1968 Topps Baseball

Final Card: Dick Kenworthy

2012-01-22T16:16:00.009-06:00

This is the only Topps card for Dick Kenworthy. The back says that he was sent to the Mets in the off-season as the player to be named later in the Ken Boyer trade. Interesting. Baseball-Reference.com makes no mention of Kenworthy ever being sent to the Mets. In fact, it says the White Sox sent J. C. Martin to the Mets on 11/27/67 to complete the trade. Since this is card #63, it must have been printed sometime in late 1967, so maybe Topps was acting on some preliminary scuttlebutt regarding Kenworthy.

Kenworthy was signed by the White Sox in 1961, and played in their minor-league system for 10 seasons, before moving over to the Reds' farm system for 1971 and 1972. He was a 2nd baseman for his first two seasons before switching to 3rd base for the balance of his career.

Dick's major-league experience consisted of a few cups of coffee from 1962 to 1966. Then in 1967 and 1968, he played over 50 games each season with the White Sox, about half of them as the starting 3rd baseman.

Since he played for the White Sox in both '67 and '68, it looks like Baseball-Reference.com is right and Topps was wrong. Maybe a White Sox fan can clarify this.

Final Card: Dick Lines

2012-01-17T15:49:00.005-06:00

The 1960s' Hall of Fame results are now on my 1960s Baseball blog.

This is the 2nd and last Topps card for Senators' pitcher Dick Lines (#291). His rookie card was in the 1967 set, a 1-player card showing Lines with the Senators.

Lines' career is somewhat of a mystery. He spent 9 full seasons in the minors, before pitching the entire 1966 and 1967 seasons with the Senators. Then, it was back to the minors for 2 more seasons before calling it quits.

Lines was signed by the Pirates in 1957, and pitched in their farm system for 8 seasons, all but the last as a starting pitcher. Prior to the 1965 season, his contract was sold to the Senators. That season he pitched for the Sens' AAA team in Hawaii, which finally earned him a shot in the majors.

Dick spent the entire 1966 season as the only lefthander in Washington's bullpen, which featured veterans Ron Kline and Bob Humphreys, along with Casey Cox and 3 others who floated between the bullpen and the rotation (Jim Hannan, Diego Segui, and Dick Bosman). Lines fashioned a 5-2 record in 82 innings, and had a 49/24 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In 1967, the Senators' bullpen featured Darold Knowles (a lefty), veteran Bob Priddy, and rookie Dave Baldwin in place of Ron Kline and Diego Segui. Lines, Humphreys, and Cox were the holdovers from '66. Knowles and Baldwin were the stars in terms of saves and ERA, and Knowles, Humphreys, and Priddy had the most innings pitched among relievers. Lines had similar games, innings, and strikeout/walks to the previous season, but his record fell from 5-2 to 2-5. I guess he was just out-performed by the other guys, because he didn't pitch in the majors after 1967.

Two more seasons (1968-69) in the Nats' farm system brought an end to Dick Lines' career.

Final Card: Garry Roggenburk

2012-01-13T22:50:00.008-06:00

This is the final card for Garry Roggenburk (#581). Garry was signed by the Twins in 1962 and was assigned to the class-D Erie (PA) Sailors, where his teammates included future big-leaguers Jim Merritt, Joe Foy, and Ted Uhlaender. He started all 18 of his appearances that season, fashioning a 13-4 record. After only 1 season in the minors, he made the Twins in 1963, debuting on April 20th. With the Twins, he mainly worked out of the bullpen, only starting 2 of his 36 games.

Garry missed the entire 1964 season with injuries. When he returned, he split each of the next 2 years between Minnesota and their triple-A Denver team. During those seasons, he was a relief pitcher except for his minor-league stint in 1966.

In early September 1966, Garry's contract was sold to the Red Sox. Although he had a card in the 1967 Topps set, he spent the entire season in the minors, missing Boston's trip to the World Series.

The 1968 and 1969 seasons were a repeat of 1965 and 1966, only the cities changed. Roggenburk spent part of each season with the Red Sox and part in the minors. The only change of pace was that in June 1969 he was sold to the expansion Seattle Pilots. He pitched 24 innings over the final half of that season for the Pilots, both as a starter and reliever.

Orioles Rookies - Frank Peters / Ron Stone

2012-01-01T22:37:00.009-06:00

This is the 2nd of three Orioles Rookies cards in the 1968 set (#409). Topps also included three Orioles Rookies cards in the 1966 and 1967 set, whereas most teams got only one or two rookies cards. If you were an Orioles fan in the mid-1960s, you really got your money's worth, what with all the rookie cards, World Series highlights in 1967, league leaders cards (thanks to Frank Robinson and Dave McNally), and various multi-player cards.

Frank Peters spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues from 1964-74 (mostly in the Orioles' chain) and never played in the big leagues. Topps' comment on the back about Luis Aparicio's departure paving the way for Peters left out one small detail: Mark Belanger.

Ron Stone takes his place alongside Lou Piniella as a frequent guest on Topps' rookie cards in the 1960s. Stone was in the 1966 set with the Athletics, here with the Orioles, and in 1969 with the Phillies, before getting his own Phillies' cards in '70, '71, and '72.

Signed by the Orioles in 1963, Stone spent 1963-1968 in Baltimore's farm system, except for a Rule 5 cup of coffee with the Athletics in early 1966. On 7/1/66, he was returned to the Orioles, where he languished until Baltimore traded him to the Phillies for catcher Clay Dalrymple in January 1969.

The highlight of his career was spring training 1969, where he assumed the role of spring phenom. Once the season began, he settled into a spare outfielder role through the end of the 1972 season. He retired after spending all of 1973 with the triple-A Phillies and Royals.

Final card: Jerry Buchek

2011-12-27T19:16:00.018-06:00

Here is the final card for Mets' 2nd baseman Jerry Buchek (#277). This was the first of three Buchek cards I acquired. Jerry's 1967 card is in the high-numbered 7th series, so I didn't get that until years later.

By the time I jumped on the major-league baseball bandwagon in May 1967, Buchek was the Mets' regular 2nd baseman. I didn't realize until checking his stats for this column that he only became a Met on April 1st that year, about a week before the start of the season. His 1967 card shows him in full Mets' gear, which is an amazing and unexpected feat by the Topps photography department, given their record of lagging behind the curve with updated photos for the 1967-68-69 Don Lock, 1968-69 Woody Fryman, 1968-69 Turk Farrell, 1968 Tommie Aaron, etc, etc, etc.

Buchek was signed by the Cardinals in 1959, and played 4 seasons (1960-63) in their farm system as a shortstop, making brief appearances with St. Louis in 1961 and 1963.

He made the Cardinals for good at the start of the 1964 season, playing in 35 games as a SS-2B backup, as well as a few appearances in the World Series. During the 1965-66 seasons, although still a backup, he began playing much more at 2nd base than in previous seasons.

A week before the 1967 season, Jerry was traded to the Mets (along with pitcher Art Mahaffey) for veteran shortstop Ed Bressoud and outfielder Dan Napolean. Buchek alternated with veteran Chuck Hiller at 2B during April, then started almost every game at 2B during May, June, and July. For the remainder of the season, he alternated between 2nd, 3rd, shortstop, and the bench. In 411 at-bats, he only managed to hit .236, which probably hastened the end of his career.

The emergence of rookie 2nd baseman Ken Boswell severely limited Buchek's playing time in 1968. He was primarily relegated to the bench, although he made a few dozen starts at 3rd base spelling veteran Ed Charles. After the season, Jerry was traded back to the Cardinals, for minor-league pitcher Jim Cosman.

Before the start of the 1969 season, he was flipped to the Phillies in exchange for 1st baseman Bill White. Buchek spent the year with the Phillies' triple-A team in Eugene, Oregon before retiring.

The Genius that is Bud Selig

2011-11-18T18:15:00.008-06:00

Ok, we're going to vote on who moves to the American League. Are there any suggestions?

What?

What? I can't hear you.

What? You'll have to talk over the noise.

Criminy, I just can't hear anyone over the loud protesting by those damn fans. Can't they see I'm busy?

Ok, here's what we will do. Raise ONE finger to vote for the Astros...

and TWO fingers to vote for the Brewers.

Back on Topps' Radar: John Boozer

2011-09-24T16:37:00.006-05:00

John Boozer (#173) returns to the Topps set after missing out in 1967. John had a baseball card every year from 1963-69, except in the 1967 set. How ironic, since that was his only winning season (5-4).

Boozer was signed by the Phillies in 1958, and spent his entire career in the Phillies' organization. Except for the 1968 season, he pitched in the minors every season from 1958 to 1969, primarily as a starting pitcher.

John made his major-league debut in July 1962. He was primarily a long reliever for Philadelphia, but also made some spot starts. Most of his time in the bigs came from 1963-64, and 1967-69.

I remember that in 1967, he was recalled around Memorial Day, after the Phillies cleaned house of several veteran relievers. After the 1966 season, the Phillies went on a binge, signing aging veterans Dick Hall, Pedro Ramos, and Ruben Gomez to shore up their bullpen. Only Hall panned out, and the other 2 (along with holdover Bob Buhl) were all given an early-season boot.

The Phillies' revamped bullpen that season included Turk Farrell (acquired in May) and Hall as the 2 firemen, along with rookie Grant Jackson (a lefty) and the recently-recalled Boozer. They also reclaimed Dallas Green off the scrap heap, who didn't do too much in his final season except collect days toward his pension.

Anyhoo, Boozer was the right-handed long man and occasional spot starter. Somehow, he managed to stay with the big club for the entire 1968 season. I don't know if it was his performance, as much as it was the Phillies not having many other options. After all, it would be another year or so until their "phenoms" (Lowell "Shades" Palmer, Billy Champion, Barry Lersch, and Billy Wilson) were ready.

Bubba Morton (#216)

2011-07-21T22:34:00.003-05:00

The 2nd Bubba for today is Wycliffe "Bubba" Morton, outfielder for the California Angels in the late 1960s.

Morton was signed by the Tigers back in 1955, and spent 6 seasons in the minors before breaking in with the Tigers in April 1961. Bubba spent all of 1961 and 1962 as a spare outfielder, behind starters Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito, and Bill Bruton.

In May 1963, he was purchased by the Milwaukee Braves, but played only 15 games for them before spending most of '63, and all of 1964 in the minors. His minor-league adventures continued in 1965, but this time as a member of the Indians' organization.

Morton was traded to the Angels at the end of the 1965 season, and after spending most of '66 in triple-A, he returned to the majors and played his final 3 seasons with California. He played about 80 games in each of those 3 seasons, but the Angels' roster was packed with outfielders in those days. The 1967 Topps set features EIGHT outfielders on the team. The Angels' 1968 and 1969 rosters also featured 8 outfielders with significant major-league experience. If your name wasn't Rick Reichardt, you pretty much scrambled for playing time.

Morton spent the 1970 season playing in Japan.

All-Star Cards

2011-07-12T21:03:00.020-05:00

After a 5-year absence, Topps re-introduced All-Star cards in their 1968 set, featuring players selected as 1967 All-Stars by The Sporting News. These choices differed somewhat from the actual 1967 All-Star lineup (which was still voted on by the players that season).

In the actual game, the NL had Juan Marichal, Joe Torre, Bill Mazeroski, and Richie Allen starting at P, C, 2B, and 3B respectively. The AL featured Dean Chance, Rico Petrocelli, and Tony Conigliaro starting at P, SS, and RF. Otherwise, the starters were those you see in the 2 large blocks of cards below. Surprisingly, Joe Morgan, Ron Santo, and Ken Holtzman were not even on the actual All-Star roster in 1967, yet all were picked for the first team by The Sporting News.

Four of the six outfielders started at their natural position, while Hank Aaron and Tony Oliva each started in centerfield.

Oh, The Sporting News selected 2 pitchers in each league, 1 lefty and 1 righty, so...

The backs of these 20 cards formed 2 photos - Orlando Cepeda and Carl Yastrzemski. Contrary to what I would have thought, the 2 puzzles were not made exclusively from the player cards from Cepeda's or Yaz' own league. (My scanner bed is not large enough to hold all 10 cards, hence the cut-off tops.)

Joe Verbanic (#29)

2011-06-27T20:40:00.013-05:00

This is the second of four Joe Verbanic cards. Joe appeared on a Yankees Rookies card in 1967. He also had cards in '68, '69, and '70, all with the Yankees, and all hatless (c'mon Topps!). This same photo below was also used for his 1969 card.

Verbanic grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania, the same sports hotbed that produced Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Stan Musial, and Ken Griffey Sr, among others.

Joe was signed by the Phillies in 1961, and began his career as a relief pitcher with their Miami Marlins farm team in 1962. After another season in Miami, he moved up the ladder and eventually made his major-league debut with the Phillies in June 1966. Verbanic pitched in 17 games for the Phillies that season, but was traded to the Yankees that December for veteran pitcher Pedro Ramos.

Joe split the 1967 season between the Yankees and triple-A. In 1968, he managed to stick with the Yanks for the entire season, compiling a 6-7 record in 40 games (11 starts).

Verbanic missed the entire 1969 season with arm troubles. When he returned in 1970, his career was essentially over. Joe pitched 7 games for New York, and 15 games for AAA Syracuse. He also missed most of the following season, only pitching 5 games for Syracuse. Verbanic wrapped up his career in 1972, back with the Phillies' AAA team for a 39-game stint.

I often thought that Topps should have made another 1966 Phillies Rookies card featuring Verbanic and rookie pitcher John Morris. (Morris was traded to the Orioles for pitcher Dick Hall, and later surfaced on a 1969 card as a Seattle Pilot.)

Here's an internet page for Verbanic.

Sammy Ellis (#453)

2011-06-22T22:17:00.001-05:00

Sammy Ellis had a 7-year career as a starting pitcher in the 1960s, mostly with the Reds. He was signed by Cincinnati in 1961, and although he appeared in 7 games for the Reds in 1962, he spent most of 1961-63 in the minors.

In his rookie season of 1964, Sammy led the bullpen with 52 games, 122 innings, and 14 saves. The following season, he joined the rotation and compiled a 22-10 record, which, along with Jim Maloney's 20-9 gave the Reds a nice one-two punch.

After slipping to 12-19 in 1966 and 8-11 in 1967, Ellis was shipped off to the Angels for pitcher Bill Kelso. His one season in California was more of the same (9-10 record), and Sammy was traded to the White Sox in January 1969 for outfielder Bill Voss. After only 10 games with Chicago, he was traded to the Indians for pitcher Jack Hamilton, and was assigned to triple-A for the remainder of the season.

Ellis' final major-league game was in June 1969. His last baseball card was also in 1969. He spent the next 2 seasons in the minors before retiring.

1969 Baseball Stamps - All the Rest

2011-06-09T20:25:00.006-05:00

Here are the rest of my 1969 baseball stamps (well, except for the Padres' Larry Stahl, but he didn't fit into one of the group rectangles!) I got all these in 1969, and they've been sitting in glassine envelopes ever since.

I have no idea who I'm missing (except for the Phillies' Tony Taylor). It's weird that I have no stamps from the 2-time NL champion Cardinals, nor the Yankees, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Red Sox, Orioles, Angels, Astros, Expos, Royals, or Pilots.

(click to enlarge)

1969 Phillies Stamps

2011-06-07T20:00:00.011-05:00

Ok, so these aren't from 1968, but the photos were probably taken in 1968 (well, all but Don Lock. Apparently, Topps was unable to locate Don Lock after 1966!)

I was just reading the latest post by Jim on his Phillies Room blog where he made a reference to the 1969 Topps baseball stamps. I forgot that I had these until reading his post. When I located them, I didn't find any doubles, but I have 76 of these stamps from various teams, mostly Phillies, Pirates, Cubs, Twins, and Athletics. I wonder why out of 76 stamps, I have none from the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Cardinals, Expos, Astros, or Reds?

Here are the Phillies (I seem to be missing the Tony Taylor stamp that Jim referred to):

And here are 3 recent ex-Phillies. (Cater is actually about 4 years removed from the team, but Topps is still showing him in a Phillies uniform.)

Cap Peterson (#188)

2011-05-30T13:55:00.008-05:00

Charles Andrew "Cap" Peterson had an 8-year career in the 1960s as an outfielder, primarily for the Giants and Senators (Topps' two "green" teams, coincidently).

Cap was signed by the Giants in 1960, and spent 4 seasons in their farm system, the first 3 as a shortstop. After a cup of coffee at the end of the 1962 season, and 22 games in May, June, and September 1963, Peterson spent the entire 1964 season with the Giants, where he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter. (The Giants' starting outfield was Willie McCovey. Willie Mays, and Jesus Alou. Even their bench was well-stocked with outfielders Harvey Kuenn, Matty Alou, and an aging Duke Snider, so there wasn't much room for Peterson.)

In 1965, McCovey had moved to 1st base, Snider retired, and Kuenn was pushed to the back burner, so there was more time in the field for Peterson. He played in 60 games, and was the team's 5th outfielder, making 20 starts in left field.

