Up on the blog today, we take a look at another OPC to Topps image variation, this time the 1977 cards of former catcher Alan Asbhy:
Such a nice shot of Ashby in the Blue Jay uni as opposed to the Topps airbrushed card we see here.
Understandably
Topps had to scramble and get creative with a bunch of players as the
Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners were set to make their Major League debut
in 1977, giving us some airbrushed gems that year.
As for Ashby, after being traded to the Jays from the Cleveland Indians in November of
1976, he would go on to put in two seasons for the expansion team
before moving on to play for the Houston Astros for the next eleven
years.
I never realized that his career led him all the way to the doorsteps of
the 1990 decade, finishing up with 22 games for the Astros in 1989 after
17-years as a Major League catcher.
In those 17 seasons he batted .245 while playing in 1370 games,
collecting 1010 hits with 90 home runs and 513 runs batted in over 4123
official at-bats.
After his baseball career ended as a player he hung around the game as a
coach in the Astros system as well as a broadcaster for the Astros in
both radio and television.
