1977 george foster

leave the sideburns and the glare, but take the all-star banner and move the facsimile autograph were the orders given regarding george foster's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i am guessing that lindblad's streak mentioned in the cartoon was not an active streak, but rather an all-time longest streak.  he made an error in 1966 but didn't have another miscue until 1974 - a streak of at least 368 games.  he also had 3 errors in 1974, and committed the final error of his career in 1976.

this post, however, is supposed to be about george foster, who earned that all-star banner as the 1976 all-star game mvp and had it stripped off of his o-pee-chee card for some unknown and most likely arbitrary reason.  foster followed up his 1976 campaign with another all-star appearance in 1977 as the national league's starting center fielder.  and, while he didn't homer in the game or win the game's mvp award (hello, don sutton), foster did hit 52 home runs during the regular season and took home the league mvp award for his efforts.

voici à vous, 1977 george foster!

1982 george foster all-star

as mentioned twice previously, george foster was traded by the reds to the mets in february of 1982.  here is his 1982 o-pee-chee all-star card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

note that o-pee-chee didn't even bother to move foster's autograph despite the conflict with their logo.  that never would have happened in 1977!  the 1981 all-star game was the final midsummer classic of foster's career.  he went 0 for 2 as the national league's starting left fielder, grounding out against jack morris and len barker before being replaced by dusty baker.

voici à vous, 1982 george foster all-star!

1982 george foster in action

george foster (as previously mentioned) was traded from the reds to the mets in february of 1982.  here is his 1982 'in action' o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

and, just like davey lopes, the 'in action' card features a photo devoid of action.  all of the highlights listed on the back of foster's card came with the reds, as he was traded from the giants to the reds during the 1971 season and so didn't participate in the giants' postseason that year.  not only are all of the highlights from his cincinnati years, they are the only all-star, championship series and world series moments foster enjoyed as he was never again named to an all-star team and neither the mets nor the white sox made the postseaons while foster was playing for them.  he sure made his appearances in those games count, though.

voici à vous, 1982 george foster in action!

1982 george foster

in the further dismantling of the big red machine, george foster was traded by the reds to the mets in february of 1982. here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the former nl mvp was coming off another fantastic season at the time of the trade. in 1981, foster had his 4th top-6 mvp performance, finishing 3rd in the voting with a .295 average, 22 home runs and 90 rbi in the strike shortened campaign. with the mets in 1982, however, foster faltered. in 151 games, he hit only 13 home runs and had just 70 rbi with an average of .247. all were significantly lower offensive production totals than he had posted since becoming a full time player.

as a team, the mets won only 65 games and foster was the focus of the fans' frustration. he bounced back in subsequent seasons, but it seemed that the initial feeling of disappointment and perceived lack of value for the large contract he had signed after the trade stuck with fans until he was released by the mets in 1986.
 
voici à vous, 1982 george foster!