OPC IMAGE VARIATION (OR NOT): 1977 TOM BRUNO

Somewhat interesting post today regarding OPC to Topps image variations, with this one being the fact that the player who had a 1977 OPC card didn't get their first Topps card until 1979, pitcher Tom Bruno:

OPC Rookie in 1977

Topps Rookie 1979

Bruno actually made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 1976, appearing in 12 games and going 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA over 17.1 innings.

After being selected by the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise in the expansion draft over that Winter, Bruno got himself a card with the 1977 OPC set suited up with his new team.

Topps decided NOT to give Bruno a card, not even on a multi-player rookie card, while Bruno would go on to appear in 12 games for the Jays, going 0-1 with a bloated 7.85 ERA in 18.1 innings of work.

Turns out he would get on a Topps card until 1979, now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, on one of the worst sub-sets (in my humble opinion) in Topps' long history, the black and white multi-player rookie prospects cards of that year.

Turns out Bruno's 1978 season was excellent, with 18 appearances and 49.2 innings pitched, posting a record of 4-3 with a sparkling 1.99 earned run average, with three starts and a save thrown in.

He’d finish his career after the 1979 season, posting a record of 2-3 with a 4.23 E.R.A., with 27 strikeouts over 38.1 innings and 27 appearances, ending up with a record of 7-7 with a decent 4.22 E.R.A., 80 strikeouts and a single save over 69 games and 123.2 innings pitched.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 GARY WOODS

Today we take another look at a Topps & OPC image variation in their 1977 sets, this one of Gary Woods, who appeared on a multi-player rookie card for Topps, while he got his out "dedicated rookie" North of the border:

OPC version

Topps version

As we all know, with OPC putting extra emphasis on the Canadian teams in their sets, it stands to reason they would go ahead and give a player their own card, so here we have Woods on a nice card for himself, though his Topps card where he appeared alongside future stars Steve Kemp and Tony Armas wasn't too shabby!

Woods actually made his MLB debut in 1976 as a member of the Oakland A's, appearing in six games and hitting .125 over that limited time.

With Toronto in their inaugural season, he would get into 60 games, playing centerfield and hitting .216 with 49 hits over 227 at-bats, scoring 21 runs while driving in 17.

He'd only appear in eight games the following year, while spending all of 1979 in the Minors before making it back to the Big Leagues in 1980 with the Houston Astros for 19 games, hitting a blistering .377 over that time.

He'd put in one more year with Houston before heading to the Chicago Cubs in 1982, where he would play the next four years, the last of his nine-year career, generally as a fourth outfielder at all three slots.

All told, Woods hit .243 over his career, with 251 hits in 1032 at-bats, with 117 runs scored and 110 RBIs, hitting 13 homers while stealing 19 bases.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 RICK MONDAY

On the blog today, we look at the image variation for Rick Monday and his 1977 OPC & Topps cards, after his trade from the Northside of Chicago to the sunny West Coast and the Los Angeles Dodgers:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps was stuck going with Monday still suited up and designated as a Cub, the fine folks at OPC did their airbrushing best to get him in as a Dodger, leading to the gem you see here.

A solid player who also gained some attention for his flag-saving maneuver in the outfield one day when some clowns were trying to burn an American flag, Monday was in his prime when these cards would have been pulled from packs in that glorious Summer of 1977.
After putting in some good seasons with the A’s between 1966 and 1971, Monday was traded for pitcher Ken Holtzman over the Winter of 1971/72, and he didn’t disappoint the Cubs’ faithful, averaging about 20 homers a season with about 60 runs batted in.
He had his best season in Chicago in 1976 when he slammed a career-high 32 homers with 77 RBIs, which got him traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers which netted the Cubs future batting champ Bill Buckner and infielder Ivan DeJesus.
He’d go on to play the last eight seasons of his career in L.A., retiring after the 1984 campaign with a career .264 average, with 1619 hits and 241 homers, along with 775 RBIs and 950 runs scored, while being a part of the World Champion 1981 Dodger team.
One of the better overall #1 picks from the draft for sure!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DOC MEDICH

On the blog today, the next cards spotlighted in the fun OPC/Topps image variation thread are the 1977 cards for former pitcher Doc Medich:

OPC Version

Topps Version

Funny OPC edition, as they tried getting him "suited up" with his upcoming team for the 1977 season.

