For those who missed Part 1 and don’t want to click on this link to go back and read it, this series looks into cards in 1976 SSPC which show players in a uniform that didn’t show up on a ‘solo’ Topps card (but may have on a multi-player rookie card).
For this part I thought it would be fun to focus on players who would be with the expansion 1977 Blue Jays and Mariners. Because SSPC featured a number of younger players, a decent number of them showed up in that set with their original organization.
Bob Bailor
Bailor was an infielder in the Orioles organization who was stuck behind Mark Belanger, Bobby Grich and Brooks Robinson. He was the Blue Jays first pick in the 1976 expansion draft.
His first Topps card shows him as a Blue Jays rookie in on a multi-player 1977 Topps rookie card. 1977 O-Pee-Chee gave him a solo card in a Blue Jays uniform
Rick Cerone
He was a first round draft pick in 1975 and was traded to the Blue Jays late in 1976 as part of a deal to bring Rico Carty back to Cleveland – Carty had been selected from the Indians in the expansion draft.
Cerone appeared in 1977 Topps on a multi-player rookie card and in 1977 O-Pee-Chee as a solo airbrushed Blue Jay.
Mike Willis
This card is interesting as Willis never appeared in a regular season game with the Orioles. According to the back of the SSPC card, he got a September callup but never made it into any games. Willis was selected in the expansion draft and in 1978 he became one of just 3 pitchers to beat Ron Guidry during his Cy Young-winning 25-3 season.
Willis appeared on a multi-player rookie card in 1977 Topps and had his own 1977 O-Pee-Chee card.
Otto Velez
Drafted from the Yankees in the expansion draft, Velez would play six years in Toronto. He appeared on a multi-player rookie card in 1974 Topps and – something that raised an eyebrow for me – was included in the 1974 Topps Stamps set… but I’m not going to count that as a ‘solo card’.
Here is his 1977 Topps and O-Pee-Chee cards:
John Scott
The Blue Jays purchased John Scott from the Padres before the expansion draft, as he’s one of the players that new Jays manager Roy Hartsfield was familiar with from having managed the Padres’ AAA team. Scott appeared with the Padres in a multi-player 1975 Topps card (along with Jim Rice) and on this 1976 SSPC card.
In 1977 he’d appear on a Topps multi-player card (along with Andre Dawson) and got his own card in 1977 O-Pee-Chee
He also playted for the Yakult Swallows from 1979 to 1981 and appeared in the 1979 TCMA Japanese Baseball set.
Tommy Smith
Outfielder Tommy Smith played a career-high 55 games with the 1976 Indians and was selected from Cleveland in the expansion draft.
He appeared on multi-player rookie cards in 1974 and 1975 Topps, and got solo cards in 1977 Topps and 1977 O-Pee-Chee
I got a little “deeper” into the list of player because of the theme, but I’m thinking that going forward I’m going to feature players who appeared on a few more baseball cards than some of these guys.
The Shlabotnik Report 
That is indeed crazy that Otto Velez got into 1974 Topps Stamps when he was on a multi-player rookie card. Nowadays of course they put rookies into every set possible, but in those days it was really rare.
The airbrush job on Tommy Smith is horrid. The Mariner logo has a different thickness to it, like a regular font vs a bolded one.
It’s funny, some of the Blue Jays airbrush jobs – like with Otto Velez – are fairly decent, yet the simple Mariners trident seemed to be a challenge.
Tommy Smith looks like some sort of actor
Doesn’t he? :-)
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