1977 willie montanez

there is a slight difference in the cropping of willie montanez's photo, and his facsimile autograph is at a different angle on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

montanez spent the entire season with the braves in 1977 - the only full year that he spent in atlanta, and the first season since 1974 that he didn't split between two clubs.  he hit .287 with 20 home runs and 68 rbi over the course of the regular season, and was named to the all-star team for the first (and only) time in his career.  in the midsummer classic, he replaced steve garvey in the 5th inning and went 0 for 2 the rest of the way.  incidentally, i learned this summer that the phillies had tried to acquire steve garvey from the dodgers back before he became entrenched at first base for the dodgers, and the main player they were going to send to la was willie montanez.  luckily, al campanis said no to that proposal.

voici à vous, 1977 willie montanez!

1977 andy messersmith

andy messersmith's facsimile autograph (primarily his last name) is in a different spot, and the photo is cropped in a slightly different way on this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

look at the left sleeve and compare how much grass is visible in the corner between the two cards to see the photo variation.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

up until this point, you didn't see 'signed free agent' in the 'how acquired' line.  messersmith, of course, had successfully challenged the reserve clause after playing the 1975 season without a contract.  he was declared to be a free agent, and signed a deal with atlanta prior to the 1976 season.  in 1977, messersmith pitched in only 16 games.  he was 5-4 with a 4.40 era, and missed the rest of the season following a july 3rd start in which he was injured pitching to the astros' leadoff batter.

the yankees purchased the final year of messersmith's historic contract after the season ended, but you already knew about that.

voici à vous, 1977 andy messersmith!

1977 jerry royster

o-pee-chee removed the rookie cup from jerry royster's 1977 card, and they also cropped the photo differently than topps and moved his facsimile autograph around.  here is royster's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

looks like i could use an upgrade.  whoever owned this card before me might have been an o-pee-chee sympathizer because it looks like they tried to scratch out the rookie cup themselves.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

jerry royster royster suffered a sophomore slump of sorts in 1977, even though it was his fifth big league season.  it was only his second year of essentially full-time play, however, and he split his time between third base, shortstop, and second base, with a pinch of outfield thrown in for good measure.  in 140 games, royster hit .216 with 6 homers and 28 rbi.  he also scored 64 times and stole 10 bases.

voici à vous, 1977 jerry royster!

1977 phil niekro

hey - just like dave roberts' card showcased yesterday, the photo variation and facsimile autograph placement variation is easy to spot on phil niekro's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

i like how o-pee-chee used the third base line to guide the autograph.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i recall being confused by phil niekro as a young fan in 1978.  here was a guy who, in 1977, led the national league in strikeouts with 262 and appeared on a league leader card with nolan ryan in the 1978 set.  very cool.  but, he also lost 20 games in 1977.  i couldn't make sense of these two facts, that to me at the time, seemed diametrically opposed.  of course, i soon figured things out and learned to appreciate the fact that niekro led the league in starts, innings pitched, and complete games in 1977 and that the braves were essentially a bad team so i should not have been surprised that he took the loss in so many games.

niekro went on to lose 20 games again in 1979, but he also won 21 times that year.  he wound up leading the league in losses for four straight years from 1977 through 1980, but had a winning record in two of those seasons (he was 19-18 in 1978).

voici à vous, 1977 phil niekro!

1977 darrel chaney

braves shortstop darrel chaney seems pleased that o-pee-chee moved his facsimile autograph around, even though they chose an odd place to move it to.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

at least topps had the common sense to keep most of his first name out of the spot with the dark background.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

if you had asked me, i would have said that darrel chaney was a catcher.  not sure why i thought that.  anyway, chaney saw his playing time reduced in 1977 and he hit only .201 in 74 games.  he did establish a career high with 3 home runs, however, including a pinch hit blast against the reds.  speaking of the reds, i find it interesting that chaney debuted for cincinnati in a game against the braves back in april of 1969, and then made his final appearance as a big leaguer for the braves against the reds in september of 1979.

voici à vous, 1977 darrel chaney!

1992 mark grant

mark grant, who did not pitch in the big leagues in 1991 due to injury, was left off of topps' checklist in 1992.  o-pee-chee didn't forget about him, though.  here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card; the front:

and the back:

although i applaud o-pee-chee for giving mark grant a card in their set when topps did not, they missed an opportunity to create a checklist and a text variation as grant signed a free agent deal with the mariners in december of 1991.  in seattle, grant was 2-4 in 23 appearances (10 starts).  after the season, grant signed with the astros and pitched well for them before he was traded to the rockies during the 1993 campaign.

here's the card grant displaced from the topps set - bobby bonilla's all-star card; front:

and back:

seems about right - grant struck bonilla out in five of his sixteen match ups.

voici à vous, 1992 mark grant!

