1977 gene tenace

gene tenace signed a free agent deal with the padres in december of 1976.  that was early enough for topps to airbrush the former athletic into padres attire, so all o-pee-chee could do was crop the image a little bit tighter and move the facsimile autograph.  here is tenace's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

o-pee-chee could have gone with a position variation, too, as tenace played a handful of games at third base for the padres in 1977.  he hit 15 home runs and drove in 61 runs over the course of the season, with three two-homer games to his credit, along with his seventh career grand slam.  tenace led the national league in walks in 1977 with 125, and in hit by pitch with 13.  i found this interesting because he didn't hit in the 8 spot ahead of the pitcher as i first assumed.

voici à vous, 1977 gene tenace!

1977 johnny grubb

johnny grubb was traded by the padres to the indians as part of the fred kendall/george hendrick deal in late 1976.  as a result, we get this airbrushed photo team variation, complete with an adjusted facsimile autograph.  here is grubb's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

grubb appeared in just 34 games for the tribe in 1977, missing the entire second half of the season due to injury.  he hit .301 when he did play, however, and had a couple of home runs.  he returned in 1978, and hit .265 with 14 home runs for cleveland in 113 games before he was traded to texas towards the end of the season.

voici à vous, 1977 johnny grubb!

1977 mike ivie

mike ivie gets the slight photo adjustment (north-south) and facsimile autograph rotation treatment on this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

i can't say that i was a fan of mike ivie growing up, and it's all because of his baseball cards.  the first card of his that i saw was his 1978 topps card, upon which he appears to be complaining or yelling about something.  then, the back of his 1977 card above told me that he once had 5 rbi against the dodgers.  that was enough for a young, impressionable baseball fan to sour on mike ivie.  it turns out that ivie's grand slam was the last home run jim brewer allowed as a dodger.  after one more appearance in dodger blue, brewer was traded to the angels.

ivie hit 9 home runs (only one of which came against the dodgers), and had a batting average of .272 in 1977, his final year with the padres.  he hit his second career grand slam that year against future dodger gerry hannahs.  prior to the 1978 season, ivie was traded to the giants for derrel thomas which made me even less than a fan.  the last straw might have been ivie's first career pinch-hit grand slam (one of two he would hit in 1978) which came at the expense of don sutton.  furthermore, ivie took hannahs deep again in 1979 when hannahs was with the dodgers.  it was the last home run hannahs would allow as a major league pitcher as it came in his last big league appearance.

voici à vous, 1977 mike ivie!

1977 george hendrick

it's not a difference in cropping, o-pee-chee used a whole different photo of george hendrick (while also relocating his facsimile autograph) in 1977, thanks to the december 1976 trade that sent hendrick from the indians to the padres.  here is hendrick's 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

it's true - i checked.  hank aaron and babe ruth both scored 2174 times in their careers.  i was worried that the elias sports bureau took away a run or two from one of them like they took two hits away from ty cobb, who now has 4189 career base knocks.  no such corrections - hank and the babe remain tiedfor fourth place all-time.

this post is about george hendrick, however, and those amazing hats he's wearing on his 1977 cards.  the padres cap is obviously airbrushed, but i don't know about the indians hat.  it almost looks like a visor because i think i can see some hair exposed on top of hendrick's head.  what do you think?  besides, i don't think the indians wore white caps. ever.

hendrick's first season in san diego was a good one.  he played in a career high 152 games and hit over .300 (.311) for the first time.  he hit 23 homers and drove in 81 runs on the season, and in june he hit the 100th home run of his career.

voici à vous, 1977 george hendrick!

1977 dave w roberts

not to be confused with dave (arthur) roberts, featured here just a short time ago, dave (wayne) roberts earned his spot on this blog with an even better variation - team, photo, and autograph placement.  here is dave (w) roberts' 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the joke was on topps in 1977 as they rushed to get roberts, acquired by the blue jays from the padres shortly after the end of the 1976 season, into some semblance of blue jay gear.  o-pee-chee, on the other hand, was able to wait until roberts was returned to san diego via trade in february of 1977 and then use a real photograph with no need for airbrushing.

at any rate, roberts saw action in the big leagues in 1977 after not getting a promotion in 1976.  in fact, he played in 82 games for the pads and played catcher with a little bit of second, third and short mixed in.  roberts' versatility was on display at the end of april when he caught a complete game and then spent the entire game the next day at shortstop.

voici à vous, 1977 dave (w) roberts!

