1977 toby harrah

toby harrah managed to get four variations from o-pee-chee in 1977.  first, they got rid of the all-star banner.  then, they moved his facsimile autograph.  they also slightly adjusted the photo left-to-right, but  most impressively, they also changed his position.  here is harrah's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the rangers had picked up bert campaneris to play short for them in 1977, so harrah was bumped over to third base.  both topps and o-pee-chee were able to get campy on to a rangers' card in 1977, but only o-pee-chee bothered to follow through with the impact to harrah.

although he did not make the all-star team in 1977, harrah did have a good year.  he reached the 20/20 plateau for the second time, hitting 27 homers and stealing the same number of bases.  he also led the league in walks with 109, scored 90 runs, and drove in 87.  he also hit the only two inside-the-park home runs of his career in 1977, the first of which was also a walk-off (run-off?) against the indians.

voici à vous, 1977 toby harrah!

1979 toby harrah

toby harrah was traded by the rangers to the indians in december of 1978 for buddy bell, straight up. here is his 1979 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

harrah had been a shortstop for most of his career when the rangers converted him to a third baseman in 1977. he took over for bell at the hot corner and hit .279 with 20 home runs and 77 rbi for the tribe in 1979. one of his home runs was a grand slam against his former team on august 4th. he eventually made his way back to texas for the final two seasons of his career (1985 and 1986) where the rangers converted him again, this time to second base.

voici à vous, 1979 toby harrah!

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:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

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!