FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1985 DAVE STIEB

Seriously! Has there been a player from this era that was more "shafted" than Dave Stieb?

Topps did him wrong yet again by leaving him out of the "All-Star" mix, even though he was the starting pitcher for the American League for the second straight year.

So today we go and give him his rightful All-Star card in the 1985 set:

 

He was such a work-horse in the 1980s!

Stieb would lead the A.L. in WAR three seasons in a row from 1982-1984, and would make seven All-Star teams, while getting Cy Young attention four times.

He would post 15+ wins six times, with a high of 18 in 1990, when he finally spun a no-hitter after a few near-misses in the ninth-inning.

By the time he retired he finished with a record of 176-137 over 443 games, with 30 shutouts and 1669 strikeouts, completing 103 of this starts.

I dreaded any time Stieb was starting against the Yankees, as he seemed to have their number every single time.

Such a great pitcher any team would have been lucky to have on their roster!

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 DAVE STIEB

On the blog today, "fixing" an All-Star snub for a guy who was snubbed more than once by the fine people at Topps, Dave Stieb, who started the 1983 Midsummer Classic for the American League but didn't get an All-Star card the following year:

Stieb was such a work-horse in the 1980s!

He was also the starter the following year for the A.L. and again, Topps didn't give him an All-Star card in the 1985 set!

Stieb would lead the A.L. in WAR three seasons in a row from 1982-1984, and would make seven All-Star teams, while getting Cy Young attention four times.

He would post 15+ wins six times, with a high of 18 in 1990, when he finally spun a no-hitter after a few near-misses.

By the time he retired he finished with a record of 176-137 over 443 games, with 30 shutouts and 1669 strikeouts, completing 103 of this starts.

I dreaded any time Stieb was starting against the Yankees, as he seemed to have their number every single time.

Such a great pitcher any team would have been lucky to have on their roster!

 

REVISIT: OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 DAVE ROBERTS

On the blog today, and interesting OPC image variation to spotlight, that the 1977 cards of former #1 overall pick Dave Roberts:

OPC Version

Topps Version

I covered the craziness of the Topps Blue Jays edition way back in 2013, explaining how Roberts never actually ended up playing for the them at all!

Funny story with that actually.
Roberts, who was the #1 overall draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1972 out of the University of Oregon, never really panned out as the star infielder San Diego was hoping for.
In all fairness, that 1972 draft wasn't exactly teeming with stars. You have to go all the way to the third round to find a legitimate "star", those being Dennis Eckersley and Gary Carter. But you DID have Chet Lemon go late in the first round. Oh well...
Regardless, Roberts did manage to stick around with the Padres on the Major League level for four years, but in 1976 he spent the entire year in the minors, not really showing enough to be promoted before the year was up.
In October of 1976 San Diego sold Roberts, along with Dave Hilton and John Scott to the Toronto Blue Jays, seemingly giving up on their failed future star.
With that, Topps went ahead and airbrushed Roberts (along with Hilton, who I profiled earlier on this blog) in a Blue Jays uniform in anticipation of his new team for the upcoming season.
Only problem is Toronto then managed to turn right around and trade Roberts BACK to San Diego for pitcher Jerry Johnson in February of 1977, immediately making this an outdated card before it even came out!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Topps must have been scratching their heads with this one.
Check out the airbrushed Blue Jay logo on Roberts' cap...a bit on the small side don't you think?

As for OPC, they had him in the correct uniform, that of the San Diego Padres, for whom he'd go on to play another two seasons before putting in two years with the Texas Rangers, followed by a year with the Houston Astros and one final MLB season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982.

All told, the former top pick finished his 10-year career with a .239 average, with 483 hits over 2017 at-bats in 709 games, with 194 runs scored and 208 RBIs, putting in time out in the field at every position except for pitcher.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 ROY HARTSFIELD

Today on the blog, another image/card variation between Topps and OPC, this time the 1977 cards for inaugural Toronto Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield:

OPC version

Topps version

While I do like what Topps did with their card, giving the new franchise skipper a horizontal layout with the coaches listed as well (like earlier in the decade for manager cards), I definitely prefer what OPC did, just giving the field manager a card of his own.

