the 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update joe simpson card that should have been!

joe simpson was drafted by the dodgers in 1973, and made his debut for the team as a late season call up in 1975. although he struck out in his first at bat (against the giants' ed halicki), he singled his second time up (which came almost 3 weeks later) for his first big league hit. over the next three seasons, simpson played the role of late or midseason call up, never appearing in more than 29 games for the dodgers, or getting more than 4 hits in any campaign. in fact, he had just one extra base hit (a double) and 2 rbi in his time as a dodger.

still, he appeared in 29 games for the 1977 nl champs, and 10 more for the 1978 pennant winners, so he deserves a 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been:

complete with a back:

finding a color photo of simpson as a dodger turned out to be more difficult than i expected. in fact, i almost ordered one from brace photos before deciding to do some photoshopping. it should be noted that even black and white photos were hard to find. his 1990 target dodger card features a photo of him from his time in seattle, but i do have two black and white images of simpson as a dodger, one from the 1978 dodger yearbook, which i used to create this card

just as i did for ron washington, rick sutcliffe and others, and his 1979 topps card which feature fellow '1978 topps cards that should have been' members pedro guerrero and rudy law.

the interesting thing about the 1979 card, aside from the glasses, is that simpson spent the 1979 season in seattle (although he wasn't acquired by the mariners until late may 1979). he wound up playing in 120 games for the m's that season.

back to the card - i initially tried to use his 1981 donruss card

as the base, and worked to get dodger stadium in the background instead of comiskey. it turned out too dark with the shadows, although the uniform looked pretty good. his other cards that i found, including 1982 topps

and 1982 fleer

had too much blue and, in the case of the fleer, were poor quality images to begin with. so, i went with his 1983 donruss card.

i think it turned out ok.

simpson wound up playing for the mariners through the 1982 season hitting .252 in 445 games. he swatted all 9 of his career home runs as a mariner, and finished his big league career with a single season in kansas city in 1983, although he was in the angels' organization for the 1984 season. simpson may be best known for his announcing work with the braves, or maybe even being gaylord perry's 3000th strikeout victim while with the dodgers in 1978, but i'll remember him as a member of the 1977 and 1978 nl champs!