Saturday, August 31, 2013

Cards That Never Were #60

1985 Topps - Tom O'Malley

The White Sox traded with the San Francisco Giants to acquire Tom O'Malley for players to be named later, which turned out to be Mike Trujillo and minor league first baseman Pat Adams, on August 31, 1984. Tom played twelve games with the White Sox in September 1984. While he hit a paltry .125, he did hit two singles with the Pale Hose, one on September 7th, off of California Angels pitcher Doug Corbett and the other on September 29th, off of Seattle Mariners pitcher Salome Barojas.

O'Malley wasn't released by the White Sox until April 1, 1985. It is entirely feasible that Tom could have been included in the 1985 Topps set as a White Sox player, given that he made it all the way through spring before being released. I don't think O'Malley was any threat to unseat Tim Hulett at third base, but Tim didn't exactly thrill the world with his previous season's efforts either. The mid to late eighties were a strange time for the White Sox and some of the players could not make it anywhere else but in Chicago with the south side team. Aside from a few names and splashy players, most of the others were just filling in or passing through. Roy Smalley had a card with the White Sox in the 1985 Topps set, and he was traded away in February 1985.

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