Two Teams, One Player – 1990 Upper Deck, Oil Can Boyd

1990 Upper Deck - Oil Can Boyd (Lo Series)

1990 Upper Deck - Oil Can Boyd (Hi Series)

Things that need to be pointed out here:

-Awesome name… Oil Can.  You just don’t see that anymore, it’s too bad.
-Red Sox uniform: hat perched way up high for that “I can do whatever the fuck I want” effect
-Expos uniform: glasses off for that “Clark Kent/Superman” effect
-Both cards: just a hint of the mass of gold chains Oil Can was famous for wearing.  I remember one big delay in a game against the Blue Jays when someone had to come out and take them off for him, the umpires said it was distracting or something.

Two Teams, One Player – Ed Olczyk

1990-91 Pro Set - Ed Olczyk (I)

1990-91 Pro Set - Ed Olczyk (II)

Ed Olczyk started the 1990-91 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, coming off seasons of 90 and 88 points for some pretty bad hockey teams.  18 games in, he was sent to Winnipeg along with Mark Osborne for Dave Ellett and Paul Fenton.

Initially, the trade looked like another Courtnall for Kordic-esque gaffe by questionable Leaf management of the era, especially after Olczyk scored in his first game for his new team, against the Leafs, no less.  But, Ellett did end up being a key component in the Leafs’ run to the Conference Finals in 1993 and 1994, as did Osborne after he was dealt back to Toronto midway through 1991-92.

Interestingly enough, the next time Olczyk was traded, it was from the Jets to the New York Rangers for Kris King and Tie Domi, both future Leafs, both of whom were contributors to another strong Toronto playoff run in 1999.

The way the Leafs have been lately, maybe they should try trading him again and see what happens.

Two Teams, One Player – 1989 Topps, Jesse Orosco

1989 Topps - Jesse Orosco

1989 Topps Traded - Jesse Orosco

Jesse Orosco signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians in time for the 1989 season, but 1989 Topps had already been printed showing him as a Dodger.  So, he cracked the lineup for the 1989 Topps Traded set.

On neither card does it say “Orosco, a nine-year veteran, plans to play professional baseball for the next one hundred years,” even though he almost did.  Well, he retired in 2003 at the age of 46, but impressive all the same.

Turns out, baseball cards can’t predict the future.

Two Teams, One Player – The 1991 Blue Jays-Padres Trade

Today, we are reliving the December 5, 1990 trade that brought Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to the Toronto Blue Jays from San Diego in exchange for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff.  On paper it looks pretty fair, but I’d say the Jays got the better end of this one.

Now, the before and after shots from 1991 Upper Deck:

1991 Upper Deck - Fred McGriff (Before)

1991 Upper Deck - Fred McGriff (After)

1991 Upper Deck - Joe Carter (Before)

1991 Upper Deck - Joe Carter (After)

1991 Upper Deck - Tony Fernandez (Before)

1991 Upper Deck - Tony Fernandez (After)

1991 Upper Deck - Roberto Alomar (Before)

1991 Upper Deck - Roberto Alomar (After)

There you go.

Two Teams, One Player – Bill Gullickson

I’ve always liked seeing two cards of the same player in the same set, playing for different teams.  I’m not sure why, I guess I just always thought it was cool that there could be two cards exactly the same, except with a different team logo and updated photo.  This section will be the place that I share some of the ones I like and find interesting.  Welcome aboard.

Leading us off in this category is Bill Gullickson from 1986 Topps.  Gullickson won 162 games in his career, including an AL-leading 20 in 1991 with the Detroit Tigers, after he’d played a few years in Japan.

1986 Topps - Bill Gullickson

Here is Bill’s base 1986 Topps card, number 229.  He is doing his best to make that Expos clown cap look good.

1986 Topps Traded - Bill Gullickson

Here is Bill’s 1986 Topps Traded card, number 42T.  I like that it’s the same style photo as the Expos card – cap, team jacket, no baseball action anywhere in sight.  The stats on the back are the same, but the “Talkin’ Baseball” feature now has a Reds fact instead of an Expos fact, and it shows that he was acquired via trade on 12-19-85.

1986 O-Pee-Chee - Bill Gullickson

1986 O-Pee-Chee - Bill Gullickson (Back)

Now, here is the unique twist to the Topps/O-Pee-Chee days, when the two companies shared similar designs – the 1986 O-Pee-Chee base card, number 229.  This one features the same photo as the Topps base card, but with the Reds team name and some text indicating “Now with Reds.”  The card back, however, is the Expos card back, not the Reds back – except bilingual, of course.  It needs to be bilingual for us Canadians to understand it – we get confused when something is printed with in just one language.

See?  Damn cool.