Velez, who was the 53rd pick in the 1976 expansion draft, had a decent year for the Jays in 1977 when he batted .256 with 16 homers and 62 runs batted in.
He would stay with the team for the next five years, hitting as many as 20 homers (1980) as well as matching the ‘77 RBI total that very same year.
As for the original Topps 1977 card, this one was one of the better airbrush jobs, since there wasn’t much to airbrush! Nevertheless it was a nice job with the logo on the cap.
Velez would put 11 years in the Major Leagues, batting .251 with 78 homers and 272 runs batted in, while collecting 452 hits in 1802 at-bats over 637 games.