Final Card: Phil Linz

This is the last baseball card for Phil Linz (#594), a utility infielder in the 1960s for the Yankees, Phillies, and Mets. Here he looks just as much like an astronaut, or one of those jump-suited fighter jet mechanics as he does a baseball player.

Phil was signed by the Yankees in 1957, and after 5 seasons in the minors, finally made his big-league debut in April 1962. He played for the Yankees for 4 seasons, and was primarily a backup 3B-SS, although he saw action in a few games at 2nd base and the outfield.

His big seasons with the Yankees were 1964 and 1965, when he started just over 80 games each season, because of injuries to Tony Kubek. (Recently, I was watching the 1964 World Series on the MLB Network, and I learned that Linz had played all 7 games in place of the injured Kubek. I was shocked to see that Linz batted leadoff in every game, since I had known him to be the weak-hitting infield scrub on the 1966-67 Phillies.)



After the 1965 season, Linz was traded to the Phillies for shortstop Ruben Amaro. He lasted 1 1/2 seasons in Philly, before being sent back to New York (this time to the Mets) for infielder Chuck Hiller in June 1967. With the Mets, Phil played in 21 games, mostly at 2nd base.

In 1968, Linz and rookie Ken Boswell shared the second base job, each making 67 starts. Phil retired after the season.

John Wyatt (#481)

John Wyatt was signed by the Cardinals way back in 1954, and played one season for their class-D team in Hannibal, MO before being released the following spring.

John played all of 1955 and part of 1956 with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. During 1956, he also pitched for minor-league teams in the Braves' and Athletics' organizations.

1957 and 1958 are unaccounted for in his records (possibly back in the Negro Leagues?), but after spending the 1959-1961 seasons in Kansas City's farm system, he made his major-league debut in September 1961.

In 1962, John began a string of 4 seasons as the Athletics' closer. He led the league with 81 games pitched in 1964.


(Wow, there's a lot of wasted space on the back of this card!)

In June 1966, after 19 relief appearances he was traded to the Red Sox in a 6-player deal. John made 42 more appearances for the Red Sox that season, then in 1967 took over Boston's closer role from the departed Don McMahon. With Boston, he won game 6 in the 1967 World Series.

John's last 2 seasons were lived out of a suitcase. In May 1968 he was sold to the Yankees. A month later the Yanks sold him to the Tigers. Although John pitched in 22 games for the Tigers, he did not play in the 1968 series. (Nine pitchers appeared in the World Series for the Tigers, none named Wyatt.) The Tigers released him in spring training 1969. A few days later the Athletics signed him, but they released him at the end of May.

Dave Wickersham (#288)

Dave Wickersham was signed in 1955 by the Pirates. For 5 seasons, he pitched in the Pirates minor-league system before being selected by the Athletics in the November 1959 minor-league draft.

After spending most of 1960 with the Athletics' double-A team in Shreveport, he made his major-league debut on September 18th. 1961 found him back in Shreveport for 57 games, but he also pitched in 17 games (all in relief) for the Athletics.

In 1962 Dave was in the big leagues fulltime. He compiled a record of 11-4 while pitching in 30 games (2/3 of them in relief). In 1963 he was their #1 starter, leading the team in wins, starts and innings pitched, while posting a record of 12-15.



Fortunately for Dave, his 1963 exploits was good enough to earn a ticket out of Kansas City. In November 1963, he was traded to the Tigers with second baseman Jerry Lumpe and pitcher Ed Rakow for outfielder Rocky Colavito and pitcher Bob Anderson.

Dave pitched for the Tigers for 4 aseasons, In 1964, he was the Tigers' #1 starter, leading the staff with a 19-12 record, and tops in starts and innings pitched. After 1964, each season he started less and relieved more, so that by 1967, only 4 of his 36 appearances were starts.

Unfortunately for Wickersham, he was traded to the Pirates after the 1967 season for pitcher Dennis Ribant, so he missed the Tigers' world championship season of 1968. Instead, he divided his 1968 season between the Pirates and their triple-A team in Columbus, Ohio.

After one season with the Pirates, Dave was sold to the expansion Kansas City Royals, and spent most of the 1969 season pitching out of their bullpen. He also pitched 10 games for the Royals' triple-A team in Omaha.


Well, that wraps up the 1968 cards for veterans with 10 or more years who retired in the late 1960s. You can see the entire list here.

Gene Oliver (#449)

Another hatless gem from Topps. Here, Gene's most likely in a Braves uniform. Since he was only on the Phillies for half a season, surely Topps didn't find the time to photograph him!

Oliver was signed by the Cardinals in 1956, and played the next 6 seasons in the minor leagues, except for the 2nd half of 1959, when he was called up to the Cardinals in June and played 68 games (mostly in left field).

Gene returned to the majors for a few games in 1961, then was up to stay at the start of the 1962 season. Oliver was the #1 catcher in 1962, starting 88 games behind the plate.

That status was short lived, as in 1963, a 21-year-old upstart named Tim McCarver took over the Cardinals' catching job for the remainder of the decade. Oliver was traded to the Braves in mid-season for pitcher Lew Burdette. In Milwaukee, he became the team's #1 first baseman in 1963 and 1964, sharing the position with Joe Torre. (Joe was the Braves' starting catcher, but would play first base whenever the 2nd-string catcher started.)



