1977 rick monday

truth be told, this might be the card that provided the impetus for this blog.  i started to purchase o-pee-chee cards on a family vacation in 1978, and i was able to amass a fair number of cards from then until 1986.  i did not come across rick monday's card until much later, and i frankly regretted not knowing about it sooner.  so, eventually i decided to see what other variations might be out there and once i found them, i figured they were worth sharing.  but before i get to the wrap up post, there is this final variation to showcase.

in january of 1977, rick monday was traded from the cubs to the dodgers.  o-pee-chee whipped up a team variation, complete with a different (although poorly airbrushed) image and a slightly relocated facsimile autograph.  i wouldn't have it any other way.  here is monday's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

monday became the center fielder on the team of my youth by virtue of that trade, and bill buckner became someone who simply 'used to be a dodger'.  i learned to appreciate billy buck a few years later when he won the batting title, but monday was one of 'my guys' from the start of my fandom.

unfortunately, monday had some injury issues in 1977, and his production was off from his big numbers in 1976. still, he helped the dodgers get to the postseason, and did so again in 1978 and especially 1981, when he had me jumping around the lunchtime elementary school playground as he circled the bases in montreal.

voici à vous, 1977 rick monday!

1977 bill madlock

in february of 1977, the cubs traded the two-time reigning national league batting champion bill madlock to the giants.  as a result, o-pee-chee went to work on a team and photo variation, and they moved the facsimile autograph as well.  here is madlock's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in 140 games for the giants in 1977, madlock hit .302 with 12 home runs and 46 rbi.  twice that year he hit two home runs in a game - the first time coming against doug rau and the dodgers.  defensively, the giants played madlock at second base for the first time in his career in 1977.  in 1978, he played primarily at that position and did not man the hot corner at all until he was traded to the pirates during the 1979 campaign.

voici à vous, 1977 bill madlock!

1977 rick reuschel

while the relocation of the stacked facsimile autograph is the most noticeable variation, i contend that there is also a north-south shift in the cropping of rick reuschel's 1977 o-pee-chee card.  judge for yourself, if you dare.  here is reuschel's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

there is slightly more grass on reuschel's topps card.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

where was the record breaker card in 1976 highlighting reuschel's feat of three putouts in an inning?  i feel cheated.

in 1977, reuschel won 20 games, made the all-star team, and finished third in the cy young voting.  he threw a scoreless inning in the midsummer classic (unlike his start in the 1989 all-star game in which he allowed that massive lead-off home run to bo jackson, and then another long ball to the next batter, wade boggs).

voici à vous, 1977 rick reuschel!

1977 manny trillo

manny trillo is a wee bit lower, and his facsimile autograph is more noticeably shifted, in this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

ah, yes. the non-pc cartoon.  and now we know how to say 'midget' in french (nain).

and the topps back:

in his third year with the cubs, trillo hit .280 and was named to the all-star team for the first time.  in the midsummer classic, he subbed for joe morgan late in the game and struck out against sparky lyle in his only plate appearance.  a future gold glover, trillo led the league in assists by a second baseman in 1977 (the third year in a row that he had done so - and he would do so again in 1978) but also led the circuit in errors at his position.

voici à vous, 1977 manny trillo!

1977 bill bonham

bill bonham's facsimile autograph is in a different spot on his 1977 o-pee-chee card in comparison with his 1977 topps card.  here is bonham's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bonham was used exclusively as a starter by the cubs in 1977 - the first time in his career that he had not appeared in at least one game as a reliever.  the results were on par with the rest of his cubs' career as he finished with a 10-13 record and a 4.36 era.

after the 1977 season, bonham was traded to the reds in the woodie fryman deal (more on that in a couple of days) and posted a winning record in each of his three seasons in cincinnati.

voici à vous, 1977 bill bonham!

1977 jose cardenal

jose cardenal's facsimile autograph got adjusted slightly by o-pee-chee in 1977, but thank goodness they left his afro alone.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

the difference is kind of hard to see, but if you look closely at the end of his last name, you'll see that the last 'a' in his name is in a different spot.

now the o-pee-chee back:

thanks to all the french and the length of cal mclish's full name, part of the cartoon is cut off.  that in itself is not unusual, but in this case, it almost loses the intent.  you can "call me cai?"

and the topps back:

cardenal's playing time was reduced in 1977, as he appeared in only 100 games for the cubs while batting just .239.  he lost most of his playing time that year to greg gross, but it was dave kingman who replaced cardenal in the cubs' outfield in 1978, as jose was traded to the phillies after the 1977 season.

cardenal spent 1978 and most of 1979 with the phillies, but finished the '79 season with the mets before playing in kansas city in 1980, his final big league season.  cardenal's last at bat as a major leaguer came in the 9th inning of game 6 of the 1980 world series.  he singled off of tug mcgraw to load the bases with one out and the royals down by 3, but was stranded when frank white's foul pop up was famously caught by pete rose (with an assist to bob boone) and willie wilson struck out.

voici à vous, 1977 jose cardenal!