Cap found himself with a semi-regular job in 1966. With rookie Ollie Brown now in right field, Jesus Alou moved over to left field, which became a 3-way job-share with Peterson and last year's regular left fielder, Len Gabrielson. After the season, Cap was traded to the Senators along with pitcher Bob Priddy for pitcher Mike McCormick.

Cap began the 1967 season as the starter in right field. After sharing the job with previous Nats' right fielder Jim King for about a month, King was traded away, giving Peterson more playing time. During the second half of the season, Cap shared right field with Fred Valentine, who would move over from his regular center field spot to give Ed Stroud or Hank Allen some starts in center.

1968 was the beginning of the end for Cap's career. Rookie Del Unser started 154 games in center field, moving everyone else (Fred Valentine, Ed Stroud, Hank Allen, and rookie Brant Alyea) over to the right field melting pot with Peterson. Cap made 37 starts in right, another 11 in left, but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter.

After the 1968 season he was traded to the Indians, where he played for 1 season as a pinch-hitter and backup left fielder.

Peterson played in triple-A for 3 more seasons before retiring. He passed away on May 16, 1980 from kidney disease at age 37.

Bobby Wine (#396)

2011-05-19T23:16:00.008-05:00

I can still remember getting this card in 1968, and how I really liked it. Why? I wasn't really a Bobby Wine fan. I think maybe it was the fact that the photo was so crisp, and because there were many hatless Phillies' cards in 1he 1968 set, this one just stood out as a nice card.

This is Bobby's last card as a Phillie. After the season, the Montreal Expos selected pitcher Larry Jackson in the expansion draft. When he chose to retire, the Phillies sent Wine to the Expos as compensation. It wasn't a great loss for the Phillies. Wine has missed all but 27 games of the 1968 season with a back injury, and the Phils had rookie Don Money waiting in the wings to take over in 1969.

This photo is from 1965, as that is the only season that Wine didn't wear his familiar #7 uniform. He had switched to #13 for that season in deference to veteran Dick Stuart.

The Phillies signed Bobby in 1957, and after 5 seasons in the minors, Wine made the team in 1962. He shared the shortstop job with Ruben Amaro Sr that first season, but was the clear #1 shortstop from 1963-65, although Amaro continued to start many games at short.

After losing his starting job to veteran Dick Groat in 1966, Wine regained the position for the 1967 season. It was to be his last signifcant time with the Phillies. The 1968 season began with rookie Don Money being handed the SS job. When he faltered in early April, Wine took over for a few weeks until being sidelined for the season with his ailing back.

Moving to Montreal in 1969, Wine was the Expos' starting shortstop for their first 3 seasons. His playing time began to diminish in the final weeks of the 1971 season, and for 1972 he had lost the starting job to Tim Foli. After only 18 at-bats over 34 games, Wine was released on July 10th.

He went on to a long coaching career with the Phillies and Braves, and also scouted for the Braves.

Dick Tracewski (#488)

2011-05-14T20:50:00.013-05:00

Over the next few posts, I am going to be completing my series on players who retired in the late 1960s (specifically, those players who retired in 1968 or 1969, or whose last card was in 1968).

This post was going to be about 8-year veteran Dick Radatz (who retired in 1969). When I went to my 1968 binder (which is arranged by teams) to retrieve his card, I couldn't find it. Indians? No. Red Sox? No. What the? After consulting my Book of All Topps Knowledge I learned that the veteran Radatz did not have a card in 1968. He was released by the Cubs during spring training in 1968, and spent the entire season with the Tigers' triple-A team, before returning to the majors for one more season in 1969.

I will have to update my list of players without a 1968 card. Meanwhile, on to fellow 8-year-veteran-retiring-in-1969 Dick Tracewski.

Tracewski was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953. After 5 seasons in the minors, Dick spent 1958 and 1959 in military service. He returned to another 3 seasons in the minors, and made the Dodgers at the start of the 1963 season.

Tracewski had significant playing time during his first 2 seasons with the Dodgers, backing up Maury Wills at SS in 1963, and sharing 2B with Nate Oliver in 1964. In 1965 he received less playing time than before, primarily as Junior Gilliam's backup at 3rd base. Dick saw action in the 1963 and 1965 World Series with the Dodgers.

After the 1965 season, Dick was traded to the Tigers for relief pitcher Phil Regan. With the Tigers, Tracewski was relegated to 3rd-string middle infielder, especially after the arrival of rookie Tom Matchick in 1968. Still, Tracewski played briefly in his 3rd World Series in 1968. He retired after the 1969 season.

Final Card: Bob Allen

2011-04-18T19:14:00.010-05:00

Hooray! Tax season is over. I will now attempt to be more of a player here.

Here is the final card for Indians' pitcher Bob Allen (#176), who had a 5-year major-league career, all with the Indians. Allen was signed by Cleveland in 1956, and spent 5 years working his way up the minor-league ladder, beginning in Class D in 1956. For his first 3 seasons, one of his teammates was future big-league pitcher Jim Perry.

Bob made his major-league debut in 1961, as a member of the Tribe's bullpen. He appeared in 48 games as a rookie. He regressed in 1962, pitching only 30 innings in 30 games, while spending part of the season with triple-A Salt Lake City.

In 1963, Bob returned to the Indians for a full season, logging similar playing time as he did in 1961. Allen was the only lefty in the bullpen, which this year included ace Ted Abernathy and 43-year-old veteran Early Wynn. Allen and Abernathy were the only pitchers on the team not to make any starts.

After the 1963 season, Allen was traded to the Pirates, who returned him to Cleveland before the 1964 season. Bob spent the next 2 seasons with the Indians' triple-A team in Portland, Oregon before finally returning to Cleveland for the entire 1966 and 1967 seasons.

An 0-5 record in 1967 spelled the end of Allen's major-league career. Over 5 seasons, he pitched in 84 games, all in relief. Bob continued to pitch in the minors for the Indians (1968-70), Angels (1970), and the Padres (1971-72) before retiring.

Who didn't get a card, but shoulda...

2011-02-20T13:13:00.017-06:00

Today, I'm continuing ~~to pick at the shortcomings~~ my analysis of the 1968 set.

As I posted earlier with the 1966 and 1967 sets, here is a list of some of the players who didn't appear on a regular or rookie card in this set, along with the number of games played in 1968:

Most of these are rookies who made their debut in 1968. Reggie Jackson is a different case. He made his debut with the Athletics in June 1967, but in 118 at-bats in 35 games, he only hit 1 home run. Maybe this caused Topps to write him off as a non-factor. Fortunately for us, our fellow blogger Steve at White Sox Cards has filled the gap.

Bobby Bonds wasn't called up until late June, but he had been tearing up the minor leagues for over a year. Other rookies who grabbed a starting job at the start of the season included Del Unser and Bobby Cox (who both made the Topps 1968 all-rookie team).

Non-rookies without a card were Indians' 1st baseman Tony Horton (who never had a card in his 6-year career), Roberto Pena (a journeyman shortstop who joined the Phillies in late April and took over the starting job in May for the injured Bobby Wine), and Red Sox pitcher Sparky Lyle.

I can't imagine how Topps could have overlooked Reggie Jackson and Bobby Bonds for their teams' rookie cards, but almost all of these players could have been added to the 7th series, which was months away. (Did we really need all those extra Mets cards?)

5-15-2011 edit:
Yesterday, I learned that relief pitcher Dick Radatz didn't have a card in the 1968 set. Radatz (nicknamed "The Monster") broke in with the Red Sox in 1962 and finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. He led the AL in (what would have been) saves in 1962 and 1964. In June 1966 he was traded to the Indians, and in April 1967 he moved on to the Cubs.

From 1962 to 1967, Dick appeared in 62, 66, 79, 63, 55, and 23 games. His last major-league appearance in 1967 was on July 7th. No doubt that was the reason he was left out of the 1968 set. Still, the Braves' Tommie Aaron was afforded a card in 1968 after not having played since the 1965 season, so why didn't Radatz get similar treatment? Dick spent the entire 1968 season in the minors, before resurfacing for 1 final season in 1969 with the Tigers and Expos. His final card was in the 1969 set.

12-27-2011 edit:
In addition to Dick Radatz, these players also had cards in 1967 and 1969, but not in 1968:
Johnny Podres - P (was retired during 1968)
Jesse Gonder - C (1967 was last year in majors)
Bob Chance - 1B
Dave Nicholson - OF
Gary Geiger - OF
Tommie Reynolds - OF
Galen Cisco - P
Fred Newman - P
Tom Egan - C
Chuck Harrison - 1B
Jim Beauchamp - OF

Distribution of teams within the 1968 set

2011-02-17T16:45:00.017-06:00

Yesterday, I revisited my earlier post about the lack of a Giants Rookies card.

There were 25 cards for the Giants in 1968. However, in the 598 card set, the last Giant appears on card #545. This means that in the last 53 cards, there were no Giants. Was a planned Giants Rookies card pulled and replaced with someone else? Although the set starts off with each team being represented every 20 cards or so, in those final 53 cards, we have:

5 Mets (!?!)
4 Astros, Red Sox, Senators, and Yankees
3 Angels, Athletics, Indians, and Pirates
2 Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Orioles, Reds, Twins, White Sox
1 Tigers and Phillies

The Phillies were really cut short, having only ONE card among the last EIGHTY-SIX cards!

A further analysis of the entire set shows that some teams had as many as 5 more cards than other teams:

30 Orioles, Reds, Red Sox
29 Astros, Cubs, Mets, Senators
28 Athletics
27 Cardinals, Dodgers, Pirates, Twins, White Sox
26 Angels, Yankees
25 Braves, Giants, Phillies, Indians, Tigers

20 All stars
12 Leaders
8 World Series
7 Checklists
5 Other

So, my long-time suspicion that the Phillies were short-changed in the 1968 set turns out to be correct. (Trades were not the reason, as the only significant off-season Phillies' trades were Jim Bunning for Woodie Fryman, and Dick Ellsworth and Gene Oliver for Mike Ryan, which gives an imbalance of 1 card.)

Topps' late-series push of excessive Mets, Astros, Red Sox, and Senators cards sent the totals for those teams soaring above the team average.

Jack Hamilton (#193)

2010-11-07T20:53:00.010-06:00

Jack Hamilton spent 8 years as a big-league pitcher, but unfortunately is most remembered for one grim event in 1967.

Jack was signed by the Cardinals in 1957, and spent 4 seasons in the low minors before the Phillies selected him in the minor-league draft following the 1960 season. After one season with the Phillies' class-A team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, he made his major-league debut in April 1962. Appearing in 41 games in his rookie season, his 26 starts were 2nd on the Phillies behind Art Mahaffey's 39 starts. Unfortunately, Jack also led the league with 107 walks and 22 wild pitches. In 1963, he made 19 appearances for the Phillies, but played almost as many games for the team's AAA squad in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Jack's biggest contribution to the Phillies came after the 1963 season, when he was shipped off to the Tigers (along with outfielder Don Demeter) for pitcher Jim Bunning and catcher Gus Triandos. Hamilton spent the next 2 seasons with the Tigers, or, more accurately, as a starter with their AAA team in Syracuse. He did manage to play 9 games with the Tigers over 2 seasons.

The Mets purchased his contract after the 1965 season, and he became a fixture in New York's bullpen in 1966. He picked up 13 saves for the Mets, and led the relievers in games and innings pitched. Jack even managed to squeeze in 13 starts around his bullpen duties.

After 17 appearances in 1967, Jack was traded to the Angels on June 10th for pitcher Nick Willhite. He was used almost exclusively as a starter for the remainder of the 1967 season. On August 18th Hamilton was pitching against the Red Sox. With 2 out in the 4th inning, Jack severely beaned Boston right fielder Tony Conigliaro, which caused Conigliaro to miss the rest of 1967 and all of 1968.

1967 would be Hamilton's last full season in the majors. He became primarily a reliever in 1968, and divided his time between California and the Angels' triple-A team in Seattle.

After the 1968 season, Jack was traded to the Indians for pitcher Eddie Fisher (no, this one). After 20 relief appearances with Cleveland, he was traded on June 13th to the White Sox for pitcher Sammy Ellis. Hamilton only pitched in 8 games for the White Sox, the last coming on August 10th. He spent the rest on 1969 and all of 1970 pitching for the White Sox' AAA team in Tucson, AZ.

His last card was issued in 1969.

Don Lock (#59)

2010-10-05T18:49:00.016-05:00

First, let me point out that the late-1960s cards of Don Lock are the most complete example of Topps' photographical laziness that I have found. Lock was traded to the Phillies in November 1966. His 1967 card shows him in a hatless photo. Fine, no problem there, because he was just traded. But, here it is ONE YEAR LATER, and Topps puts out another hatless card of Lock (with a different photo than 1967). To top it all off, Don's 1969 card (still with the Phillies, mind you) has ANOTHER hatless photo! More than 2 seasons after his trade from the Senators, and while on the Phillies roster for all that time, Topps couldn't squeeze out a new photo of Don Lock.

Don Lock was signed by the Yankees (I didn't know that until today) in 1958, and spent over 4 seasons on the Yankees' farm, until he was traded to the Senators on July 11, 1962 for 1st baseman Dale Long. Six days later, he made his major-league debut with the Senators. He started 63 of the final 76 games that season, all but one in left field.

In 1963, Don began the season as the center fielder, and except for a stretch of 19 consecutive games in late April and early May, he was the undisputed #1 in center, with 129 starts there. He also started 9 games in right field. Lock bashed 27 homers in his first full season.

1964 was more of the same, with Lock making 120 starts in center, compared to Ken Hunt's 30 starts. Don also started 25 games in right field, spelling regular Jim King. He also hit 20 home runs.

1965? The center field scoreboard says Don Lock 116 games, Woodie Held 34 games. Replaced by Woodie Held? That's what happens when your average drops to .215 and you only hit 16 home runs.

1966? Lock 101, Fred Valentine 55. Don's playing time is similar to 1965, but for the 2nd straight year, he hits a mere 16 home runs and collects less than 50 RBI.

Lock seems to be slipping in his last 2 seasons with the Senators. This affirms what I have often thought was a bad trade made by the Phillies in the mid-1960s (and always overlooked, in the shadow of the Fergie Jenkins trade). The Phillies traded pitcher Darold Knowles, who led the team in saves during his rookie season in 1966, for a starting outfielder who, under closer examination, was already on the decline. I can remember back in the 1960s, one of the "great reasons" to get Lock was that he "hit 99 home runs with the Senators" (something that is repeated on the back of this card).

Knowles went on to accumulate 143 saves in a 16-year career, which ended in 1980. Lock was heavily platooned during his 2 full seasons with the Phillies, and was sent packing to the Red Sox in early May 1969, for a guy whose entire major-league career consisted of one at-bat in 1965. Lock remained with the Red Sox through the end of the 1969 season, before retiring.

"Highly sought-after slugger"? Bah!

Final Card: Jim Ollom

2010-09-26T20:55:00.007-05:00

Jim Ollom (#91) was signed by the Yankees in 1963. After one season in their organization, he was drafted by Minnesota, and spent the next 3 seasons as a starting pitcher in the Twins farm system, finally making his major-league debut in September 1966.

Ollom spent the entire 1967 season in the majors, and it would be his last season in the show. He appeared in 21 games, pitching 35 innings. Both of these stats ranked him 6th among pitchers named Jim on the 1967 Twins' staff.

Following the 1967 season, Ollom split each of the next 2 seasons with the Twins' minor league teams in Charlotte (AA) and Denver (AAA) as both a starter and reliever.

Back on Topps' Radar: Jerry Stephenson

2010-08-25T15:34:00.009-05:00

Jerry Stephenson (#519) appeared on baseball cards in 1965 and 1966, but not in 1967. He returns to the Topps card set in 1968.

Stephenson was signed by the Red Sox in 1961, and pitched 3 years (1962-64) as a starter in the minors before making the Red Sox team in 1965. Jerry remained on the team for the entire season, starting and relieving a total of 15 games.

In 1966, he started 11 of his 15 games (as one of 6 pitchers used in the back of the rotation behind Jim Lonborg, Jose Santiago, and Earl Wilson). Jerry also spent some time with triple-A Toronto.

Stephenson spent most of 1967 with Toronto, but also appeared in 8 games for Boston during the regular season, as well as pitching in the World Series. 1968 was not only his last year with Boston, but would also be his last full season in the majors. He was used mainly in long relief (23 games, 68 innings).

Stephenson was released by the Red Sox on April 17, 1969, and signed by the expansion Seattle Pilots on the same day. Appearing in only 2 games for the Pilots, he spent most of the season with their AAA club in Vancouver.

Jerry was traded to the Dodgers prior to the 1970 season, but only played 3 games for Los Angeles. He was a starter for the Dodgers' AAA teams (Spokane, then Albuquerque) from 1970 to 1972, before becoming their closer in 1973, his final season in baseball.

