1977 john hiller

the photo on john hiller's 1977 o-pee-chee card was moved up in the card window ever so slightly, and his facsimile autograph also headed north by a greater degree.  this is another one of those 'why bother?' variations.  you would think that o-pee-chee might have done something more extravagant for a native son (hiller was born in toronto). anyway, here is hiller's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

between 8 starts and 37 relief appearances in 1977, hiller was 8-14 with 7 saves, a 3.56 era, and 124 innings pitched.  those 8 starts were the last starts of his career, and he actually threw complete games in three of them.  one of those complete games was a 4-hitter against the blue jays in which he struck out 12 batters.  that performance, which took place in detroit, was a far cry from his first two appearances against the expansion jays.  over the course of two games in an april series against the blue jays in toronto, hiller surrendered 5 runs in 2 innings of work and suffered the losses in each game.  so much for home cooking (although by then he was living up in duluth, minnesota).

voici à vous, 1977 john hiller!