1984 warren cromartie

warren cromartie became a free agent after the 1983 season and chose to sign with the yomiuri giants of the japanese league. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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this is a favorite variation of mine, simply because it is such an oddball, which is why i saved it for last.  yes, this is the end of the 1984 variation run for o-pee-chee. i decided not to consider it a 'now with' text variation, and rather categorized it as a 'now playing in japan' variation because its uniqueness should be celebrated. similar to the 1985 jim fanning card (yet to be featured on oh my o-pee-chee!) in that regard. anyway, cromartie was a good player for the expos, but was great in japan. he played under home run king sadaharu oh, and slugged over 30 home runs several times. in 1989, he led the central league in batting and won the mvp award. in his seven years in japan, cromartie compiled a .321 average with 171 homers and 558 rbi.

he returned to major league baseball in 1991 (with the kansas city royals), and for the first time in his career, he was playing home games in the united states. he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter by the royals, although he also appeared in 28 games at first base. he hit .313 overall with one home run (a pinch-hit game-winner against jeff reardon and the red sox) and an obp of .381. he retired after the game on september 15th, which ended with him hitting into a double play.


voici à vous, 1984 warren cromartie!

1984 mike easler

mike easler was traded from the pirates to the red sox in december of 1983. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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this was the second time the red sox acquired easler, but the first time he would play for them. they had purchased his contract from the pirates after the 1978 season, but then traded him back to pittsburgh during spring training in 1979. in 1984 with the red sox, easler set career highs in just about every offensive category. he hit .313 with 27 home runs and 91 rbi, and also had a 20-game hitting streak as he lived up to his 'hit man' nickname. his first home run of the season came in the second game of the year and was a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th to give the bosox a 2-1 lead against the angels. he also had a 12th inning walk-off later in the year against the white sox. he played one more year for the red sox before they sent him to the yankees.


voici à vous, 1984 mike easler!

1984 toby harrah

in february of 1984, the indians traded third baseman toby harrah to the yankees. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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the acquisition of harrah allowed the yankees to trade their longtime third baseman, graig nettles, to the padres in march. nettles went on to play for the nl champions while the yankees missed the postseason for the third year in a row. harrah had the worst season of his career in 1984. he hit only 1 home run and had a slugging percentage of just .296. his 40 hits and .217 average were the lowest of his career (discounting his cup of coffee with the senators in 1969). in february of 1985, the yankees traded him back to texas where he rebounded nicely, especially considering that the rangers moved him to second base.

voici à vous, 1984 toby harrah!

1984 jim sundberg

in december of 1983, the texas rangers traded their longtime catcher, jim sundberg, to the milwaukee brewers. here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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although sundberg would play just the one season in milwaukee, he managed to hit .261 in 109 games behind the plate (plus one appearance as a pinch hitter) and led the league by throwing out 50% of the would-be base stealers against him. he also made the all-star team, replacing lance parrish at catcher in the 6th inning, and flying out against mario soto in his only at bat of the game.


in january of 1985, he was dealt again, this time to the kansas city royals in what would be a fortuitous deal for sundberg.

voici à vous, 1984 jim sundberg!

1984 scott sanderson

scott sanderson was traded from the expos to the cubs in december of 1983. here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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in his first season with the cubbies, sanderson was 8-5 with a 3.14 era in 24 starts. his best outing of the season was a 2-hitter against the pirates in april, although he had another complete game victory later in the season in which he gave up just 2 unearned runs while scattering 13 hits. he missed all of june due to injury, but was around for the cubs' drive to the nl east title, going 2-1 in 5 september starts with a 1.79 era. he started game 4 of the nlcs against the padres (the 'garvey game') but obviously had no decision in the outcome.

voici à vous, 1984 scott sanderson!

1984 george frazier

george frazier was traded in february of 1984 from the yankees to the indians.  here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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frazier is perhaps best known for being the losing pitcher in three of the yankees' four losses in the 1981 world series.  he returned to the postseason in 1984 for the first time since the dodgers beat his yankees in '81, but not as a member of the indians.  that's because cleveland included frazier in the midseason deal that sent rick sutcliffe to the cubs and propelled the cubbies to the nl east title.  frazier appeared in just one game of the nlcs against the padres, but finally made it back to the world series with the twins in 1987.

in fact, frazier's final appearance in the big leagues came in the 1987 fall classic against the cardinals.  he pitched the last two innings of game 4, allowing just one hit while striking out two.  although the twins lost that game, they won the series and frazier earned a ring.

voici à vous, 1984 george frazier!