After a solid full season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1976, Medich found himself sent off to the Oakland A's along with five others (including Tony Armas) in a massive trade that fetched the Pirates Chris Bratton, Phil Garner and Tommy Helms.

Incredibly one-sided for the A's when you also account for Rick Langford, Doug Bair and Mitchell Page as part of the deal heading West!

Medich opened the 1977 season with Oakland, pitching well by going 10-6 for them over 26 appearances, all but one of those starts.

He was then sent to the Seattle Mariners where he appeared in only three games before finding himself out East with the Mets, where he appeared in one single game, throwing seven innings, closing out an active if not eventful year.

A solid starter over his 11 year career, he came up with the New York Yankees, winning as many as 19 games in 1974 before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Willie Randolph deal, then the three 1977 clubs mentioned above, then the Texas Rangers where he pitched between 1978 and 1982, finally closing out his career with 10 starts at the end of '82 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

By the time he hung them up, he finished with a record of 124-105 over 312 appearances, with a 3.78 ERA and 16 shutouts in 1996.2 innings, with 955 strikeouts against 624 walks.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 GEORGE HENDRICK

Today on the blog, we take a look at the image variation between OPC and Topps for George Hendrick's 1977 cards, which include some really funny airbrushing going on for his Canadian cardboard:

OPC version

Topps version

Seems this San Diego Padres job was somewhat half-assed, though you can clearly notice the cool Cleveland Indians wind-breaker he's wearing.

After a couple of very productive seasons with the Indians, Hendrick found himself out West again, putting in a very nice 1977 year that saw him hit 23 homers with 81 ribbies, hitting .311 for San Diego.

Not bad for a trade that only cost the Padres Hector Torres, Johnny Grubb and Fred Kendall.

The following year he'd end up getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals however, for pitcher Eric Rasmussen, a trade the Padres most assuredly would love to take back.

Hendrick would go on to play through the 1988 campaign, finishing up with 267 homers, 1111 RBIs, a .278 batting average and 1980 hits in 2048 games and 7129 at-bats.

He was an important cog in the Cardinals '80s machine that would net a World Championship in 1982, while taking home two Silver Slugger Awards and making two All-Star teams.

Apparently his nickname was “Silent George”, though I do not remember that, but perhaps I need to whip up a “nickname of the 1970’s” card for him as well!

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 FRED KENDALL

It's been a little while since I posted an OPC/Topps Image Variation card duo, so today we take a look at former catcher Fred Kendall and his two cards from 1977:

OPC version

Topps version

The fine folks at OPC scrambled to airbrush him into a Cleveland Indians cap, while the people at Topps had no time before the presses started rolling, so they went with a nice image of him still with the San Diego Padres.

After playing the first eight years of his Big League career with the Padres, Kendall was shipped to Cleveland along with two other players for George Hendrick, in December of 1976.

He'd appear in 103 games for the Tribe that year, hitting .249 over 346 plate appearances before heading off to Boston for the 1978 season, where he would only play in 20 games, hitting just below the "Mendoza Line" at .195.

He'd find himself back in San Diego for what turned out to be the last two years of his career in 1979 and 1980, playing in a combined 65 games before retiring.

Overall, his final numbers in the Majors were a .234 batting average, with 603 hits in 2576 at-bats in 877 games, with 31 homers and 244 runs batted in over 12 seasons.

But his biggest contribution to the game? He fathered a player I feel is a border-line Hall of Fame catcher, Jason Kendall, who starred on the Big League diamond between 1996 and 2010, hitting .288 with over 2000 hits and almost 200 stolen bases.