Back on Topps' Radar: Gary Kolb

2010-08-05T20:25:00.006-05:00

Gary Kolb (#407) was primarily an outfielder, but also caught a dozen or so games (mostly late in his career). He first appeared on a Topps baseball card in 1964. After his 1965 card, he disappeared for 2 seasons before returning to the 1968 set, with his final card coming in 1969.

Kolb was signed by the Cardinals in 1960, and played 3 1/2 seasons in their farm system (with brief call-ups in 1960 and 1962). In 1963, he logged considerable time with the Cardinals as a backup corner outfielder.

In early April 1964, Gary was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for catcher Bob Uecker. This was a bad break for Kolb, because not only did he get less playing time for the '64 Braves than he had with the '63 Cardinals, but the Cardinals went on to win the World Series in 1964!

1965 was Gary's first full season in the majors, but after playing sparingly for the Braves, he was traded to the Mets in July for catcher Jesse Gonder. His playing time increased with the Mets for the remainder of the season, but the Mets kept him in the minors for all of 1966.

After the 1966 season, Gary was sent to the Pirates in the Dennis Ribant for Don Cardwell trade, but played exclusively in triple-A in 1967. He would then play the entire '68 and '69 seasons in the majors.

1968 was Kolb's best season since 1963, as he appeared in 74 games for the Pirates, and played every position except pitcher, 1st base, and shortstop. With the addition of outfielder Ron Davis and the emergence of fellow catcher/outfielder Carl Taylor in 1969, Kolb had a reduced role. His last game was on September 1, 1969.

Kolb played for the Pirates' triple-A team for the 1970-73 seasons before retiring.

Final Card: Darrell Sutherland

2010-07-05T21:32:00.010-05:00

Here is the final card for Darrell Sutherland (#551). Darrell was signed by the Phillies in 1963, one year before they also signed his brother Gary. (Darrell's picture is 5 years old, as it shows him in a Phillies' uniform from his days with the class-A Bakersfield Phillies in 1963.)

In April 1964, the Mets selected him from the Phillies in the minor-league draft, and from 1964-66, Darrell was a starting pitcher with the Mets' triple-A teams. During those same 3 seasons, he appeared in 10, 18, and 32 games for the big club, mostly as a reliever.

In 1967, Sutherland spent the entire season with double-A Williamsport, where he made 38 relief appearances and 1 start. After the season, the Indians selected him in the minor-league player draft.

Darrell only appeared in 3 games for Cleveland in 1968, while spending the bulk of the season with the Indians' AA and AAA teams.

His final pro season was in 1969, where he appeared in 47 games (all in relief) for the Indians' triple-A Portland team.

Final Card: Dick Calmus

2010-06-30T22:03:00.008-05:00

After reading about all the goings-on at Wrigley Wax Headquarters, I decided to offer up a little-known Cubs card.

After first appearing in the 1964 set as a Dodger, Dick Calmus (#427) dropped off Topps' radar for 3 years, but returned here for his final card. When I first got this card back in 1968, I thought he looked like a young Jack Kennedy!

Calmus was signed by the Dodgers in 1962. After playing 1 season of class-D ball, he spent the entire 1963 season with the Dodgers, appearing in 21 games (all but 1 in relief). He then spent the next 3 seasons in the Dodgers farm system, mostly as a starting pitcher. Calmus was at AA Albuquerque in 1964, and AAA Spokane in 1965 and 1966.

In late April 1967, he was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Fred Norman (who would go on to pitch many years with the Padres and Reds). Calmus spent the entire season at triple-A Tacoma, then made one appearance with the Cubs on September 2nd. It would be his last major-league game.

Dick would play in the minors for 2 more seasons: for the Cubs in 1968 and the Dodgers in 1969.

I wonder why he even has a card here in 1968, since he pitched a grand total of 4.1 innings in 1967, and none in 1968.

Bob Kennedy (#183)

2010-06-26T20:57:00.009-05:00

Bob Kennedy was the first manager of the Oakland Athletics. In the A's final season in Kansas City (1967), manager Alvin Dark was given the boot with 40 games remaining. He was replaced on an interim basis by Luke Appling, with Kennedy making a fresh start in 1968 in Oakland.

Bob's tenure at the A's helm only lasted one season. After finishing 82-80, the Athletics brought in former Orioles' skipper Hank Bauer for 1969. (Bauer' stint was even shorter than Kennedy's, lasting only 149 games in 1969.)

Unlike almost all of his players' cards, Kennedy didn't get the "black cap" treatment from Topps. Here we see him in his Cubs' uniform, in a semi-recent picture. Bob served as the Cubs "head coach" from 1961 to 1965.

(From 1961 to 1965, instead of hiring a manager like all teams have done since baseball was invented, the Cubs got the bright idea of using a "manager-by-committee" approach. This College of Coaches included Kennedy and at least 5 other guys. Amazingly, this management strategy did not put an end to the Cubs decades-long record of futility. [/sarc] What the Cubs did do was put an end to this ridiculous arrangement in 1966 by hiring Leo Durocher as their manager.)

Back on Topps' Radar: Dave Duncan

2010-06-10T21:17:00.005-05:00

Dave Duncan (#261) had his first baseball card in 1964 as half of an Athletics Rookie Stars card. He only played 25 games in 1964, then returned to the minors until resurfacing in 1967 for 34 games. Because of this, he was excluded from the 1965-67 sets. He would have a card every year from 1968 to 1977.

Duncan was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963. After only one season in class-A ball, he spent the entire 1964 season with Kansas City (but only appeared in 25 games).

From 1965 to 1967, he played class A and AA baseball, and also appeared in some games for the Athletics in 1967, backing up #1 catcher Phil Roof. Dave's only season in triple-A came in 1968, when he split his time between Vancouver and the (now Oakland) Athletics. Duncan split the starting catching duties with the newly-acquired Jim Pagliaroni in 1968.

In 1969, Roof was back in the starter's chair, with Duncan and Larry Haney manning the 2nd and 3rd string catchers jobs. The following season, Dave again split the starting catching assignments, this time with Frank Fernandez. However, rookie Gene Tenace arrived on the scene, catching about 20% of the games.

1971 and 1972 were Duncan's only seasons as the Athletics' clear-cut starting catcher (with Tenace in reserve).

The latter part of Dave's career was spent bouncing from team to team. Before the 1973 season he was traded to the Indians for catcher Ray Fosse. In February 1975, he moved on to the Orioles for 1st baseman Boog Powell. After the 1976 season, the Orioles traded him to the White Sox for outfielder Pat Kelly, but Duncan was released in spring training.

Dave went on to have a long (and still active) career as a pitching coach for Tony LaRussa in Oakland and St. Louis. I wonder if any other non-pitcher was ever a major-league pitching coach?

Back on Topps Radar: Frank Quilici

2010-05-29T22:55:00.004-05:00

Frank Quilici (#557) first appeared on a card in the 1966 set. After being left out of the 1967 set, he returns here, for the first of several consecutive seasons.

Quilici was signed by the Twins in 1961. After 4 1/2 seasons in the minors, he made his major-league debut in July 1965, and was the Twins' starting 2nd baseman for long stretches of games in July and September. He also played every inning at 2nd base for the Twins in the 1965 World Series. It's puzzling why he then spent the entire 1966 season back in triple-A. (Maybe an old-school Twins' fan can clear this up?)

In 1967, Frank played 11 games at triple-A and only 23 games with the Twins. Why the colossal lack of playing time? Two words: Rod Carew. That was Carew's rookie season, so any chance of Quilici recapturing his 1965 role went up in smoke.

In 1968, Quilici's playing time increased, as he started 40+ games each at 2B and 3B. The following year was even better for him, as he was a quasi-starter at 3rd base. Regular 3rd baseman Harmon Killebrew also played a significant number of games at 1st base, opening up 3rd for Quilici. (The same arrangement was used several years earlier with Killebrew, Don Mincher, and Rich Rollins.)

1970 was Frank's last season in the majors, and he went out in a flurry of activity. He played in 111 games, starting 41 of them at 2nd base (as Carew was limited to 45 games at 2nd base that season).

Multi-player Cards

2010-05-26T21:00:00.008-05:00

Continuing with the theme from yesterday's post on my 1966 blog, here are the only 3 multi-player cards in the 1968 set.

#530 Bird Belters - These 2 players appeared (along with manager Hank Bauer) on card #1 in the 1967 set, as members of the 1966 world champion Orioles. It seems odd that Topps printed another Orioles' multi-player card in 1968, after issuing two in 1967. (A card for the 1967 champion Cardinals would have made more sense.)

#480 Manager's Dream - Here's a departure from the normal multi-player cards: players from different teams posing together. This would be Cardenas' last season in Cincinnati before shipping out to the Twins.

#490 Super Stars - One of the last cards featuring Mickey Mantle (no doubt taken at the 1967 All-Star Game).

Back on Topps' Radar: Ron Brand

2010-05-03T18:38:00.006-05:00

Astros' catcher Ron Brand (#317) is back on Topps' card roster after being left off in 1967.

Brand was signed by the Pirates in 1958, and played in the minors for 7 seasons, first as a middle infielder, before switching to catcher in 1961. Ron appeared in 46 games for the Pirates in 1963, mostly as a 3rd-string catcher.

His big break came after the 1964 season, when the Houston Colt .45s selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He became the Astros' #1 catcher in 1965, starting 94 games (to John Bateman's 38 starts). In 1966, Bateman took over the #1 job, starting 120 games behind the plate. Brand was 3rd on the games played list at catcher, behind Bill Heath (which explains Heath's presence on a 1967 card, instead of Brand).

In 1967, Brand and Bateman divided the starting job fairly evenly, but Bateman was the clear starter in 1968. To make matters worse, Brand had dropped to #3 catcher behind Dave Adlesh.

After the 1968 season, Ron was selected by the Montreal Expos in the expansion draft. One would think this led to a starting job for Brand, but the Expos also selected the Astros' other catcher (John Bateman) as well. So, Bateman and Brand picked up where they left off in Houston. In 1969 they split the starting job. In 1970, Bateman was the undisputed starter, and Brand actually got more playing time at 3B and SS than he did as a catcher. 1971 was a carbon copy of 1970 as far as Ron's playing time was concerned.

1971 was Brand's final season in the big leagues. He spent the 1972 season playing for Montreal's triple-A team. After not playing in 1973 and 1974, he played for the Dodgers' class-A team in Bakersfield, California at several positions, including 3 games as a pitcher.

Walt Williams (#172)

2010-05-01T11:55:00.014-05:00

From the previous post, we move across Chicago to the White Sox and Walt "No Neck" Williams. This is the 2nd year in a row that a White Sox' outfielder was named to the Topps All-Rookie team. (Tommie Agee was named the previous year. I wonder if it was Williams' fine play that enabled the Sox to move Agee to the Mets after the 1967 season?)

In 1966, 1968, and 1969, Topps used the same color-coding for each team's cards. Each color was used for one AL and one NL team. Coincidently, both the White Sox and Cubs were orange.

Williams was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1963. After one season in their farm system, he was picked up by the Cardinals and played 3 seasons with their minor-league teams, until he was traded to the White Sox in December 1966 (along with pitcher Don Dennis) for catcher Johnny Romano.

Walt spent the next 6 years in the White Sox' outfield (although he was in the minors for a good part of the 1968 season). He was a backup in the corner outfield spots as a rookie, but after returning to full-time status in 1969, he became the regular right fielder.

In 1970, Walt shared the right field job with Bill Melton. (Melton had been the regular 3rd baseman before and after 1970, but divided his time between 3rd and left in 1970.)

The following year, it was Pat Kelly who kept Williams from playing full-time in right field, as they shared the position evenly. In 1972, Kelly's playing time in right field increased to about two-thirds, while Walt's decreased further.

After one season as the Indians' backup left fielder, Walt was traded to the Yankees prior to the 1974 season. Williams spent his final 2 seasons with the Yankees, but rarely played the outfield.

Lou Johnson (#184)

2010-04-27T14:59:00.007-05:00

Here we see the hatless "Sweet Lou" Johnson, joining the Cubs after several seasons with the Dodgers.

Johnson was signed by the Yankees way back in 1953, but didn't make his major-league debut until April 1960, with the Cubs. In between, he spent several seasons with the Yankees' and Pirates' organizations, until the Cubs acquired him in 1956.

Lou only played 35 games for the Cubs in his rookie season, spending most of that season with the Cubs' triple-A Houston Buffs team. On April 1, 1961 the Cubs traded him to the Los Angeles Angels. After one game with the Angels, he was traded to the triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs (an independent team in 1961) for outfielder Leon Wagner.

In 1962 Toronto became affiliated with the Milwaukee Braves, and Lou spent some time playing in Milwaukee. Johnson was back in the minors for all of 1963, first as Braves' property, then after May 8th, as a Tigers' farmhand.

Just before the start of the 1964 season, the Tigers traded Lou to the Dodgers for pitcher Larry Sherry. After playing for triple-A Spokane for the entire 1964 season, Johnson got his big "break" in early 1965, when the Dodgers' left fielder Tommy Davis broke his leg. Lou would be the Dodgers' primary left fielder for the next 3 seasons. His playing time slipped somewhat in 1967, due to an early-season ankle injury. The Dodgers brought in outfielder Len Gabrielsen to share the outfield load with Al Ferrara.

After the 1967 season, Lou was traded to the Cubs for infielder Paul Popovich and minor-league outfielder Jim Williams. Midway through 1968, it was on to the Indians in exchange for "Wonderful" Willie Smith.

After half-seasons in Chicago and Cleveland, Lou spent his final season (1969) back with the Angels. His last game was on September 6, 1969. His final baseball card was also in 1969.

Danny Frisella (#191)

2010-04-22T16:13:00.004-05:00

This is the rookie card for Danny Frisella, a relief pitcher for the Mets and others from 1967 to 1976.

Frisella was signed by the Mets in June 1966. During his time in the Mets' minor-league system (1966-1970) he was a starting pitcher. He compiled a record of 11-5 during the first half of 1967 (in A and AAA ball), and then made his major-league debut on July 27th, starting 11 of his 14 games during his rookie season.

In 1968, he started 7 games in triple-A, and appeared in 19 games with the Mets, this year mostly in relief. Danny spent most of 1969 in the minors, so he missed all the "Amazin' Mets" hoopla. (I don't know if he was on the post-season roster. The Mets only used 6 pitchers in the NLCS, and 6 pitchers in the World Series, and he wasn't one of them.)

Frisella started 13 games for the Mets' triple-A team in 1970, and rejoined the Mets' bullpen, where he appeared in 30 games as the setup man for closers Ron Taylor and Tug McGraw. He won 8 games in each of 1970 and 1971, and became the right-handed closer in 1971, leading the team with 12 saves.

In 1972, his record slipped to 5-8, and his saves dropped to 9, as lefty Tug McGraw picked up most of the team's saves that season. After the season, Danny was traded to the Braves (with pitcher Gary Gentry) for 2nd baseman Felix Millan and pitcher George Stone.

Frisella spent 2 seasons in the Braves' bullpen, and was traded to the Padres for outfielder Cito Gaston in the off-season.

He was the Padres' closer in 1975, and although he compiled a 1-6 record, he led the team with 9 saves. After only one season, he was traded to the Cardinals on April 8, 1976. Two months later, after only 22 innings pitched, he was shipped to Milwaukee, where he became the Brewers' closer, again leading his team in saves.

On January 1, 1977 Danny Frisella was killed in a dune buggy accident in Arizona at age 30.

Here is a message board on the Ultimate Mets Database site, where fans (and Frisella's widow) have posted their comments.
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Playing Card Inserts

2010-04-21T14:26:00.009-05:00

Here are the 1968 Topps inserts - a deck of 33 playing cards. These cards measure 2 1/4" x 3 1/4". I don't remember which series these were inserted in. Unlike the 1969 deckle-edge insert cards, these cards aren't included on one of the checklists.

I don't remember actually playing with these cards much. It seemed kind of pointless - like playing baseball solitaire when I could go outside and play real baseball with the neighbor kids. If I remember correctly, I got all these cards in 1968, but the Carl Yastrzemski card has not yellowed like all my others have, so maybe I got that one much later.

Notable stars of that time missing from this set are Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey, and Lou Brock.

Back on Topps' Radar: Roy White

2010-04-20T11:25:00.009-05:00

Here is the first "full" card for Roy White (#546). White appeared on a Yankees Rookies card in 1966, but did not have a card in 1967, despite having 356 plate appearances for the Yankees in 1966. C'mon Topps, why was White left out of the 1967 set, while this guy (who had exactly ZERO major-league games played prior to this card being issued, and whose subsequent major-league career consisted of 2 games) gets his own card?

White was signed by the Yankees in 1961, and played 4 seasons in the minor leagues as a 2nd baseman, before making his Yankees debut (as an outfielder) in September 1965. He spent the entire 1966 season with the Yankees, and started 66 games in left field that season (when Tom Tresh, the Yankees' regular left fielder, would move in to play 3rd base).

