Tuesday, November 22, 2022

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOSE MORALES

The next OPC image variation we take a look at is the 1977 card for pinch-hitter extraordinaire Jose Morales of the Montreal Expos:


 

Nothing earth-shattering between the two cards, but the OPC edition is indeed slightly nicer, and I suspect more up-to-date, image of Morales.
Never a full-time player, he'd find his groove as a bat off the bench, specializing as a pinch-hitter with some success in the role.
Of course if any of you remember the 1977 set, you’ll remember that Morales set a new Major League record for pinch-hits in a season in 1976 when he collected 25, breaking the record held by Dave Philley and Vic Davalillio, appearing on a “Record Breaker” card in the set.
He would play twelve seasons in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a nice .287 career batting average with 375 hits over 1305 at-bats between 1973 and 1984.