1977 steve swisher

nick swisher's dad, steve, gets the autograph placement variation on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

it also looks like o-pee-chee did not approve of the baby blue away uniforms that the cubbies debuted in 1976.  it's such an obvious alteration that i'll go ahead and give it the photo variation tag as a result.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

swish was coming off of his only all-star season, but hit only .190 in 74 games in 1977.  it turned out to be his final year with the cubs as he was traded to the cardinals after the season ended.

voici à vous, 1977 steve swisher!

1991 greg smith

greg smith was traded by the cubs to the dodgers for jose vizcaino in december of 1990. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

smith would appear in only 5 games for the dodgers in 1991, going hitless with a sacrifice in 3 plate appearances. smith spent the next 4 seasons entirely as a minor leaguer in the tiger, cub, brewer, oriole and reds' organizations, while the dodgers eventually reacquired vizcaino.

voici à vous, 1991 greg smith!

1977 bobby murcer

bobby murcer was traded to the cubs by the giants in february of 1977, resulting in one of the more dramatic o-pee-chee variations in the set. here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it is worth noting that, between this card and the joe ferguson variation, all records of ferguson as a cardinal have been wiped out from the collective o-pee-chee consciousness.

as a cub, murcer had his last hurrah. in 1977, he played in 154 games, scored 90 times, hit 27 home runs and had 89 rbi, the last time he would reach those numbers. he also hit two home runs in a game twice for the cubs that year, both times against the pirates. partway through the 1979 season, the cubs sent murcer back to the yankees where he began his career as the guy who took over for mickey mantle.

voici à vous, 1977 bobby murcer!

1990 scott sanderson

after 6 seasons with the cubs, in which he was 42-42, scott sanderson signed a free agent deal with the a's for the 1990 season.  here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

sanderson had just missed getting to the world series in 1989 as the cubs lost in the nlcs to the giants, but his luck improved in 1990 with the a's.  oakland returned to the fall classic for the third consecutive season, but lost to the reds in four games.  sanderson pitched in two of those games, giving up 2 runs in 1.2 innings of work.  still, his regular season was a success as he went 17-11 with an era under 4.

voici à vous, 1990 scott sanderson!

1985 dave lopes

dave lopes didn't deserve an o-pee-chee variation in 1985, but he got one anyway (and i am thankful for it). here it is:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lopes, of course, was traded to the cubs late in the 1984 season but topps didn't manage (or bother) to put lopes in a cubs uniform for the 1985 set (i put together a 1985 topps card that should have been for lopes a while back). instead, they opted to add the 'now with' text that we fans of o-pee-chee know and love. o-pee-chee, as they did with the 1989 jody davis card, came along and changed the text that was on the topps card.

o-pee-chee was pretty inconsistent in this regard, as they sometimes did nothing when a player switched teams late in the previous season and other times went all out.  see the 1987 daryl motley, 1988 doug decinces, and 1980 ralph garr cards as examples.

anyway, lopes spent all of 1985 in chicago and even stole 47 bases while hitting .284 with 11 home runs. he spent most of the season in the outfield, and played just one singular inning at second base - his last appearance there of his career.
 
this is also the last appearance of 1985 cards on this site - another year of variations is complete!
 
voici à vous, 1985 dave lopes!

1982 larry bowa in action

as previously documented, larry bowa joined the cubs prior to the 1982 season. here's his 1982 o-pee-chee in action card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

after leaving philly, bowa didn't achieve anything to add to the highlights on the back of the card, although he did play good defense for the cubs. he helped them get to the 1984 nlcs, but he hit just .200 in the series, so that wouldn't trump his performances from 1978 or 1980. if only he could have hung on with the mets, whom he played for during the last couple of months in 1985, we might have been able to add another world series appearance to bowa's list of accomplishments.

voici à vous, 1982 larry bowa in action!

1991 danny jackson

danny jackson was a long way from his 23-8 1988 season when he signed a free agent deal with the cubs after the 1990 season.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in 1989 and 1990 combined, jackson was 12-17 with a 4.60 era, and, although he pitched well in the 1990 nlcs against the pirates (he was 1-0 with a 2.38 era in 2 starts), he pitched poorly in his lone world series start against the a's.

for the cubs in '91, jackson was 1-5 in 14 starts with a 6.75 era.  after a 4-9 start to the 1992 season, the cubs sent jackson packing to pittsburgh where he was able to turn things around somewhat.

voici à vous, 1991 danny jackson!