1977 larry herndon

larry herndon's 1977 o-pee-chee card features a more tightly cropped photo, a relocated facsimile autograph, and no rookie cup when compared to his topps card.  here is herndon's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

herndon suffered a pretty bad sophomore slump in 1977.  he appeared in only 49 games for the giants, hitting 1 homer and driving in just 5 runs.  of course, his lone bomb of the season came against the dodgers, courtesy of elias sosa.

herndon's lack of playing time is largely attributed to an injury suffered in june.  he missed the rest of the season, although he felt he was ready to return to the team in late august.  the giants did not reinstate him from the dl, however, and herndon left the team in protest.  as a result, he was placed on the disqualified list, and missed the rest of the season.

voici à vous, 1977 larry herndon!

1982 larry herndon

larry herndon was traded to the tigers by the giants in december of 1981. here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i, for one, was happy to see herndon leave the national league as he terrorized the dodgers. he hit over .300 against them during his time with the giants and seemed to me to always be in the midst of some giant rally. with the tigers, he found his power stroke as he hit a career high 23 home runs. he also hit a personal best 13 triples and drove in 88 runs to lead the tigers. he hit three home runs in his first three at bats in a game against mike norris and the a's in may. in his fourth at bat, he grounded out to short, and then he was stranded in the on deck circle when the tigers made their last out of the game in the bottom of the 8th. pat underwood held the a's scoreless in the top of the 9th, so herndon didn't get another at bat in the game. two years later, he helped the tigers to a 35-5 start and a world series title.

voici à vous, 1982 larry herndon!