I Love the 80s - 1981 Cleveland

This is a series of posts on a 1980's Frankenset. Each page features a different team, with 9 of my personal favorite cards from that year's team. You might find players repeated, you'll definitely see brands repeated, but hopefully you'll agree that there are some interesting selections from the 1980s!

In 1980, Cleveland finished in 6th Place in the AL East with a 79-81 record. The following season, the team finished above .500, but still finished in 6th place in the highly competitive AL East. 

The bright spot of the 1980 season was rookie Joe Charboneau, who inspired a hit song in the Cleveland area with his team leading 23 homers. Outside of his performance, not much went well for the Cleveland 9. 1981 featured a much improved pitching rotation, but unfortunately the team struggled to score runs. "Super Joe" was suffering through a sophomore slump, and the rest of the team offered very little power. The team hosted that year's All-Star Game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, held in August due to the 1981 Strike.

The Cards:

Topps #39 Tom Veryzer - Former Topps All-Star Rookie Tom Veryzer was Cleveland's starting Short Stop in 1980 and 81. In 1980, he had a career high .271 batting average over 109 games. He was a reserve on the 1984 Cubs Division Championship team.

Topps #697 Rick Waits - 1980 was the third straight 200+ inning season for Rick, who recorded a career high in season strikeouts. Over his peak, Waits hurled 10 shutouts and won 74 games for Cleveland.

Fleer #402 Gary Gray - Gray was an outstanding player in AAA, hitting .305 with 17 bombs in 1979. In 1980, he had a brief stint with Cleveland before moving on to the Mariners. They played  Gray in AAA Tacoma, where he once again showed power and hit for average. He was finally getting an opportunity to play regularly in Seattle in 1981 when the strike interrupted his season. He had hit 13 homers before the strike, but by the time the league returned to action, other players were inserted into the lineup as everyday players. He would also go on to play in the Mexican League for three seasons.

Topps #738 Bert Blyleven - A new addition to the Cleveland staff in 1981, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven was the team's ace. He was not given the best run support in Cleveland, and finished with an 11-7 record. He had 9 complete games and tossed a shutout. He led the team with a 2.88 ERA and had a league best 5.6 WAR. Injuries would limit him to just 20 innings pitched in 1982, but he would come back strong and would have one of the best seasons of his career in 1984, when he finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting.

Donruss #82 Joe Charboneau - The 1980 AL Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau had one of the best debuts of a player to have it all come crashing down. After his rookie season, Charboneau played in just 70 more MLB games over 2 seasons.

Fleer #404 Bo Diaz - Cleveland Catcher Bo Diaz led the team in homers in 1981, with 7. He split duties with Ron Hassey and Chris Bando, after being the backup in 1980. Diaz was named to the All-Star team in 1981, and had a great 1982 with Philadelphia. He came to Cleveland in a trade with Boston for Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall. He would become an All-Star again in 1987 with Cincinnati.

Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars #54 Joe Charboneau - In 1980, Charboneau hit .289 and cracked 23 homers with 87 RBI for Cleveland. He starred in the California League in 1978, then he hit again in 1979 in the Southern League, hitting .352 with 21 homers. He got his chance with Cleveland in 1980 because Andre Thornton was injured, but the injury bug would bite Charboneau back the following season. He was famously quoted saying that "Baseball has peaks and valleys - when you're hurt, it's even valleyer."

Topps #612 Duane Kuiper - Kuiper had 4 seasons as the everyday second baseman for Cleveland. In 1980, Kuiper played in just 42 games. He led the AL in fielding pct in in 1976 and 1979. He is probably best known today for his second baseball life as a long time announcer for the San Francisco Giants. His lone career MLB Home Run? He hit it off long time Cubs and White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone.

Fleer #401 Mike Paxton - A Memphis pitching legend, Paxton starred for Oakhaven High and then in College at Memphis State. He was named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. He came to Cleveland in the same trade as Bo Diaz. In his first year with the club in 1978, Paxton struck out 4 batters in a single inning. The 5'11" hurler had a somewhat bowlegged gait and earned the nickname "Bulldog." He would pitch in just 4 games in 1980, and would retire after a pair of minor league seasons.