 20 home runs in 1988, but didn't make any improvements in the other offensive categories. he did rebound a bit in 1990 and 1991, but spent the rest of his career as a part time player.

voici à vous, 1988 dan pasqua!