1978 topps joe ferguson - the card that should have been!

in july of 1978, just about 2 years after they had traded him away, the dodgers reacquired joe ferguson.  in exchange for the catcher and sometime outfielder, the dodgers sent rafael landestoy and jeffrey leonard to the astros.  ferguson was featured in the 1978 topps set as an astro,

but he was a big part of the dodgers nl championship team of 1978, and so deserves a place in my 1978 topps dodgers burger king/update set as well.  actually, everyone who played for the dodgers in either 1977 or 1978 will get a place, but let's not diminish the role ferguson played.
 

houston had been using ferguson exclusively at catcher, and once he returned to la, he was used the same way as despite a couple of appearances in the outfield, but the dodgers' biggest need was for fergie to replace the struggling steve yeager down the stretch. ferguson got the lion's share of the starts behind the plate from july through late september, hitting .237 with 7 home runs.  this was an improvement over yeager, who was struggling mightily at the plate, hitting below .200 with fewer home runs.  still, yeager excelled at throwing out would be basestealers, leading the league at 47% (compared to ferguson's 31%).

once the postseason started, yeager was the catcher and ferguson got just one start - game 6 of the world series. in that game, he went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles off of catfish hunter, but the dodgers fell to the yankees 7-2.

without further ado, here's the 1978 topps joe ferguson card that should have been:

the photo came from a team issued postcard.  not sure what year, but the sideburns sure match!  this would be the only game action photo the dodgers' topps set had in 1978.  that was a treat reserved for the mets, yankees, and a few other teams who may have played in yankee stadium or candlestick of all places.  here's the back (which was pretty easy to do since i just had to update the number, the 'acquired' line and the team reference on the bottom):

here's to you joe ferguson, and your 1978 card that should have been!