In 1967, Roy didn't start a game for the Yankees until July 19th, when he started 15 of the next 18 games at 3rd base. After spending all of 1966 with the Yankees, White played 84 games with triple-A Spokane (a Dodgers' farm team) playing exclusively at 3rd base. My theory is that the Yankees (who had traded long-time 3rd baseman Clete Boyer to the Braves in the off-season) were trying to convert White to a 3rd baseman. That experiment seems to have lasted 3 weeks at the big-league level, because by August, he was in right field, and would never play 3rd base again during his career.

White was the Yankees' regular left fielder from 1968 to 1973, and was all-star in 1969 and 1970. In 1970, he started 161 games in left, and in 1973 he started 162 games in left.

In 1974, he split his time between LF and DH, before returning to full-time left field duty from 1975-77. Beginning in 1978, Lou Piniella took over in left field, relegating White to backup status. He would play for the Yankees until retiring after the 1979 season.

Roy White was the Yankees' one link between the Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson eras.

Bob Hendley (#345)

2010-04-13T23:10:00.010-05:00

Although Bob Hendley's last major-league game was on September 3, 1967, Topps would issue cards for him in 1968 and 1969.

Bob was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1958. After 3 1/2 seasons in the minors, he made his major-league debut on June 23, 1961, pitching 7 innings in a loss to the Cubs. Hendley started 13 of his 19 games during his rookie season.

In 1962, Bob advanced to #3 starter behind veterans Warren Spahn and Bob Shaw, and ahead of Lew Burdette. In 1963, Bob Shaw became the team's closer, but Hendley was still the #3 starter, as Denny Lemaster (in his 1st full season) leapfrogged over Bob in the rotation.

After the 1963 season, Bob was part of a big trade with the Giants, as he, pitcher Bob Shaw, and catcher Del Crandall went to San Francisco in exchange for pitcher Billy Hoeft, catcher Ed Bailey, outfielder Felipe Alou, and infielder Ernie Bowman. With the Giants in 1964, Bob joined a rotation that included Juan Marichal, Jack Sanford, and 3 others that started and relieved (Gaylord Perry, Bob Bolin, Ron Herbel). Except for the aging Sanford (35), all the starters were either 25 or 26 years old.

Bob only appeared in 8 games for the Giants in 1965, before being traded to the Cubs on May 29th (along with catcher Ed Bailey and outfielder Harvey Kuenn) for catcher Dick Bertell and outfielder Len Gabrielsen. He was used in a swingman role with the Cubs, as their top 3 starters were Larry Jackson, Dick Ellsworth, and Bob Buhl (all future Phillies).

In 1966, Hendley pitched mainly in relief, and led the team with (a paltry!) 7 saves. 1966 also was the rookie season of catcher Randy Hundley, so the Cubs fielded a Hendley/Hundley battery for a year and a half, until Bob's June 1967 trade to the Mets.

In New York, Bob spent the closing months of his major-league career making 13 starts and 2 relief appearances.

Hendley spent the 1968 and 1968 seasons with the Mets' triple-A team, making 27 appearances in each season.

Final Card: Sandy Valdespino

2010-04-11T22:25:00.010-05:00

Sandy Valdespino (#304) appeared on Topps cards in 1965 and 1966, but since he spent most of 1966 in the minors, he didn't have a card in 1967. Now he's back for one last card.

Sandy was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1957. He spent 8 seasons in Senators'/Twins' minor-league system (including the last 5 in triple-A) before making his major-league debut with the Twins on April 12, 1965.

In his rookie season, Valdespino was 10th in at-bats among Twins players, which was tops among non-starters. (For all practical purposes, the Twins had 9 "starters" that season, because of the triangle of Don Mincher at 1B, Rich Rollins at 3B, and Harmon Killebrew at 1B-3B.) Valdespino was used primarily as a pinch-hitter and backup left fielder.

In 1966, Sandy's value to the team plummeted, as rookies Ted Uhlaender, Cesar Tovar, and Andy Kosco all found more playing time than Valdespino. In fact, he played more games at triple-A Denver (72) than he did with the Twins (52).

Sandy spent the entire 1967 season with the Twins, but was relegated to the bench. Although he played in 99 games, only 9 of them were outfield starts. The rest were pinch-hitting appearances or backup duty in left field. After the season, the Braves selected him in the rule 5 draft.

1968 was his only season with the Braves, but he played 2/3 of his games that season with triple-A Richmond. After the season, Atlanta traded him to the Astros for pitcher Paul Doyle, a 10-year minor-league veteran with no major-league experience.

After splitting the season between Houston and triple-A Oklahoma City, Sandy was traded to the Seattle Pilots on August 30, 1969 (with Danny Walton) for Tommy Davis. Valdespino played 20 games with the Pilots at the end of 1969, and although he played 8 games with the relocated Milwaukee Brewers in 1970, he spent most of that season in the minors, first in Portland Oregon, then in Omaha (after being sold to the Royals in July).

Sandy saw some brief action with the Royals in 1971, but spent most of that season and all of 1972 with the Royals' triple-A team in Omaha.

His final major-league games was on September 28, 1971, but he never appeared on a baseball card after 1968.

Back on Topps' Radar: Jim Roland

2010-04-10T21:36:00.012-05:00

Jim Roland (#276) had cards from 1963-1965, but missed out in 1966 and 1967. Here he resurfaces to begin a string of 5 seasons on a baseball card.

Jim was signed by the Twins in 1961, and spent only 2 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in September 1962. He spent the following 2 seasons with the Twins. Being a swingman, Baseball-Reference.com doesn't list him as being among the team's top 10 pitchers, but in 1963 he was 9th in innings pitched (49), and in 1964 he was 6th in innings pitched (94).

Roland spent the entire 1965 and 1966 seasons in the minors, rehabbing from arm injuries. He pitched about 30 games each season, mostly as a starter.

Jim returned to the Twins in 1967, and took his place alongside all the other Jims on the Twins' pitching staff. In 1967, he appeared in 25 games (all in relief) with 35 innings pitched. (I guess he was the "situational lefty".) The following season he made 4 starts and relieved in 24 games, but he was no longer the senior southpaw in the bullpen, as Ron Perranoski had been acquired from the Dodgers in the off-season.

In February 1969, Roland was sold to the Athletics, where he joined rookie Rollie Fingers and veterans Lew Krausse and Paul Lindblad in Oakland's bullpen.

After 3 seasons with the A's, Jim was sold to the Yankees in April 1972. At the end of August, the Yanks traded him to the Rangers for pitcher Casey Cox. With Texas, Roland pitched 5 games (a total of 3.1 innings), and fashioned an 8.10 ERA. That was enough to call it a career after the season.

Jim Roland died at age 67 on March 6, 2010 in Shelby, North Carolina, about 90 miles from his birthplace of Franklin, NC.

Final Card: Jack Lamabe

2010-04-02T17:41:00.005-05:00

This is the final card for Jack Lamabe (#311).

Jack was signed by the Phillies in 1956. After one season with their class-D club in the Carolina League, he was released and subsequently picked up by the Pirates. Lamabe spent 5 seasons in the Pirates minor-league organization before making his major-league debut with the Pirates in April 1962.

After just one season in Pittsburgh, he was traded to the Red Sox (along with 1st baseman Dick Stuart) for pitcher Don Schwall and catcher Jim Pagliaroni. In his first season with Boston, Jack was the #2 man in the bullpen behind Dick Radatz. In 1964 Lamabe joined the rotation, compiling a 9-13 record. He spent most of 1965 with Boston's triple-A team in Toronto, then was traded to the Astros in September for pitcher Darrell Brandon.

Jack only played 3 games for the Astros. In December he was traded to the White Sox for outfielder Dave Nicholson and catcher Bill Heath. Lamabe made 17 starts and 17 relief appearances for the Sox in 1966.

He was one of baseball's big travelers in 1967, as one of 5 players to play for 3 teams that season (along with Jim King, Jim Landis, Ken Harrelson, and White Sox teammate John Buzhardt). In April he was shipped to the Mets, and 3 months later he had the good fortune of being traded from the lowly Mets to the eventual world champion Cardinals. He pitched in three games in the 1967 World Series (pretty much all the games that were not complete games by Bob Gibson).

All good things must come to an end however, and for Jack that was April 1968, when the Cardinals traded him to the Cubs. He finished his major-league career in 1968 with the Cubs, and spent the 1969 season in the minors, both with the Cubs' and Expos' organizations.

Back on Topps' Radar: Nate Oliver

2010-03-25T19:57:00.004-05:00

Nate Oliver (#124) was a backup 2B-SS for the Dodgers in the mid-1960s. After appearing on Topps cards in '63, '65, and '66, he was out of the loop in 1967 before showing up 3 more times starting in 1968.

Nate was signed by the Dodgers in 1959, and spent the next 4 seasons in their farm system before making his major-league debut in April 1963. From 1963 to 1967 he shuttled between Los Angeles and their triple-A team in Spokane, playing a good amount of time in the majors (except for 1965).

Prior to the 1968 season, Oliver and 2nd baseman Ron Hunt were traded to the Giants for starting catcher Tom Haller. After just 1 season in San Francisco, he was shipped to the Yankees for pinch-hitter (and former 3rd baseman) Charlie Smith.

Two weeks into the 1969 season, the Yankees traded him to the Cubs for minor-league infielder Lee Elia. That was his last major-league season. Nate spent the 1970 and 1971 seasons in triple-A before retiring.

Final Card: Jerry Zimmerman

2010-03-22T22:04:00.008-05:00

This is the final card for Jerry Zimmerman (#181) the Twins' backup catcher for most of the 1960s.

Jerry was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1952. After 7 1/2 seasons in their minor-league system, the Red Sox released Zimmerman on July 16, 1959. On the same day, he was picked up by the Orioles, who assigned him to their triple-A team, where he played until being released on September 25th (presumably after the end of the minor-league season). Not to worry! For the 2nd time in 1959, Jerry was picked up by another team on the same day he was cut (this time by the Cincinnati Reds).

Zimmerman got a fresh start with the Reds. After spending one season (1960) with the Cincy's triple-A team, he made his major-league debut on April 14, 1961. He ended up being the Reds' #1 catcher as a rookie, starting more games behind the plate (64) than the #2 and #3 guys combined (Johnny Edwards & Bob Schmidt).

What happened after that? The Reds must have liked what they saw of Edwards, because in 1962 he began a string of 6 years as the Reds' #1 catcher (until being replaced by Johnny Bench in September 1967). Zimmerman was shipped off to the Twins in January 1962 for outfielder Dan Dobbek, who had all of 200 major-league games under his belt, but would never play in the majors again.

Jerry played for the Twins for the remainder of his career. From 1962-66 he was 2nd-string behind Earl Battey. In 1967, he was the #1 catcher, as the aging Battey faded drastically in his final season. Oddly enough, in 1968 Jerry dropped to #3 behind the newly-acquired John Roseboro and rookie Bruce Look.

Zimmerman was released in March 1969. (None of the 4 expansion teams needed a veteran catcher?)

Final Card: Lee Thomas

2010-03-19T17:49:00.003-05:00

My first recollection of Lee Thomas (#438) is when I got his 1967 card. His position on that card (like this one) was "1B-OF". My young brain then summed him up as:

a) He's a backup
b) He's Ernie Banks' backup, so he's not gonna play.

However, he was a valuable pinch-hitter, and before that, a full-time player in the early 1960s.

Thomas was signed by the Yankees in 1954, then played for seven seasons as an outfielder with their minor-league teams before making his major-league debut in April 1961.

Of course, with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and Hector Lopez taking up space in the Yankees' outfield, Lee's prospects for playing time weren't very good. After 2 pinch-hitting appearances, he was packed off to the Angels on May 8th in a 5-player deal.

With the Angels, Thomas had more playing time than he would ever have seen in New York. Alternating between 1st base and the outfield, Lee played 130, 160, and 149 games from 1961 to 1963.

In 1964, after starting 44 of the first 49 games in right field, Thomas was traded to the Red Sox on June 5th for outfielder Lou Clinton (who had been Boston's regular right fielder since mid-September 1961). Lee started almost every game in right for the remainder of the season.

Thomas took over as the Red Sox' regular first baseman in 1965 (due to a combination of Tony Conigliaro moving to rightfield, and long-time stonehands/1st baseman Dick Stuart moving on to Philadelphia).

After the season, Lee's time in Boston was over, since the Red Sox planned to have minor-leaguer George Scott take over the first base job in 1966. In December 1965 Thomas was traded to the Braves, but the following May he was sent on to the Cubs.

His time with the Cubs was spent as mostly as a pinch-hitter. In February 1968, the Cubs traded him to the Astros for 2 minor-leaguers who never made it to The Show. Lee finished the 1968 season with Houston. He played in Japan in 1969, and finished his career with the Cardinals' triple-A team in Tulsa.

In later years, he would become the Phillies' general manager during the early 1990s.

Final Card: Chuck Hiller

2010-03-13T20:32:00.007-06:00

Chuck Hiller (#461) was signed by the Indians in 1957, and played 2 seasons in their low minors before the Giants selected him in the 1958 minor-league draft. After 2 more seasons in the Giants' organization, Hiller made his major-league debut with the Giants on April 11, 1961.

After starting 16 of the first 17 games at 2nd base, Chuck slowly lost his grip on the starting job to Joey Amalfitano, and by season's end, Chuck had 63 starts (to Amalfitano's 88).

Amalfitano was lost in the post-season expansion draft, so Hiller was now in full control at 2nd base, starting 158 games in 1962, and 101 games in 1963 (alternating with the re-acquired Amalfitano).

In 1964, rookie Hal Lanier got the bulk of playing time at 2nd, relegating Hiller to a backup role. Eventually, Chuck was sold to the Mets on May 11, 1965. In New York, he was in a 3-way timeshare at 2nd base with Bobby Klaus and Ron Hunt.

Hunt took over the 2nd base job in 1966, pushing Hiller to his now-familiar role as utility/pinch-hitter. In July 1967, the location changed (Phillies) but not the job.

After the 1967 season, the Pirates selected him from the Phillies in the rule 5 draft. After 11 games with the Pirates in 1968 (the last on June 2nd), Hiller's 8-year major-league career was over.

He spent the remainder of 1968 with the Pirates' triple-A team in Columbus, Ohio before retiring.

Bob Rodgers (#433)

2010-03-11T20:42:00.019-06:00

I don't care how he's listed in Baseball-Reference.com, I'm not calling him "Buck" Rodgers!

"Boog" Powell? yes
"Satchel" Paige? yes
"Yogi" Berra? yes
"Turk" Farrell? yes
"Catfish" Hunter? yes, (grudgingly)
"Mudcat" Grant? (you're pushing it!)
"Oil Can" Boyd? Since I don't have a 1970s blog, no worries!
"Buck" Rodgers? no!
"Bucky" Brandon? no!
"Vinegar Bend" Mizell? heh!

BOB Rodgers was the Angels regular catcher during their first 9 years in existence (although not until September 8, 1961). Rodgers was signed by the Tigers in 1956 as an outfielder (converting to catcher in 1957), and spent 6 seasons in the minors before being selected by the Angels in the December 1960 expansion draft.

Bob spent most of 1961 with the Angels' triple-A team in Dallas-Fort Worth, before making his major-league debut on September 8th. He started 13 of the final 20 games behind the plate in 1961.

In 1962 he took over the Angels' catching job, starting 144 games and finishing a distant 2nd (to the Yankees' Tom Tresh) for AL Rookie-of-the-Year. In 1963, he must have had some nagging injuries because he only played in 100 games, and only 77 of those were as the starting catcher.

From 1964 to 1967, he was back as the undisputed #1 catcher, playing in over 130 games in each season.

1968 was the beginning of the end for Bob. He split the catching duties evenly with Tom Satriano, the Angels' long-time backup infielder/catcher.

By 1969, Rodgers was done. Satriano and Tom Egan split the starting catcher assignments for the first few months. On June 15th, Satriano was traded to the Indians for catcher Joe Azcue, who started most of the games for the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, Bob played more games with triple-A Hawaii (44) than he did with the Angels (18). His final major-league game was on October 1, 1969.

After retiring, he was a major-league coach and minor-league manager, before spending 13 seasons as a major-league manager for the Brewers (1980-82), Expos (1985-91), and Angels (1991-94).

Final Card: Jimmie Schaffer

2010-03-08T21:13:00.007-06:00

Tonight, my blogs feature another triple-shot of Cincinnati Reds (for no particular reason). However, these 3 cards don't match as well as Zanni-Coker-Nottebart did a few days ago.

Here is the final baseball card for journeyman backup catcher Jimmie Schaffer (#463). After having a card for each year from 1962 to 1965, Schaffer fell off Topps' radar in 1966 and 1967. Now he's back for one more card, though I don't see how he swung it, based on 2 at-bats in 1967!

Jimmie was signed by the Cardinals in 1955, and spent six full seasons and part of 1961 in the minors before making his major-league debut on May 20, 1961. That season, he started 45 games behind the plate - the most by any of the 6 catchers used by the Cardinals that season.

