in january of 1987, the cubs traded ron cey to the a's. here is his 1987 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:
now the o-pee-chee back:

cey had hit just .221 in 45 games for the a's, primarily as a dh, although he also played some first base for the first time in his career. he hit 4 home runs to give him 316 for his career, and one of those bombs was hit at yankee stadium off of dave righetti - the first time he had visited the bronx since clinching the 1981 world series title there in 1981.

despite being released in july, cey was still featured in the 1987 topps traded set which i appreciated. although steve garvey was my favorite player, it was the penguin's poster that was on my wall.

voici à vous, 1987 ron cey!

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now the o-pee-chee back:
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as a dodger fan, i have lots of memories of reggie jackson.  three home runs on three straight pitches in 1977.  sticking his hip out on the bases in 1978.  striking out against bobby welch in 1978.  you get the idea.  the last, and perhaps most lasting memory i have of him, however, is from game 6 of the 1986 alcs when his angels were so close to beating the red sox.  jackson was on the top step of the dugout (without his glasses) ready to run on to the field to celebrate.  instead, the red sox came back to win the game in extra innings and the angels lost game 7.  reggie's next appearance in a big league uniform was 6 hours north in oakland.

with the a's in 1987, reggie played in 115 games, although about 30 of those appearances were as a pinch hitter.  he hit .220 and slugged the last 15 home runs of his career, the last 2 of which came against former teammate mike witt.  reggie retired after the season, and the a's went on a run almost as good as the one they had in the early 70's, the first time reggie was on the team.

voici à vous, 1987 reggie jackson!

danny tartabull was traded from the mariners to the royals in december of 1986.  here's his 1987 o-pee-chee card:
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now the o-pee-chee back:
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tartabull had finished 5th in the al roy voting in 1985 despite striking out 157 times.  his high finish was due to the 25 home runs he hit, and he delivered exactly what the royals expected in 1987.  paired with bo jackson in the outfield, tartabull hit .309 with 34 home runs and 101 rbi his first season in kansas city.  the royals finished in second place behind the twins.  tartabull led them to another second place finish in 1989, but that was as close as he would get to the postseason with the royals.

he had perhaps his best season in 1991, his last as a royal, as he hit .316 with 31 home runs and 100 rbi and led the league with a .593 slugging percentage.  as is the case these days, such a performance meant that the yankees came calling, and the bronx bombers did in fact sign tartabull to a free agent deal heading into 1992.

voici à vous, 1987 danny tartabull!

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the lefty, who had sat out the 1984 season after being released by the royals, only to return to the majors with the giants in 1985, never actually pitched for the a's in 1987.  he had signed with them, along with former teammate reggie jackson (whose 1987 o-pee-chee variation is coming soon), after announcing that he wanted to pitch one more year following his release from the giants in november of 1986.  instead, blue decided to retire in march of '87, just a couple of months after signing his deal.

in all, blue won 124 of his 209 games with the a's, along with his cy young award, mvp award, and three world championships.

voici à vous, 1987 vida blue!

rick rhoden was traded in november of 1986 from the pirates to the yankees in the deal that sent future cy young award winner doug drabek to pittsburgh.  here's his 1987 o-pee-chee card:
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now the o-pee-chee back:
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i loved these kinds of deals in hindsight - mcgriff to the blue jays, buhner to the mariners, and drabek to the pirates - the yankees got the short end of the stick. that's not to say i thought rhoden was bad - he was a favorite dodger of mine and he won 16 games for the yankees in 1987 - but clearly the yankees probably would have fared better had they kept drabek in their system.

rhoden followed up his 16 win season with a 12-12 effort in 1988. his first start that year was a 3-hit shutout against the twins. after the season, he was traded back to the national league in a 3-for-1 deal with the astros.

voici à vous, 1987 rick rhoden!

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kennedy spent just two seasons with the orioles before heading back to the national league west, but in his first year in baltimore, he hit 18 home runs and was named to the all-star team.  he started the game for the american league, and caught the first six innings before giving way to matt nokes.

kennedy's dad, bob kennedy, played for a bunch of teams in the 50's before becoming a manager (or head coach as the cubs called it), and kennedy is trying to follow in his footsteps by managing in the minor leagues.  he is currently managing in the padres' system. 

voici à vous, 1987 terry kennedy!

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royster appeared in 55 games for the pale hose before he was traded to the yankees to finish out the 1987 season.  in those 55 games, however, he was able to establish his career high with 7 home runs. as a yankee, royster hit .357 in 18 games while playing third, short, second, and left field.  just before the start of the 1988 season, he was released by new york and later signed with atlanta, where he had spent the bulk of his career.

voici à vous, 1987 jerry royster!

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after his first season in anaheim, burleson had a tough go of it thanks to a shoulder injury.  in baltimore, he was hoping for a fresh start, but wound up being released in july after hitting just .209 in 62 games.  the only two home runs he hit as an oriole, the last two home runs of his career, both came against the angels.

voici à vous, 1987 rick burleson!

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schmidt wound up a 10-game winner for the first time in his career as an oriole in 1987.  schmidt's first 6 wins of the season came in relief, including a 7-inning, 4-hit scoreless outing against his former mates for win number 3.  he then earned the last 4 wins of his season as a starter, and those victories included two shutouts - a 3-hitter against the yankees and a 2-hitter against the eventual world champion twins.

voici à vous, 1987 dave schmidt!

gary ward signed as a free agent with the yankees prior to the 1987 season.  here's his 1987 o-pee-chee card:
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now the o-pee-chee back:
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with the yankees, ward played all three outfield spots (primarily left field) and even dabbled at first base a bit.  he wound up batting just .248 - the second lowest average of his career - in 1987.  the lowest average of his career was achieved the following season, as he hit .225 in his second year in the bronx.  still, ward had a few highlights as a yankee, including two walk-off home runs and his 100th career home run which came against juan nieves of the brewers in june of '87.

the yankees wound up releasing ward early in the 1989 season, but he signed on with the tigers and finished his career with two respectable years in motown.

voici à vous, 1987 gary ward!

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davis did not benefit from the move to the national league.  he was 2-7 with a 6.18 era in 21 games for the pads when they shipped him to oakland on august 30, 1987.  he went 1-1 and 3.26 for the a's after the trade, and then won 16 games (with a 3.70 era) for them in 1988 (although he took the loss in two world series games against the dodgers).  then, in 1989, davis won 19 games with less than stellar 4.36 era.  he took a loss in the alcs and did not appear in the earthquake series against the giants.

davis parlayed his 19-win season into a free agent deal with the royals, creating the need for another o-pee-chee variation in 1990.

voici à vous, 1987 storm davis!

the braves acquired damaso garcia from the blue jays in february of 1987.  here is his 1987 o-pee-chee card:
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garcia didn't play for the braves at all in 1987, as he was hampered with a knee injury.  he did return in 1988 for 21 games in which he hit just .117.  he was released, and the dodgers gave him a looksie before releasing him as well.  he caught on with the expos in 1989, becoming one of the fifty or so people to play for both canadian franchises.

voici à vous, 1987 damaso garcia!

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milner spent just the 1987 season in san francisco before returning to the reds for one last hurrah in 1988.  as a giant, milner hit .252 in 101 games with 4 home runs - the last two of which were lead-off shots.

voici à vous, 1987 eddie milner!