Way to go Fred!

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 TONY PEREZ

Today we take a look at the image variation between the great Tony Perez's 1977 OPC and Topps cards after his shocking trade to the Montreal Expos, the beginning of the end for the juggernaut Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" dynasty:

OPC edition

Topps edition

OPC managed to get him out as a member of "their" Montreal Expos, something I am sure the Canadian baseball world was excited about.

Perez was sent to Montreal along with pitcher Will McEnaney for two guys out of the bullpen: Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray.

Now, I don't really remember the reasoning for this trade (Tony! Help me out here!), but it seems ABSURD all these years later.

Nevertheless, the "Big Dog" kept on producing for the next four years (three with the Expos and one with the Boston Red Sox in 1980) before becoming a solid veteran bat off the bench between 1982 and 1986 with Boston, Philadelphia and back in Cincinnati before retiring.

All told, he put together a magnificent 23 years career, collecting over 2700 hits, 375 home runs, 1600 runs batted in, and a .279 lifetime batting average.

He was also named to seven all-star teams and got Most Valuable Player attention in seven seasons.

It took a long while, but he was eventually elected into the Hall of Fame in 2000, joining former teammates Joe Morgan, Sparky Anderson and Johnny Bench, with Dave Concepcion and Pete Rose still out in the cold.

As I've stated earlier on this blog, I was always fascinated that former "Big Red Machine" skipper Anderson considered the Perez trade a severe blow to the Reds' continued dominance of Major League ball after 1976.

Here's a team that pretty much had their entire squad intact, and even picked up TOM SEAVER in June of 1977, but could never make it back to the top of the baseball world.

A good idea of how important Perez was…

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 DAVE ROBERTS

On the blog today, we take a closer look at the image variations for former #1 overall pick Dave Roberts and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I covered the craziness of the Topps Blue Jays edition way back in 2013, explaining how Roberts never actually ended up playing for the them at all!

Funny story with that actually.
Roberts, who was the #1 overall draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1972 out of the University of Oregon, never really panned out as the star infielder San Diego was hoping for.
In all fairness, that 1972 draft wasn't exactly teeming with stars. You have to go all the way to the third round to find a legitimate "star", those being Dennis Eckersley and Gary Carter. But you DID have Chet Lemon go late in the first round. Oh well...
Regardless, Roberts did manage to stick around with the Padres on the Major League level for four years, but in 1976 he spent the entire year in the minors, not really showing enough to be promoted before the year was up.
In October of 1976 San Diego sold Roberts, along with Dave Hilton and John Scott to the Toronto Blue Jays, seemingly giving up on their failed future star.
With that, Topps went ahead and airbrushed Roberts (along with Hilton, who I profiled earlier on this blog) in a Blue Jays uniform in anticipation of his new team for the upcoming season.
Only problem is Toronto then managed to turn right around and trade Roberts BACK to San Diego for pitcher Jerry Johnson in February of 1977, immediately making this an outdated card before it even came out!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Topps must have been scratching their heads with this one.
Check out the airbrushed Blue Jay logo on Roberts' cap...a bit on the small side don't you think?

As for OPC, they had him in the correct uniform, that of the San Diego Padres, for whom he'd go on to play another two seasons before putting in two years with the Texas Rangers, followed by a year with the Houston Astros and one final MLB season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982.

All told, the former top pick finished his 10-year career with a .239 average, with 483 hits over 2017 at-bats in 709 games, with 194 runs scored and 208 RBIs, putting in time out in the field at every position except for pitcher.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 MARTY PEREZ

Today on the blog we take a look at the image variation for Marty Perez and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I always liked that 1977 Topps Perez card with him suited up with the San Francisco Giants, out in the field on a nice sunny day.

As for OPC, they quickly airbrushed him into a New York Yankees uniform , or should I say, cap, to reflect his trade in March of 1977 for Terry Whitfield.

