1990 bryn smith

bryn smith, the pride of santa maria and longtime expo, signed a free agent contract with the cardinals after the 1989 season ended. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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what a nice photo of smith pitching in beautiful dodger stadium! if i am laying it on a bit thick, it's only because this is the last 1990 o-pee-chee variation to be featured on this site. we've seen 'em all now. anyway, smith went 9-8 for the redbirds in 1990 in 26 games (25 starts) and also hit the third and final home run of his career. it was a two-run job against the expos in montreal of all places. smith did better on the bump in 1991, winning 12 games while lowering his era from 4.27 to 3.85. after one more season in saint louis, smith joined the rockies for their inagural season of 1993 and ended his career by going 2-4 in 11 games for colorado.

voici à vous, 1990 bryn smith!

1990 juan samuel

juan samuel was acquired by the dodgers in december of 1989 in a trade with the mets. here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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the dodgers moved samuel back to second base (although he still made around 30 appearances in the outfield) to replace the departed willie randolph. i am guessing the dodgers got what they expected from samuel in 1990, as he scored 62 runs, and hit .242 with 13 homers, 126 strikeouts and 38 steals. of course, he was also caught stealing 20 times! samuel picked things up and improved his average and stolen base percentage in 1991 for the blue, and was named to the all-star team as a result.

voici à vous, 1990 juan samuel!

1990 gerald perry

gerald perry (i wonder if anyone every called him gerry perry) was traded from the braves to the royals in december of 1989 in the charlie liebrandt deal. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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as a royal in 1990, perry hit .254 with 8 homers and 57 rbi. perhaps the highlight of perry's season was the grand slam he hit off of nolan ryan in texas on may 8th. it was the only home run perry hit that year with anyone on base. 1990 turned out to be his only season in kansas city, and the american league as well, as perry signed with the cardinals after the season ended.

voici à vous, 1990 gerald perry!

1990 dave parker

dave parker became a brewer (yes, a brewer) when he signed a free agent deal in december of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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he went on to have his last great season as a result. in milwaukee, the cobra hit 21 homers, drove in 92 rbi and hit .289. he won a silver slugger, finished 16th in the mvp voting, and made the all-star team for the final time of his career. the brewers traded parker the following spring to the angels for dante bichette, and parker split his final season in the majors between the halos and the blue jays.

voici à vous, 1990 dave parker!

1990 tim leary

tim leary, one of the unsung heroes of the dodgers' 1988 world series championship, was traded from the reds to the yankees in december of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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leary, who had lost 14 games in 1989 - a season which he split between the dodgers and the reds - went on to lose 19 games for the yankees in 1990. in 8 of his losses, however, leary allowed 3 earned runs or less while pitching more than 6 innings in 7 of those games. it wasn't all bad for leary in 1990, as he did throw a 4-hit shutout (at the metrodome of all places) in a game in which he also struck out a season high 11 batters.

voici à vous, 1990 tim leary!

1990 carmelo martinez

carmelo martinez signed with the phillies as a free agent a few days before the padres acquired fred lynn and joe carter. i don't think carmelo was in their plans for 1990. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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as a phillie, martinez hit .242 with 8 homers and 31 rbi in 71 games before he was traded to the pirates in august. with pittsburgh, martinez hit 2 more home runs, the first of which came against the phillies. he was 2 for 8 with 2 doubles and 2 rbi for the pirates in the 1990 nlcs against the reds.

voici à vous, 1990 carmelo martinez!

1990 mike maddux

mike maddux became a dodger for the first time when he signed as a free agent in the winter of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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the dodgers used maddux as both a starter and a reliever over the course of the season. in all, he made 11 appearances (2 as a starter) and was 0-1 with a 6.53 era. he became a free agent after the season ended, and maddux moved on to san diego, new york, pittsburgh, boston, seattle, san diego (again), and montreal before rejoining the dodgers in 1999. he and his brother greg share the honor of being dodger double dippers.

voici à vous, 1990 mike maddux!

1990 fred lynn

fred lynn signed as a free agent with the padres in december of 1989 as they continued to revamp their outfield.  here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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the pads acquired joe carter on the same day that they signed lynn, and with lynn in left and carter in center, the padres hope for big things. they got 30 home runs and 138 rbi from the pair, but lynn played only about a quarter of the season in the field and contributed just 6 long balls and 23 rbi in what would be his final season in the big leagues.

voici à vous, 1990 fred lynn!

1990 pascual perez

pascual perez left montreal and signed a free agent contract with the yankees in november of 1989.  here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

conveniently, perez had no sideburns to irritate mr. steinbrenner.  here's the topps front:

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perez was able to make only 3 starts for the yankees in 1990. he won his first start, gave up just one unearned run but lost his second start, and then gave up two earned runs in 3 innings to lose his third and final start of the season. with that, he suffered a shoulder injury and was done for the year. he returned in 1991, but made only 14 starts that year, his final year in the majors.

voici à vous, 1990 pascual perez!

1990 ernie whitt

ernie whitt's long tenure with the blue jays ended when he was traded to the braves in december of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

looks like ernie was a roadie in toronto - setting up mikes for roy lee jackson or some such nonsense.

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he hit just a buck-seventytwo in atlanta in 1990, and latched on with the orioles in spring training the following year.  whitt did hit the last 2 home runs of his career as a brave, both solo shots.

voici à vous, 1990 ernie whitt!

1990 chris james

chris james was part of the december 1989 deal that sent joe carter to the padres.  james, obviously, went to cleveland.  here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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moving around was no new thing to james, who had been dealt by the phillies to the padres during the 1989 season. then, after two years with the indians, james went on to spend time with the giants, astros, rangers, royals, and red sox before calling it a career. 1990 may have been his best season of them all, as he hit .299 with 70 rbi in 140 games for the tribe.


voici à vous, 1990 chris james!

1990 charlie leibrandt

charlie leibrandt was traded from the royals to the braves in december of 1989. here is his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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although he lowered his era by a couple of runs in 1990, leibrandt still finished with a losing record of 9-11. leibrandt threw two shutouts in 1990 - a 6-hitter and a 10-hitter(!) - and had 3 other complete game victories. he continued to pitch well in 1991, righting his record to 15-13 and helping the braves make the playoffs. he pitched well in his lone start in the nlcs, but suffered two losses in the 7-game fall classic against the twins.

voici à vous, 1990 charlie leibrandt!

1990 damaso garcia

damaso garcia signed a free agent deal with the yankees in december of 1989. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

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garcia had begun his career with the yankees but his return to the big apple was stopped short. whether due to injury or a poor spring showing, he did not appear in a game for new york in 1990, nor did he play for any of their minor league affiliates. now retired, garcia returned to the dominican republic and was shortly thereafter diagnosed with a brain tumor. the tumor was removed, and garcia now runs a baseball camp in the dominican.

voici à vous, 1990 damaso garcia!