let's break the monotony by showcasing a good ol' fashioned team variation shall we? woodie fryman was acquired by the reds after the 1976 season in the tony perez trade. o-pee-chee took the time to airbrush the lefty into a cincy cap, and wound up with this, his 1977 o-pee-chee card:
here's the topps front:
it should be noted that fryman's card is one of the very few that breaks the o-pee-chee 'expos rule of 9' in the 1977 set. every ninth card in the set, with only a couple of exceptions, features an expo.
now the o-pee-chee back:
see? fryman's card is number 126 in the set, and so it sits in the lower right hand corner of the 9-pocket page. i am guessing that it pained some o-pee-chee worker greatly to have to airbrush woodie out of his expo duds and knowingly violate the checklist pattern.
and the topps back:
fryman had put up a 5-5 record in 12 starts and 17 appearances for the reds when he up and 'retired' in early july. supposedly unhappy with the way sparky anderson was leading the defending world champs, fryman left the team. he later asked for a trade, but he wasn't dealt until after the season ended when he was sent to chicago with bill caudill for bill bonham. after all of that, fryman was re-acquired by the expos after he had spent just a couple of months with the cubs.
voici à vous, 1977 woodie fryman!