1977 fred kendall

fred kendall gets one of the most dramatic variations in the 1977 o-pee-chee set, thanks to the trade made between the padres and the indians in december of 1976.  here is his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

who wears short shorts?  the mets and phillies' wives, apparently.  vavavoom!

kendall wore the tools of ignorance for the indians in 102 games during the 1977 season.  he also made an appearance as their dh.  he hit 3 homers and drove in 39 runs, matching his rbi total from 1976.  he also hit the final triple of his career as a member of the tribe.  the following spring, kendall was sent to the bosox where he spent the 1978 season before returning to san diego in 1979.

voici à vous, 1977 fred kendall!

1977 rollie fingers

o-pee-chee didn't mess with the mustache, but they did move rollie fingers' facsimile autograph on his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

what a bad job of airbrushing.  now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

fingers had signed as a free agent in december of 1976 - plenty of time for topps to get him in his padres' gear.  with the friars, fingers appeared in a career high 78 games (the 4th straight season he had appeared in at least 70 games) and he pitched 132.1 innings.  he also won 8 games and saved 35 games for the 69-93 padres.  not a bad trick.

voici à vous, 1977 rollie lingers!

1992 bip roberts

bip roberts was traded by the padres to the reds in december of 1991 for randy myers.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

in cincy, bip hit .323 with 44 steals while playing mostly left field with some second, third and center thrown in for good measure.  he was named to the all-star team and finished 8th in the league mvp voting.  in the all-star game, bip was 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, a run scored and two rbi.  he eventually returned to the padres in 1994 as a free agent.

voici à vous, 1992 bip roberts!

1992 randy myers

randy myers was traded by the reds to the padres in december of 1991 for bip roberts.  here is his 1992 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the reds had moved myers to the starting rotation in 1991, and the padres had the good sense to put him back in the bullpen.  myers finished 57 of the 66 games in which he appeared for the pads in 1992, and finished the season with a 3-6 record and 38 saves.  unfortunately for san diego, myers left after the season ended and signed a free agent deal with the cubs, for whom he saved 53 games in 1993.

voici à vous, 1992 randy myers!

1991 marty barrett

marty barrett joined the padres as a free agent in january of 1991. here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

nice double play card, by the way. unfortunately, barrett only appeared in 12 games for the pads, hitting .188 with a double, a homer, and 3 rbi before he was released by the club in june of 1991. at least his home run was dramatic - it was a game-tying, three-run, pinch-hit job against dave righetti and the giants in the bottom of the ninth of a game in april. the padres lost the game in 10 innings, however.
 
voici à vous, 1991 marty barrett!

1991 roberto alomar

roberto alomar was traded in december of 1990 with joe carter from the padres to the blue jays for tony fernandez and fred mcgriff. a good ol' blockbuster deal. here's alomar's 1991 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

he was coming off of his first all-star season when the pads dealt him, and alomar proceeded to have 11 more consecutive seasons of that type, starting in 1991. in the all-star game, alomar hit behind his brother sandy in the american league's lineup, but went 0 for 4 in front of his home crowd. overall for the season, alomar hit .295 with 53 steals for toronto, and won his first (of 6 consecutive) gold gloves.  

voici à vous, 1991 roberto alomar!

1990 carmelo martinez

carmelo martinez signed with the phillies as a free agent a few days before the padres acquired fred lynn and joe carter. i don't think carmelo was in their plans for 1990. here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

as a phillie, martinez hit .242 with 8 homers and 31 rbi in 71 games before he was traded to the pirates in august. with pittsburgh, martinez hit 2 more home runs, the first of which came against the phillies. he was 2 for 8 with 2 doubles and 2 rbi for the pirates in the 1990 nlcs against the reds.

voici à vous, 1990 carmelo martinez!

1990 fred lynn

fred lynn signed as a free agent with the padres in december of 1989 as they continued to revamp their outfield.  here's his 1990 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the pads acquired joe carter on the same day that they signed lynn, and with lynn in left and carter in center, the padres hope for big things. they got 30 home runs and 138 rbi from the pair, but lynn played only about a quarter of the season in the field and contributed just 6 long balls and 23 rbi in what would be his final season in the big leagues.

voici à vous, 1990 fred lynn!