1982 dave collins

dave collins was not traded from the reds to the yankees in december of 1981 as o-pee-chee would have you believe.  rather, he signed with the bronx bombers as a free agent.  here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

reds teammate ken griffey had been traded to the yankees about a month before collins signed his contract (described at the time as a multi-year deal that included options that could stretch it to five years), meaning that there wasn't a lot of room in the outfield when collins arrived, with dave winfield and jerry mumphrey holding over from the yankees' 1981 team.  reggie jackson would soon be headed to anaheim opening up the right field spot for griffey, but bobby murcer, bob watson, oscar gamble and others were still around clamoring for playing time as well.  as a result, collins split time fairly evenly among all three outfield positions, and actually spent more time at first base than any specific outfield spot.  he hit .253 in 111 games, and had only 13 steals for the yankees.

collins had been assured that he would play when he took less money to sign with new york (!), and may have become disgruntled by splitting his time at four positions.  after the season, the yankees signed steve kemp, and collins was traded (with mike morgan and fred mcgriff and cash) to the blue jays despite having two to four more years on his deal with the yankees.  he rebounded nicely in toronto, but didn't stay there too long either.

voici à vous, 1982 dave collins!

1982 bob boone in action

last time the 1982 variations came around, we learned that bob boone was 'traded' to the angels.  here's boone's second variation in the '82 set, his 1982 o-pee-chee 'in action' card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

just like with dave lopes' in action card, there seems to be a lot of inaction.  boone would add to some of those career highlights while with the angels.  he made the american league all-star team in 1983 and played in both the 1982 and 1986 alcs. in fact, his .455 performance in the '86 championship series would kick that 1977 nlcs highlight way off the back of the card.  unfortunately, playing for the angels in the mid '80's means he never made it back to the world series.

voici à vous, 1982 bob boone in action!

1982 bob boone

bob boone's contract was sold by the phillies to the angels in december of 1981, despite what it says on his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

traded for money, i suppose.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

boone had been the nl player rep during the player strike in 1981, so there was speculation that his role had hastened his departure from philly.  it's worth noting that his american league counterpart was doug decinces, who also switched teams for the 1982 season - both he and boone wound up with gene autry's angels.

boone went right to work and earned his 3rd of 7 gold gloves in 1982 and helped the angels reach the alcs for only the second time in their history. 

voici à vous, 1982 bob boone!

1982 fergie jenkins

hall of famer fergie jenkins left the rangers for the second time in his career in december of 1981, and joined the cubs for the second time in his career.  here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the card erroneously listed the vehicle of jenkins' arrival in chicago as a trade, but all information i have seen indicates that he was a free agent.  anyway, he was 36 wins short of 300 and 38 strikeouts shy of 3000 when he rejoined the cubs.  although he didn't make it to 300 wins (he won a total of 20 games in his final two seasons), he did hit the 3000 k mark on july 25, 1982 when he fanned garry templeton.

this month, jenkins' native canada released a postage stamp featuring his likeness as part of black history month.  there is no us manufactured variation, however.

voici à vous, 1982 fergie jenkins!

1971 tommy davis

tommy davis was released by the cubs in december of 1970, and picked up by the a's just prior to the start of the season.  that means that the text is erroneous on his 1971 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

davis did spend 1970 with three teams - he began the season with the astros, for whom he finished the 1969 season after spending a few months as a seattle pilot.  then, in june of 1970, the a's purchased his contract from seattle and davis played for oakland until they sold him to the cubs in september, starting a bit of pinball between the two teams.  kudos. by the way, to topps for getting a photo of davis in a cubs uniform, as he played only 11 games for them after joining the club. 

in the 1970 season, davis managed to hit .284 despite all the changes.  while with the cubs, he hit the second of three career home runs against rick wise.  each of him home runs against wise came with a different team - the first with the dodgers, the second with the cubs, and the third (in 1975) with the orioles.

after the 1970 season, the cubs released davis and he returned to the a's as a free agent on march 29, 1971.  exactly one year and one day later, the a's would release him.  who then picked him up during the 1972 season?  the cubs, of course.

voici à vous, 1971 tommy davis!

1989 roger mcdowell

roger mcdowell, was not, in fact, traded by the mets to the indians in december of 1988. arguing to the contrary, here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i'm not sure what happened over at o-pee-chee quality control, as i can't find any record of a trade between the mets and indians in december of 1988, let alone one that involved mcdowell. mcdowell remained with the mets in 1989 until the trading deadline, when he and lenny dykstra were shipped off to the phillies in exchange for juan samuel. before he was traded, he appeared in 25 games for the amazin's, losing 5 and saving 4. when he was dealt, his era was up over 3.00 in contrast to the 2.63 he had posted in 1988. after the trade, mcdowell saved 19 games for the phillies, with a 1.11 era in 44 appearances. he stayed with philadelphia until the 1991 trading deadline when he was sent out west to the dodgers. after 4 years in la, he finished his career with two seasons in the american league, one with texas and the last one with baltimore.
 
voici à vous, 1989 roger mcdowell!

1981 frank tanana

shortly before spring training began in 1981, the angels sent frank tanana to the red sox, despite what the text on the front of his 1981 o-pee-chee card says. here's the card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

white sox.  not quite.  this is the first of two text variation errors i am aware of, and i am fairly sure the error went uncorrected.  anyway, i wrote about tanana a while back on my other blog. he was socal personified, and he had put together a pretty good run in the mid to late 70's as one of the best pitchers in the game, but gene autry and company couldn't pass up the opportunity to acquire fred lynn from the red sox, and so tanana, along with joe rudi, headed east. as it turns out, tanana's lone season in boston was a disappointment, to say the least. injuries forced him to miss most of june and all of july and he won only 4 games (2 of which were shutouts) all season against 10 losses. the record is a bit misleading, as he actually lowered his era to 4.01 from the 4.15 he posted with the angels in 1980 when he won 11 games. still, boston allowed tanana to become a free agent after the season ended, and he would head back to the american league west, this time with the rangers.

voici à vous, 1981 frank tanana!