1984 tom seaver

the bumbling mets left team legend tom seaver unprotected and he was selected by the white sox in the free agent compensation draft prior to the 1984 season.  here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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white sox gm roland hemond selected seaver as compensation for the white sox' loss of dennis lamp to toronto via free agency.  the pale hose didn't really need pitching - they had the reigning cy young winner lamarr hoyt, rich dotson, floyd bannister and others - but the addition of tom terrific allowed them to trade hoyt to the padres for a starting shortstop named ozzie guillen.  hemond also wanted to keep seaver from going to oakland, an al west rival, who also had a pick in the draft.

although he contemplated retirement, seaver reported to chicago and went on to win 15 games in '84.  he threw four shutouts, including a 3-hitter against the royals and even picked up a win in relief.  that victory game with courtesy of seaver pitching the last inning in the white sox/brewers' 8-hour, 25-inning game on may 8th that harold baines won with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 25th.  the next season, he won 16 games for the white sox, including his 300th career game which came back in new york, although it was at yankee stadium, not shea.

voici à vous, 1984 tom seaver!

1984 gorman thomas

stormin' gorman thomas was traded by the indians to the mariners in december of 1983, a scant 6 months after they had acquired him from the brewers.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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i must admit, i had no idea thomas was a centerfielder until i went to write this post.  i figured him for a corner outfielder who was, by this time in his career, a dh.  nope.  prior to 1984, when he appeared as the dh just once, thomas had appeared as a dh about 18 times total in his career. 

gorman struggled with injuries in 1984 and appeared in only 34 games for the m's.  he came back in 1985 to slug 32 home runs (as the mariners' dh) and earn comeback player of the year honors.   thomas finished his career with a third stint in milwaukee after the mariners released him in the middle of the 1986 season (he had previously been traded by the brewers to the rangers after the 1977 season, although he was re-acquired by the brewers shortly thereafter).

voici à vous, 1984 gorman thomas!

1984 lary sorensen

lary sorensen signed a free agent deal with the a's in january of 1984.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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he started the season 1-4 before being moved to the bullpen for a short stint in early may. after that, he bounced between the pen and the starting rotation, picking up a total of 6 wins and 13 losses (and one save) along the way. his best game was a complete game victory at baltimore in august in which he held the orioles to 4 hits and 1 run (a wayne gross home run).

after a singular year in oakland, sorensen went to chicago to pitch for the cubs in 1985.

voici à vous, 1984 lary sorensen!

1984 jorge orta

jorge orta was traded from the blue jays to the royals in december of 1983.  here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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a native of mazatlan mexico (happy cinco de mayo, by the way), orta hit .298 with 120 hits for the al west champions in 1984.  unfortunately, he managed just one hit, an rbi triple, in 10 at bats during the 1984 alcs against the eventual world champion detroit tigers.  orta and the royals made it back to the postseason in 1985, and while he was hitless in 5 at bats in the alcs, the royals made it to the world series.  orta's lone fall classic hit (he had just 3 at bats) came in game 6 when he was ruled to have beaten todd worrell to the bag on a ball hit to jack clark, the cardinals' first baseman leading off the 9th inning.  although orta was eventually forced out at third, the royals won the game and then the series the following day.

voici à vous, 1984 jorge orta!

1984 darrell evans

in december of 1983, darrell evans fortuitously signed a free agent deal with the tigers.  here is his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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evans turned 37 during the 1984 season, but that didn't stop him from hitting 16 home runs and helping the tigers win the world series.  then, as a 38-year old in 1985, he led the american league in home runs with 40, becoming at that time the oldest person to lead a league in that category as well as the first player to hit 40 in each league.  he later joined reggie jackson as the only player to hit over 100 home runs with 3 different teams. 

voici à vous, 1984 darrell evans!

1984 jerry koosman

jerry koosman, who had re-signed as a free agent with the white sox in december of 1983, was traded to the phillies in february of 1984.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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the white sox had acquired ron reed two days after signing koos, and koos wound up being the player to be named later.  back in the national league, pitched 224 innings and won 14 games while posting an era of 3.25.  he pitched one more year with the phillies before retiring.

voici à vous, 1984 jerry koosman!

1984 tony perez

after a single season in philly, the reds purchased the contract of tony perez in december of 1983.  here's his 1984 o-pee-chee card:

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now the o-pee-chee back:

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perez spent 3 years in cincy as a part-time player, retiring after the 1986 season.  during his double dip with the reds, he smashed his 375th career home run (a 3-run shot off of larry gura of the cubs) and also collected his 2700th hit - numbers which eventually got him into cooperstown.

voici à vous, 1984 tony perez!