1977 fred norman

fred norman had his facsimilie autograph tweaked ever so slighty on his 1977 o-pee-chee card, shown here:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's easiest to see the shift if you do a cup check on norman, or you could look at the right end of the autos and compare the space from the border to the signature.  the o-pee-chee photo is also differently cropped, ever so slightly.  it's the kind of variation(s) that make one wonder, 'why?'

norman had a good year in 1977; he set his career high with 14 victories, including the final shutout of his career - a 2-hitter against the astros in which he walked 8 (!) batters.  in reference to the cartoon, baseball reference tells me that norman faced ron hunt 30 times in his career, but did not hit him with a pitch (although records for one game are 'missing').

voici à vous, 1977 fred norman!

1980 fred norman

fred norman signed as a free agent with the expos in december of 1979.  here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

norman signed a two-year deal with the expos, but 1980 turned out to be his final season in the big leagues.  in 48 games for montreal, norman posted a 4-4 record with 4 saves, an era of 4.13, and a whip of 1.39.  his won-loss record in 1980 assured him of finishing his career with (slightly) better than .500 record of 104 wins and 103 losses.  the last batter norman retired in his big league career was rockies' skipper, jim tracy.

voici à vous, 1980 fred norman!