1977 joe morgan

this may be the last of the award variations to be shown here at oh my o-pee-chee.  it's joe morgan's turn to have his all-star banner stripped, and his facsimile autograph moved.  the photo is also cropped differently - it looks like it was slid slightly upwards.  here is joe morgan's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

morgan was the two-time defending national league mvp in 1977, but he was unable to make it three in a row.  he still had a pretty good year, scoring 113 runs and hitting .288 with 22 home runs.  his obp was .417 and he stole 49 bases.  for the sixth year in a row, he started at second base for the national league in the all-star game.  and, in the 1977 midsummer classic, he led off the game with a home run off of jim palmer.

voici à vous, 1977 joe morgan!

1985 joe morgan

joe morgan announced his retirement from the game prior to the 1985 season. here's his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

this is the third 'announced his retirement' text variation in the 1985 set (the others are bob watson and greg luzinski). morgan had returned home to oakland for the 1984 season in which he recorded his 2500th hit and 1100th rbi. he hit .244 on the year, playing in 116 games as a second baseman and sometimes dh. shortly after he announced his retirement, morgan revealed that he would become an announcer for some cincinnati reds games, which paved the way for the eventual establishment of one of my favorite websites.

voici à vous, 1985 joe morgan!

1980 joe morgan

joe morgan left the big red machine and signed a free agent deal with the astros in january of 1980. here is his 1980 o-pee-chee card:

i am guessing he is telling the reporter all about tony perez being an rbi machine and that the twins' failed prospect billy beane will eventually write a book that he won't bother to read.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

for morgan, it was a bit of a homecoming as he was born in texas and had begun his career with the colt .45s in 1963. although he hit only .243 for the astros in 1980, he did help them get to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. once there, however, he pulled his nlcs disappearing trick as he managed just 2 hits in 13 official at bats against the phillies. he did break an 0 for 22 nlcs slump dating back to 1976 with a game 1 double. his last hit of the series came in game 2 and then he started a new skid - 0 for 15 - that wouldn't end until game 3 of the 1983 nlcs against the dodgers. to be fair, morgan also walked 6 times in the 1980 nlcs, so his obp was a nice .421 for the series.

after the series ended in defeat for the astros, they released morgan which allowed him to sign with the giants as a free agent, much to the chagrin of terry forster and dodger fans everywhere.

voici à vous, 1980 joe morgan!

1983 joe morgan super veteran

joe morgan was traded from the giants to the phillies in december of 1982.  here's his 1983 o-pee-chee super veteran card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's not often you see three teams represented on one card as is the case with the opc version of this card (colt .45s, giants, phillies) so that is cool in and of itself.  i posted morgan's base 1983 card a while back, so i'll just focus on the milestones in this post, like i did with tony perez. 

morgan played just two more seasons after 1982, so he didn't rack up a lot of new milestones or new seasonal bests.  he did wind up with just over 2500 hits (steve garvey had more - ha!), getting number 2500 on july 23, 1984 at minnesota.  he is currently 91st on the all-time hit list and 179th on the all-time rbi list.

voici à vous, 1983 joe morgan super veteran!

1983 joe morgan

lil' joe morgan was traded from the giants to the phillies in december of 1982.  here is his 1983 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i was happy to get morgan out of the national league west in 1983, especially after he took terry forster deep in 1982 to squash the dodgers' postseason hopes. both the dodgers and morgan made it to the playoffs in 1983, but it was lil' joe going all the way to the world series with the phillies who brought together three members of the big red machine (morgan, pete rose, and tony perez).

after the phillies lost to the orioles, morgan, who had hit a career low .230 during the season, was released.  he eventually wound up in the american league with the a's.

voici à vous, 1983 joe morgan!

1984 joe morgan

in october of 1983, shortly after the phillies failed to win the world series with the reunited big red machine, they released (fired?) joe morgan.  little joe was later picked up by the oakland a's, where he would finish his hall of fame career.  here's the front of his 1984 team and text variation o-pee-chee card:

the color scheme is updated, the 'now with' text is there, and the o-pee-chee text is in the upper right hand corner where the topps logo goes.

here's the topps front:

i really like the variations in 1984 because there is so much color on these cards.  the green really stands out with the red of his hat and uniform.  we'll see something similar on joaquin andujar's 1986 o-pee-chee card soon.

now the o-pee-chee back:

it's bright, the logo is updated, and the o-pee-chee text replaces the topps logo over the card number.  no kiddie logo, though.

and the topps back:

both cards are number 210 in the set, but i assure you it's just a coincidence.  the 1984 o-pee-chee set has just 396 cards and the checklist is not identical to topps'.

voici à vous, 1984 joe morgan!