1980 jay johnstone

jay johnstone signed with the los angeles dodgers as a free agent 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:

johnstone had been a member of the 1977 phillies that had lost to the dodgers in the nlcs, but was later traded to the yankees during the 1978 season and won a ring by 'helping' (he was 0 for 2) the bronx bombers beat the dodgers in the world series. after a season split between new york and san diego, in which he hit a combined .277 in 98 games, johnstone joined the dodgers.

he would play in 109 games (58 starts) for the blue in 1980, hitting .307 with a couple of home runs. his first dinger of the season was a big one as it came with one out in the bottom of the 9th with the dodgers down 1-0 to bob forsch and the cardinals. after johnstone tied the game, joe ferguson won it in the 10th with a solo shot off of forsch. unfortunately, johnstone could conjure no such magic at the end of the season as he went 0 for 4 and the dodgers fell to the astros in game 163, narrowly missing the postseason.

the next year, johnstone's real value was seen by the dodgers and their fans, and i'm not just referring to his numerous pranks at the expense of tommy lasorda. johnstone was 11 for 41 as a pinch-hitter, and hit all 3 of his home runs during the regular season in that role. then, in the world series against the yankees, he hit another pinch-hit home run, this one a two-run shot off of ron davis in game 4 that cut the yankees' lead to 6-5. the dodgers would go on to win the game and the series, and johnstone, now a world series hero, would go on to record and perform 'we are the champions' on solid gold.

this is the final variation from the 1980 set - we have now seen all 40 of them.

voici à vous, 1980 jay johnstone!

1980 aurelio rodriguez

aurelio rodriguez had his contract purchased by the san diego padres 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:

rodriguez played in 89 games for the padres in 1980, and hit an even .200 before his contract was purchased by the yankees in august. rodriguez finished out the season in the bronx, hitting .220 with 3 homers in 52 games. his first yankee home run came a few days after he joined the club, and was a walk-off job against britt burns and the white sox.

rodriguez's travels continued after the season ended as the yankees sent him to toronto, and the blue jays traded him to the white sox prior to the start of the 1982 campaign.

voici à vous, 1980 aurelio rodriguez!

1980 nolan ryan

after 8 years in california, the angels' owner gene autry, along with gm buzzie bavasi, allowed nolan ryan to leave as a free agent. he chose to go home to texas by signing with the houston astros. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

this is one of my favorite variations, by the way. ryan's future hof status, the fact that he started the 1979 all-star game for the american league, and the colors themselves combine to make an unforgettable card.

anyway, ryan went on to have a typical nolan ryan season for the astros in 1980. he had a good era (3.35), and at least 200 strikeouts, but his record was just one game over .500 (11-10). he also led the league in walks. clearly, there was some truth to bavasi's statement that he would replace ryan 'with two 8-7 pitchers'.

on the other hand, ryan threw a 2-hitter (one of 18 in his career) against the cubs and recorded his 3000th career strikeout on july 4th, getting the reds' cesar geronimo (who had also been bob gibson's 3000th victim). to top it off, ryan hit his first career home run off of another future hall of famer (don sutton) and helped the astros get to the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

voici à vous, 1980 nolan ryan!

1980 joe morgan

joe morgan left the big red machine and signed a free agent deal with the astros in january of 1980. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

i am guessing he is telling the reporter all about tony perez being an rbi machine and that the twins' failed prospect billy beane will eventually write a book that he won't bother to read.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

for morgan, it was a bit of a homecoming as he was born in texas and had begun his career with the colt .45s in 1963. although he hit only .243 for the astros in 1980, he did help them get to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. once there, however, he pulled his nlcs disappearing trick as he managed just 2 hits in 13 official at bats against the phillies. he did break an 0 for 22 nlcs slump dating back to 1976 with a game 1 double. his last hit of the series came in game 2 and then he started a new skid - 0 for 15 - that wouldn't end until game 3 of the 1983 nlcs against the dodgers. to be fair, morgan also walked 6 times in the 1980 nlcs, so his obp was a nice .421 for the series.

after the series ended in defeat for the astros, they released morgan which allowed him to sign with the giants as a free agent, much to the chagrin of terry forster and dodger fans everywhere.

voici à vous, 1980 joe morgan!

1980 gaylord perry

in february of 1980, the padres sent future hall of famer gaylord perry from whence he came - back to the rangers for willie montanez. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

perry had pitched well for the pads in 1979, a year after winning his second career cy young award and getting his 3000th strikeout (a dodger, no less), but the padres didn't give him as much support as he had enjoyed in 1978. his record was just 12-11 although he sported a 3.06 era over his 30 starts. he began the 1980 season 21 wins away from 300, but managed just 6 in his return to texas before they traded him to the yankees in mid-august. in the bronx, perry won another 4 games in 10 appearances, but left as a free agent and joined the braves for the 1981 season. unfortunately, he would have to wait until 1982 when he was a seattle mariner before he would earn his 300th win.
 
voici à vous, 1980 gaylord perry!

