OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 RICHIE ZISK

Today on the blog we take a closer look at the image variation between Richie Zisk's 1977 OPC and Topps cards, with the airbrusher using some trickery to give the illusion of a unique image when in fact all they did was zoom in and paint over the same image Topps used for their card:

OPC version

Topps version

As you can see on the OPC "White Sox" version, they cropped Zisk's photo and closed in on him and airbrushed some sweet almost neon-like blue to get him into a Chicago White Sox uniform.

For the Topps card, they went to press earlier and didn't have the time to get him out of his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, the team Zisk played his entire Big League career for at that point.

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.

1974 saw him elevate his game, hitting 17 homers with a .313 average and 100 runs batted in, his first of two such seasons over his career.

He was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich Gossage deal in 1977, and had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side Hit Men" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.

He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: RICHIE ZISK

Today on the blog we go and add slugger Richie Zisk to my long-running 1977 National League Centennial thread, celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1976:

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.

1974 saw him elevate his game, hitting 17 homers with a .313 average and 100 runs batted in, his first of two such seasons over his career.

He was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich Gossage deal in 1977, and had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side Hit Men" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.

He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER (OF ONE OF MY OWN!): 1972 DEDICATED ROOKIE FOR RICHIE ZISK

Well, as I announced a few weeks ago, for SOME reason way back when, I designed a 1970 "dedicated rookie" for slugger Richie Zisk when I meant to do a 1972 edition, since his first rookie card was in the 1972 set, NOT 1970.

So with that, here we have the corrected 1972 edition, which will also be a printed card in one of my upcoming custom sets this year:

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.
He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.
I will ALWAYS be bothered by the fact that Topps screwed up his 1978 card, forgetting to place the All-Star emblem on his card, which would have given him two straight All-Star cards in 1978/1979.Hey, it's the little things for us collectors that keep it interesting, no?!

1978 SPECIAL SUB-SET- "1977 30 HOME RUN CLUB" RICHIE ZISK

Coming up to the end of my long-running 1978 "30 Home Run Club" series, and today we have another Chicago White Sox slugger, Richie Zisk, who had himself an excellent 1977 campaign:

 

Zisk, who was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich Gossage deal, had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side Hitmen" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.

Though he'd have a few more solid years left as a Major Leaguer, he'd never reach more than 22 homers in any one season before he retired in 1983.

He'd end up playing for 13-years, hitting 207 home runs with 792 RBI's and 681 runs scored with a nice .287 batting average over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

1978 RE-DO: "SOUTH SIDE HITMEN" ALL-STAR RICHIE ZISK

Here’s a card I’ve wanted to created for a long time, a 1978 “re-do” for Richie Zisk, showing him as a member of the Chicago White Sox as well as getting that All-Star medallion on there, which Topps inexplicably left off his original card:

I remember as a kid my friends and I trying to figure out why there was a missing all-star card when this set came out.
I was in the third grade and we were trying to complete our sets, ripping packs open and never getting that third American League All-Star outfielder.
Of course a year later we’d be trying to figure out the American League All-Star shortstop, as Topps pulled the same boner move and for some reason forgot to put that sweet all-star banner on Freddie Patek’s card as well.
Zisk arguably had his best Major League season in 1977, slamming 30 home runs along with a .290 batting average, with 101 runs batted in and 78 runs scored, giving him a starting all-star berth and some MVP consideration.
That 1977 White Sox team was a good one, based in large part to the fire power they had in their line-up, as they finished 90-72 for the season.
Besides Zisk and his 30 homers, they also got strong contributions from Oscar Gamble (31 homers), Eric Soderholm (25 homers), Chet Lemon (19 homers), Jim Spencer (18 homers), and Lamar Johnson (18 homers).
As a team the ChiSox ended up hitting 192 homers for the year, very nice muscle display!
As for Zisk, he'd end up playing for 13-years, hitting 207 home runs with 792 RBI's and 681 runs scored with a nice .287 batting average over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1970 RICHIE ZISK

It is time to go and add former All-Star Richie Zisk to my long running thread of “dedicated rookies”, this one a 1970 edition for the Brooklyn-born slugger:

Zisk wouldn’t actually make his MLB debut until 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.
He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.
I will ALWAYS be bothered by the fact that Topps screwed up his 1978 card, forgetting to place the All-Star emblem on his card, which would have given him two straight All-Star cards in 1978/1979.
But keep an eye out next week for my re-done 1978 Zisk card, with All-Star emblem as well as White Sox fix!

1975 IN-ACTION: RICHIE ZISK

Adding to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” sub-set, today I include Brooklyn-born Richie Zisk into the mix, as he was just coming into his own by the time this card would seen the light of day:

Zisk had just completed his first full season in the Majors in 1974 and did not disappoint, driving in 100 runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates while hitting a robust .313 with 17 homers.
Not to say his previous season, technically his rookie year of 1973 was bad, as he hit .324 with 108 hits over 333 at-bats with 10 homers and 54 Rbis in 103 games.
He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.
I will ALWAYS be bothered by the fact that Topps screwed up his 1978 card, forgetting to place the All-Star emblem on his card, which would have given him two straight All-Star cards in 1978/1979.
For a kid back then, those All-Star designations made you a god, and Zisk had to settle for one instead of two.
Thanks Topps!

TRADED: 1977 RICHIE ZISK

Here's a "traded" card for former slugger Richie Zisk, who was traded from the Pirates to the White Sox during the 1976-1977 off-season.

Check it out:

Zisk arguably had his best Major League season in 1977, slamming 30 home runs along with a .290 batting average, with 101 runs batted in and 78 runs scored, giving him a starting all-star berth and some MVP consideration.

That 1977 White Sox team was a good one, based in large part to the fire power they had in their line-up, as they finished 90-72 for the season.

Besides Zisk and his 30 homers, they also got strong contributions from Oscar Gamble (31 homers), Eric Soderholm (25 homers), Chet Lemon (19 homers), Jim Spencer (18 homers), and Lamar Johnson (18 homers).

As a team the ChiSox ended up hitting 192 homers for the year, very nice muscle display!

As for Zisk, he'd end up playing for 13-years, hitting 207 home runs with 792 RBI's and 681 runs scored with a surprisingly nice .287 batting average over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

He started two consecutive all-star games for the American League in 1977 and 1978, and us card-nuts all know how he was "robbed" of an all-star designation on his 1978 Topps card.

THE MISSING ALL-STAR CARD MYSTERY...

As I mentioned earlier, I was always a fan designating an All-Star on the player's regular issue card, which was in practice by Topps between 1975 and 1981.
For all except that last year (1981), Topps simply picked the starting nine for each league of the previous year's All-Star game. Yet for some reason, they inexplicably forgot to slap the "All-Star" on the following three cards, 1975 Reggie Jackson, 1978 Richie Zisk and 1979 Freddie Patek, and to this day I have no idea why.
If anyone has any idea why this was done please let me know. It would put to rest a mystery that has been bouncing around in my head ever since. As a matter of fact, I remember back when the 1979 set came out, it had what seemed to be my entire elementary school searching for that ever elusive American League All-Star card! Every boy in that school was on a mission for that card, not knowing that it never existed.
Since many of you out there enjoy the practice of designing or making up your own cards, I took the liberty of "fixing" these mistakes myself and present them here. The left side represents what was actually issued, while the right side shows "what should have been."
It's especially sad for Patek since this would have been the only All-Star card of his career. For Zisk, it would have marked a two-year run on All-Star cards since he was correctly designated as an All-Star the following year, which was his only A.S. card to this point.
For some of us this actually matters, as sad as it may seem. ;)