Final Card: Ted Davidson

I don't often post back-to-back cards of players on the same team, but 6 years after (I thought) I completed my "1968 Final Cards" series, yesterday I discovered that Reds' pitcher Ted Davidson also had his final card (#48) in the 1968 set.

Davidson was signed by the Reds in 1960. He made his major-league debut in late-July 1965 (at age 25). In 1966 he pitched in 54 games (all in relief), but his career took a turn for the worse in 1967.

Davidson was shot by his estranged wife in a bar in March 1967 and missed a few months while recovering. He began pitching in the minors by June, and was back with the Reds for 9 games in September.

Ted pitched 23 games out of the Reds’ bullpen during the first half of 1968, but was traded to the Braves (with pitcher Milt Pappas and infielder Bob Johnson) for pitchers Tony Cloninger and Clay Carroll, and shortstop Woody Woodward.

For the Braves, he pitched 2 games in June and 2 in July, then spent the rest of the season in the minors, never to return.

In his final pro season (1969), he bounced around in triple-A for the Cubs, White Sox, and Indians.

Davidson passed away in 2006 at age 66.