My First Cards

Why do all these hitters for the Blue Jays have the same pose? Who’s idea was this?!?

The expression on John Mayberry’s face says it all. He’s squinting in disbelief saying ” Uuuhh no. This is bad for my image. Why on earth are we all posing with a bat on our shoulder today? Huh? Eehhh I’m not feelin’ it Mr ToppsCameraman.” If this were a video clip, I bet we’d see he’s shaking his head “no”.

Anyway, the 10 seasons leading up to 1982 were less boring for John Mayberry than this picture suggests. He averaged 23 HR’s, 82 RBI’s, 81 Walks, and a .266 BA that doesn’t look so bad when you notice the .366 OBP.

So the Yankees, needing to upgrade at first base, traded away first baseman Dave Revering & a few others to Toronto for Mayberry. Once they got him though, Mayberry suddenly turned into Dave Revering. Seriously. His average fell down by the Mendoza line for the rest of the season and his OBP was a piddly .313.

Here’s where there’s a little twist to things that provides amusement to me and probably only me. This turned out to be John’s final season… just like it was Dave Revering’s. So both guys involved in this trade, didn’t help their new clubs much and they both ended their major league careers after the season.

John finished his career with a very respectable .360 OBP and 123 OPS+, accented by 255 home runs.