1985 jeff burroughs

jeff burroughs had his contract purchased by the blue jays in december of 1984. here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

a new type of text! purchased!

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

burroughs was brought in to help replace cliff johnson who had signed a deal with the rangers earlier in the month. burroughs played in 86 games for toronto and hit only .257 which is one reason why the jays re-acquired johnson late in the season. by the time the postseason rolled around, burroughs had lost his starting job and appeared just once in the alcs. it turned out to be the final appearance of burrough's career, as the 1985 season was his last in the big leagues. a few years later, burroughs was coaching his son sean's little league team.

voici à vous, 1985 jeff burroughs!

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!