Sadly all that airbrushing work was for nothing, as Perez made one single appearance for the Yankees that Spring before getting traded to the Oakland A's along with Dock Ellis and Larry Murray for pitcher Mike Torrez.

In that one game for the Yanks Perez went 2-for-4 with time out at third base, before going on to play 115 games for the A's the rest of the way.

Turns out the following season, he'd only appear in 16 games for Oakland before getting released, ending his playing career after 10 seasons.

Between 1971 and 1976 he was a regular player for the Atlanta Braves, putting in extensive time in the infield, averaging around .250 at the plate.

Overall, he hit .246 in 931 games between 1969 and 1978, with 771 hits in 3131 at-bats, with 313 runs scored and 241 runs batted in.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 GEORGE SCOTT

Time to put the spotlight on George Scott and his 1977 image variation between his Topps and OPC cards, a classic photo with an airbrush-touch in only the way the 1970s could have given us:

OPC version

Topps version

Not too bad a job to put "Boomer" back in a Boston Red Sox uniform after some power-house years with the Milwaukee Brewers!

Already an all-star for the Red Sox between 1966 and 1971 before heading to Milwaukee, Scott came back and continued his bashing ways in 1977, hitting 33 homers with 95 runs batted in and 103 runs scored, getting him his third and final all-star nod.
Sadly for the Red Sox, Scott’s production would drop-off, to the point he found himself in Kansas City in 1979, whereas Cecil Cooper went on to a borderline Hall of Fame career with the Brewers through the 1980’s.
Nevertheless, Scott put together an excellent 14-year career that saw him collect just under 2000 hits, 271 home runs and 1051 RBI’s along with eight Gold Gloves for his fielding at first base.
Not bad at all...

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOHN LOWENSTEIN

On the blog today, another image variation between OPC and Topps, this one of John Lowenstein, who found himself North of the border with the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise...or DID he?!:

OPC version

Topps creepy version

While the fine folks at OPC managed to get him into his Blue Jays attire for his 1977 card, it turns out they were a little too quick with their actions, as the infielder/outfielder ended up getting traded BACK to the Cleveland Indians after being traded traded away from them just three months earlier!

On December 6th of 1976 Lowenstein was traded to the Blue Jays along with Rick Cerone for Rico Carty.

Well wouldn't you know it, he found himself turning right back around on March 29th of 1977 straight up for Hector Torres.

It's cards like this OPC that ruin "Immaculate Grid" games for players when they remember and think he did in fact play for them.

I'll always remember Lowenstein as one of the most successful platoon players of the 1980's, when he was paired up with Gary Roenicke on the Baltimore Orioles.

For example check out their awesome combined 1982 season where Lowenstein and Roenicke outright mashed the ball in part-time rolls.

The two combined for 45 homers, 140 runs batted in, 209 hits and 127 runs scored in 715 at-bats! Granted it's a bit more playing time than a "regular" full season, but not by THAT much.

Lowenstein ended up with a very decent 16-year career playing for the Indians (1970-77), Rangers (1978) and Orioles (1979-85), generally as a part-time player.

As a matter of fact his 1974 season with Cleveland would be the only time he posted enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title throughout his career.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 RICHIE HEBNER

Good day all!

On the blog today, we take another closer look at an image variation between OPC and Topps, this time the 1977 cards for the "Gravedigger", Richie Hebner:

OPC version

Topps version

I'm particularly fond of the cards where OPC just airbrushed the image Topps used on their card into the new uni for their card, in this case going from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hebner played the bulk of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he came up to the Big Leagues, and had some solid seasons lost amid the years of the Roses, Stargells et al.

After putting in the first nine years of his career with the Pirates, Hebner signed as a Free Agent with the N.L. East rival Phillies in December of 1976, just in time for OPC to work their magic and airbrush the beauty you see here.

