the 1978 topps ron washington card that should have been

texas rangers manager ron washington made his major league debut as a dodger in 1977.  he replaced bill russell at short in the 7th inning of a game against tom seaver and the reds in september and came to bat in the bottom of the ninth against pedro borbon.  he was hit by a pitch.  welcome to the big leagues ron!

in all, washington played in 10 games for the dodgers that year, and of the 9 games in which he had a plate appearance, he reached base in 7 of them.  unfortunately for him, he never appeared for the dodgers in another major league game, spending the next two seasons in their minor league system.  he was traded to the twins just before the start of the 1980 season, and made it to the majors for good (almost, anyway) in 1981.  still, those 10 games make him a member of the team of my youth and warrant inclusion in my 1978 topps burger king/update project.  here then is the ron washington card that should have been. 

 with a back

 i used his 1982 topps traded card (i believe it is his earliest card)

for the photo and just photoshopped the logo on the hat and jersey.  it's the same card night owl featured the other day.  speaking of which, i own the same 1978 dodger yearbook that night owl mentioned.  i tried to use the washington photo in it to create the card, but i had a hard time with the skin tone.  still, there is merit in using the only photo i know of showing washington in a dodger hat.  so, here is the colorized/black and white alternate version of the 1978 topps ron washington card that should have been

here's to you, ron washington!  now beat those giants!