1992 gary carter tribute (giants 1990)

the 1992 o-pee-chee set included a 5 card tribute subset to gary carter, the guy who would become the first expo hall of famer. each card was a tribute to a different team/stage of his career, and this is the third one to be featured on this site (here's the first two). this is his 1992 o-pee-chee tribute card for the year (1990) he spent with the giants:

now here's the back:

here's the front of the topps card that carter's giants tribute displaced:

and its back:

one carter displaces another.  the kid had signed a free agent deal with the giants following his release from the mets after the 1989 season.  as the back of the tribute card states, he set a new national league record for games caught while playing for the no-cals.  he also had his second career 5-hit game and hit a game winning home run in the 9th against the dodgers.  all is forgiven, though, because carter signed with the dodgers for the 1991 season.

wishing him and his family all the best...

voici à vous, 1992 gary carter tribute (giants 1990)!

1991 joe carter

almost one year to the day after acquiring joe carter from the indians, the padres traded him to the blue jays on december 5, 1990.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

carter went on to earn all-star selections in each of his first four seasons in toronto to go along with finishing in the top 12 for al mvp voting (including two top 5 finishes) in those four years.  of course, he is best remembered for taking mitch williams deep in the 1993 world series to give the blue jays their second world championship.

voici à vous, 1991 joe carter!

1990 fred toliver

fred toliver was traded from the padres to the yankees in september of 1989, during the season!  topps featured him in the 1990 set as a padre, without even some 'now with' text.  o-pee-chee cleared things up.  here's toliver's 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

toliver didn't appear in any games for the yankees in 1989, however, nor in any other season.  the bronx bombers released toliver at the end of spring training the following year, and he signed with the angels as a free agent.  he didn't resurface in the big leagues until 1993, however, as a member of the pittsburgh pirates.

voici à vous, 1990 fred toliver!

1989 kevin gross

kevin gross was traded from the phillies to the expos in december of 1988.  here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

gross, who had been named to the all-star team in 1988, started out well for the expos in 1989, boasting an 8-5 record and an era of 2.89 at the all-star break.  after the break, however, he went 4-9 with a 4.79 era.  he spent one more year in montreal before joining the dodgers prior to the 1991 season.

voici à vous, 1989 kevin gross!

1988 doug decinces - not a variation

all of the major card catalogues and publications list doug decinces' 1988 o-pee-chee card with the additional note "now with angels" which would most likely lead one to believe that it is one of the couple dozen text variations in the set.

unfortunately, it is not.  here's the topps front:

same wording, same font, same location.

just to be consistent with our regular posts, here's the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the back tells us what we need to know - decinces spent the last part of the 1987 season with the cardinals, but topps didn't have time/the ambition to update the photo and team affiliation.  so, decinces gets the same treatment as dickie noles and is denied a true variation.

voici à vous, 1988 doug decinces!

1987 vida blue

vida blue signed with the oakland a's as a free agent in january 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:

the lefty, who had sat out the 1984 season after being released by the royals, only to return to the majors with the giants in 1985, never actually pitched for the a's in 1987.  he had signed with them, along with former teammate reggie jackson (whose 1987 o-pee-chee variation is coming soon), after announcing that he wanted to pitch one more year following his release from the giants in november of 1986.  instead, blue decided to retire in march of '87, just a couple of months after signing his deal.

in all, blue won 124 of his 209 games with the a's, along with his cy young award, mvp award, and three world championships.

voici à vous, 1987 vida blue!

1986 ed romero

ed romero was traded from the milwaukee brewers to the boston red sox 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:

romero had appeared in the postseason once with the brewers, back in 1981 when the brew crew fell to the yankees in the alds. in 1986, he made it all the way to the world series, although he had just 2 at bats in the alcs and on3 in the fall classic. during the regular season, romero hit .210 in 100 games for the bosox, and hit a career-high two home runs.

voici à vous, 1986 ed romero!