1977 jim hunter

jim 'catfish' hunter might take the cake for the most minute variation in the 1977 o-pee-chee set.  i contend that there is some slight (and i mean slight) north-south cropping differences between his opc and topps cards, and the angle of his facsimile autograph is not quite the same on each card.  here is hunter's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i find it pretty funny that the facsimile autograph only says 'catfish hunter', and that his baseball reference page also lists him by that name - with his nickname being 'jim'.  now that's when you know that your nickname is a keeper.

hunter was in his third year with the yankees in 1977, and he was able to make only 22 starts due to some injuries in april and again in late september.  he finished the season 9-9 with a 4.71 era, but did throw 8 complete games with a shutout.  he also was able to pitch against the dodgers in the world series (he missed the alcs against the royals), but was 0-1 in 2 appearances with an era over 10.

voici à vous, 1977 jim hunter!

1977 dock ellis

this one confuses me.  dock ellis got a photo variation, as in o-pee-chee used a totally different photo, as well as the more typical autograph placement variation, but he wasn't a member of the blue jays or expos.  weird.  here is ellis's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

i guess the question is whether topps used an airbrushed photo, since ellis was only with the yankees in 1976, and lord knows they didn't always get a new photo for every player.  o-pee-chee was known to use spring training shots from 1977 for many blue jays and expos players, and they could have done the same for dock if his topps photo were airbrushed.  however, i think topps was more likely to get current photos of yankee players than any other team, and besides, that photo doesn't look airbrushed to me.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

ellis wound up pitching for the yankees for only a few weeks in 1977.  he was traded after 3 starts (he was 1-1 with a complete game and a 1.83 era) to oakland, where he went 1-5 in 7 starts and posted a 9.69 era.  in july of 1977, the rangers purchased his contract, and he finished out the season with them.  he went 10-6 in texas in 22 starts (he also made one relief appearance for the rangers) with 7 complete games, a shutout, and a 2.90 era.

ellis lost both games he started against the yankees in 1977 (one as an athletic, and one as a ranger), but was 2-1 as a ranger pitching against the a's.

voici à vous, 1977 dock ellis!

1977 reggie jackson

how great would it have been if topps had issued reggie jackson's 1977 card with him as an oriole instead of airbrushing him into yankees gear, and left the yankees issue for o-pee-chee to address?  pretty great, if  you ask me.  unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so all o-pee-chee could do was slightly adjust the cropping and move the facsimile autograph.  here is jackson's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i think we all know what reggie did in 1977, right?  particularly in the postseason when he earned his 'mr. october' nickname.  let's just move on.

voici à vous, 1977 reggie jackson!

1977 marty perez

showing just how late in the year o-pee-chee went to press, marty perez was traded from the giants to the yankees on march 14, 1977.  the ontario airbrush artists used a different photo than topps, and were not only able to get a yankees cap on perez and change the team name, they also recognized that with willie randolph at second, perez might see some action at shortstop, and so they modified his position as well.  with its multitude of variations, here is marty perez's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as it turned out, o-pee-chee was right.  perez didn't play second for the yankees, but he didn't play shortstop, either.  in fact, he appeared in only one game for the bronx bombers, getting the start at third base on april 26 in baltimore.  perez was 2 for 4 at the plate, but was traded the very next day to the a's in the deal that also sent dock ellis to oakland for mike torrez.

in oakland, perez played in 115 games at second, third, and short over the remainder of the season.  he hit .231 with 2 homers and 23 rbi.

voici à vous, 1977 marty perez!

1977 dick tidrow

while the differences in the photo cropping and facsimile autograph placement are slight, they are enough to qualify as variations on dick tidrow's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

notice that the topps card shows us just a wee bit more of his right shoe.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

interesting stuff about larry lintz.  not quite the herb washington model, but close.  for the record, lintz was allowed to bat 4 times, but walked twice and sacrificed the other time.  he also stole 30 bases in 1976.

dick tidrow, on the other hand, did not bat at all in 1976. or 1977, for that matter. such was the life of a pitcher in the american league.  nor did he pitch 10.2 innings as a reliever in a single game.  he did appear in 49 games, however, and posted a record of 11-4 with 5 saves.  towards the end of the season, the yankees moved him to the starting rotation, and he earned the win in 5 of the 7 starts he made.  he was back in the bullpen for the postseason, however, appearing in relief in two games in each of the alcs and the world series.

voici à vous, 1977 dick tidrow!

