In a Topps decade that gave us many
memorable airbrushed "masterpieces", today we take a closer look at TWO
such gems, which happen to be of the same player for both his 1977 Topps
and OPC cards, those of All-Star catcher Manny Sanguillen:
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| OPC version |
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| Topps version |
These
are just tremendous! In all their wonderful dayglo green for us kids to
pull out of packs, whether here in the States or up North in Canada.
This
was a rare moment where both companies scrambled to get the player in
the updated uniform, in this case Sanguillen with the Oakland A's after
the odd trade that had the catcher traded along with $100,000 to Oakland
for their manager, Chuck Tanner on November 5th, 1976.
Sanguillen really gets overlooked when it comes to how well he
played during his 13-year career, all but 1977 spent with the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
This was a catcher who hit over .300 four times, with a high of
.328 in 1975, while also topping .280 another four times, before
retiring with a robust .296 career average.
I personally think he may have been ripped off a Rookie of the Year
in 1969 when he hit .303 with 62 runs scored and 57 runs batted in as a
rookie catcher, losing to the Dodgers Ted Sizemore (a STRONG argument
can also be made for Sanguillen's teammate
Al Oliver, who also could have won).
He was named to three all-star teams, and even garnered some MVP support in 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1975 as a member of the Bucs.
A very nice career for a solid catcher during the 1970's who gets
forgotten among the Benchs, Fisks, Munsons and Simmons of the Majors…