Well, I found an excellent image for one, so here it is:
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| Re-done card for the blog |
Now, in case some of you forgot what the original was like, take a gander at this beauty:
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| Original card issued by Topps |
The REAL funny aspect of the original airbrushed card is the fact that after being purchased by the A's from the Pirates in November of 1976, Topps went ahead and made the "fix" so they could have him depicted on the right team come the 1977 season.
Problem was, Oakland went ahead in March of '77 and included Helms in a package deal that saw him go RIGHT BACK to the Pirates in a nine player trade! This is definitely a case of, "damned if you do, damned if you don't"!
By the way- Pretty good deal for Oakland, as it brought them Mitchell Page (Rookie of the Year runner up to Eddie Murray in 1977), future slugger Tony Armas, and future workhorse Rick Langford among others.
Helms himself had a decent 14-year career, including a rather suspicious Rookie of the Year award in 1966 as a member of the Reds that really should have been Sonny Jackson from the Astros in my opinion.
Then again, 1965 saw the Astros also ripped off when Jim Lefebvre from the Dodgers won R.O.Y. over a clearly more deserving Joe Morgan (ironically who was traded to the Reds FOR Helms later on in 1971).
Regardless, Helms ended his career in 1977 playing out the season as a member of the Red Sox. (Funny enough, Topps had a card for him in their 1978 set, proper uniform and all).
Nevertheless, Helms finished his career with two Gold Gloves, two All-Star nods, and the aforementioned Rookie of the Year in 1966.
Not too shabby...
