manny mota moves on, plus more cards that should have been in 1983

continuing with the evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers...

i missed the news last month that manny mota, after 30-some odd years of coaching for the dodgers was no longer acting in that capacity.  looks like he'll do some scouting and some work on the spanish broadcasts instead.  that leaves davey lopes as the only dodger of my youth still wearing the dodger uniform - noting that mota usually changed out of the uni after bp.

manny made his final appearance as a player in 1982, signing a free agent deal on september 1st that year so that he could be activated from his coaching duties.  he got just one at bat that day - his only at bat of the season - and he grounded out to second.  it was a productive out, however, as steve garvey moved from second to third.

topps did not deem that lone appearance worthy of a card, so here is the 1983 topps manny mota card that should have been.

i actually made this card a long time ago, or at least an o-pee-chee version of it.  i've updated the inset photo this time around.  since 1982 turned out to be the final season in which mota wore the uniform as a player, the 1983 card would have been his final tribute.  here's the back with his complete major league stats.

that's what 20 years of stats over 21 seasons (mota didn't play in 1981) look like.  i took rusty staub's card and modified the teams (except for the 1969 expos) and numbers.  very small type...

it is worth noting that the 44-year old mota took his final cut against 43-year old jim kaat.  quite possibly the oldest confrontation in baseball history.  and, as a veteran of so many seasons, mota would have been given a 'super veteran' card had he been in the set.  here's what it might have looked like

with a back, too.

that got me thinking, what if the infield had qualified for 'super veteran' status in 1983?  steve garvey and bill russell, who both debuted in 1969, must have just missed the cut.  here are their cards that should have been.

first, garvey

i even did a 'traded' version

and a back

same for the penguin - an all dodger version

traded version

and back

here's bill russell - front

and back

and davey lopes - front

and back

finally, i took some liberties with the record breaker subset that led off the topps set in 1983.  while not a true record breaker, i had to feature garvey's milestone in his consecutive games streak

 here's the scoop.  my tony armas rb card is diamond cut, apparently

garvey would pass billy williams early in the 1983 season, setting a new national league record.  that means you'll see a similar card that should have been when the evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers hits 1984.  stay tuned.