1986 topps cards of the 1978 topps dodgers that should have been

there are only three cards that i could think of that topps failed to make in 1986 when it came to the 1978 topps dodgers.  the first one is the steve garvey all-star card that should have been

you've seen this one before.  garvey was voted in as the starter of the 1985 all-star game - the 10th time in 12 seasons and the last time in his career that he received that honor - but topps put keith hernandez in the 1986 all-star subset.  hernandez wasn't even on the roster for the game, and garvey was 1 for 3 with the game winning rbi, by the way.  1985 also marked the last time that the all-star game was played in minnesota, although the twin cities will host the midsummer classic in 2014.

dave lopes topps traded

lopes was traded to the astros in july of 1986, but was left out of the annual traded set.  with the 'stros, he was able to make his final postseason appearance.  he made three pinch-hit appearances in the nlcs, including a 16th inning walk in game 6 off of jesse orosco.  lopes came around to score the first of two astro runs in the inning, but the astros were unable to match the three runs the mets had scored in the top of the inning, and so lost the pennant to the eventual world champs.

tommy john topps traded

john signed with the yankees as a free agent at the start of the 1986 season, returning to the bronx for a second go-around.  the 43-year old was left off of the topps traded checklist perhaps due to the fact that he didn't pitch for the yankees in april, july, or september.

up next is the 1987 versions of 1978 topps dodger cards.  of the 13 who remain, there are quite a few who got their last topps cards that year, and not all were of the final tribute variety.  stay tuned...