1977 roy white

roy white's facsimile autograph is moved horizontally on this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it wasn't until 1978 that i learned to dislike roy white's baseball talent.  that's because he was just 0 for 2 against the dodgers in the 1977 world series, as opposed to the .333 clip he achieved against them during the 1978 fall classic.  during the regular season in 1977, white was the yankees' regular left fielder, and he hit .268 with 14 home runs and 18 steals.

voici à vous, 1977 roy white!

1977 graig nettles

in 1977, o-pee-chee decided to get us closer to graig nettles with a drastic cropping change.  they also monkeyed with the placement of the facsimile autograph.  here is nettles' 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

nettles is a big reason behind the fact that i am a bit of a george brett fan.  aside from being a great hitter, brett was all that stood between nettles and an annual all-star start back in the late 1970's, and as a dodger fan i was grateful that a yankee was thus blocked from the starting lineup.  case in point, nettles led the american league in home runs with 32 in 1976, and then hit 5 more than that in 1977. still, it was brett who was starting in the all-star games and getting the banners and shields on his topps cards.  nettles still made the all-star team a few times, including in 1977 when he was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.

of course, i think of nettles more from a defensive standpoint, thanks to his plays in the 1977 and 1978 postsason at the expense of the dodgers.

voici à vous, 1977 graig nettles!

1977 ed figueroa

there is some very slight 'north-south' differential cropping and 'east-west' facsimile autograph movement when one compares ed figueroa's 1977 cards.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

figueroa was coming off of a 19 win season in 1977, but his era jumped by about half of a run, and he wound up with a 16-11 record.  he completed 12 of his 35 starts, including two by shutout.  he made one start in the alcs against the royals, but was touched for 4 runs in 3.1 innings of work.  he did not appear in the world series against the dodgers in 1977, however, he would make two starts against them in the 1978 fall classic.

voici à vous, 1977 ed figueroa!

1977 sparky lyle

here's another autograph placement variation from the 1977 o-pee-chee set.  the facsimile auto on sparky lyle's o-pee-chee card was rotated by the canadian folk such that it clashes with the pinstripes.  here is lyle's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

that's much nicer.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lyle had a big year in 1977.  he wound up winning the american league cy young award with a 13-5 record and a 2.17 era.  he also saved 26 games and appeared in a league-leading 72 contests.  and, having appeared in those games, all as a reliever, lyle passed bob locker to claim the top spot as far as most career appearances for a pitcher without ever having started a game.  for his efforts, lyle got two cards in the 1978 topps set, as his record breaking achievement was deemed worthy of a record breaker card while the dodgers having four teammates each hit 30 home runs was not.  but i digress.

lyle was also dominant in the postseason in 1977.  he was 2-0 with a 0.96 era over 9.1 innings in four games of the alcs against the royals, and then posted a 1.93 era in two games against the dodgers in the world series, earning the win in game 1.

voici à vous, sparky lyle!

1977 mickey rivers

o-pee-chee opted for the offset stack when it came to mickey rivers' facsimile autograph on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

 here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

 and the topps back:

mick the quick stole only 22 bases and was caught 14 times in 1977, but he hit .326 for the yankees and helped them return to the world series.  there, the dodgers did a decent job of keeping him off the base paths, but he still managed to swipe a base and score a run as the yankees won their first world series title since a different mickey roamed center field.

voici à vous, 1977 mickey divers!

1977 don gullett

o-pee-chee changed up the photo and corrected the color of the name text on don gullett's 1977 card, seen below:

and we are better for it.  here's the topps front:

see what i mean?  now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

gullett was only 26 in 1977, but he had already appeared in 4 world series' and had two rings to his name.  he appeared in his fifth fall classic in the 1977 postseason, winning another ring as the yankees defeated the dodgers.  he also won his 100th career game in july of 1977, but then missed all of august.  he returned for the stretch run, and went 4-1 in september as the yankees won the al east.

gullett was on track to make yet another world series appearance in 1978, but was unable to pitch after july due to a shoulder injury.

voici à vous, 1977 don gullett!

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:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

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 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:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

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!