Funny enough, OPC did NOT do the same for the other new franchise manager, Darrell Johnson of the Seattle Mariners, instead giving the same honor to the Montreal Expos skipper, Dick Williams, the other Canada-based leader.

As for Hartsfield, he certainly did not have an easy task taking over a new team, as the Blue Jays struggled (as any new franchise would), going a combined 166 and 318 record over his three-year tenure.

His Blue Jay teams would lose 107, 102 and 109 games respectively in those three seasons, finishing last each time in the tough American League East.

As a player, Hartsfield played three years in the Big Leagues, 1950 through 1952, all for the Boston Braves, hitting .273 over that time while playing second base.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 ALVIS WOODS

Up on the blog today, we take another look at OPC to Topps image variations, this time the difference for Alvin Woods and his 1977 cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps inserted Woods onto a multi-player rookie card, OPC gave him a dedicated rookie card in the set since he was representing a Canadian team, the newly formed Toronto Blue Jays.

Woods ended up having a decent seven year MLB career, starting off with a nice 1977 rookie year when he hit .284 over 122 games, collecting 125 hits in 440 at-bats.

He'd play through the 1982 season with the Blue Jays before putting in four years in the Minors, eventually making it back to a Big League field in 1986 as a member of the Minnesota Twins when he hit a robust .321 over what turned out to be the last 23 games of his career, going 9-for-28 at the plate.

Overall, he finished with a career .271 batting average, with 538 hits in 1986 at-bats over 618 games, driving in 196 runs while scoring 233 himself.

 

OPC VARIATIONS: 1977 SAM EWING

On the blog today, we have the 1977 OPC card issued for Toronto Blue Jay designated hitter Sam Ewing, who was left out of the Topps 1977 counterpart:

Ewing appeared in 11 games for Chicago during the 1973 season, batting .150 with three hits over 20 at-bats, while playing first base.
He’d be stuck in the minors the next couple of seasons, putting up nice numbers before getting called up again in 1976 after hitting a very nice .351 for the White Sox Triple-A team Iowa Oaks.
In November of 1976, he’d be selected by the Toronto Blue Jays as the 57th pick of the expansion draft, and he’d have a nice year for the new organization, batting .287 with 34 runs batted in over 97 games in their first year as a Major League club.
However, after hitting only .179 in 1978, he’d find himself in the Minors again, before playing in Japan during the 1979 season for the Nippon Ham Fighters, hitting 15 homers while batting .286.
That production got him back with the White Sox organization in 1980 playing for Iowa, but he never got the chance to appear in another Major League game, finishing up with a .255 batting average with 92 hits over 361 at-bats in 167 games.

 

OPC VARIATIONS (OF A SORT): 1977 DOUG HOWARD

On the blog today, an OPC "variation" of a different sort, a spotlight on Doug Howard's 1977 OPC card, even though he never got a Topps card that year:

OPC card

Actually he never got a Topps card at all for his brief career, something I remedied a FEW times on the blog over the years, including my own 1977 Indians Topps version, seen here originally posted 10 years ago:

WTHBALLS creation

Funny enough he never ended up playing a game for the Blue Jays on the Major League level, so I went and designed a card with him shown as a Cleveland Indian, for whom he suited up in 1976.

He appeared in 39 games for the Tribe, and batted .211 with 19 hits in 99 official at-bats.

It was the most time he saw in any of his five seasons in the big league, and his only season as an Indian. 

Turns out it was the last Major League action he'd see in his five-year career.

He came up with the California Angels in 1972 and played for them three years before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975, but he never did appear in a Topps set, even with his 97 career games and 233 at-bats.

Would have been a nice hole filled in as far as the more obscure players from the decade, especially when you think of some guys that DID get a card in the 1977 set who saw far less action in '76 like Jim Holt, Larry Cox or Jack Kucek.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 MIKE WILLIS

Today on the blog, a rarity these days, a first post for a player after 12 years of doing this, this time pitcher Mike Willis and the differences between his 1977 cards by OPC and Topps:

OPC version

Topps version

Of course, being that he was on the inaugural 1977 Toronto Blue Jays team, this was big stuff for OPC, so they went and gave him his own card in the 1977 set, as opposed to Topps who had him on one of the multi-player rookie cards.

