1971 eddie kasko

o-pee-chee bumped eddie kasko from the first series to make way for expo john bateman.  he was included later on, (taking ron hunt's vacated spot) and so here is the 1971 eddie kasko o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the lack of any text or team variation on the front means that this is simply a checklist variation.  another item of note is the lack of french on the back of the card.  the later o-pee-chee series did not include the translation for whatever reason.  all this adds up to make it a pretty tame variation.

kasko was in his second year managing the red sox in 1971.  he had finished up his playing career in 1966 as an infielder for boston, and began his managerial career at the ripe old age of 38.  his red sox teams were quite consistent - winning between 85 and 88 games in each of his 4 seasons at the helm - but not quite good enough to topple the orioles.  kasko was replaced as manager with one game left in the 1973 season by eddie popowski.

voici à vous, 1971 eddie kasko!