pete broberg, who was never really a dodger, signed and returned a couple of cards for me last year. this is a fact i was reminded of as i prepared a post regarding his 1979 o-pee-chee card for my other blog. in fact, that was one of the cards he signed for me:
this card was a favorite of mine growing up. i remember opening a pack of o-pee-chee that summer in southern saskatchewan and seeing the dodger team variation and feeling lucky. it turns out, i was.
you see, broberg was a member of the dodger organization for just about a month - a lucky month that coincided with o-pee-chee's production schedule. he was signed as a free agent in march of 1979 and released on april 4th of that year, just before the season started. he never appeared in a major or minor league game for the dodgers, nor anyone else after that, making this card a final tribute as well.
broberg also signed his 1978 topps card for me.
funny thing is, i remember his facsimile signature being on my highly treasured dodgers' 1978 nl champions pennant that hung on the wall of my bedroom for many years. i finally figured out a couple of years later that the pennant was really just a 1979 dodgers team pennant with a reference to the previous year's team and their accomplishment, as it also included andy messersmith's auto and coach jim lefebvre's as well, both of whom weren't with the organization in 1978.
so, pete broberg was twice near and dear to my heart, even though he never quite was a dodger.
thanks pete!
or the 1985 bob welch.
but, here on mike (general soreness) marshall's 1983 card, we see the french translation for 1st base.
sometimes, though, the cards are completely different. here, rick monday is shown as a member of the dodgers on his 1977 card, complete with airbrushed cap. his 1977 topps card shows him with the cubs, and uses an entirely different pose.
usually when a player has changed teams, though, the card format for the new team is used with the unaltered topps photo and some explanatory text, lest we be unsure of the situation a la the 1979 topps bump wills or 1974 topps jerry morales cards. al downing and his 1971 card demonstrate.
so, downing was "recently traded to dodgers". sounds good enough. however, o-pee-chee would use different text to get that simple message across, here, we see that derrel thomas was "signed as free agent 11-14-78".
that's good information. on his 1979 card, we see that gary thomasson was "traded 2-15-79", presumably from the yankees to the dodgers.
more ambiguity on the 1979 cards of andy messersmith and pete broberg. they are simply identified as "free agent"