With the Braves' acquisition of Felipe Alou in 1965, Gene was relegated to 2nd-string status at both catcher and first base, but still made 107 starts between the 2 positions.

In 1966, Gene was pushed further into the background. Although he played in 76 games, only 48 were at catcher and 5 at first base. That's a lot of pinch-hitting! (I just discovered that outfielder Rico Carty caught 17 games for the Braves in 1966! Maybe Oliver was injured for a time.)

In June 1967, Oliver was traded to the Phillies for catcher Bob Uecker. After only playing in 12 games for Atlanta, Gene started 72 games for the Phillies (70 at catcher and 2 at first base) as the righty half of Gene Mauch's catching platoon.

After the 1967 season, Oliver and pitcher Dick Ellsworth were sent to the Red Sox in exchange for young catcher Mike Ryan, a "defensive specialist". There wasn't much room for Gene in Boston, what with 2nd-year starter Russ Gibson, long-time veteran Elston Howard, and journeyman Russ Nixon also lurking about, so he was sold to the Cubs in late June 1968.

Oliver was used mostly as a pinch-hitter in 1 1/2 seasons with the Cubs. He was released on September 2nd, 1969.

Al Jackson (#503)

Al Jackson's career spanned most of the 1960s. He was primarily a starting pitcher for the Mets in the pre-Tom Seaver era.

Jackson was signed by the Pirates in 1955, and played mostly in the Pirates farm system through the end of 1961. (He played in the Mexican league for all of 1956 and part of 1957, and made a few appearances for the Pirates in 1959 and 1961.)

After the 1961 season, Al was selected by the Mets in the expansion draft. For the Mets' first 4 seasons, Jackson was a fixture in their rotation, starting over 30 games each year, and winning in double figures twice.



After the 1965 season, Al and third baseman Charlie Smith were traded to the Cardinals for third baseman Ken Boyer. Jackson became the Cardinals' #2 starter behind Bob Gibson (and ahead of Ray Washburn and Larry Jaster) in 1966.

The following season, he slipped into a swing man role, as Steve Carlton, Dick Hughes, and (later) Nelson Briles replaced him in the rotation. After the season, Jackson was sent back to the Mets as the player to be named later in the Cardinals' mid-season acquisition of pitcher Jack Lamabe.

Jackson spent 1 1/2 seasons with the Mets (pitching mostly in relief) before being sold to the Reds in June 1969. The Reds released him after the 1969 season.

Jim Pagliaroni (#586)

Jim Pagliaroni was signed by the Red Sox in 1955 as a bonus baby. A 1952 rule stipulated that a player receiving a bonus of more than a $4000 must remain on the major-league roster for 2 seasons. That year, he played no minor-league ball, but appeared in 1 game for the Red Sox (on August 13th). Jim was one of 15 players in the 1950s to make their major-league debut at age 17. (Some others were Joey Jay, Claude Osteen, Mike McCormick, and Tim McCarver.)

Since he was required to be on the major-league roster for another full season, the Red Sox talked him into enlisting in military service for 2 years, so he could get it "out of the way" during a time when he wouldn't be playing much anyway.

He played for various minor-league teams from 1958 to 1960, and played in 28 games with the Red Sox in 1960, starting 15 games behind the plate. In 1961 he was the #1 catcher, making almost twice as many starts as Russ Nixon, who was 1960's primary catcher.



In 1962, he split the starting catcher's job evenly with rookie Bob Tillman. After the season, Jim was traded to the Pirates with pitcher Don Schwall for pitcher Jack Lamabe and first baseman Dick Stuart.

Jim played 5 seasons with the Pirates, and was the #1 catcher for the first 4 seasons. Injuries limited his playing time in 1967. Following the 1967 season, he was sold to the Athletics, where at age 30, he shared the starting catcher's job with 22-year-old Dave Duncan.

In May 1969, Pagliaroni was sold to the Seattle Pilots, where he finished his career before getting his release after the season. He was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, but also as the 2nd-string catcher behind Jerry McNertney.

Gary Bell (#43)

Gary Bell spent many seasons toiling for the Cleveland Indians, and was finally rewarded with a trade to the 1967 Red Sox!

Bell was signed by the Indians in 1955, and spent 3 1/2 seasons in the minors before making his Indians' debut on June 1, 1958. Gary was a member of the Indians' rotation from his rookie season of 1958 through the 1961 season. From 1962-65, he moved to the bullpen, and was Cleveland's ace reliever in '62 and '65.

Bell returned to the starting rotation in 1966, and had more starts, innings pitched, and complete games than any of their other starters (Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, Steve Hargan).



After making 9 starts for the Indians in 1967, he was traded to the Red Sox on June 4th for outfielder Don Demeter and first baseman Tony Horton. Bell came along just in time, as the other non-Jim Lonborg starters weren't having very good seasons:


In the World Series, Gary lost game 3, and saved game 6.

In 1968, Bell went 11-11, Lonborg missed time due to injuries, while newcomers Ray Culp and Dick Ellsworth each won 16 games. After the season, Bell was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft. In early June 1969, he escaped from that zoo and finished out the season with the White Sox.



Has anyone ever seen these 2 guys at the same time?