5 Baseball Cards with an Almost Erie Connection
And some of them are *eerie* too
Happy Sunday, and Happy Willie Upshaw’s birthday!
To celebrate the man who could have been a Blue Jays lifer if not for a late detour to an American League East rival, here are five baseball cards of guys who played for both of Upshaw’s clubs, including the man himself.
1979 Topps Willie Upshaw (#341)
I always considered this to be one of the more underrated cards of the 1979 set, especially in the years before Ozzie Smith had real hobby swagger and before Paul Molitor took up DH’ing.
By the mid-1980s, after all, Upshaw was a .300/20 home run guy for an expansion team that had yet to taste much success but looked like it had potential. In 1983, he also became the first Toronto player to drive in 100 runs in a season. When the Blue Jays broke through for their first division title in 1985, though, Upshaw was a bit of an afterthought for most fans.
His .275/15 HR/65 RBI line was fine enough, but not too exciting for a first baseman. Certainly not as exciting as the power-speed combo unleashed by the outfield trio of George Bell, Lloyd Moseby, and Jesse Barfield, or the promise of young shortstop Tony Fernandez.
Even the steady-as-she-goes rotation of Dave Stieb, Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Key, and Jim Clancy cast a shadow over Upshaw.
Even so, the first sacker was a rock of consistency whom the Jays could count on for 150 solid games or so every summer. And his mustache was among the best in the game, too, which added to the mystique of his bright, contemplative, and clean-shaven rookie card.
But young Fred McGriff was barking at Upshaw’s heels, and the Jays sold the veteran’s contract to the Indians during Spring Training of 1988. After one summer in Cleveland, Upshaw headed to Japan for two seasons before hanging up his spikes.
1980 Topps Rico Carty (#46)
Carty wasn’t quite as “pure” in his Indians-Blue Jays lineage as Upshaw…far from it, in fact.
Beginning his big league career with the Milwaukee Braves way back in 1963, Carty stayed with the Braves through their move to Atlanta and developed into a hitting star by the early 1970s. His 1970 season, in particular, was one for the books, as he led the majors with a .366 batting average and also chipped in 25 home runs and 101 RBI.
But he busted his knee in the offseason and missed all of 1971 recouping. He managed to hit “just” .277 in 86 games during his 1972 return and also sort of ended up on Hank Aaron’s doo-doo list. That wasn’t a good place to be if a future in Atlanta baseball was your goal, and the Bravos traded Carty to the Rangers in the offseason.
He split 1973 among the Rangers, Cubs, and A’s, and then headed to the Mexican League for 1974. After hitting .354 in 122 games for Cordoba, Carty regained some of his shine. In August, he also regained major league favor when the Indians purchased his contract.
He stayed with Cleveland through 1977, hitting .303 with 47 home runs and 243 RBI during that span. The next March, the Indians traded Carty to the Blue Jays for Dennis DeBarr, and then the Jays flipped him to the A’s in August for Willie Horton and Phil Huffman.
But Carty’s work in Toronto was not yet complete, and he signed with the Jays as a free agent in January 1979. After one final season, during which his average fell to .256, Toronto released him in March 1980. He found no other takers…except for Topps, who duly issued the comely career-capper you see above.
(Read about a pretty nifty Carty oddball card right here.)
1981 Donruss Tom Buskey (#270)
Tom Buskey came pretty close to pulling off the sort of pure Indians-Blue Jays bloodline that Upshaw led off with above. You can blame the Damn Yankees for spoiling the fun.
To wit…
After signing as an amateur free agent with the Yanks in January 1969, Buskey spent most of five seasons in the minors before debuting with New York in August 1973. He made 12 appearances (with a 5.64 ERA) for the Bombers in ‘73 and ‘74 before they shipped him and Fred Beene, Steve Kline, and Fritz Peterson to the Indians for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow, and Cecil Upshaw (yes, Upshaw).
Buskey spent the next three-plus seasons in the Tribe’s bullpen, mostly middle-innings work, before they traded him and John Lowenstein to the Rangers for David Clyde and Willie Horton in January 1978.