A solid player who'd go on to play 18 seasons under the Major League Sun, the third baseman hit as many as 25 homers, which happened in 1973, while also driving in as many as 82 runs, which he did for the Detroit Tigers in 1980.
By the time he retired in 1985 after a couple of seasons with the Chicago Cubs, he finished with a .276 batting average, with 1694 hits over 6144 at-bats in 1908 games, while also hitting 203 homers and driving in 890 runs.
Those numbers are actually pretty good considering the era he played in!
After his playing career, Hebner went on to coach, as well as do some managing in the Minors, all the way through the 2010 season at last check, a baseball lifer with an admirable Big League career.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 WOODIE FRYMAN

On the blog today, we take a closer look at another OPC to Topps image variation, this one the 1977 differences for Woodie Fryman's cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps had the lefty in his 1976 team's duds, the Montreal Expos, OPC tried to show him in the uniform of his new team, the Cincinnati Reds, where he was sent as part of a blockbuster trade that saw the "Big Dog" Tony Perez heading North of the border, the beginning of the end for the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" champions.

Fryman would appear in 17 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, going 5-5 with a 5.38 earned run average over 75.1 innings.

He would start the 1978 campaign with the Cubs, appearing in 13 games, before moving on to the Montreal Expos for another 19 appearances on the season, going a combined 7-11 over 32 appearances, completing four games with three shutouts, as well as a save thrown in for good measure.

He'd stay with Montreal for the rest of his career, pitching five more years with them before retiring at the age of 43 after the 1983 season.

Overall, Fryman finished with a career 141-155 record in 625 appearances, with a 3.77 ERA over 2411.1 innings, tossing 27 shutouts while saving 58 between 1966 and 1983.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS- 1977 PEDRO GARCIA

On the blog today, the next OPC to Topps image variation to check out, this one the 1977 cards for former second baseman Pedro Garcia:

OPC version

Topps version

After putting in half a season with the Detroit Tigers, Garcia found himself heading to the start-up Toronto Blue Jays franchise before the 1977 season, which gave OPC the time to get him in the correct uniform for their set.

Topps, on the other hand, because they hit the presses earlier than their Canadian counterpart, released Garcia's card showing him as a Tiger.

Turns out Garcia would play 41 games for the Blue Jays in their inaugural season, and those would be the last of his five year Major League career, which began in 1973 when he was runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year when he led the league with 32 doubles, hitting .245 for the Milwaukee Brewers with 142 hits, 67 suns scored and 54 runs batted in.

Sadly for him he would never come close to numbers like that again, playing for Milwaukee through the first half of 1976 before being shipped to Detroit, hitting a combined .204 in 1976 before his 1977 swan song.

Overall, he'd finish his Big League career with a .220 average, with 395 hits in 1797 at-bats over 558 games, with 196 runs scored and 184 RBIs, 37 homers and 35 stolen bases.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DARRELL PORTER

Today on the blog we take a look at Darrell Porter and his image variations for his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC Version

Topps version

The young catcher was part of a multi-player trade in December of 1976 that had the people at OPC scrambling to airbrush him into a Kansas City Royals uni, while the Topps cards were already going to press, leaving us with what you see here.

Not that bad a paint-job by OPC. Lord knows we have seen worse (or some may say GLORIOUS) work over the decade!

As for Porter, I never realized that he was never a subject here on the blog all these years.

While he did make an All-Star team and finish third in Rookie of the year voting as a member of the Brewers, it was after he found himself in K.C. that he really became a solid Major League backstop, with three All-Star nods in a row between 1978 and 1980, including a starting gig in the 1979 game, with two top-10 MVP finished as well in that time.

His 1979 season is really not spoken about enough in respect to the 1970s!

Quite possibly the best offensive year by an American League catcher in the 1970s, Porter was a beast at the plate.

He hit .291 for the Royals, with 101 runs scored and 112 runs batted in, with 20 homers and an American League leading 121 walks, for a nifty .421 on-base-percentage, while also leading the league with 13 sacrifices.

