1982 ken griffey

ken griffey was traded by the reds to the yankees in november of 1981. here is his 1982 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the yankees moved griffey back to right field, and in return he rediscovered his power stroke. after hitting just 2 home runs in 1981, griffey hit 12 in 1982. he even victimized tommy john again for old times' sake in 1983. griffey lasted with the yankees until midway throught the 1986 season when he was dealt to the braves for claudell washington.

voici à vous, 1982 ken griffey!

1982 ken griffey in action

the further dismantling of the big red machine saw ken griffey being traded to the yankees in november of 1981, as is so stated on his 1982 o-pee-chee au jeu card

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

at least there is some action on this card as opposed to the davey lopes card.  griffey is moving out of the batter's box instead of just standing there.  the back of this card casually mentions his home run in the 1980 all star game in la.  well, it was more than just a home run - it was the turning point in the game, propelled griffey to the mvp award, and was made possible by tommy lasorda.  tommy was just a coach, but he supposedly knew that tommy john would be the second pitcher to be used by the american league and suggested to chuck tanner that he get ken griffey into the game.  griffey replaced dave kingman in the 4th, tommy john replaced steve stone in the bottom of that inning, and the two faced off in the bottom of the 5th with the american league leading 2-0 and in the midst of a perfect game.  griffey's lifetime .431 average and 1.114 ops against john (in 58 at bats - not a small sample size) was on display as he hit a solo home run bringing the nl squad back to life.  strangely, earl weaver let john come back out for the 6th inning, and it all fell apart for the al from there.

voici à vous, 1982 ken griffey in action!

1977 ken griffey

the 1977 o-pee-chee set is the top dog as far as variations go, by sheer numbers and by variety of variations.  here's ken griffey's o-pee-chee card from that year.

it's not a team variation or a text variation as griffey would remain a member of the big red machine for 4 more years.  and, although he was on the allstar team in 1976, he didn't start, so it's not an award variation.  so, it must be a photo variation.

here's the topps front:

yup.  and o-pee-chee's photo kicks topps' all around the ballpark.

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

glad to see o-pee-chee didn't have to shrink the cartoon!

voici à vous, 1977 ken griffey!