The Rangers released Buskey on April 1 (fools!), and the Blue Jays swooped in to sign him the next month. He stayed in Toronto until they released him in August 1980, compiling a north-of-the-border record of 9-12, 3.86 ERA, 7 saves.
The next spring, despite his months-long absence from the game, Donruss granted Buskey a toilet-paper-thin career-capper in their inaugural set.
1990 Topps Steve Davis (#428)
Now, Steve Davis was the pitcher version of Willie Upshaw, in at least one important (for us) way.
Plucked out of Texas A&M by the Blue Jays in the 21st round of the 1982 draft, Davis made his Toronto debut in August of 1985. In parts of two seasons with the Jays, the left-hander went 2-1 across 13 appearances as a swingman, but with a 5.12 ERA.
The last of those appearances came in April 1986, after which the Jays pretty much buried Davis in the minors. At least until he became a free agent after the 1988 season.
The Indians signed him to a minor league deal that December, and Davis made it to Cleveland in time to make two starts among 12 appearances in the final three months of another lost season by the lake.
In all for the Indians that summer, Davis went 1-1 with a gulp-worthy 8.06 ERA. That December, Cleveland traded him to the Dodgers for Manny Francois and Joe Kesselmark.
While Davis was trying to spin his magic one more time in the minors, collectors were trying to figure out who this “new” guy popping out of their wax (and mylar) packs was. Among the rookie cards many years in the making was the colorful 1990 Topps deal you see above.
As things played out, this RC was also a career-capper. Davis never made it back to the majors, joining Upshaw in his exclusive club.
1989 Score Don Gordon (#547)
Don Gordon was another “puritan” in the Indians-Blue Jays sense.
He did have some mixed baseball bloodlines in his history, though. See, Gordon was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 31st round in 1982 (the same year as Davis, in case you didn’t notice).
Two years later, on June 23, 1984, the Tigers released him before he ever landed in the majors. Two days after that, the Blue Jays signed him, bringing all three of our two-team-only men under contract with Toronto at the same time.
After nearly two years in the Toronto farm system, Gordon made his big league debut when he relieved Dennis Lamp against the Rangers in Arlington on April 10, 1986. With the Jays up 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth, Gordon gave up a single to Larry Parrish to start the inning, then hit Don Slaught before Steve Buechele laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners along. Darrell Porter flied out, Gordon issued an intentional walk to Oddibe McDowell, and then Toby Harrah singled home Parrish and Slaught.
And then, manager Jimy Williams called it a day for Gordon, who was charged with a blown save and relieved by…Steve Davis.
Baseball rocks.
Davis got the final out of the frame before giving up two runs of his own in the seventh. But Toronto fought back to win 11-10, with closer Tom Henke picking up the two-inning save.
In case you were wondering, Willie Upshaw hit the game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning. George Bell, the next batter, put the Jays ahead for good with another bomb.
Baseball really rocks.
Despite the rocky first outing, Gordon ended up making 19 appearances for the Jays in 1986 and 1987 combined, pitching to a 6.06 ERA. He eventually became the dreaded “Player to Be Named Later” in the August 1987 trade that sent Phil Niekro from the Indians to the Blue Jays.
Gordon made 59 appearances for the Indians in 1987 and 1988 overall, pitching to a more respectable 4.27 ERA. Even so, that was the end of his big league run, and he spent the next four years in the minors, bouncing between franchises — Cleveland, Milwaukee, Toronto.
But, hey, his 38 games in 1988 were enough to get him some cardboard love, including that sunny 1989 Score career-capper you see up above.
(By the way, Niekro did appear for the Blue Jays in 1987, but that wasn’t quite the end of the road. Read about his final stop in the bigs and his career-capper right here.)
—
Those three pure bloods — Upshaw, Davis, and Gordon — were the only ones I could find among all the players who appeared for both the Blue Jays and Indians in their careers (maybe you’ll spot others).
Buskey and Carty were interesting cases (to me), too, though. Niekro was another one, and so was Lance Parrish. Take a look at the complete list of Indians-Jays players, and you’ll no doubt find some other interesting names, too.
Things like this can be a real rabbit hole, though. You’ve been warned.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam