1977 john lowenstein

today, let it be lowenstein.

this one hits all the bases as far as basic o-pee-chee variations go: team variation, text variation, photo variation, autograph placement variation.  the only thing missing is the position variation, but john lowenstein was primarily an outfielder, so there was no reason for o-pee-chee to make that change.  they changed pretty much everything else, however, as they caught lowenstein in blue jays' attire during spring training in 1977.  he had been traded by the indians to the blue jays with rick cerone for rico carty in december of 1976, but the jays dealt him back to the tribe towards the end of spring training.  luckily for us, o-pee-chee didn't slap his topps photo back on the card, but instead chose to use their photo with some good ol' traded text.  of course, they also unstacked his facsimile autograph and put it somewhere that made it legible.  here is lowenstein's 1977 o-pee-chee card: 

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

lowenstein hit .242 in 81 games for the indians in 1977, and was traded again prior to the next season.  this time, he went to texas where he played just one year before heading to baltimore.  there, he helped the orioles reach the world series in 1979 and again in 1983 when they won it all.

this is the last of the blue jays to be featured here on the blog from the 1977 o-pee-chee set, by the way.  we are really getting close to the end of the o-pee-chee variations.

voici à vous, 1977 john lowenstein!

1992 eric davis

eric davis joined the dodgers by trade in november of 1991, coming over from the reds to be reunited with his boyhood pal, darryl strawberry.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the hopes were high for the 1992 dodger outfield of davis, brett butler, and strawberry, but the results were low.  davis was able to play in only 76 games and hit just .228.  he had 5 home runs and did manage to steal 19 bases while getting caught only once.  davis battled back, and appeared in 108 games for the dodgers in 1993 before they traded him to the tigers at the end of august.  and with that, we are down to only 1977 o-pee-chee variations remaining as i saved eric the red for the last of the 1992 variations.

voici à vous, 1992 eric davis!

1992 tim belcher

tim belcher was traded by the dodgers to the reds in november of 1991.  here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

belcher equaled his career high in wins for the reds in 1992, going 15-14 in 34 starts.  he also made a single relief appearance.  belcher won each of his final four starts of the season, including a 6-1 win over the padres in which he struck out 13.  the ohio native was traded to the white sox at the trading deadline in 1993, and helped the chisox reach the postseason for the first time since 1983.

voici à vous, 1992 tim belcher!

1992 bip roberts

bip roberts was traded by the padres to the reds in december of 1991 for randy myers.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in cincy, bip hit .323 with 44 steals while playing mostly left field with some second, third and center thrown in for good measure.  he was named to the all-star team and finished 8th in the league mvp voting.  in the all-star game, bip was 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, a run scored and two rbi.  he eventually returned to the padres in 1994 as a free agent.

voici à vous, 1992 bip roberts!

1992 jesse orosco

jesse orosco was sent to the brewers by the indians in december of 1991 as part of a 'conditional deal'.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the brewers were only orosco's fourth major league team and fifth organization (he was originally signed by the twins who traded him to the mets for jerry koosman in 1978).  he was 3-1 with a 3.23 era and a save in 59 games for the brew crew in 1992.  he pitched in milwaukee for a total of 3 seasons, averaging 52 appearances and 48 innings of work each season.  after he left the brewers, orosco suited up for 6 more teams, including the dodgers for the second time and the twins, his original organization.

voici à vous, 1992 jesse orosco!

1992 randy myers

randy myers was traded by the reds to the padres in december of 1991 for bip roberts.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the reds had moved myers to the starting rotation in 1991, and the padres had the good sense to put him back in the bullpen.  myers finished 57 of the 66 games in which he appeared for the pads in 1992, and finished the season with a 3-6 record and 38 saves.  unfortunately for san diego, myers left after the season ended and signed a free agent deal with the cubs, for whom he saved 53 games in 1993.

voici à vous, 1992 randy myers!

1992 eddie murray

eddie murray signed with the mets as a free agent after the 1991 season.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

steady eddie put up numbers for the mets in '92 that were pretty close to his 1991 stats.  he hit 16 homers, drove in 93 runs, and hit .261.  he outperformed fellow first-year met bobby bonilla at any rate, and at 2/3 the cost!  murray's first home run as a met was a walk-off job against the cardinals, and his second home run for new york was the 400th of his career.

voici à vous, 1992 eddie murray!

1992 dickie thon

dickie thon signed as a free agent with the rangers in december of 1991.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

thon had re-emerged as a starting shortstop during his time with the phillies as he worked his way back from a horrible beaning in 1984.  with the rangers, thon began the season as the rangers' starting shortstop, but missed most of july and august.  in all, he appeared in 95 games and hit .247.  one of his 4 homers on the year came off of randy johnson, so at least he had that going for him.

voici à vous, 1992 dickie thon!

1992 kevin mitchell

kevin mitchell was traded from the giants to the mariners in december of 1991 in a deal that also featured bill swift, dave burba, michael jackson, and mike remlinger (not featured in o-pee-chee's 1992 set).  here's mitchell's 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

mitchell hit .286 for the m's in 1992, although he appeared in only 99 games.  he also had 9 homers, including a grand slam and two 2-homer games, and 67 rbi, but was considered to be out of shape and was dealt to the reds after the season ended.

voici à vous, 1992 kevin mitchell!

1992 keith miller

keith miller was part of the december 1991 trade between the royals and mets that also involved bret saberhagen, gregg jefferies, kevin mcreynolds, and bill pecota.  here's miller's 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

miller played mostly second base for the royals in 1992, although he also saw time in left field and at dh.  he appeared in 106 games and hit .284.  of his 4 home runs on the season, one was a lead-off job against kevin tapani and the twins.

voici à vous, 1992 keith miller!

1992 kip gross

kip gross was part of the november 1991 trade between the reds and dodgers that also included eric davis, john wetteland, and tim belcher.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

with gross on staff, the dodgers had themselves a pair of gross pitchers (kevin gross - no relation - being the other). is that a gross of gross?  at any rate, kip went 1-1 in 16 games for the dodgers, with one start.  that start resulted in his lone win of the season as he held the expos to 3 runs in 6 innings.  gross was in the dodgers' bullpen again in 1993, and had an era of 0.60 in 10 appearances and 15 innings pitched.  his contract was purchased by the nippon ham fighters during the 1994 season, and gross pitched in japan until returing to the big leagues in 1999.

voici à vous, 1992 kip gross!

1992 bobby bonilla

bobby bonilla signed with the mets as a free agent after the 1991 season.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

bonilla had finished in the top 3 of the nl mvp vote the previous two seasons, so his 19/70/.249 line in 1992 was a disappointment to mets fans, especially since he was the highest paid player in the league.  he hit two home runs in a game once (the second game of the season) and also had a walk-off homer against rob dibble and the reds late in the season.  bobby bo bounced back in 1993 to hit 34 homers, but didn't reach the postseason with the mets until 1999, in his second tour of duty with them in which he was a part-time player.

voici à vous, 1992 bobby bonilla!

1992 bret saberhagen

bret saberhagen was traded from the royals to the mets in december of 1991.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1992 was an even year, so you know that saberhagen struggled.  he was 3-5 with a 3.50 era in only 15 starts.  he did throw a 3-hit shutout against the astros for his first win as a met, and was pitching very well when he was injured in mid may.  sabes missed all of june and most of july and august due to injury.  saberhagen pitched fairly well in 1993, and then bucked his historical trend by going 14-4 in the strike-shortened 1994 season, earning a third place finish in the cy young voting.

voici à vous, 1992 bret saberhagen!