In 1977, his first taste of the Majors, Willis appeared in 43 games, throwing 107.1 innings, with three starts thrown in, going 2-6 with a decent 3.94 E.R.A., striking out 59 batters.

He would end up pitching five years in the Big Leagues, all with Toronto, going 7-21 over 144 games, pitching to a 4.59 earned run average in 296 innings.

He would start six games, even tossing a complete game in 1978, while also collecting 15 saves while striking out 149 batters.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 JOHN SCOTT

Up on the blog today, we take a closer look at the image, or in this case card variation for John Scott in 1977, as he was about to become an "original Blue Jay" during their inaugural baseball season:

OPC Version

Topps version

Of course, OPC gave him a dedicated card in their set, given that these cards are for the Canadian market and I'm sure there was intense interest in the new team North of the American border.

In the Topps set, Scott was given a spot in their multi-player rookie card sub-set, which just so happened to be on the same card as future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson.

Not bad!

Scott would get a card in the 1978 set, as he played 79 games during that inaugural 1977 season.
But in 1975, he went 0-9 over 25 games with the San Diego Padres, though scoring nine runs with two stolen bases in pinch-running duties in his second taste of the Big Leagues.
In 1974 he appeared in 14 games for San Diego, collecting a single over 15 at-bats in his first Major League action, with three runs scored and a stolen base.
That aforementioned 1977 season with Toronto would be the last of his career, batting .240 with 56 hits in 233 at-bats, with 26 runs and 15 runs batted in, finishing up his brief three year career with a .222 batting average before moving on to Japan for a few seasons before calling it a career in 1982.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 RICK CERONE

Up on the blog today we move on to an unusual OPC image variation, that of former catcher Rick Cerone, who had a multi-player rookie card debut with Topps in 1977, though as a member of the Cleveland Indians, whereas with OPC he got a dedicated card as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays:

OPC version

Topps version

Cerone, who would soon be part of the inaugural Toronto Blue Jays team of 1977, began his 18-year Major League career with the Cleveland Indians with seven games in 1975, batting .250 with three hits over 12 at-bats while getting his first taste behind the plate.
He would go on to play through the 1992 season, with 1980 easily his best season as he surprised everyone, especially us kids here in NYC when he hit .277 with 14 homers and 85 runs batted in after taking over as the first full-time catcher after the tragic death of Thurman Munson the year before.
His efforts that year got him a seventh-place finish in American League MVP voting, yet ironically he’d never get to play full-time in any season the rest of the way.
Nevertheless, he retired with 1329 games under his belt, with three tours in the Bronx, batting .245 based on 998 hits in 4069 at-bats along with 436 runs batted in and 393 runs scored.

 

OPC VARIATIONS: 1977 DOUG AULT

Next up in the "OPC to Topps Image Variations" theme are the two cards for former Toronto Blue Jay Doug Ault, who had his rookie cards in the 1977 sets:

OPC version

Topps version

As we've seen with other Blue Jay cards in the OPC 1977 set, he was given a nice dedicated card as opposed to the multi-player rookie card Topps offered up.

An "original Blue Jay" from their inaugural 1977 season, Ault made his Major League debut in 1976 with nine games for the Texas Rangers, hitting an even .300 with six hits over 20 at-bats.

Once selected by the Blue Jays via the expansion draft, Ault got to see substantial playing time in 1977, appearing in 129 games, manning first base and putting in a respectable rookie year, hitting .245 with eleven home runs and 64 runs batted in.

In his first game with the team, opening day, Ault was the Jay's first "Hero", hitting two home runs and leading the team to a win over the Chicago White Sox.

He followed that up with an injury riddled 1978 season that saw him appear in only 54 games, hitting .240 with three homers and seven RBIs, also putting in some time in the outfield.

He would spend all of 1979 in the Minors before making it back in 1980, playing in 64 games, hitting only .194 in what turned out to be the last Big League action of his career.

He would play a year in Japan followed by two more years in the Mexican League before becoming a Minor League coach and Manager into the 1980's.