He also hit an amazing 10 triples over his 155 hits, which as we all know for a catcher is not a common occurrence in the game.

In 1981 he would become a St. Louis Cardinal, signing with them as a Free Agent and replacing Hall of Famer Ted Simmons, and Porter would be part of the World Champion 1982 team, having himself an incredible Post Season, taking home MVP honors in BOTH the N.L. Playoffs and the World Series after hitting a ridiculous .556 against the Atlanta Braves, then hitting .286 with eight hits and five RBIs in the Fall Classic.

He'd finish his career with two seasons playing part-time with the Texas Rangers in 1986 and 1987, finishing up with a .247 batting average over 17 seasons, with 188 homers, 765 runs scored and 826 RBIs, four All-Star nods and the aforementioned two top-10 MVP finishes.

Sadly, because of a substance abuse problem that began during his baseball career, Porter passed away in 2002 related to cocaine at only 50 years of age.

His life was full of turmoil during and after his baseball career, and he even wrote a book about it called "Snap Me Perfect!", detailing his life in the sport and struggles with drugs.

R.I.P. Darrell Porter: 1952-2002.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 RICHIE ZISK

Today on the blog we take a closer look at the image variation between Richie Zisk's 1977 OPC and Topps cards, with the airbrusher using some trickery to give the illusion of a unique image when in fact all they did was zoom in and paint over the same image Topps used for their card:

OPC version

Topps version

As you can see on the OPC "White Sox" version, they cropped Zisk's photo and closed in on him and airbrushed some sweet almost neon-like blue to get him into a Chicago White Sox uniform.

For the Topps card, they went to press earlier and didn't have the time to get him out of his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, the team Zisk played his entire Big League career for at that point.

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.

1974 saw him elevate his game, hitting 17 homers with a .313 average and 100 runs batted in, his first of two such seasons over his career.

He was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich Gossage deal in 1977, and had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side Hit Men" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.

He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 CECIL COOPER

Up on the blog today, we have a look at the image variations for Cecil Cooper's 1977 Topps and OPC cards:

OPC version

Topps version

One of my favorite non-Yankee players as a kid at that time, Cooper found himself traded to the Milwaukee Brewers before the 1977 season, with OPC airbrushing him into a Brewer uniform for their set, while Topps still had him with the Boston Red Sox, the only team he'd suited up for during his career to that point in time.

Not bad an airbrushing job by the OPC folks to be honest, working with a photo that made it a little easier to transform.

Cooper was traded to the Brewers in December of 1976 for Bernie Carbo and George Scott, and immediately became a star, putting together seven straight seasons of a .300 batting average or higher, with a high of .352 in what is pretty much a forgotten incredible season in 1980 (thanks to George Brett), when he also led the American League in runs batted in with 122 while collecting 219 hits, 33 doubles and 25 homers.

The five-time all-star had three 200+ hit seasons, four 100+ RBI seasons, five 20+ homer seasons and even took home two Gold Gloves for his defensive work.

Between 1980-1983 he finished in the top-10 for Most Valuable Player, and also won three straight Silver Slugger Awards.

By the time he retired after the 1987 season, he finished with over 2000 hits, 1000 runs scored, 400 doubles, 240 homers and 1100 RBI's with just under a .300 batting average (.298).

What's astonishing to me is that when he became eligible for the Hall of Fame, he didn't get a single freaking vote! None! Yet guys like Bill Campbell, Andre Thornton and Davey Lopes got some support.

Just incredible to me…

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOE FERGUSON

Up on the blog today, we take a closer look at the OPC and Topps image variation for Joe Ferguson's 1977 cards:

OPC version

Topps version

Whereas the Topps card has the catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he suited up in 1976, the OPC card has him airbrushed into a Houston Astros uniform, reflecting his recent trade to the team.

