Today on the blog I begin something I have been meaning to do for some time, create proper Oakland A's cards for all the stars that were airbrushed into new uniforms by Topps in the 1977 set, beginning with their All-Star shortstop Bert Campaneris:
And for those not familiar with his original as-issued card, here you go:
"Campy"
found himself a member of the Texas Rangers before the 1977 season,
signing as a Free Agent in November of 1976 as many of his former
teammates did (Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, etc), and Topps had the unenviable
job of scrambling to try and get them in their new uni's for the
upcoming set.
For
me however, I'm of the "show them for whom they played last season"
type of guy, so here you go. And I'll also be doing this for the other
Oakland Players who left after the 1976 season, so keep an eye out for
them!
As
for his time with Texas, let's just say it didn't go nearly as well as
anyone would have hoped, playing only one full season (1977), leading
the league in caught-stealing while swiping 27, but never coming close
to the success he had while with Oakland between 1964 and 1976.
But he wasn't finished as a player yet!
By the time he was done as a Major League player in 1983 at the age of
41, he’d finish with 2249 career hits with 1181 runs scored with six
all-star game nods in 19 years.
I fondly remember his time with the New York Yankees in 1983, this last action before retiring. Just seemed like a fun veteran to have around giving tips to youngsters like Don Mattingly.
I fondly remember his time with the New York Yankees in 1983, this last action before retiring. Just seemed like a fun veteran to have around giving tips to youngsters like Don Mattingly.