Sadly, after some tragedies and business failures, on December 22nd of 2004 he took his own life at the age of 54.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION- 1977 LEON HOOTEN

Interesting OPC to Topps image variation to spotlight today, that of former pitcher Leon Hooten in the 1977 sets, showing him as an "original" Toronto Blue Jay:

OPC version

Topps version

As we all know, there was a scramble of sorts back then to have the two new Major League franchises Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners represented in the upcoming card set, which led to many quirks.

In this example, Hooten never ended up playing in the Majors for the Jays, with only his scant 1975 action as an Oakland Athletic his MLB tenure.

Hooten appeared in six games for the A’s during their 1974 season, the third straight World Championship season for the franchise.
He didn’t factor in a decision, but put up a nice 3.24 earned run average, allowing three runs over 8.1 innings, with a strikeout and four walks.
He’d spend the next two years in the Oakland Minor League system before getting selected by the upstart Blue Jays in the Expansion Draft as the 59th pick, but he would never play for them, not even in their Minors system.
But he did walk away with an appearance on a Topps card, getting a spot in their “Rookie Pitchers” card #478 along with Jim Gideon, Mark Lemongello and Dave Johnson.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 BOB BAILOR

The next OPC to Topps image variation to get the spotlight here on the blog is the one for "original" Blue Jay Bob Bailor:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps gave him a spot in their multi-player rookie card, OPC of course gave him a dedicated card celebrating the new Canadian franchise.

Bailor originally made his Big League debut as a Baltimore Oriole in 1975 when he appeared in only five games, before returning for another nine games in 1976, collecting three hits over those 14 appearances with two runs scored and a triple among the scant highlights.

1977 would see him suited up for the new Toronto Blue jays franchise, being their second overall pick in the expansion draft held on November 5th, 1976.

With a chance to play everyday, Bailor did not disappoint, hitting a very nice .310 over a full rookie year, with 154 hits in 496 at-bats, stealing 15 bases and scoring 62 runs.

Surprisingly, he didn't get a single vote for Rookie of the Year, though he had tough competition with Eddie Murray leading the way followed by the Oakland A's Mitchell Page.

Nevertheless, he was one of the bright spots of the Blue Jays inaugural season for sure.

While he would never come close to that performance over the next eight seasons of his career, he did provide his team with a player who could fill in both all over the outfield and infield, putting in time "around the horn" as a solid utility man for the Jays, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers before calling it a career after the 1985 campaign.

All told, he finished with a career .264 average, with 775 hits in 2937 at-bats in 954 games, with 90 stolen bases and 339 runs scored along the way.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION (OR NOT): 1977 TOM BRUNO

Somewhat interesting post today regarding OPC to Topps image variations, with this one being the fact that the player who had a 1977 OPC card didn't get their first Topps card until 1979, pitcher Tom Bruno:

OPC Rookie in 1977

Topps Rookie 1979

Bruno actually made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 1976, appearing in 12 games and going 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA over 17.1 innings.

After being selected by the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise in the expansion draft over that Winter, Bruno got himself a card with the 1977 OPC set suited up with his new team.

Topps decided NOT to give Bruno a card, not even on a multi-player rookie card, while Bruno would go on to appear in 12 games for the Jays, going 0-1 with a bloated 7.85 ERA in 18.1 innings of work.

Turns out he would get on a Topps card until 1979, now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, on one of the worst sub-sets (in my humble opinion) in Topps' long history, the black and white multi-player rookie prospects cards of that year.

Turns out Bruno's 1978 season was excellent, with 18 appearances and 49.2 innings pitched, posting a record of 4-3 with a sparkling 1.99 earned run average, with three starts and a save thrown in.

He’d finish his career after the 1979 season, posting a record of 2-3 with a 4.23 E.R.A., with 27 strikeouts over 38.1 innings and 27 appearances, ending up with a record of 7-7 with a decent 4.22 E.R.A., 80 strikeouts and a single save over 69 games and 123.2 innings pitched.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 GARY WOODS

Today we take another look at a Topps & OPC image variation in their 1977 sets, this one of Gary Woods, who appeared on a multi-player rookie card for Topps, while he got his out "dedicated rookie" North of the border:

OPC version

Topps version

As we all know, with OPC putting extra emphasis on the Canadian teams in their sets, it stands to reason they would go ahead and give a player their own card, so here we have Woods on a nice card for himself, though his Topps card where he appeared alongside future stars Steve Kemp and Tony Armas wasn't too shabby!

