A Giant Blog

The 1982 Topps Stickers. I like the 1981 stickers better, probably because I collected them. By 1982 I had started buying complete sets instead of buying from the packs. The packs were a lot more fun, but they were expensive if I wanted to collect more than 1-2 sets a year.

Stickers are great! Here are the Giants stickers from the 1981 set. These were available in my area and I collected about 2/3 of the set. One of these days I need to get a box, open the packs, and stick them in an album. Fun! :)

Joe Morgan (#603) didn't play for the Giants in 1983. He and Al Holland were traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the '82 season for Mark Davis, Mike Krukow, and a minor leaguer.
Joe Pettini (#143) batted .186 in 86 at bats in 1983. It was his last season in the majors. Joe played three more years in AAA before becoming a coach and minor league manager after the 1986 season.
Reggie Smith (#282) didn't play for the Giants in 1983. He played in Japan in 1983 and 1984. He played well in a part-time role  but had to deal with a lot of racially-fueled nonsense and retired after the 1984 season.
Johnnie LeMaster (#154) batted .240 in 141 games as the starting shortstop.
Tom O'Malley (#663) batted .259 with 5 HR and 40 RBI in 135 games as the starting third baseman.
Guy Sularz (#379) batted .100 in 20 at bats in 1983. He batted .316 in 134 games for AAA Phoenix in '83. This was his last season in the majors. After one more season in Phoenix, Sularz was released and hung 'em up.
Duane Kuiper (#767) batted .250 in 72 games as he shared time at second base with Brad Wellman.
Darrell Evans (#448) batted .277 with 30 home runs and 82 RBI. He played 113 games at first base, 32 at third base, and 9 games at shortstop. Evans was an NL All Star and was 0 for 1 in the game.

Others who played in the infield for the Giants but didn't get a 1983 Topps Giants card:

• Brad Wellman (2B) batted .214 in 82 games.
• Chris Smith (UT) batted .328 in 67 at bats.
• Mike Vail (UT) batted .154 in 26 at bats.
• Rich  Murray (1B) batted .200 in 10 at bats.
• Wallace Johnson (2B) batted .125 in 8 at bats

Joe Morgan (#754) batted .289 with 14 HR and 61 RBI in his last good year. He also had a .400 on base percentage.

Joe Strain (#538) batted .286 in 189 at bats as a backup second baseman. He made most of his starts in May and June. Strain didn't play during the month of August and was only a pinch hitter after July 26.