OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DOC MEDICH

On the blog today, the next cards spotlighted in the fun OPC/Topps image variation thread are the 1977 cards for former pitcher Doc Medich:

OPC Version

Topps Version

Funny OPC edition, as they tried getting him "suited up" with his upcoming team for the 1977 season.

After a solid full season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1976, Medich found himself sent off to the Oakland A's along with five others (including Tony Armas) in a massive trade that fetched the Pirates Chris Bratton, Phil Garner and Tommy Helms.

Incredibly one-sided for the A's when you also account for Rick Langford, Doug Bair and Mitchell Page as part of the deal heading West!

Medich opened the 1977 season with Oakland, pitching well by going 10-6 for them over 26 appearances, all but one of those starts.

He was then sent to the Seattle Mariners where he appeared in only three games before finding himself out East with the Mets, where he appeared in one single game, throwing seven innings, closing out an active if not eventful year.

A solid starter over his 11 year career, he came up with the New York Yankees, winning as many as 19 games in 1974 before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Willie Randolph deal, then the three 1977 clubs mentioned above, then the Texas Rangers where he pitched between 1978 and 1982, finally closing out his career with 10 starts at the end of '82 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

By the time he hung them up, he finished with a record of 124-105 over 312 appearances, with a 3.78 ERA and 16 shutouts in 1996.2 innings, with 955 strikeouts against 624 walks.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1978 DOC MEDICH

Here's a fun card to throw out there, a re-do for Doc Medich and his 1978 Topps card, showing him with a team he pitched for in 1977 instead of the airbrush classic that we all pulled out of packs in the Spring of 1978:

 

Medich didn't finish the year with the Oakland A's, but since I cannot find a suitable image of him with the New York Mets, the team he DID finish the year with, I used this nice action shot instead.

Medich opened the season with Oakland, pitching well by going 10-6 for them over 26 appearances, all but one of those starts.

He was then sent to the Seattle Mariners where he appeared in only three games before finding himself out East with the Mets, where he appeared in one single game, throwing seven innings, closing out an active if not eventful year.

A solid starter over his 11 year career, he came up with the New York Yankees, winning as many as 19 games in 1974 before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Willie Randolph deal, then the three 1977 clubs mentioned above, then the Texas Rangers where he pitched between 1978 and 1982, finally closing out his career with 10 starts at the end of '82 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

By the time he hung them up, he finished with a record of 124-105 over 312 appearances, with a 3.78 ERA and 16 shutouts in 1996.2 innings, with 955 strikeouts against 624 walks.

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970'S- 1976 TRADED GEORGE "DOC" MEDICH

Time to spotlight an airbrush job of a card that had an impact on my young baseball days back in the mid-70’s: the 1976 Doc Medich traded:

For me, this was the trade that brought a young fellow-Brooklynite, Willie Randolph, to the Bronx, where he’d become a soft-spoken fan favorite, including mine.
However at the time Medich was a young stud coming off of win totals of 14, 19 and 16 in his first three years of Big League ball.
He was an inning-eater, tossing over 270 in both 1974 and 1975 after starting 38 games each season, and looked like a solid arm that would have a very nice Major League career ahead of him.
He would go on to play eleven seasons in the Majors, finishing up with a career 124-105 record, with 16 shutouts over 312 appearances and 1996.2 innings pitched through the 1982 season.
However that early promise wasn’t really met, never winning more than 14 games in any season the rest of the way after this trade, and that was with the Texas Rangers in 1980.
Nevertheless, that trade that sent him to the “Steel City”, while the Yankees received Randolph, Ken Brett and Dock Ellis, helped New York forge a mini-dynasty that brought them two straight World Series championships in 1977 and 1978, and a second baseman that would become of the organizations most dependable players.