Woods actually made his MLB debut in 1976 as a member of the Oakland A's, appearing in six games and hitting .125 over that limited time.

With Toronto in their inaugural season, he would get into 60 games, playing centerfield and hitting .216 with 49 hits over 227 at-bats, scoring 21 runs while driving in 17.

He'd only appear in eight games the following year, while spending all of 1979 in the Minors before making it back to the Big Leagues in 1980 with the Houston Astros for 19 games, hitting a blistering .377 over that time.

He'd put in one more year with Houston before heading to the Chicago Cubs in 1982, where he would play the next four years, the last of his nine-year career, generally as a fourth outfielder at all three slots.

All told, Woods hit .243 over his career, with 251 hits in 1032 at-bats, with 117 runs scored and 110 RBIs, hitting 13 homers while stealing 19 bases.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 DAVE ROBERTS

On the blog today, we take a closer look at the image variations for former #1 overall pick Dave Roberts and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I covered the craziness of the Topps Blue Jays edition way back in 2013, explaining how Roberts never actually ended up playing for the them at all!

Funny story with that actually.
Roberts, who was the #1 overall draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1972 out of the University of Oregon, never really panned out as the star infielder San Diego was hoping for.
In all fairness, that 1972 draft wasn't exactly teeming with stars. You have to go all the way to the third round to find a legitimate "star", those being Dennis Eckersley and Gary Carter. But you DID have Chet Lemon go late in the first round. Oh well...
Regardless, Roberts did manage to stick around with the Padres on the Major League level for four years, but in 1976 he spent the entire year in the minors, not really showing enough to be promoted before the year was up.
In October of 1976 San Diego sold Roberts, along with Dave Hilton and John Scott to the Toronto Blue Jays, seemingly giving up on their failed future star.
With that, Topps went ahead and airbrushed Roberts (along with Hilton, who I profiled earlier on this blog) in a Blue Jays uniform in anticipation of his new team for the upcoming season.
Only problem is Toronto then managed to turn right around and trade Roberts BACK to San Diego for pitcher Jerry Johnson in February of 1977, immediately making this an outdated card before it even came out!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Topps must have been scratching their heads with this one.
Check out the airbrushed Blue Jay logo on Roberts' cap...a bit on the small side don't you think?

As for OPC, they had him in the correct uniform, that of the San Diego Padres, for whom he'd go on to play another two seasons before putting in two years with the Texas Rangers, followed by a year with the Houston Astros and one final MLB season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982.

All told, the former top pick finished his 10-year career with a .239 average, with 483 hits over 2017 at-bats in 709 games, with 194 runs scored and 208 RBIs, putting in time out in the field at every position except for pitcher.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOHN LOWENSTEIN

On the blog today, another image variation between OPC and Topps, this one of John Lowenstein, who found himself North of the border with the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise...or DID he?!:

OPC version

Topps creepy version

While the fine folks at OPC managed to get him into his Blue Jays attire for his 1977 card, it turns out they were a little too quick with their actions, as the infielder/outfielder ended up getting traded BACK to the Cleveland Indians after being traded traded away from them just three months earlier!

On December 6th of 1976 Lowenstein was traded to the Blue Jays along with Rick Cerone for Rico Carty.

Well wouldn't you know it, he found himself turning right back around on March 29th of 1977 straight up for Hector Torres.

It's cards like this OPC that ruin "Immaculate Grid" games for players when they remember and think he did in fact play for them.

I'll always remember Lowenstein as one of the most successful platoon players of the 1980's, when he was paired up with Gary Roenicke on the Baltimore Orioles.

For example check out their awesome combined 1982 season where Lowenstein and Roenicke outright mashed the ball in part-time rolls.

The two combined for 45 homers, 140 runs batted in, 209 hits and 127 runs scored in 715 at-bats! Granted it's a bit more playing time than a "regular" full season, but not by THAT much.