In 1962, Schaffer settled back into the backup role (behind Gene Oliver and Carl Sawataski) that would follow him for the rest of his career. After the season he was traded to the Cubs (along with pitchers Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel) for pitcher Don Cardwell, outfielder George Altman, and catcher Moe Thacker.

Jimmie was the Cubs 2nd-string catcher (behind Dick Bertell) for the 1963 and 1964 seasons. He was traded to the White Sox in December 1964, and split the 1965 season between the White Sox and the Mets. That was pretty much the end of Schaffer's major-league career.

Prior to the 1966 season, Schaffer was one of three players the Mets traded to the Phillies for first baseman Dick Stuart. Jimmie spent the 1966 and 1967 seasons with the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego, getting only a few at-bats in September call-ups each season.

Schaffer only played 4 games for the Reds in 1968, his final game coming on July 11th, He spent most of 1968, and all of 1969 and 1970 with the triple-A teams of the Reds, Dodgers, and Orioles.

Don Nottebart (#171)

2010-03-05T22:04:00.011-06:00

Don Nottebart had a 9-year career during the 1960s. To me (having started collecting cards in 1967), he was a Cincinnati Red, but he played more seasons with the Braves and Astros. During his time in Houston he was a starting pitcher. Everywhere else, he pitched out of the bullpen.

Nottebart was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. He pitched in their farm system from 1954 until midway through the 1960 season. His major-league debut came on July 1, 1960, his first of five appearances that year.

Don played the entire 1961 and 1962 seasons for the Braves. He appeared in 38 games (11 starts) in 1961, and 39 games (all in relief) in 1962. In November 1962 he was traded to the Houston Colt .45s for first baseman Norm Larker.

With Houston in 1963, Nottebart joined a starting rotation that included Ken Johnson, Turk Farrell, and Bob Bruce. The same four made up the rotation in 1964 also.

In 1965, Bruce was replaced by Larry Dierker, but the rest of the rotation remained the same. Nottebart was 3rd among starters in games started and innings pitched. Curiously, after being a 3-year mainstay in the rotation, he was lost to the Reds in the rule 5 draft after the 1965 season. (Maybe it was due to his 4-15 record?)

Nottebart joined the Reds' bullpen in 1966. He led the Reds' pitchers in appearances (59), while pitching 111 innings. He also picked up 11 saves.

With the arrival of Ted Abernathy in 1967, Nottebart was used less (47 games - all in relief, 79 innings).

Baseball-Reference.com shows that Nottebart spent all of 1968 in the minor leagues, with the White Sox' triple-A team in Hawaii. Apparently, he remained the property of the Reds, because in October 1968 the Reds sold him to the Yankees.

After 4 games with the Yankees, he was returned to the Reds on April 26, 1969. The next day, the Reds traded him to the Cubs. He appeared in 16 games for the Cubs, his last on September 6th.

Don spent the 1970 season in the Cubs' farm system. His final baseball card was in the 1969 set.

Phil Ortega (#595)

2010-02-28T19:45:00.007-06:00

Here's a 10-year veteran whose major-league career ended in the 1960s, that I missed in my earlier posts:

Phil Ortega was signed by the Dodgers in 1959, and spent most of the next 5 seasons (1959-63) in their farm system. He made a few brief appearances with the Dodgers in '60, '61, and '63, and spent most of 1962 in the Dodgers' bullpen.

After spending most of 1963 in the minors, Ortega joined the Dodgers' starting rotation in 1964, making more starts (25) than any pitcher not named Koufax or Drysdale.

Following the 1964 season, Phil was traded to the Senators (along with outfielder Frank Howard, third baseman Ken McMullen, pitcher Pete Richert, and first baseman Dick Nen) for pitcher Claude Osteen, infielder John Kennedy, and $100,000. (Frank Howard and 4 others sounds like a lot to give up, but Osteen won 147 games for the Dodgers over the next 9 seasons.)

In Washington, Ortega was a member of the starting rotation for the next 3 to 4 seasons, and led the staff in starts and innings pitched in 1967. In 1968, he became a swingman, starting only about half of his appearances, and posted a 5-12 record.

In early April 1969, Phil was sold to the Angels, but his time there was short. After his last major-league game on May 4th, Ortega spent the remainder of 1969 and all of 1970 with the Angels' triple-A team in Hawaii. His final baseball card was in the 1969 set.

Final Card: Floyd Robinson

2010-02-26T16:34:00.011-06:00

Here is the final card for the other "F. Robinson" (#404).

Floyd Robinson was a starting outfielder for the White Sox in the early-to-mid 1960s. He's also a cousin of Tommie Reynolds (an outfielder for the Athletics and Mets in the mid-1960s).

Robinson began his career playing for unaffiliated teams in the low minors in 1954 and 1955. In each of those seasons, he made brief appearances with the unaffiliated San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. In 1956 San Diego became an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, so Robinson's contract was acquired by the Indians.

After 2 full seasons with San Diego, Floyd missed the 1958 and 1959 seasons due to military service. In 1959, Robinson (and in fact, the entire San Diego team) was acquired by the White Sox. After one more season in the minors, Floyd made his major-league debut with the White Sox on August 10, 1960. Chicago's outfield in 1960 consisted of Minnie Minoso in left, Jim Landis in center, and Al Smith in right. Robinson started the final 11 games of the season in right field.

In 1961, Floyd took over the right field job, making 102 starts (to Smith's 55) and finishing 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting. In 1962, he alternated between left field (84 starts) and right field (70 starts).

From 1962 to 1965, Robinson was a workhorse in the White Sox' outfield, making more than 600 plate appearances each season. His 45 doubles in 1962 were tops in the AL.

In 1963, the Sox acquired Dave Nicholson from the Orioles to play left field, so it was back to right field for Robinson, starting 117 games there and 16 in left. 1964 was more of the same (regular right fielder, primary backup in left) for Robinson.

After starting 138 games in right field during 1965, Robinson's playing time fell off in 1966, as he made only 87 starts there.

After the 1966 season, he was traded to the Reds for pitcher Jim O'Toole. Floyd's time in the NL only lasted 1 season, as he was shipped to the Athletics for pitcher Ron Tompkins. After a short time with the A's, Floyd was sold to the Red Sox on July 31st. He was released after the season, ending his 9-year career.

Back on Topps' Radar: Diego Segui

2010-02-24T20:34:00.017-06:00

I haven't posted any of these recently. Diego Segui (#517) had baseball cards in every season from 1963 to 1975 except for 1967.

Segui was signed by the Cincinnati Reds prior to the 1958 season, but released in early April. He caught on with the Tucson Cowboys, an independent team in the class-C Arizona-Mexico league. At the end of the 1958 season, he was acquired by the Kansas City Athletics.

Diego spent the next 3 seasons in the Athletics' farm system before making his major-league debut in April 1962. For his first 2 seasons, he was a starter and reliever. In 1964, he was primarily a starter. His 35 starts led the Athletics staff. Unfortunately, his 17 losses was the most in the American League. In 1965, he returned to a combined starting/relieving role.

(at least Topps used green to airbrush his cap!)

Two days after the 1966 opener, Segui was sold to the Washington Senators. By the end of July (after 21 appearances), the Nats traded him back to Kansas City for pitcher Jim Duckworth. However, he was relegated to triple-A for the rest of the season (hence, no 1967 baseball card!)

In 1967 Diego started 7 games in triple-A, and appeared in 36 games for Kansas City (only 3 starts). Segui was strictly a reliever in 1968, making 52 appearances as the #2 man in the bullpen behind "closer" Jack Aker.

Segui was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the 1969 expansion draft. (Later in the draft, the Pilots also plucked Aker from the A's bullpen.) Segui led the Pilots in saves (12), games (66), winning percentage (.667), was second in wins (12) and 1st among relievers in innings (142). His fine performance earned him a ticket out of Expansionville as he was traded back to the Athletics in December 1969 (along with shortstop Ray Oyler) for infielder Ted Kubiak and pitcher (and frequent Topps' "Rookie Star") George Lauzerique.

After winning 10 games for the Athletics in each of 1970 and 1971, Segui was shipped to the Cardinals midway through the 1972 season. After 1 1/2 seasons in St. Louis, Diego moved on to Boston in a 6-player deal.

He spent the 1974 and 1975 seasons in the Red Sox' bullpen, and was released in spring training in 1976. The Padres signed him, but kept him in triple-A all season.

Segui wrapped up his 15-year career in 1977 with the Mariners.

His son David played for the Orioles and other teams from 1990-2004.

Final Card: Sam Bowens

2010-02-20T16:16:00.009-06:00

Sam Bowens (#82) was primarily a backup outfielder in the mid-to-late 1960s, for the Orioles and Senators. Just as in his life (he was born and died in Wilmington, NC), his baseball career never strayed far from 1 spot.

Here we have his final card (with the ugly 1st-series burlap borders). By the time this card was issued, Bowens was already with the Senators.

Bowens was signed by the Orioles in 1960, and spent 4 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in September 1963.

In 1964, he spent the entire season with Baltimore as their regular right fielder. He started 116 games in right, along with 16 games in left field.

Rookie Curt Blefary cut into Bowens' playing time in 1965. When Boog Powell moved in to 1st base, Blefary would move over to left field, and Bowens played in right. Otherwise, Bowens was the odd man out. He also spent 24 games at triple-A Rochester.

In 1966, Bowens was relegated to backing up Curt Blefary in left field and Frank Robinson in right field. After the 1967 season, he was sold to the Senators. His time in Washington was more of the same - pinch-hitting and backing up in the outfield.

Bowens' last major-league game was on July 26, 1969. He spent part of the 1968 and 1969 seasons with the Senators' triple-A team in Buffalo. In 1970, he played minor-league ball with the Braves and Pirates.

Final Card: Fred Valentine

2010-02-10T11:29:00.002-06:00

Since starting this blog on 9/28/09, there have been 63 posts, representing every team except the Washington Senators, so...

Fred Valentine (#248) was an outfielder in the mid-1960s for the Senators and Orioles. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1956, and spent 8 seasons in their farm system, including 5 seasons in triple-A. During this time, he had brief appearances with the Orioles in 1959 (12 games) and 1963 (26 games).

After the 1964 season, he was sold to the Senators. In his first season with the Senators, Fred was the 4th outfielder behind Don Lock (CF), Chuck Hinton (LF), and Jim King (RF). Fred played all 3 positions, and was also frequently used as a pinch-hitter.

After acquiring outfielder Willie Kirkland in August 1964, and Frank Howard from the Dodgers before the 1965 season, the Senators' outfield became very crowded, so Valentine spent all but 12 games in triple-A that season.

In 1966, Fred was back in the big leagues, and played more games in the Senators' outfield than anyone. He started 55 games in center and 64 games in right, alternating with Don Lock and Jim King, respectively.

After the 1966 season, Don Lock was traded to the Phillies, 5th outfielder Willie Kirkland was sent to the minors, and in June 1967, Jim King was traded to the White Sox. However, a new batch of outfielders (Cap Peterson, Hank Allen, Ed Stroud) came on board, competing with Valentine for playing time. Fred started about a third of the games in center field (with Allen and Stroud evenly starting the rest), and started 50+ game in right field, where Peterson was the regular. Valentine was also occasionally used as a defensive replacement for Frank Howard in left field.

1968 was the end of the line for Valentine. 23-year-old rookie Del Unser (10 years younger than Valentine) took over the center field job, starting 154 games. Valentine started 24 of the first 56 games in right field, then was traded back to the Orioles on June 15th for pitcher Bruce Howard.

With the Orioles, Fred's situation declined, as the O's had 7 other outfielders, all getting more playing time than him. Fred was used mainly as a pinch-hitter and late-inning outfield sub.

His last major-league game was on September 24th, 1968. He spent the 1969 season with the Orioles' triple-A team in Rochester.

Final Card: Phil Linz

2010-02-08T22:16:00.010-06:00

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, "Mr. Laffs" 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)

2010-02-05T23:15:00.012-06:00

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)

2010-02-02T22:10:00.010-06:00

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)

2010-01-31T08:59:00.011-06:00

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)

2010-01-30T22:24:00.008-06:00

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)

2010-01-26T22:03:00.009-06:00

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)

2010-01-25T20:23:00.012-06:00

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?

Jack Fisher (#444)

2010-01-24T20:17:00.008-06:00

Jack was a starting pitcher for 4 different teams between 1959 and 1969.

He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1957, and played 2 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut with the Orioles in April 1959. For most of the season he was with the Orioles, but spent some time in the minors.

Fisher latched on to one of the starter jobs during the 1960-62 seasons. This was prior to the McNally/Bunker era, when Fisher's partners in crime included Milt Pappas, Chuck Estrada, and Steve Barber.

After the 1962 season, Jack was traded (along with pitcher Billy Hoeft and catcher Jimmie Coker) to the Giants for pitchers Mike McCormick and Stu Miller, and catcher John Orsino.

After only 1 season in San Francisco, Fisher was acquired by the Mets. Jack played for the Mets for 4 seasons, and was the one constant in the starting rotation during those seasons. He got them into the "Tom Seaver era" (1967). He was the Mets' #1 starter for his first 3 seasons, before moving down to #2 in 1967, behind Seaver.

After the season, he and Tommy Davis were traded to the White Sox for outfielder Tommie Agee and second baseman Al Weis, 2 players who would have major roles for the Mets in the 1969 World Series.

Jack played only one season with the White Sox, and would move to the Reds in exchange for catcher Don Pavletich. After the 1969 season, the Reds traded him to the Angels, but he was released prior to the 1970 season.

His final card was in the 1970 set.

Bill White (#190)

2010-01-23T18:50:00.005-06:00

Bill White was signed by the New York Giants in 1953 and played with various minor league teams for 3 full seasons.

In 1956, after 20 games in the minors, Bill was called up to the Giants and started every game at first base from May 7th until the end of the season. Unfortunately for him, he missed the 1957 season due to military service, and when he returned in 1958, rookie Orlando Cepeda had replaced him at first base.

First base became even more crowded with the arrival of Willie McCovey, so White was traded to the Cardinals prior to the 1959 season.

Bill spent 7 seasons as the Cardinals' first baseman, making the all-star team 5 times and winnign 6 gold gloves. He also participated in the 1964 World Series.

After the 1965 season, White was traded (along with shortstop Dick Groat and catcher Bob Uecker) to the Phillies for veteran pitcher Art Mahaffey and youngsters Pat Corrales and Alex Johnson. He played in Philadelphia for 3 seasons, winning another gold glove in 1966. During the winter preceeding the 1967 season, he was injured during a paddle ball game, and never fully recovered his skills. From 1959 to 1966 he played 140-160 games per season. In 1967 and 1968, he only played in 110 and 127 games respectively, and only about 80% of them were starts at first base.

He was traded back to the Cardinals during spring training 1969, but only appeared in 49 games during the season, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

After his playing career was over, Bill became a Yankees' broadcaster during the 1970s and 1980s, and was the National League president from 1989 until the position was dissolved in 1994.

Bill Monbouquette (#234)

2010-01-22T22:28:00.009-06:00

Bill Monbouquette was a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox during the early 1960s. He was traded away (to Detroit) before the Red Sox were in the 1967 World Series, and was also traded away from the Tigers before they made it to the 1968 series. What bad luck!

Bill was signed by the Red Sox in 1955. After 3 1/2 seasons in their farm system, he made his big-league debut in July 1958, making 10 appearances (8 starts) that season. The following year, he was with the team for the entire season, as a starter and reliever.

In 1960, Bill began a string of 6 seasons as one of the Sox' top starters. He was a 20-game winner in 1963. Conversely, his 18 losses in 1965 led the league in that category.

After the 1965 season, Monbouquette was traded to the Tigers for what appears to be a bag of beans. Boston got two players immediately, and a player to be named later: Second baseman George Smith played only the 1966 season in Boston (his last season in the majors). George Thomas was a serviceable backup outfielder who played with the Red Sox into the 1971 season. A year after the trade, Boston also got catcher Jackie Moore, whose major-league career consists of 21 games with the Tigers in 1965. For that collection of jetsam, Detroit got Monbouquette, who had just won 86 games in the previous 6 seasons, and pitched 65 complete games during that span. Talk about a fleecing!

Hmm... maybe it wasn't so bad. After a year and 6 weeks with Detroit, Bill was released on May 15, 1967. Later that month the Yankees signed him. In July 1968 he was traded to the Giants for pitcher Lindy McDaniel. After the season he was sold to the Astros, who then returned him to the Giants before the 1969 season. The Giants promptly released him.

After all his success in Boston, Bill went a combined 18-21 in 89 games over the last 3 years of his career, traveling from Detroit to New York to San Francisco.

