1977 rick monday

truth be told, this might be the card that provided the impetus for this blog.  i started to purchase o-pee-chee cards on a family vacation in 1978, and i was able to amass a fair number of cards from then until 1986.  i did not come across rick monday's card until much later, and i frankly regretted not knowing about it sooner.  so, eventually i decided to see what other variations might be out there and once i found them, i figured they were worth sharing.  but before i get to the wrap up post, there is this final variation to showcase.

in january of 1977, rick monday was traded from the cubs to the dodgers.  o-pee-chee whipped up a team variation, complete with a different (although poorly airbrushed) image and a slightly relocated facsimile autograph.  i wouldn't have it any other way.  here is monday's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

monday became the center fielder on the team of my youth by virtue of that trade, and bill buckner became someone who simply 'used to be a dodger'.  i learned to appreciate billy buck a few years later when he won the batting title, but monday was one of 'my guys' from the start of my fandom.

unfortunately, monday had some injury issues in 1977, and his production was off from his big numbers in 1976. still, he helped the dodgers get to the postseason, and did so again in 1978 and especially 1981, when he had me jumping around the lunchtime elementary school playground as he circled the bases in montreal.

voici à vous, 1977 rick monday!

1977 steve garvey

we have finally come to the last of the award variations, as steve garvey had his all-star banner removed from his 1977 o-pee-chee card.  in true opc fashion, his facsimile autograph was also displaced, and the left to right photo crop was modified, too.  here is garvey's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

garvey's 1977 cards are not my favorite - but they're close.  one of the reasons i like his 1978 topps/opc cards so much is because of his 1977 season.  had he not hit 33 home runs or driven in 115 runs in 1977 (both career highs), maybe i wouldn't have been as big of a fan.  as it turned out, i was desperate to get his '78 card in a pack.  it took me a while to warm to the 1977 set, but now i like it. and, i like garvey's card with and without the all-star banner.

garvey was one of four dodgers to hit over 30 home runs in 1977, and he also won his fourth and final career gold glove.  he started the all-star game at first for the national league for the fourth year in a row, and finished 6th in the league mvp voting.  1977 was the only season in the seven year stretch from 1974 to 1980 that he didn't get at least 200 hits (he got 192), and the only year in the eight years from 1973 through 1980 that he didn't hit over .300 (he hit .297).

voici à vous, 1977 steve garvey!

1977 dave lopes

maybe o-pee-chee left the facsimile autograph where topps left it on dave lopes' 1977 card and just lowered the photo in the cropping window, but that would have been so unlike them.  i'm giving this card both a photo and autograph placement variation.  here is lopes' 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

more belt!

now the o-pee-chee back:

i wonder who 'they' are - the ones who are still talking about lopes' stolen base streak. i would have liked to talk about it with them.

and the topps back:

lopes was unable to lead the national league in stolen bases for the third straight year, tallying only 47 swipes which put him 6th on the leader board.  he did have two steals in the world series against the yankees, however, while the five guys ahead of him were at home watching.

voici à vous, 1977 dave lopes!

1977 ron cey

hey now!  the penguin makes (another) appearance on the oh my o-pee-chee blog thanks to the variant cropping and relocated facsimile autograph on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

you can see the difference in the photo left-to-right thanks to the white sleeve of the guy in the far right of the dugout on the topps card.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

cey started the all-star game at third for the national league for the 3rd time in 4 years and finished 8th in the national league mvp voting.  in the midsummer classic, he was 0 for 2 with a walk and a strikeout, but he hit .308 when it counted - in the nlcs.  against the yankees, cey was just 4 for 21, but he did have a double and a home run to his credit in the series. cey also set a major league record for rbi's in the month of april with 29 in 1977.

voici à vous, 1977 ron cey!

