1986 dave collins

dave collins was traded from the a's to the tigers in november of 1985.  here is his 1986 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

collins was reunited in detroit with his manager from his time with the reds - sparky anderson.  he hit .270 for the tigers in 124 games and stole 27 bases while playing all three outfield spots (mostly left) and occasionally dh'ing. he also hit the final home run of his career - an 8th-inning, game tying shot off of the royals' bud black.

after the season, collins signed a free agent deal with the expos who were on the verge of losing andre dawson and possibly tim raines.  raines stayed, and collins was released before the season began.  he was picked up by the reds, and played in cincy until 1990 when he ended his career with a stint in saint louis.  sadly, the 1986 card is his last o-pee-chee variation.

voici à vous, 1986 dave collins!

1985 dave collins

dave collins was traded from the blue jays to the a's after a good two-year run in toronto.  here's his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

collins continued his tour of the american league with a single-season stop in oakland in 1985.  he played left field exclusively that season, appearing in 112 games.  on july 4th, collins hit a game winning, walk-off single against the blue jays, but on the whole he hit just .251 and stole 29 bases for the a's who would send him to detroit after the season ended.

voici à vous, 1985 dave collins!

1983 dave collins

what's more american to celebrate on the fourth of july than baseball and the yankees dumping a player with two years left on his contract?  that's what they did after the 1982 season, when they sent dave collins, a guy they signed to a 3-year deal a year earlier, to the blue jays (with mike morgan, fred mcgriff, and cash) for dale murray and tom dodd.  and you wonder why the yankees missed the postseason for 14 years.  here's collins' 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

collins spent his first season in toronto as their primary left fielder.  he hit .271 in 118 games, and stole 31 bases.  in 1984, however, collins returned to the form he displayed with the reds in 1979 and 1980, hitting .308 and stealing 60 bases.  he also set career highs in doubles and triples (his 14 3-baggers led the league) and his .811 ops was the best of his career as well.  for his efforts, collins was named blue jays' player of the year, but was later traded prior to the 1985 season.

voici à vous, 1983 dave collins!

1982 dave collins

dave collins was not traded from the reds to the yankees in december of 1981 as o-pee-chee would have you believe.  rather, he signed with the bronx bombers as a free agent.  here's his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

reds teammate ken griffey had been traded to the yankees about a month before collins signed his contract (described at the time as a multi-year deal that included options that could stretch it to five years), meaning that there wasn't a lot of room in the outfield when collins arrived, with dave winfield and jerry mumphrey holding over from the yankees' 1981 team.  reggie jackson would soon be headed to anaheim opening up the right field spot for griffey, but bobby murcer, bob watson, oscar gamble and others were still around clamoring for playing time as well.  as a result, collins split time fairly evenly among all three outfield positions, and actually spent more time at first base than any specific outfield spot.  he hit .253 in 111 games, and had only 13 steals for the yankees.

collins had been assured that he would play when he took less money to sign with new york (!), and may have become disgruntled by splitting his time at four positions.  after the season, the yankees signed steve kemp, and collins was traded (with mike morgan and fred mcgriff and cash) to the blue jays despite having two to four more years on his deal with the yankees.  he rebounded nicely in toronto, but didn't stay there too long either.

voici à vous, 1982 dave collins!

1977 dave collins

o-pee-chee preferred a full image of dave collins' face on cardboard, and so replaced the topps photo with this one on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

o-pee-chee also got rid of his curls and they even rotated the facsmilie autograph slightly!  now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

collins, dubbed the fastest white man in baseball, was a first round pick of the angels in 1972.  three years later he made his debut for the halos, but was unprotected during the expansion draft and the mariners snapped him up.  collins was the first batter in mariners' history, and he hit .239 in 120 games with 25 steals for the m's.  1977 turned out to be his only season in seattle, as he was traded to the reds following the mariners' inaugural season for shane rawley.

o-pee-chee did not include collins in the 1978 set and so missed out what would have been a nice team and text variation.  that's ok, however, since collins got more than his fair share of variations in the 80's as we will see over the next week or so.

voici à vous, 1977 dave collins!