1986 britt burns

britt burns was traded to the yankees in december of 1985.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

burns had won 18 games for the chisox in 1985, and was only 26 when he was traded.  the yankees surely were certain they were acquiring someone to take the place of 46-year old phil niekro in the rotation.  alas, burns missed the entire 1986 season (and the rest of his career) due to a recurring hip injury.  to replace burns, the yankees went out and acquired 43-year old tommy john.

voici à vous, 1986 britt burns!

1985 hubie brooks

hubie brooks was traded to the expos in december of 1984.  here is his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

after 5 seasons with the mets, hubie was sent to montreal in the gary carter deal.  the expos moved him from third base to shortstop, and he responded with some of his best offensive seasons.  he drove in 100 runs for the only time in his career in 1985, and won silver slugger awards in 1985 and 1986.  in 1987, the expos converted him to a right fielder and kept him there until he joined the dodgers in 1990.

voici à vous, 1985 hubie brooks!

1984 tom underwood

tom underwood signed as a free agent with the orioles in february of 1984.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

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underwood made 1 start in 37 appearances for the defending world champions, picking up a win and a save on the year.  he rejoined the yankees organization in 1985, but did not get called up and retired.  sadly, underwood passed away from cancer last november one month before his 57th birthday.

voici à vous, 1984 tom underwood!

1983 tony perez super veteran

tony perez was released by the red sox in late 1982 before he signed a free agent deal with the phillies.  here is his 1983 o-pee-chee super veteran card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's just a simple text variation, yet a nice touch by topps to keep the text to the red sox side of the card.  by 1983, perez was no longer an everyday player, so he didn't advance beyond the key milestones listed on the back of the card, finishing with less than 400 home runs, 3000 hits and 1750 rbi.  interestingly enough, his rankings in two of the categories are about the same, as today he is still 27th on the all-time rbi list, 54th on the all-time hit list, but has fallen to 61st in home runs.

voici à vous, 1983 tony perez super veteran!

1982 grant jackson

grant jackson was traded by the expos to the royals prior to the 1982 season.  here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the expos had acquired jackson from the pirates late in the 1981 season, so he was not eligible to appear in the division series or the nlcs for the expos.  still, they used him in 10 games down the stretch before sending him to kansas city for ken phelps.  with the royals, jackson appeared in 20 games and had a record of 3-1.  the royals released him in july and he rejoined the pirates in september.  back with the team for whom he won game 7 of the 1979 world series, jackson was unable to stick as he made just one appearance and allowed all three of his inherited runners to score on a grand slam by ron hodges.  he retired the next two batters (the last one was ron gardenhire) to end his career.

voici à vous, 1982 grant jackson!

1981 jim dwyer

jim dwyer signed with the orioles as a free agent after the 1980 season.  here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

dwyer had bounced around quite a bit in his career, but found some stability in baltimore.  in all, he was with the orioles for 7+ seasons before moving on to minnesota.  dwyer didn't do a whole lot for the o's in '81 (although he did hit a walk-off home run in late september), but he proved to be a valuable part in 1982 and their world championship team in 1983, for whom he hit .375, including a home run, in the 1983 world series.

voici à vous, 1981 jim dwyer!

1980 pepe frias

the braves traded pepe frias to the rangers in december of 1979.  here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

one of the players they got in return was larvell blanks, who was traded to the rangers for yesterday's featured player, len barker.

frias had been a kind of utility guy for the expos before joining the braves in 1979.  he became their everyday shortstop and hit his first (and only) career home run off of john candelaria.  he was the rangers' primary shortstop in 1980 as well, until he was dealt to the dodgers in september for dennis lewallyn.

voici à vous, 1980 pepe frias!