Don Drysdale (#145)

2010-01-21T21:47:00.007-06:00

Don Drysdale was one of the top pitchers of the 1960s. (If I was forming a team of 1960s' stars, my pitching staff (10-man, of course, after all this is the 1960s!) would be:
Sandy Koufax
Bob Gibson
Juan Marichal
Don Drysdale
Whitey Ford
Fergie Jenkins
Jim Kaat
Sam McDowell
Luis Tiant
Tom Seaver

Relievers? We don't need no relievers!

Where was I? Oh yes...

Drysdale was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, and played 2 seasons with their minor-league teams, including 1955 with the Montreal Royals. One of Don's teammates there was Tommy Lasorda. [Drysdale was with Montreal one year after Roberto Clemente played there. I wonder how many don't know that Clemente was signed by the Dodgers, then lost to the Pirates after one season, in the rule 5 draft. OUCH!]

Drysdale made his major-league debut in April 1956, and played his entire 14-year career with the Dodgers, retiring after the 1969 season. He won 25 games and the Cy Young Award in 1962, and won 23 games in 1965. He also led the league in strikeouts 3 times between 1959 and 1962. In 1968, he set a record by pitching 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

He even found the time to give baseball pointers to the youth of America:

Leon Wagner (#495)

2010-01-20T21:12:00.010-06:00

Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner was the power-hitting left fielder of the expansion Angels (and later the Cleveland Indians) who, once the calendar struck 1968, couldn't buy a home run.

Wagner played one season for the Tuskeegee University baseball team in 1953, then was signed by the New York Giants in 1954. He played 3 seasons in the Giant's system before missing the 1957 season while in military service.

In 1958, he divided his time evenly between San Francisco and the minors, making his major-league debut on June 22nd. He and Hank Sauer shared playing time in left field.

In 1959 he played a full season for the Giants, but was 3rd on the left field depth chart behind Jackie Brandt and Orlando Cepeda. (Although Cepeda was the #1 first baseman, he played a lot of left field to make room for Willie McCovey at 1B). After the season, Wagner was traded to the Cardinals.

Wagner spent most of the 1960 season in the minors, then was traded to the independent triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs in October. The following April, Toronto traded him to the expansion Los Angeles Angels, where Wagner had a breakout season.

Wags hit 28, 37, and 26 homers in his three seasons with the Angels, and was a two-time all-star.

In December 1963, the Angels traded him to the Indians for pitcher Barry Latman and first baseman Joe Adcock. Wagner continued his slugging in Cleveland - this time with sidekick Rocky Colavito. In his first 3 seasons he hit 31, 28, and 23 home runs. Wags' power started to taper off in 1967, as he only knocked 15 homers.

In June 1968 he was traded to the White Sox for outfielder Russ Snyder. In December, Chicago sold him to the Reds, but Cincinnati returned him to the Sox on April 5, 1969. On the same day, he was given his release by the White Sox.

Later that Spring, the Giants signed him for pinch-hitting duties, but he only appeared in 11 games for the Giants. He spent the remainder of 1969, and all of 1970 and 1971 in the minors, before retiring.

Final Card: Larry Sherry

2010-01-19T22:10:00.009-06:00

Here is the final card for Larry Sherry (#468). Not only does the front have a bland, hatless photo, but there is plenty of elbow room on the back. (The Topps' employee responsible for writing player commentary must have been on vacation the day Sherry's card was prepared.)

Larry was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953 and spent 7 years in their minor-league system. After a few games with the Dodgers in 1958, Sherry saw more action in 1959, splitting time between the Dodgers and triple-A.

Sherry spent 5 seasons in the Dodgers' bullpen, his best coming in 1960, as he pitched 142 innings and compiled a 14-10 record.

At the start of the 1964 season, he was traded to the Tigers for outfielder Lou Johnson. Although Larry had made occasional starts with the Dodgers, he was strictly a reliever with the Tigers. In 3-plus seasons in Detroit, he never approached the workload he had in LA.

Sherry was well-traveled in his final 2 seasons. In late June 1967, the Tigers traded him to the Astros for outfielder Jim Landis. Although he appears on this card as an (implied) Astro, he was released in spring training 1968. It wasn't until July 1st that he found his next team. The Angels signed him, but he only made 3 appearances, the last on July 7th.

Sherry spent the remainder of 1968, as well as 1969 and 1970 playing for the Angels' and White Sox' triple-A teams.

Ken Boyer (#259)

2010-01-18T22:09:00.007-06:00

Ken Boyer was the long-time star third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals.

He began his minor-league career in 1949 with the Cardinals' organization. After 3 seasons in the minors, he missed the 1952-53 seasons while in military service, but returned to the minors in 1954.

His major-league debut came in April 1955, and he spent the next 11 seasons as the Cardinals' everyday third baseman, never playing less than 142 games in a season. (The exception would be in 1957, when oddly enough, Boyer was the team's regular centerfielder.) Along the way, he made 7 all-star teams, won 5 gold glove awards, and was the National League MVP in 1964. The Cardinals won the 1964 World Series, defeating the Yankees, who employed Ken's brother Clete as their third baseman.

After the 1965 season, Boyer was traded to the Mets for pitcher Al Jackson and third baseman Charlie Smith. He continued as the Mets' regular third baseman in 1966.

In July 1967, Ken was traded to the White Sox (along with Sandy Alomar) for backup catcher J. C. Martin. [This trade seems like an insult to Boyer.]

The following May, he was released by the White Sox, but signed with the Dodgers a few days later. Boyer would continue with the Dodgers until the end of the 1969 season.

After his playing career Boyer stayed in the game as a manager. After managing in the minors from 1970-1978, he was the Cardinals' manager from 1978 to 1980.

Turk Farrell (#217)

2010-01-17T13:42:00.005-06:00

Another lousy hatless photo. Farrell pitched in FIFTY games for the Phillies in 1967 since his acquisition on May 8th. Why aren't Topps' photographers EARNING their money?

Turk Farrell began his career with the Phillies way back in 1953. After 4 seasons with their minor-league teams, he made his major-league debut in late September 1956. From 1957 to 1960, Farrell led the Phillies pitchers in saves each year.

In May 1961, the Phillies traded Turk to the Dodgers for third baseman Charlie Smith and outfielder Don Demeter. After the season, he was selected by the Houston Colt .45s in the expansion draft.

Farrell was primarily a starter during his 5 full seasons with Houston (1962-66), winning ten or more games in his first 4 seasons (quite an accomplishment for a bad team!)

In May 1967, he was re-acquired by the Phillies and spent the last 3 seasons of his career as the Phillies' bullpen ace. He was released by the Phillies on November 4, 1969, essentially ending his career.

In 1970, he was signed by the Braves on April 20th, but released on May 6th without having appeared in any games.

Farrell was killed in an automobile accident in Great Britain in 1977.

Roy Face (#198)

2010-01-16T22:38:00.005-06:00

Roy Face was a long-time Pirates reliever.

He began his minor-league career in 1949 in the Phillies' farm system. After 2 seasons, he was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and played in their organization for 2 additional seasons.

Prior to the 1953 season, he was selected by the Pirates in the rule 5 draft. As such, he was required to stay on the Pirates major-league roster for the entire season. After appearing in 41 games for the Pirates, he spent the following season (1954) in the minor leagues.

In 1955, Face was back with the Pirates to stay. He would be the workhorse in the Pirates' bullpen through the 1968 season. Roy led the league with 68 appearances in both 1956 and 1960. He also played in the 1960 World Series with the Pirates.

On August 31, 1968 he was sold to the Tigers, giving him another World Series appearance.

In 1969, he was released by the Tigers in spring training, and signed by the expansion Expos a few weeks later. In mid-August, he would be released again, ending his 16-year major-league career. He played minor-league ball in 1970 for the Angels' triple-A team.

Woody Held (#289)

2010-01-15T23:13:00.008-06:00

Nothing says "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" better than having "INF-OF" appear on your baseball card.

Woody (a/k/a Woodie) Held was signed by the Yankees in 1951, and played in their farm system through part of the 1957 season.

Although having a cup of coffee with the Yanks in 1954, Held returned to the majors for good during the 1957 season. On June 15th 1957 Held, Billy Martin, and 2 other players were traded to the Athletics for 3 players. Exactly one year later, he and Vic Power were traded to the Indians for Roger Maris and 2 others.

Woody was the Indians' regular shortstop from 1959 to 1962, making over 100 starts there in each season. In 1963, he moved over to second base, and although he was the regular there, he also started some games in the outfield (INF-OF alert!).

With the Indians' acquisition of shortstop Dick Howser, Larry Brown (who had taken Held's shortstop job the previous season) was moved to second base in 1964, replacing Held again. Woody was now in full INF-OF mode, and would remain there for the rest of his career.

After the 1964 season, Held and first baseman Bob Chance were traded to the Senators for outfielder Chuck Hinton. A year later he was traded to the Orioles for catcher John Orsino.

Midway through the 1967 season, he went to the Angels for pitcher Marcelino Lopez. His last move was in July 1968, when he was traded to the White Sox for infielder Wayne Causey. The Sox released him after the 1969 season, ending his 14-year career.

Final Card: John Buzhardt

2010-01-14T22:00:00.012-06:00

And now a 10-day blitz, as I wrap up most of the remaining 10-year veterans who retired in the late 1960s...

I almost hate scanning and posting these 1968 Astros cards, because every last one of them is either hatless or airbrushed. Earlier today, upon completing his tour of the entire 1969 set, Wrigley Wax noted that at some point he "hit the wall". I hit the wall every time I see one of these hatless wretches! What makes it even worse is when there is no other interesting aspect to the photo. In a few days, we'll all be treated to Buzhardt's Astros teammate Larry Sherry - an equally un-interesting hatless photo, as well as the Phillies' Turk Farrell. But I digress...

John Buzhardt (#403) was signed by the Cubs in 1954, and played in their minor-league system from 1954 to 1958. His major-league debut came on September 10th, his first of 6 appearances that year.

In 1959, John played for the Cubs the entire season. Before the 1960 season, Buzhardt was traded (along with third basemen Alvin Dark and Jim Woods) to the Phillies for outfielder Richie Ashburn.

John's two seasons in Philadelphia seem less than impressive. He compiled records of 5-16 and 6-18. Two of his 6 wins in 1961 were the games just before and just after the Phillies' infamous 23-game losing streak.

After the 1961 season, Buzhardt and third baseman Charlie Smith were sent to the White Sox for first baseman Roy Sievers. John fared better in his 5-plus seasons with the Sox than with the Phillies. (It was probably the team!) Twice he got double-figures in wins. Twice his ERA was under 3.00. For awhile, he was actually on par with Gary Peters, Joe Horlen, and Tommy John!

In 1967, Buzhardt was on the move. He was one of five players (along with Jim King, Jim Landis, Jack Lamabe, and Ken Harrelson) to play for more than 2 teams in 1967. [Hmm... 4 of these 5 played for the White Sox!] On August 21st he was sold to the Orioles. A month later he was sold to the Astros. (I'm not sure why. Houston was not on any kind of stretch drive for the last week of September!)

1968 was John's final season. He appeared in 39 games for the Astros - his most since 1961.

Walter Alston (#472)

2010-01-13T21:37:00.009-06:00

Walter Alston was the Dodgers' manager from 1954 to 1976. This was a total of 23 seasons, all on 1-year contracts. He was followed by Tommy Lasorda from 1977 to midway through the 1996 season (another 19 1/2 years). So, for 42 1/2 years, the Dodgers only had 2 managers. Compare that with the revolving door of the past 13 years, where 5 different managers have led the Dodgers.

In Alston's first 13 seasons at the helm, the Dodgers finished in first place 6 times, including 4 World Series championships, and finished in second place 3 times.

After a 3-year slump from 1967-1969 (which included two 8th-place finishes), the Dodgers finished in either first or second place in 6 of Walt's last 7 years.

Alston was replaced by Tommy Lasorda for the final 4 games of 1976, but it must have been for health reasons, because the Dodgers were in 2nd place at the time.

Final Card: Bobby Locke

2010-01-10T22:08:00.013-06:00

This is Bobby Locke's final card (#24). It's also his first card since 1965, so I'm going to throw him into my "Back on Topps' Radar" series.

Topps spent little or no effort on this card. They used the same photo from the 1962 card, and on the back they omitted Locke's minor-league stats.

Locke was signed by the Indians in 1953, and spent the 1953 - 1956 seasons in their minor league system.

1957 and 1958 are unaccounted for in his record. Military service is not listed, so maybe he missed 2 seasons due to injuries.

Locke pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1959 to 1961, while also spending some time in the minors.

In November 1961, Bobby was traded to the Cubs, but he was shipped to the Cardinals a few days before the season started. Three weeks later, the Cardinals traded him to the Phillies.

Locke bounced between Philadelphia and their triple-A team for the next 3 seasons, and was sold to the Angels after the 1964 season.

Midway through the 1965 season, the Angels traded Locke to the Reds, but reacquired him in June 1966. He continued bouncing up and down with the Angels. 1968 was his final major-league season, and he spent 1969 entirely in the minors before retiring.

To tell you the truth, I'm surprised Locke even has a card in this set. 1961 was the last season that he pitched more than 20 innings in the major leagues!

Rick Monday (#282)

2010-01-08T21:14:00.010-06:00

Rick Monday was the first pick in the 1965 amateur draft - the very first draft.

He spent his first 2 seasons in the minors, making his major-league debut on 9/3/1966. He had a fine rookie season in 1967, and although he was named to the Topps' 1967 All-Rookie team, a trophy doesn't appear on his card.

After 5 seasons as the Athletics' centerfielder, Rick was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Ken Holtzman in November 1971. Monday played with the Cubs for 5 seasons, and has his best power numbers there - hitting 26, 20, and 32 homers in 3 of his 5 seasons with Chicago.

In January 1977, Monday was traded to the Dodgers with pitcher Mike Garman for shortstop Ivan DeJesus and outfielder Bill Buckner. In his first season in LA, he was the Dodgers' regular centerfielder, but year by year, his playing time was reduced, so that by his final season in 1984, he only appeared in 31 games. He was released in June 1984.

Norm Miller (#161)

2010-01-06T22:47:00.006-06:00

Norm Miller was signed by the Los Angeles Angels prior to the 1964 season and spent the season with single-A Quad Cities. [Back in the day, I wondered where "Quad Cities " was. In 1991, I was in Quad Cities (Rock Island & Moline IL, Davenport & Bettendorf IA) on business.]

After the season, Norm was drafted by Houston, and played 11 major-league games in both 1965 and 1966. Although he would still play in the minors for parts of 1967 and 1968, 1967 was the first season where the majority of his time was spent in the majors.

In 1967, Miller split time in left field with Ron Davis. He was the Astros' primary right fielder from 1968 to 1970. (Right-field incumbent Rusty Staub moved to first base in 1968, and was shipped to the Expos in 1969.)

In 1971, outfielders Bob Watson and Cesar Cedeno became everyday players, and with Jimmy Wynn already a fixture, Miller and Jesus Alou scrambled for playing time, resulting in Miller's demotion to 5th outfielder.

In April 1973, Norm was traded to the Braves for pitcher Cecil Upshaw. He lasted 2 seasons in Atlanta before being released after the 1974 season. The Dodgers signed him in February 1975, but released him prior to the season.

Giants Rookies?

2010-01-02T02:42:00.006-06:00

Well, today my 2 virtual spinners came up "card type = rookies" and "team = Giants", but for some reason Topps didn't issue a Giants Rookies card in 1968. Was it laziness? Short-sightedness? Let's see if Topps even had anyone to pick from that year.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, there were 4 rookies who got some playing time with the 1968 Giants. Even if they were only cups of coffee, they could still qualify under Topps' loose interpretation of "Rookie Stars". (After all, how many times did we see George Lauzerique on a Reds or Athletics "Rookie Stars" card?)

Rich Robertson's stats aren't overly impressive, but they are at least as good as George Korince, the Tigers' farmhand that Topps wasted TWO rookie cards on in 1967:

Some other candidates:

Wait, I think there was one more rookie on the 1968 Giants. Oh yes, it was:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Topps couldn't find two players worthy of their "Rookie Stars" interpretation, to slap onto a card in 1968?

Instead, we are treated to a Bobby Etheridge card, with a bright, shiny trophy indicating that he was Topps' selection as the 3rd baseman on the 1967 all-rookie team. In 1967, Etheridge batted a stellar .226 in 40 games, struck out 12 times, and didn't even make the team in 1968!

Russ Nixon (#515)

2010-01-01T11:06:00.013-06:00

Russ Nixon started his career in 1953 with the Green Bay ~~Packers~~ Bluejays, the Cleveland Indians' affiliate in the class-D Wisconsin State League.

After 4 seasons in the minors, Nixon made his Indians' debut on April 20, 1957. He and 36-year-old Jim Hegan each caught about 1/3 of the games, with the rest handled by Dick Brown and Hal Naragon.

In 1958, Russ took over the #1 catching job, while Dick Brown was his backup. The following year, his playing time was decreased, with Brown starting more games.