1980 bob owchinko

bob owchinko was traded from the padres to the indians in february of 1980. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

owchinko did not seem to adapt well to the american league. for the tribe in 1980, he was 2-9 with an era of 5.27 in 29 games. he made 14 starts, and did have one highlight - a 4-hit shutout of the tigers in september. a few weeks later, he made his final start of the season at baltimore. owchinko went 11 innings and gave up 2 runs in the first game of a double header that the orioles eventually won in the bottom of the 13th on a walk-off homer from gary roenicke.

that would be owchinko's last appearance in an indians uniform, as he was sent to pittsburgh in the offseason as part of the bert blyleven deal. the pirates flipped him later in the offseason to the a's where owchinko made his lone postseason appearance. unfortunately for us, neither deal was captured in an o-pee-chee variation as owchinko was left out of the set, but his 1981 donruss card is pretty cool, especially since he wasn't a pirate once the season started.

voici à vous, 1980 bob owchinko!

1980 rich hebner

rich hebner was traded by the mets to the tigers for jerry morales (who didn't get a card in the 1980 set) on halloween, 1979. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the topps copy writer should have checked with the grammar police.  not sure how hebner's first granny came 'from' the phillies.  maybe 'for' the phillies?  o-pee-chee tried to fix it, and came close, except hebner was playing for the phillies in 1977.  anyway, hebner's first year in the american league was a success. he hit .290 (the highest his average had been since 1974) with a career high 82 rbi in just 104 games. he twice hit two home runs in a single game in 1980, and added a pinch-hit walk-off home run against the mariners in early june.


voici à vous, 1980 rich hebner!

1980 jerry mumphrey

jerry mumphrey was traded twice after the 1979 season. the first time, in december of 1979, the cardinals sent him to the indians for bobby bonds. the second time came a couple of months later when the indians flipped him to the padres for bob owchinko. here is mumphrey's 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

'back' in the nl, mumphrey tore up the basepaths, stealing a career high 52 bases while playing in 160 games for the padres. he also garnered a career high 168 hits and batted .298 for the friars. just for good measure, he hit .362 in 12 games against the cardinals. despite his good year in san diego, or perhaps because of it, the padres traded mumphrey to the yankees at the close of spring training in 1981.

voici à vous, 1980 jerry mumphrey!

1980 ruppert jones

ruppert jones was traded from the mariners to the yankees in november 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:

the yankees, who had missed the postseason for the first time since 1975 in 1979, were desperate to get back, and jones was brought in to help oscar gamble replace mickey rivers in center field. he wound up appearing in 83 games for the yankees in 1980, hitting just .223 with 9 home runs and 42 rbi (including a walk-off grand slam against the white sox in august), not quite on par with the .267/21/78 he had produced for the mariners the year before (although those numbers came in 162 games). still, the yankees returned to the postseason where they were swept in the alcs by the royals. jones, who missed the entire month of september, did not appear in the postseason however, and was traded to san diego in the ensuing offseason.

voici à vous, 1980 ruppert jones!

1980 bill nahorodny

bill nahorodny was traded from the white sox to the braves 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:

this is not a repeat post, nahorodny's card just happens to look a lot like the last 1980 card i featured, except for the fancy baseball used to dot the 'i' in 'bill'. like milt may, nahorodny left the south side of chicago, leaving bruce kimm to be the white sox' catcher in 1980. this paved the way for chicago to sign carlton fisk for the 1981 campaign.

back to nahorodny. he appeared in 59 games for bobby cox in atlanta during the 1980 season as a backup to bruce benedict, and he also started one game at first base. he hit .242 with 5 home runs and 18 rbi.

voici à vous, 1980 bill nahorodny!

1980 milt may

milt may signed with the giants as a free agent 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:

may had been purchased by the white sox early in the 1979 season after spending three years in detroit. he brought some stability to the giants catching position after a few years of trying marc hill/mike sadek/dennis littlejohn types in that role. in 1980, may hit .260 with 50 rbi and in the following year, he hit .310 and finished 25th in the league mvp voting. in 1983, the giants traded may back to pittsburgh, where his career had began, and he finished out his time in the big leagues as a pirate in 1984.

voici à vous, 1980 milt may!

1980 fred norman

fred norman signed as a free agent with the expos 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:

norman signed a two-year deal with the expos, but 1980 turned out to be his final season in the big leagues.  in 48 games for montreal, norman posted a 4-4 record with 4 saves, an era of 4.13, and a whip of 1.39.  his won-loss record in 1980 assured him of finishing his career with (slightly) better than .500 record of 104 wins and 103 losses.  the last batter norman retired in his big league career was rockies' skipper, jim tracy.

voici à vous, 1980 fred norman!

1980 dock ellis

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

just like ralph garr's 1980 cards, this one is a strange case. ellis actually joined the pirates very late in the 1979 season, and, for whatever reason (likely production schedules), topps left him as a member of the mets for their 1980 set. so, dock gets the full text and team variation from o-pee-chee.

to make things even stranger, he became a free agent after the 1979 season, and never played in the big leagues again.

voici à vous, 1980 dock ellis!