After putting in half a season with the Cardinals in 1976, Ferguson was part of a multi-player trade that also saw former All-Star pitcher Larry Dierker head to St. Louis.

Ferguson would have a decent year for the Astros in 1977, hitting .257 over 132 games with 16 homers and 61 runs batted in.

He'd start 1978 with the Astros before finding himself where it all began, the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he started his career in 1970 and where he played up until 1976.

He had himself a nice 14-year Major League career, really acting as a back-up or platooning catcher, with only two seasons seeing him get as many as 500 plate appearances: 1973 with L.A. and 1977 with Houston.
His 1973 season with the Dodgers got him some MVP consideration, as he hit .263 with 25 homers and 88 runs batted in, along with 87 walks and 84 runs scored. Not bad at all!
For his career, he finished with a .240 average with 122 homers and 445 RBIs, with 719 hits over 3001 at-bats.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOHNNY GRUBB

Today on the blog we spotlight one of the best image variations between OPC and Topps, that of Johnny Grubb, who found himself airbrushed into a Cleveland Indians uni on his OPC card, while Topps went to press before his trade, thus giving us the card you see here, suited up with his original team, the San Diego Padres:

OPC version

Topps version

 

Really fun that the Topps image is the original image that OPC used for the airbrush job, really giving us a better understanding at how amazing the paint-job was to create an Indians version.

Amazing work here, especially for that era where we didn't have the advantage of Photoshop to create life-like images like we do in the present day.

In December of 1976 Grubb was traded to the Indians along with Fred Kendall and Hector Torres for slugger George Hendrick, leaving the only team he played for after five solid years.

Grubb had himself a very nice rookie campaign in 1973, finishing up the season hitting .311 with 121 hits over 389 at-bats, scoring 52 runs while collecting 33 extra base hits.

He would also hit .286 in 1974 and .284 in 1976, with a .269 season sandwiched in between, not too shabby in an era of "dead ball" as anyone growing up in that time period as yours truly could attest to.

He would hit .301 for the Indians in only 34 games in 1977, before coming back and hitting .265 over 113 games for the Tribe before getting traded to the Texas Rangers for two players to be named later at the deadline, Minor Leaguers Bobby Cuellar and Dave Rivera.

He would go on to have a nice 16-year career in the Big Leagues, easily overlooked with his .278 batting average playing for the Padres, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers between 1973 and 1987.
Sadly for him, though he did stick around for 16 seasons as a Big Leaguer, that .311 batting average in 1973 turned out to be a career-high, and it was also arguably his finest season in Major League ball.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired he left the game with 1153 hits over 4154 at-bats, along with 553 runs scored and 475 runs batted in, while also being a member of the World Champion juggernaut 1984 Detroit Tigers team that went wire to wire.
Not too shabby...

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 JACKIE BROWN

Up on the blog today we take a closer look at the image variations between former pitcher Jackie Brown's 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

After two seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Brown found himself North of the border with the Montreal Expos, and the fine folks at OPC tried their best to show him with his new team, giving us the airbrushed beauty you see here.

As for Topps, since they hit the presses earlier than OPC, we're given the nice posed shot of the righty in all that maroon Cleveland glory, which is fine by me!

Brown pitched for seven years in the Majors, originally coming up in 1970 with the Washington Senators, for whom he'd pitch the first four and a half years of his career.

As mentioned earlier he'd put in two years with the Indians before one season in Montreal, where he'd go 9-12 over 42 appearances, tossing 185.2 innings with six complete games and a couple of shutouts, finishing with an ERA of 4.51.

For his playing career he would go 47-53 over 214 games, with a 4.18 ERA in 892.2 innings of work, with eight shutouts and three saves along the way.

After his playing days he would go into coaching, where he would put in time with the Texas Rangers (1979-82), Chicago White Sox (1992-95), and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2002), while also holding the title of Minor League Pitching Coordinator for various organizations before passing away at the age of 73 in 2017.

A baseball lifer through and through.