in december of 1980, the cubs traded first baseman and sometimes catcher cliff johnson to the a's. here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:
here's the topps front:
now the o-pee-chee back:
and the topps back:
i always thought of johnson as a catcher, primarily because he backed up thurman munson on those yankees teams that beat the dodgers in the world series in 1977 and 1978. however, johnson caught only one inning of one game for the cubs in 1980, and that would turn out to be his last career appearance behind the plate. with the a's, he served primarily as a designated hitter, appearing in that role in 68 of his 84 games. in his first home at bat of the season, johnson homered (going back to back with dwayne murphy), and he finished the season second on the team in home runs with 17 (tony armas had 22).
he helped the a's get to the postseason, and hit .286 in their alds sweep against the royals. in the alcs against the yankees, however, johnson was held hitless in 6 at bats over two games of the three game series. johnson may well be best known for getting into a clubhouse scuffle with goose gossage that ended with goose on the dl with ligament damage in his thumb which led to johnson being traded just a few weeks before munson died in a plane crash, and for holding the record for most career pinch hit home runs with 20, 1 of which he hit with the a's in 1981.
voici à vous, 1981 cliff johnson!
