1977 alvis woods

alvis woods looks pleased as punch to have a card of his very own, complete with his facsimile autograph, thanks to o-pee-chee.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

it's tough to soar like a blue jay when you are sharing space with three other guys.

now the o-pee-chee back:

walter johnson apparently hid home plate from the opposing base runners but must have flung it like a frisbee towards the catcher just before delivering each pitch.

and the topps back:

alvis woods was selected by the blue jays in the expansion draft from the minnesota twins.  he became the second pinch hitter in blue jays' history when he came to bat for steve bowling in the fifth inning of their inaugural game against the white sox.  moments later, woods became the first blue jay to hit a pinch-hit home run, as well as the first blue jay to hit a home run in his first major league at bat.  woods' second home run of the season (and his career) was also as a pinch hitter.  in fact, woods hit exactly four pinch hit home runs in his career - the first two and the last two.  quite a set of bookends.

voici à vous, 1977 alvis woods!

1983 alvis woods

alvis woods was traded from the blue jays to the a's in november of 1982.  here is his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

unfortunately, woods never appeared in a game for the a's as they released him towards the end of spring training.  he wound up re-signing with the blue jays, and spent two seasons in their minor league system.  he signed with the twins (who had originally drafted him in 1972) for the 1985 season, but again was relegated to the minors.  in 1986, however, woods finally made it back to the big leagues.  appearing in 23 games for the twinkies, he hit .321 with a couple of home runs. 

although 1986 turned out to be woods' last season, he went out with style, hitting a pinch-hit, game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th in his second to last major league at bat, and then delivered a pinch-hit rbi single in his final big league at bat.

voici à vous, 1983 alvis woods!