In 1960, Nixon was twice traded to the Red Sox. In March, the first trade was voided when one of the players refused to report. In mid-June, a second deal involving all different players was completed.
Although not joining the team until mid-June, Nixon managed to start more games than the other Red Sox' catchers.

1960 was the high point of his Red Sox' career, as he slipped to 2nd or 3rd string behind Jim Pagliaroni and/or Bob Tillman during the 1961-1964 seasons.

In 1965, Mike Ryan arrived in Boston to further crowd the catching picture. Prior to the 1966 season, Nixon was traded to the Twins, where he continued as a backup catcher (to Earl Battey and Jerry Zimmerman).

After 2 seasons with Minnesota, Nixon returned to the Red Sox in 1968. He spent part of the season in the minors. After the season, Russ was selected by the White Sox in the rule 5 draft, but was released prior to the 1969 season, ending his 12-year career.

Nixon managed the Reds and the Braves in the 1980s.

Cardinals Team (#497)

2009-12-27T22:47:00.007-06:00

In previous seasons, all teams except the Astros had team cards. In 1968, for some reason there were only 13 team cards.

Here is the team card for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Manager Red Schoendienst is front and center, flanked by 2 of his coaches on either side. Curt Flood and Orlando Cepeda (#30) are the 2 players seated on the far left. Steve Carlton (#32) is behind Schoendienst.

The back of the card shows the previous year's leader in several categories. Bob Gibson is absent from these leaders, because he missed 2 months of the 1967 season with a broken leg.

The Cardinals' started the 1967 season with Bob Gibson, Ray Washburn, Larry Jaster, and Al Jackson in the rotation, with Steve Carlton as the #5 starter. In early May, rookie Dick Hughes pushed Jaster out of the rotation. A surprise to me TODAY was that Nelson Briles didn't join the starting rotation until 7/21 (while Gibson was out with a broken leg). When Gibson returned, Briles stayed in the rotation, and both Jaster and Jackson were out.

The Cardinals 1967 World Series rotation was:
1. Gibson (CG)
2. Hughes (others in relief)
3. Briles (CG)
4. Gibson (CG)
5. Carlton (Washburn and others in relief)
6. Hughes (Briles, Washburn, and others in relief)
7. Gibson (CG)

Wayne Causey (#522)

2009-12-20T20:41:00.010-06:00

Wayne Causey was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as a bonus baby in June 1955. As such, he would remain on the Orioles roster for 2 years before spending any time in the minor leagues.

He started 56 games at third base for the Orioles, more than any of the other 5 players the Orioles used there. In 1956, he lost the starting 3B job to George Kell, who was acquired from Detroit during the season. (Kell would be replaced in 1958 by Brooks Robinson.)

After spending most of 1957 and all of 1958-60 in the minors, Causey was traded to the Athletics prior to the 1961 season, along with 4 other players for outfielders Whitey Herzog and Russ Snyder.

Wayne was the Athletics' starting third baseman in 1961, and the backup SS-3B in 1962. His best seasons in Kansas City were from 1963 to 1965, as he started more than 125 games at shortstop in each of '63 and '64, and made 40, 59, and 33 starts at 2B, SS, and 3B in 1965.

I wonder if this versatility was his ticket out of Kansas City, because in May 1966, he was traded to the White Sox for Danny Cater, who had been Chicago's regular left fielder for the previous season.

With the White Sox, Causey's playing time was diminished since Chicago's roster was already filled with non-first-base infielders (Al Weis, Don Buford, Jerry Adair, Pete Ward, Ron Hansen, Lee Elia, Gene Freese) all looking for (and getting) playing time. Wayne managed to start 40 games at 2B in 1966, and 75 games at 2B in 1967.

In mid-July 1968, Causey was traded to the Angels for infielder-outfielder Woodie Held, and 1 week later was sold to the Atlanta Braves. For all 3 teams in 1968, he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter.

Although Causey's last game was on September 20, 1968, he did have one more Topps card in 1969.

Cubs Rookies: Jose Arcia / Bill Schlesinger

2009-12-18T22:28:00.007-06:00

The 1967 Topps set included 43 rookies cards. Most teams had 1 or 2 rookies cards, with a few teams (Astros, Cubs, Athletics, Orioles, Yankees) having 3 rookies cards.

The 1968 Topps set only had 29 rookies cards. Most teams only had 1 card. The Pirates, Reds, Indians, Twins, and White Sox had 2 rookies cards, while the Orioles had 3 cards, just like the previous season (good farm system?). For some reason, the Giants did not have a rookies card in 1968.

Here is the Cubs Rookies card (#258) for 1968.

Jose Arcia was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962, and bounced around in the minors from 1962 to 1967 with 4 organizations (Colt .45s, Tigers, Indians, Cardinals) before being acquired after the 1967 season by the Cubs.

In 1968 (as a rule 5 draftee) he remained on the Cubs roster all season as a backup middle infielder. After the season, he was drafted by the expansion Padres. In San Diego, he shared the starting second base job in 1969, and was the backup SS-2B in 1970.

After the 1970 season, he played exclusively in the minor leagues through the 1976 season, for the Padres, Angels, Twins, Royals, and Astros.

The career of Bill Schlesinger was even shorter than Arcia's. Schlesinger played minor-league ball from 1964 to 1970 for 4 organizations (Red Sox, Athletics, Cubs, Phillies). His major-league career consists of 1 game in 1965 with the Red Sox (which is when this airbrushed picture was probably taken).

Denny McLain (#40)

2009-12-16T21:28:00.009-06:00

Up to now, my posts have been whatever card struck me as interesting on that particular day. Recently, many of them have been a player's final card.

To keep things fresh, I have devised a rotation to post different types of cards (stars, rookies, commons, team cards, managers, etc). At the same time, to evenly represent the teams, I'm going to rotate through all the teams geographically, from Boston to LA (but starting in Detroit for the 1st lap, so I'm not posting the same teams as in my '67 blog) before repeating a team. After a few times through the league, I'll post leaders cards or checklists.

To start, a Tigers' star:

Denny McLain was originally signed by the White Sox, but made his major-league debut with the Tigers in 1963. He returned to the big leagues to stay in the following season. McLain had a string of 5 excellent seasons from 1965 to 1969, with the high point coming in 1968, when he won 31 games and led the Tigers to the AL pennant. McLain and Mickey Lolich pitched the Tigers to victory over the Cardinals in the World Series. Denny was also the MVP in 1968, and won the Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1969. (McLain is the only pitcher to win 30 games since 1934.)

After the 1969 season, the bottom fell out for McLain, as he had off-field problems (including a suspension for gambling). Before the 1971 season he was traded to the Washington Senators, where he proceeded to lose 22 games.

After that season, it was on to Oakland and then Atlanta. The Braves released him prior to the 1973 season, but he played in the minor leagues in 1973 before retiring.

During his playing career, McLain was a popular nightclub organ player.

More info here
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Final Card: Norm Siebern

2009-12-13T11:49:00.009-06:00

Here is the final card for Norm Siebern (#537). I first became aware of Siebern when I got his 1967 card, where he is pictured as a first baseman for the Giants. My first (and last) thought about him then was "He's a first baseman on a team that has Willie McCovey!", and I dismissed him as an over-the-hill backup or a never-was. However, if I had examined the card back more closely then, he was an everyday player from 1958 to 1964.

Siebern was signed by the Yankees in 1951, and toiled in their farm system for a few years (missing 1954 and 1955 for military service). His major-league debut came on June 15, 1956.

At the start of the 1958 season, Norm was in the big leagues to stay. He was the Yankees' regular leftfielder in 1958 and 1959. After the 1959 season, Siebern was traded to the Athletics along with RF Hank Bauer, pitcher Don Larsen, and backup 1B Marv Throneberry for RF Roger Maris and 2 other players.

Norm played for Kansas City for the next 4 seasons, as their regular first baseman and as a backup outfielder. After the 1963 season, Siebern was traded to the Orioles for first baseman Jim Gentile.

Norm was in Baltimore for 2 seasons. He was their regular first baseman in 1964, and would split the position 50-50 with Boog Powell in 1965. (Powell played half of his games in LF, and the other half at 1B.) Siebern was traded to the Angels after the 1965 season, and had more playing time there than in his last year with the Orioles.

After only 1 year, he was traded to San Francisco. His stay with the Giants was short, as he was sold to the Red Sox in July 1967. He was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, since the Sox had George Scott at first base, with Dalton Jones as the primary backup.

After playing in only 27 games in 1968, Siebern was released by the Red Sox in early August, ending his 12-year career.

Back on Topps' Radar: Hawk Taylor

2009-12-09T19:18:00.014-06:00

Now back to my series named "Back on Topps' Radar". I planned to include three of my last 4 posts (Bob Tiefenauer, Julio Gotay, and John Tsitouris) in that series, but as it turned out, their 1968 card was also their last.

Bob "Hawk" Taylor (#52) was a career backup catcher on some bad teams. Taylor has several baseball cards in the early 1960s, but none since 1964. (He also appeared in the 1969 card set as Bob Taylor, an outfielder for the Royals.) Since he didn't have a card in 1967, this 1st-series 1968 card was my first clue of his existence.

Hawk was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 as a bonus baby, requiring him to be on the major-league roster for the rest of the season. His debut was in early June. Later he spent time with the Braves' minor league teams, and rejoined the Braves in 1961. Since the Braves already had Del Crandall, Joe Torre, and Bob Uecker at catcher, Taylor as used as a spare outfielder for his last 3 seasons in Milwaukee.

After the 1963 season, he was sold to the Mets. The 1964 season was Taylor's first shot at significant playing time, as he appeared in 92 games and had over 200 at-bats. The Mets' entire catching staff consisted of 3 sub-par backups: Jesse Gonder, Chris Cannizarro, and Taylor. Even with that poor competition, Taylor was still 3rd string.

Hawk spent most of 1965 with the Mets' triple-A team in Buffalo, as Cannizarro took over the starting catcher's job, and the backup roles were filled by suspects such as John Stephenson, Jesse Gonder, and Jimmie Schaffer. Even coach Yogi Berra caught a few games.

In 1965, Taylor split time between New York and their triple-A team in Jacksonville. With the Mets, he was still the 3rd string catcher, this time behind newcomer Jerry Grote, and John Stephenson. Taylor also played a few games at first base.

In early 1967, he was traded to the Angels, where he filled a now-familiar role: 3rd string catcher. He spent all of 1968 in the minors, before the Royals scooped him up in the rule 5 draft.

He played for the Royals for parts of 2 seasons, as a pinch-hitter and backup outfielder in 1969, and as a pinch-hitter in 1970. Taylor was traded to the Red Sox prior to 1971, but did not play in the majors after 1970.

Final Card: Bob Tiefenauer

2009-12-05T15:18:00.010-06:00

Announcement: If anyone's interested in football cards, be sure to check out my new football blogs. You can find them through my profile, or on this blog's sidebar, above the baseball card blogroll. (And also here: 1967 1968 1971 1972)
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Bob Tiefenauer (#269) returned to the Topps baseball card world in 1968. He previously had baseball cards in 1959, 1962, 1964, and 1965. You can't blame Topps for this one, as his career travels (below) are enough to make your head spin!

On the back of his card, we see a 4-year gap in major-league service between 1955 and 1960. As Topps often does with long-time vets, his minor league stats are omitted from the back of the card.

Bob began playing pro baseball in 1948 in the Cardinals' system. Tiefenauer had a 6-game cup of coffee (8 innings, all in relief) with the Cardinals in 1952, followed by 2 more seasons back in the minors. In 1955, he resurfaced with the St. Louis, this time for 18 relief appearances (32 innings).

In September 1955, Bob began a 5-year odyssey through oblivion that started with his trade to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers assigned him to the minor leagues, where he remained for the entire 1956 season. After the season, he was traded to Toronto, an unaffiliated AAA team in the International League. He made over 60 appearances per season (all in relief) for Toronto in 1957 and 1958. Following the 1958 season, Toronto traded him to the Indians, but he retired, rather than play in 1959.

In 1960 he spent some time with the Cleveland Indians until his early June acquisition by the Cardinals. St Louis kept him in the minors for the rest of 1960 and most of 1961, although he appeared in 3 games for the Cardinals.

After the 1961 season, he was purchased by the expansion Houston Colt .45s, and spent the 1962 season with Houston, before being traded BACK to the Cardinals (again) just before the 1963 season.

It almost seems that the Cardinals liked to mess with him, because in mid-June of the same year, he was traded again, this time to the Milwaukee Braves. After playing for the Braves for 2 seasons, he was traded to the Yankees in June 1965. His time in New York was short, because 2 months later he found himself back with the Indians!

Bob spent all of 1966 and most of 1967 with the Indians' triple-A Portland team, pitching in only 5 games for Cleveland in 1967.

This year (1968) he didn't even play for the Indians, as he was traded to the Cubs at the end of March for pitcher Rob Gardner. Bob appeared in only 9 games for the Cubs in 1968, his last on September 21st.

He played for Chicago's triple-A team in Tacoma, WA for most of 1968 and all of 1969 before retiring.
Tiefenauer played 19 seasons in the minor leagues!
.

Ernie Banks (#355)

2009-12-01T21:57:00.007-06:00

Here we have Chicago Cubs superstar Ernie Banks. "Mr. Cub" never played minor league baseball, but he did play for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League from 1950 to 1953.

Banks is one of a handful of former Negro League players still playing major league baseball into the late 1960s. I guess it's common knowledge that Willie Mays and Hank Aaron were Negro League veterans, but I recently learned that Yankees catcher Elston Howard was Banks' teammate with the Monarchs. (I also discovered that early 1970s Detroit Tigers infielder Ike Brown played in the Negro Leagues. I mistakenly assumed that anyone not making the major leagues until the 1970s would have been too young to play Negro League baseball.)

Banks was signed by the Cubs on September 8, 1953, and made his major-league debut at shortstop on September 17th, playing 10 games that first season.

From 1954 to 1969, Banks was in the lineup almost every day, playing 150 or more games for 12 of those 16 seasons. Between 1954 and 1960, he led the league in games played 6 times. Banks was originally the Cubs regular shortstop, but in 1962 he moved over to first base.

Beginning with the 1970 season, the 39-year-old Banks cut back his workload, sharing the first base job with Jim Hickman. In 1971, Joe Pepitone took over the first base chores, while Banks only played 20 games at 1B. He appeared in 52 other games as a pinch-hitter.

Ernie was released by the Cubs after the 1971 season. He had played his entire 19-year major-league career with the Cubs, and retired with 512 homeruns. His 277 homeruns as a shortstop was the record until Cal Ripken came along.

Final Card: Julio Gotay

2009-11-28T21:21:00.007-06:00

After appearing on Topps cards in '62, '63, and '65 but not in '67, Julio Gotay (#41) re-appeared in the 1968 set. Since I didn't collect cards before 1967, and this card was in the 1st series in 1968, Gotay was one of the first "new" players I discovered that year.

Gotay began in the Cardinals farm system in 1957. His major-league debut came on 8/6/60, one of 3 games he appeared in that year. He returned to the minor leagues for most of 1961, but squeezed in 10 games for St. Louis.

In 1962, Gotay became the regular Cardinals shortstop, starting 2/3 of the games, while fellow rookie shortstop Dal Maxvill started 1/3 of the games. After the season, Gotay and pitcher Don Cardwell were traded to the Pirates for Dick Groat, who took over as the Cardinals shortstop (keeping Maxvill in a backup role for a few more seasons).

Most of Julio's time with the Pirates was spent in the minor leagues, as he only played in a combined 7 games with the Pirates in 1963 and 1964. Prior to the 1965 season, he was traded to the Angels, and split the season between California and their triple-A team in Seattle. By the end of June 1966, the Angels traded him to the Astros, who kept him in the minors for all but 4 games that year.

Starting in 1967, Gotay finally returned to the majors for an extended time, as he played in over 70 games each in '67 and '68. In fact, 1968 was the only year he stayed out of the minor leagues. He split the 1969 season between Houston and their triple-A team.

1969 was Gotay's last major league season. He would continue playing in triple-A in 1970 (Astros) and 1971 (Cardinals).

Final Card: John Tsitouris

2009-11-27T13:56:00.015-06:00

This is the final card for John Tsitouris (#523). He had cards in 1960, '63, '64, '65, and '66, but not in 1967 (so he also qualifies for my "Back on Topps' Radar" series). In 1967, he appeared in a grand total of 2 games (for 8 innings), so I also wonder "Why does he have a card?"

John began his minor-league career in the Tigers organization in 1954. His major-league debut came in June 1957 with the Tigers.

After the 1957 season, Tsitouris was traded to the Athletics in a deal which involved TWELVE other players. The most notable of those were Billy Martin and Gus Zernial, who went to the Tigers.

Prior to the 1961 season, he and pitcher John Briggs (not the Phillies outfielder) were traded to the Reds for pitcher Joe Nuxhall. However, he spent the entire 1961 season and much of the 1962 season with the Reds' triple-A team (Indianapolis in 1961, and San Diego in 1962).