Lowenstein ended up with a very decent 16-year career playing for the Indians (1970-77), Rangers (1978) and Orioles (1979-85), generally as a part-time player.

As a matter of fact his 1974 season with Cleveland would be the only time he posted enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title throughout his career.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS- 1977 PEDRO GARCIA

On the blog today, the next OPC to Topps image variation to check out, this one the 1977 cards for former second baseman Pedro Garcia:

OPC version

Topps version

After putting in half a season with the Detroit Tigers, Garcia found himself heading to the start-up Toronto Blue Jays franchise before the 1977 season, which gave OPC the time to get him in the correct uniform for their set.

Topps, on the other hand, because they hit the presses earlier than their Canadian counterpart, released Garcia's card showing him as a Tiger.

Turns out Garcia would play 41 games for the Blue Jays in their inaugural season, and those would be the last of his five year Major League career, which began in 1973 when he was runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year when he led the league with 32 doubles, hitting .245 for the Milwaukee Brewers with 142 hits, 67 suns scored and 54 runs batted in.

Sadly for him he would never come close to numbers like that again, playing for Milwaukee through the first half of 1976 before being shipped to Detroit, hitting a combined .204 in 1976 before his 1977 swan song.

Overall, he'd finish his Big League career with a .220 average, with 395 hits in 1797 at-bats over 558 games, with 196 runs scored and 184 RBIs, 37 homers and 35 stolen bases.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DAVE LEMANCZYK

Today on the blog, we take a closer look at the image variation between former pitcher Dave Lemanczyk's 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps went with their usual airbrushed older photo of the righty, OPC had the time to take a proper posed photo to use on their card, giving us an up-to-date look, facial hair and all.

After parts of four seasons with the Detroit Tigers between 1073 and 1976, he found himself as one of the "original" 1977 Toronto Blue Jays, getting his first true full season under his belt, starting 34 games and going 13-16 with a 4.25 ERA, completing 11 games and totaling 252.2 innings.

That 1977 action saw him as the starter who saw the most action in the inaugural Toronto season, with Jerry Garvin and Jesse Jefferson also logging 200+ innings for the new franchise.

Over the next three years he'd see decent action, tossing over 100+ innings each season, but never the full-time totals he saw in 1977.

By the time he was done after the 1980 season, where he split the year between the Blue Jays and California Angels, he finished with a record of 37-63 over 185 games, with an ERA of 4.62, completing 30 games with three shutouts.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 RICO CARTY

Today on the blog, one of the most fun image variations between OPC and Topps from the 1977 set, Rico Carty and his ironing twist to the photo-swap:

OPC version

Topps version

 

First off, while Topps went for the former batting champ airbrushed into a Toronto Blue Jays uni, the team that drafted him from the Cleveland Indians in the expansion draft in November of 1976, OPC had the bit of extra time to erase that transaction and have him BACK as an Indian since the Blue Jays then traded Carty back to Cleveland for Rick Cerone and John Lowenstein a month later!

Now, as if that wasn't funny enough, Carty was THEN traded by the Indians to the Blue Jays about a year later!

What a time the expansion period for the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners was!

Carty was traded back to the Blue Jays right before the beginning of the 1978 season for Dennis DeBarr, and though hassled by injuries through his career, was still an excellent hitter even while in his mid-30’s.
1978 would remind many of that as he would go on to hit a career high 31 home runs with 99 runs batted in while hitting .282 for the Blue Jays and Oakland A’s, where he would be traded later in the season for Willie Horton and Phil Huffman.
He’d play one more season in the Big Leagues, back with Toronto in 1979, where he hit .256 over 132 games and 512 plate appearances before calling it a career.
He’d finish his Major League tenure with a .299 batting average, with 1677 hits in 5606 at-bats, with 204 homers and 890 RBIs, getting named to an All-Star team in 1970 when he was voted in by write-in vote, a season that saw him hit .366 for the Atlanta Braves with 25 homers and a career-high 101 RBIs.
But a crushed knee had him miss all of 1971, while tuberculosis had him miss all of 1969, two full seasons lost for the all-star hitter that really altered his MLB resume.