Showing posts with label Tom Paciorek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Paciorek. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

1979 Topps #141 and 1979 O-Pee-Chee #65 Tom Paciorek

Today's cards are both from 1979. It's Topps #141 and O-Pee-Chee #65. Both feature Tom Paciorek.

You may notice the two cards look virtually identical. The main difference is the logo in the bottom left corner. Also the card is numbered differently as the O-Pee-Chee set has fewer cards than the Topps set.

O-Pee-Chee was a Canadian candy and trading card maker that licensed the Topps products to be printed and distributed in Canada. Basically it's a minor variation that's not as fun as the too many variations available for newer cards.

Topps Front


Topps Back


OPC Front

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

1975 Topps Tom Paciorek #523

Who is the greatest baseball player from the University of Houston? There are several players to consider, and Tom Paciorek would have to be included in the discussion. Tom was a two time All-American at the University of Houston leading the Cougars to the College World Series in 1967. He was drafted in the 5th round of the MLB draft.

In addition to playing baseball at UH, Paciorek also played football. He is tied for 8th in career interceptions at UH. In 1965, he led the team in punt returns. In 1966, he tied for team lead in interceptions. He was selected in the 9th round of the NFL draft.

In 1978, he was elected to the UH Hall of Honor.

Paciorek played 18 seasons in the Major Leagues with a career batting average of .282. He was named an All-Star in 1981. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. I know that sounds a little goofy, but there are some big names there.

For today's collectible, let's look at the 1975 Topps card #523. The '60s had truly classic cards. The '80s and '90s started the high tech cards. The '70s... you get the interesting color combinations associated with that decade. In this case, the top half of the card is bordered in yellow while the bottom half is bordered in green. Nice...

Why do I like this card? While many cards list where the player went to school, this card states that he also played football for UH and helped the team to defeat the Michigan State team in 1967.

1975 Topps Tom Paciorek Front1975 Topps Tom Paciorek Back