1990 gerald perry

gerald perry (i wonder if anyone every called him gerry perry) was traded from the braves to the royals in december of 1989 in the charlie liebrandt deal. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as a royal in 1990, perry hit .254 with 8 homers and 57 rbi. perhaps the highlight of perry's season was the grand slam he hit off of nolan ryan in texas on may 8th. it was the only home run perry hit that year with anyone on base. 1990 turned out to be his only season in kansas city, and the american league as well, as perry signed with the cardinals after the season ended.

voici à vous, 1990 gerald perry!

1990 ernie whitt

ernie whitt's long tenure with the blue jays ended when he was traded to the braves in december of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

looks like ernie was a roadie in toronto - setting up mikes for roy lee jackson or some such nonsense.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

he hit just a buck-seventytwo in atlanta in 1990, and latched on with the orioles in spring training the following year.  whitt did hit the last 2 home runs of his career as a brave, both solo shots.

voici à vous, 1990 ernie whitt!

1990 charlie leibrandt

charlie leibrandt was traded from the royals to the braves in december of 1989. here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

although he lowered his era by a couple of runs in 1990, leibrandt still finished with a losing record of 9-11. leibrandt threw two shutouts in 1990 - a 6-hitter and a 10-hitter(!) - and had 3 other complete game victories. he continued to pitch well in 1991, righting his record to 15-13 and helping the braves make the playoffs. he pitched well in his lone start in the nlcs, but suffered two losses in the 7-game fall classic against the twins.

voici à vous, 1990 charlie leibrandt!

1991 rafael belliard

in december of 1990, rafael belliard signed with the braves as a free agent.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

belliard replaced jeff blauser as the everyday shortstop in 1991 and had a pretty decent season.  he set career highs in games played (149) and hits (88) and helped the braves get to the postseason for the first time since 1982.  in the nlcs against his former team, belliard hit .211 but the braves beat the pirates anyway.  he hit .375 in the world series against the twins, but they lost in 7 games.  interestingly, when the braves finally did win a world series in 1995, belliard was 0 for 16.

voici à vous, 1991 rafael belliard!

1977 jeff burroughs

in december of 1976, jeff burroughs, the number 1 pick in the 1969 draft and 1974 al mvp, was traded from the rangers to the braves for 5 players and cash.  here's his 1977 o-pee-chee card, a seemingly straight forward team variation that, when more closely inspected, turns out to be more than that:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's almost as though topps knew he was not going to return to texas as they used a hatless, closely cropped photo.  still, o-pee-chee didn't just stop with a team variation.  no, they also modified the photo by darkening it, airbrushing out the striping around his neck, and changing the shadowing on burroughs' shoulder.  then, just for good measure, they moved his autograph around.  in a rare move, they put it in a darker spot than it had been on the topps version of the card.

anyway, burroughs enjoyed his first season in the national league.  he scored 91 runs, hit 41 home runs, had 114 rbi and even stole 4 bases.  still, the braves stunk and lost 101 games that year. burroughs spent the next 3 seasons in atlanta before he was traded to the mariners during spring training in 1981.

voici à vous, 1977 jeff burroughs!

1989 jody davis

jody davis was traded by the cubs to the braves in september of 1988.  here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

this is one of my favorite variations just from the standpoint that topps had the text on the card, but o-pee-chee decided to modify it. unlike the 1987 darryl motley card or the 1988 doug decinces card, o-pee-chee made a text variation when one really wasn't needed.

as you can see, davis appeared in only 2 games for the braves in 1988, but did connect for a home run. he had a decent year in 1989 for atlanta as a backup backstop even though he hit well below .200, but was released by the club only a month into the 1990 season.

voici à vous, 1989 jody davis!

1991 terry pendleton

terry pendelton joined the braves in december of 1990 as a free agent. here is his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

pendleton wound up having a good year for the braves, leading the national league in hits, total bases and batting average en route to winning the mvp award over a probably more deserving barry bonds. pendleton also reached the world series for the third time in his career in 1991 (he was a member of the cardinals' losing teams in 1985 and 1987). pendleton wound up in a total of 5 fall classics, but failed to win a ring. he left the braves for the marlins prior to their triumph over the indians, and then returned to atlanta in time for their 1996 loss to the yankees.

voici à vous, 1991 terry pendleton!