1987 damaso garcia

the braves acquired damaso garcia from the blue jays in february of 1987.  here is his 1987 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

garcia didn't play for the braves at all in 1987, as he was hampered with a knee injury.  he did return in 1988 for 21 games in which he hit just .117.  he was released, and the dodgers gave him a looksie before releasing him as well.  he caught on with the expos in 1989, becoming one of the fifty or so people to play for both canadian franchises.

voici à vous, 1987 damaso garcia!

1986 scott fletcher

scott fletcher was traded from the white sox to the rangers in november of 1985.  here's his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

fletcher had one of his best seasons with the rangers in 1986.  he hit .300 for the only time in his career and finished 17th in the american league mvp voting.  three years later, in june of 1989, fletcher was traded back to the white sox in the deal that sent sammy sosa to texas.

voici à vous, 1986 scott fletcher!

1985 bryan little

bryan little was traded from the expos to the white sox 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:

notice that the fronts of the cards spell his name 'brian' while the backs use 'bryan'.  the backs are correct - his name is richard bryan little.  perhaps you've heard of his brother, grady?

bryan was a 5th round draft pick of the dodgers in 1978, but he didn't sign.  he was drafted by the expos in the 9th round of the 1980 draft, and did sign that time.  with the white sox in 1985, little hit the last 2 home runs of his career - both in a five day span in late august at comiskey.  he split time in 1986, his final season, between the white sox and the yankees.  in his final big league game (the last game of the 1986), little went 3 for 4 as a yankee against the rival red sox, the team his brother would eventually manage.  speaking of future managers,don mattingly batted lead off in that game.

voici à vous, 1985 bryan little!

1984 wayne gross

wayne gross was traded to the orioles by the a's in december of 1983.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it wasn't a bad deal for gross - he was going to play for the defending world champions next to cal ripken, jr. as their everyday third baseman.  he wound up tying his career high in homers with 22 while setting a personal best with 64 rbi, although his batting average was just .216.  gross gave way to floyd rayford in 1985 and was released by the orioles just prior to the 1986 season.

voici à vous, 1984 wayne gross!

1983 dale murray

dale murray was acquired (along with tom dodd) by the yankees in the december, 1982 deal that saw dave collins, mike morgan and fred mcgriff (plus cash!) go to the blue jays.  here's his 1983  o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

murray was a serviceable reliever who had saved 11 games for the blue jays in 1982.  still, that seems like a steep price to pay for a guy who was going to be a free agent after the 1983 season.  murray wound up re-singing with the yankees after going 2-4 with a save.  in 1984, he went 1-2 with no saves and in 1985, the yankees released him after 3 games.

voici à vous, 1983 dale murray!

1982 tom paciorek

tom paciorek was traded from seattle to the south side of chicago in december of 1981.  here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the mariners had given paciorek the chance to play everyday, and he responded with a career year in 1981.  he hit .326 with a career high 66 rbi and was flipped in a 3-for-1 deal with the white sox.  he hit .312 and .307 in 1982 and '83 respectively, before tailing off in '84.  after a slow start to the 1985 season, the white sox sent paciorek to the mets and he finished his career with two seasons in texas after that.

voici à vous, 1982 tom paciorek!

1981 carlton fisk

carlton fisk became a free agent after the 1980 season and signed with the white sox in march of 1981.  here is his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in the strike season, fisk hit just .268, and i am guessing red sox management was comforted by that performance as it was an unpopular decision to not re-sign pudge.  still, fisk made the all-star team and was awarded the al silver slugger award for catchers.  he rebounded a little bit in 1982, but the white sox truly benefited from fisk's presence in 1983 when he hit .289 with 26 home runs and 86 rbi en route to a third place finish in the al mvp balloting and more importantly an appearance in the alcs.

in his years with the white sox, fisk really stuck it to his old team.  his first home run as a southsider came against the red sox in fenway, when fisk took bob stanley deep for a 3-run blast that turned an 8th inning red sox two-run lead into a one-run deficit.  in 107 total games against the red sox, pudge hit .310 with 27 home runs, 68 rbi and an ops of .967 - his highest against any team.

voici à vous, 1981 carlton fisk!