1977 steve yeager

it's a slight difference in cropping and a leveling out of the facsimile autograph for steve yeager on this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

 now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1977 was a big year for yeager.  he achieved career highs in runs scored (53), doubles (21), home runs (16), and rbi (55) while throwing out 39% of potential base stealers.  in the postseason, the catcher of the team of my youth put up numbers very similar to those that would net him a share of the world series mvp award in 1981.  in 6 games, yeager hit .316 with 2 home runs and 5 rbi, and his ops was 1.018.  unfortunately, reggie jackson was even better, and the dodgers lost the series to the yankees.

voici à vous, 1977 steve yeager!

1977 don sutton

there is slightly more of don sutton to see, along with a slightly relocated facsimile autograph, on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

sutton was only 14-8 for the dodgers in 1977 (breaking his string of five straight top-5 finishes in the cy young voting) but he did get to start the all-star game for the national league.  in fact, sutton's three innings of one-hit ball and four strikeouts earned him the win and the game's mvp award.  later in the year, sutton would make three postseason starts, earning the wins in game 2 of the nlcs against the phillies and in game 5 of the world series against the yankees, while having no decision after his start of game 1 of the fall classic.

voici à vous, 1977 don sutton!

1977 reggie smith

i contend that o-pee-chee slightly adjusted both the photo and the facsimile autograph on this, reggie smith's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

agreed?  i'm still not sure why he wore 'r. smith' on the back of his jersey.  the dodgers had no other smiths.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

1977 was reggie's first full season as a dodger, and he did not disappoint this fledgling fan in the least.  he scored over 100 runs, hit over 30 homers (one of four dodgers to do so that year), batted over .300, walked over 100 times, led the league in obp and ops, and made the all-star team to boot.  i must admit, however, that i really only cared about the home runs and the all-star nod at the time.  in the midsummer classic, smith was 1 for 1 with a pinch-hit single off of sparky lyle.  he was immediately replaced in the game by pinch-runner mike schmidt.

thanks in large part to smith's performance in the regular season, the dodgers made the postseason, and 'our' reggie hit 3 long balls of his own in the world series against the yankees.  just not in the same game. and in a losing cause.  still, i was one happy camper with reggie smith as the right fielder on the team of my youth.

voici à vous, 1977 reggie smith!

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 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 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!

1977 doug rau

i thought that topps did a pretty good job with the placement of doug rau's facsimile autograph on his 1977 card, but o-pee-chee saw fit to adjust its location slightly and slightly modify the photo cropping as well.  here is rau's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

nice to see walter alston get some love on a 1977 card (shameless plug for my card that should have been)!  rau had a decent year in 1977 - he won 14 games in 32 starts, posted an era of 3.43 and had 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. his most memorable moment of 1977 came in the postseason, however.


rau was called upon out of the dodger bullpen in the nlcs, making just one appearance in the series, which happened to be in game 3 when he retired larry bowa, mike schmidt, and greg luzinski in order, preserving what was then a tie game in the 7th inning.  then, in the world series, rau got the call to start game 4 and was famously pulled in the second inning after giving up three straight hits (a double to reggie jackson, a run-scoring single to lou piniella, and a double to chris chambliss) to lead off the frame. rau argued with lasorda about being relieved, stating that he could strike out the next batter, lefty graig nettles whom he referred to as a, well, to use the term dick williams coined, 'mawdicker'. indeed, it was "f-ing great for [rau] to be standing out [there] talking to [tommy] like that." rau came back to pitch 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in game 6 of the and did indeed strike that "m-f"er (nettles) out, but it was too late.


voici à vous, 1977 doug rau!

1991 darryl strawberry

in november of 1990, darryl strawberry signed a free agent deal with the dodgers. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

strawberry enjoyed his last good season as a big leaguer with the dodgers in 1991. he hit 28 homers and drove in 99 runs while making the all-star team for the final time. injuries and personal issues derailed his career to various degrees over the following seasons, although he was able to be a part of two of the yankee world championship teams of the late 1990's.

voici à vous, 1991 darryl strawberry!