John's big years with Cincinnati were 1963 to 1965, where he made 30 or more appearances each year, mostly as a starter. Near the end of the 1964 season, his 1-0 shutout of the Phillies began their 10-game losing streak which cost the Phillies the NL pennant.

From 1966 to 1968, he was used sparingly by the Reds, and spent most of those seasons in triple-A. (Strangely, in 1967 he played for the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego, even though it appears that he was still owned by the Reds.)

His final big-league game was on April 24th, 1968. Over his entire career, he played 149 games in the majors and 196 games for triple-A teams.

Final Card: Al Worthington

2009-11-24T17:59:00.009-06:00

Al Worthington (#473) began his minor league career in 1951 with the Cubs. A year later, he was traded to the New York Giants organization, and made his major-league debut with the Giants in 1953.

He spent most of 1954 and all of 1955 back in the minors, but from 1956 to 1958, he was one of the Giants' regular starting pitchers.

In 1959, Worthington became a relief pitcher. He made 39 relief appearances, and only 3 starts, which would be the last starts of his career.

Just before the 1960 season, Al was traded to the Red Sox. This began a few years of living out of a suitcase, as he spent 1960 with the Red Sox, their triple-A team in Minneapolis, and the White Sox. This was followed by 2 years in the White Sox farm system before returning the the major leagues in 1963 with the Reds.

Midway through the 1964 season, the Reds traded Worthington to the Twins, where he settled in as their closer until ending his career after the 1969 season. He pitched briefly in the 1965 World Series for the Twins. (In the World Series, there wasn't a lot of relief pitching for the Twins, since Jim Grant pitched 2 complete games in his 3 starts, and Jim Kaat pitched 1 complete game in his 3 starts.)

I don't know why there was no baseball card for Al Worthington in 1969. He pitched in 54 games in 1968 (leading the league with 18 saves), and went on to pitch in 46 games in his final year of 1969.

Back on Topps' radar: Jerry McNertney

2009-11-20T18:50:00.019-06:00

Here's one for WhiteSoxCards:

Jerry McNertney (#14) started his career in 1958 with the White Sox organization as a first baseman and outfielder. It wasn't until 1961 that he began catching.

"Nert" made the big club in 1964 as the 3rd string catcher. In July, catcher Cam Carreon was injured and missed 2 months of the season, giving more playing time to McNertney, as the backup to veteran
J. C. Martin.

(Jerry appeared on an "American League Rookies" card in 1964, but I guess his 186 at-bats that season weren't enough to convince Topps to keep him around, as his next card wasn't until 1968.)

It was back to the minors in 1965, as Johnny Romano was acquired from the Indians and caught about 2/3 of the games, and newly-acquired Jimmie Schaffer filled the #3 spot. In 1966, Schaffer was out and McNertney was back, but still as the 3rd-string receiver.

His status remain unchanged in 1967, though rookie Duane Josephson had replaced the aging Johnny Romano. In 1968, Jerry worked his way up to 2nd-string catcher!

Jerry's big break came following the 1968 season, as he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots (To most players and fans, that hardly seems like good news!) Nert became the undisputed starting catcher for this collection of castoffs that was documented in great detail by Pilots' pitcher Jim Bouton in his book Ball Four.

The following season, the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers, and McNertney became the 2nd-string catcher, this time behind Phil Roof. After the season, he was traded to the Cardinals. Jerry bounced around to the Athletics and Pirates, until getting his release from the Pirates in mid-1973.

Here's a road map to the White Sox' catching department back in the day:

Back on Topps' radar: Stan Williams

2009-11-19T21:53:00.007-06:00

Stan Williams (#54) started in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1954. He made his big-league debut in 1958, the Dodgers first season in Los Angeles.

From 1960 to 1962, Stan was 1/4 of the excellent Dodgers starting rotation (along with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres). After the 1962 season, Williams was traded to the Yankees for first baseman Moose Skowron.

In 1965, Williams' career hit a rough spot as he spent most of 1965-1967 in the minors, pitching over 30 games per season (mostly in relief). Although technically Indians' property, he played for 3 different triple-A teams in 3 years: Seattle (Angels), Spokane (Dodgers), and Portland (Indians). He returned to Cleveland during the 1967 season.

Needless to say, after having Topps baseball cards from 1959 to 1965, he was off their list until 1968.

Stan played for the Indians through the 1969 season, mostly in relief, but he also made a few dozen starts. After 1969, he was traded to the Twins, then the Cardinals, and finally wrapped up his 14-year career in 1972 with the Red Sox.

Back on Topps' radar: Al Spangler

2009-11-19T20:50:00.014-06:00

Tonight I'm starting a series of cards (well actually, the already-posted Tommie Aaron and Frank Kostro belong in this series also) where the player had one or more previous cards, but did not have one last year, and now they are back in the set. There are about 25 such players in the 1968 set.

Al Spangler (#451) was a journeyman outfielder who started in the Braves organization in the late 1950s. The Houston Colt .45s selected him in the expansion draft, and he became their starting leftfielder from day 1 of the franchise until his trade to the Angels in early June 1965.

After bouncing up and down between the Angels and their AAA team in Seattle, he was released by the Angels before the 1967 season, and quickly signed with the Cubs. In 1967, he split the season between Chicago and their AAA team in Tacoma, Washington. (I wonder if he kept his old apartment in Seattle?)

No doubt, all this triple-A time in 1966 and 1967 cost him a 1967 Topps card. (Spangler had a Topps card every year from 1960 to 1966.)

He stayed with the Cubs for the latter part of his career, although 1970 and 1971 saw him released and re-signed by the Cubs several times.

Final Card: Elston Howard

2009-11-14T17:56:00.012-06:00

Elston Howard (#167) began playing baseball in 1948 as an outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League. There, he was a teammate of future Chicago Cub Ernie Banks. Buck O'Neill (who came to my attention in Ken Burns' excellent mini-series on baseball) was the manager of that team.

In July 1950, the Yankees purchased his contract from the Monarchs and assigned him to their farm system, where he learned to be a catcher. His first season for the Yankees was 1955. Since the Yankees already had Yogi Berra catching, and an outfield that included Mickey Mantle and Hank Bauer, Howard's playing time came mainly in left field, which he shared with Norm Siebern, as well as backing up at catcher and 1st base.

In 1960, Howard finally became a regular, catching more games than Berra. From 1961 to 1963, he hit over 20 home runs per season, and won the AL MVP award in 1963.

In August 1967, Elston was traded to the Red Sox, where he was a steadying influence on their pitching staff (and I assume, a mentor for Boston's young catchers Mike Ryan and Russ Gibson). Howard played in the 1967 World Series for the Red Sox, his 10th series. He was released after the 1968 season, ending a 14-year major-league career.

Final Card: Rocky Colavito

2009-11-10T18:58:00.015-06:00

Here is the last card for Rocky Colavito (#99), one of the great American League sluggers of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Colavito started his minor-league career in the Indians' organization back in 1951, and played in such locations as Spartanburg SC, Reading PA, and San Diego (which were all Phillies' minor-league teams by the mid-1960s). He made his major-league debut in September 1955.

He was the Indians' regular rightfielder from 1956 to 1959. (For the first 3 years, Roger Maris was his backup!) In '56 and '57, he was 2nd on the team in home runs (after 1B Vic Wertz). In '58 and '59, he crashed more than 40 homers each year, leading the team.

In April 1960, Colavito was dealt to the Tigers for outfielder Harvey Kuenn. He played 4 years in Detroit, followed by 1 season with the Athletics, before returning to Cleveland in February 1965 in a complicated 3-team deal that went this way:

Rocky Colavito - Athletics to Indians
Cam Carreon - White Sox to Indians

Tommie Agee - Indians to White Sox
Tommy John - Indians to White Sox
Johnny Romano - Indians to White Sox

Mike Hershberger - White Sox to Athletics
Jim Landis - White Sox to Athletics
Fred Talbot - White Sox to Athletics

He continued slugging homers in his 1st 2 seasons back with the Indians. In 1967, his production dropped off greatly, and he was traded to the White Sox at the end of July for outfielder Jim King. (This was King's 2nd trade of the season.)

Colavito did not play for the White Sox in 1968, having been sold to the Dodgers in spring training. (This 1st-series card was already printed and in stores by then.) After playing in 40 games, the Dodgers released him in mid-July. The Yankees picked him up a few days later, and he appeared in 39 games before being released at the end of the season, bringing his 14-year career to a close.

Rocky also pitched 3 innings in 1958 and 2 innings in 1968!

Final Card: Bill Henry

2009-11-08T15:58:00.012-06:00

(Now that the World Series is over, I'm putting away my Yankees and Phillies cards, and will focus on players' final cards for awhile.)

In an era filled with pitchers like Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Don Drysdale, Whitey Ford, Denny McLain, Jim Kaat, and Sam McDowell, Bill Henry (#239) isn't someone I (and probably most others) ever gave a second thought about. But by the time he retired in 1969, he had put together a 16-year career as a fine relief pitcher.

Here are his minor-league stats, which Topps sometimes leaves out for space reasons. We see that Bill started in 1948 with the Class C Clarksdale Planters. Before the 1952 season, he was acquired by the Red Sox, and pitched for them for 4 seasons, as a starter and reliever.

After spending 1956 and 1957 in the minors, Bill returned in 1958 with the Cubs, as a full-time reliever. From 1959 to 1963, Henry collected double-digit saves each year. After 2 seasons with the Cubs, he was traded to the Reds for 3B/1B/OF Frank Thomas following the 1959 season.

He was traded to the Giants in May 1965. Beginning in 1966, he was pitching fewer innings per game. It seems that he was probably used as a situational lefty.

Midway through the 1968 season, the Giants sold Henry to the Pirates. He was released in August and not signed by another team. (This explains why he has no 1969 baseball card.)

The Astros signed him at the end of May 1969, and released him a month later, ending his career. For his last 2 seasons, he pitched in 17 games in 1968 and 3 games in 1969.

Tony Conigliaro (#140)

2009-11-05T18:34:00.006-06:00

Tony Conigliaro was a rising star for the Boston Red Sox in the mid-1960s. This power-hitting rightfielder was the fastest player to reach 100 homeruns, and was considered to have a chance to eventually break Babe Ruth's record. He was beaned in late 1967, and was never the same after that.

Conigliaro began in class-A ball in 1963. After just 1 year, he was up to the big club in 1964. He led the league in homeruns in his 2nd year. In August 1967, Conigliaro was hit in the eye by a pitch from the Angels' Jack Hamilton, and was out for the season, missing the World Series. In fact, although this is his 1968 card, he also didn't play at all in 1968.

He resumed his career on opening day 1969, and played in 141 games in 1969 and 146 in 1970, while hitting 20 and 36 homeruns in those seasons.

After 1970, he was traded to the Angels with Ray Jarvis and Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum. (Never had so many guys named Jarvis or Tatum been included in the same deal!) Tony only played in 74 games for the Angels that year (hitting only 4 homers). After being released by the Angels, Conigliaro signed with Boston again in 1975, but after 21 games (all as a DH or pinch-hitter), he was forced to retire due to permanent eye damage.

Several years later, he suffered a heart attack, and then a stroke, and remained in a coma for several years until his death in 1990.

Final Card: Jim Bouton

2009-11-01T20:30:00.005-06:00

The career peak for Jim Bouton (#562) was in 1963 and 1964. He won 21 games in 1963, and won 2 games in the 1964 World Series.

This is Bouton's last baseball card (although blogger WhiteSoxCards has thankfully corrected that situation). The reason for this may be that he spent most of 1968 in the minors. After appearing in 12 games for the Yankees, he was sent to the Angels' triple-A team in Seattle, where he spent the remainder of 1968 (going 4-7 in 27 games).

As you may know, 1968 was not Bouton's last major-league season. He stayed in Seattle, as a relief pitcher for the expansion Seattle Pilots. He made 57 appearances before being traded to the Astros in late August. Bouton documented this season in his best-selling book Ball Four. For anyone who hasn't read it, Bouton kept a daily diary of the season, and turned it into a book. His recollections of manager Joe Schultz, outfielder Wayne Comer, and the other animals in this Seattle zoo make for great reading.

Bouton continued with the Astros for most of the 1970 season, until being released in mid-August. After his book was published, he pretty much put himself on the blacklist regarding future employment.

He had a brief comeback in the late 1970s, playing A and double-A ball from 1975-78, and appearing in 5 games for the Braves in 1978.

Tony Gonzalez (#245)

2009-10-31T18:06:00.007-05:00

Tony Gonzalez was one of the Phillies' regular outfielders for most of the 1960s. After playing in the Reds minor-league system (including 1958 and 1959 in Havana), Gonzalez made the Reds team in 1960, but was traded to the Phillies in June. He immediately took over the center field position, and held either the left field or center field job through the 1968 season. Primarily the center fielder, Gonzalez was the regular in left field during 1966 and 1967.

In 1967, Tony's .339 batting average was 2nd best in the NL.

Gonzalez was selected by the San Diego Padres in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season, He was the Padres regular leftfielder before being traded to the Braves in June 1969. The Braves outfield was already staffed by Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, and Hank Aaron, but Gonzalez was the swingman in left and center, giving Carty and Alou some rest.

Prior to the 1970 season, Alou was shipped to Oakland, so Gonzalez started 111 of the first 132 games in centerfield, before being sold to the Angels. Once in California, he took over the centerfield job that had been shared by Jay Johnstone and Roger Repoz. In 1971, Gonzalez had a reduced role for the Angels: splitting the left field job with Alex Johnson, and pinch-hitting.

1971 was the end of Tony's major-league career. In 1973, he returned to play 45 games for the Phillies double-A team in Reading, PA.

Final Card: Roger Maris

2009-10-29T22:43:00.009-05:00

Everyone knows about Roger Maris (#330) and his 1961 season, so I won't re-hash that here.

Roger's major league debut was in 1957, with the Indians. Before that, he played minor-league ball in the Indians' system for 4 years, including a stop in Reading, PA in 1955 (then an Indians' farm club, but since 1967, the Phillies' double-A team).

In mid-1958, the Indians traded him (along with 2 other guys) to the Kansas City Athletics for infielder Woodie Held and 1st baseman Vic Power. As with most good Athletics players of that era, Maris was eventually traded to the Yankees. New York acquired Maris (and 2 other guys) for P Don Larsen, RF Hank Bauer, LF Norm Siebern, and 1B Marv Throneberry.

As you can see by the back of his card, as soon as Maris joined the Yankees, he became a homerun machine. He appeared in 5 straight World Series with the Yankees (1960-64).

Yankee outfielders in the "Maris era" (click to enlarge):

After the 1966 season, Maris was traded to the Cardinals for 3rd baseman Charley Smith. After 7 seasons with the Yankees, Roger could now be "just another guy" on a team already led by Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda, Lou Brock, and Curt Flood. He played his final 2 seasons in St. Louis, and appeared in the World Series both years. A nice way to wrap up a career!

Final Card: Larry Jackson

2009-10-27T20:29:00.007-05:00

Larry Jackson (#81) made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1955, and was a workhorse pitcher for every one of his 14 seasons. (His 2-2 record in 1956 is misleading. That year, 50 of his 51 appearances were in relief.) He was generally (and exclusively after 1958) a starting pitcher, except for the 1956 season.

After 8 seasons with the Cardinals, he was traded to the Cubs. He won 24 games in 1964, (but unfortunately for him, it was for the Cubs, and not the world-champion Cardinals).

After 3 full seasons in Chicago, he was traded to the Phillies in mid-April 1966. He won 15, 13, and 13 games in his three seasons with the Phillies as their #3 starter. Normally, this would be considered a good thing, but in Jackson's case, the 1966 trade included the Phillies parting with rookie pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, who went on to win at least 20 games for 7 of the next 8 years (twice leading the league in wins). At least the Phillies learned their lesson (until 1982, when the Cubs again fleeced the Phillies by sending SS Ivan DeJesus to Philadelphia for SS Larry Bowa and a minor-leaguer named Ryne Sandberg!)

After the 1968 season, Jackson was selected by the Montreal Expos in the expansion draft. Rather than start over with a new team, Jackson retired. The Phillies sent good-field no-hit shortstop Bobby Wine to Montreal as compensation.

Joe Pepitone (#195)

2009-10-27T16:47:00.010-05:00

For the next several days, my 3 card blogs will take on a Phillies and Yankees flavor, as we gear up for the World Series.

Joe Pepitone was the Yankees regular 1st baseman in the 1960s. Here, he looks like the Yankees answer to the Jets' Broadway Joe Namath.

He was a backup 1B-OF in his rookie year of 1962, but when 1st baseman Moose Skowron was traded away after the season, Joe took over as a regular for the rest of the decade. In 1967 and 1968, he was the Yankees regular centerfielder, as he swapped positions with Mickey Mantle due to Mantle's limited mobility. After Mantle's retirement prior to the 1969 season, Pepitone moved back to first base.

After the 1969 season, he was traded to the Houston National League Baseball Club (known outside the Topps baseball card company as "Astros") for outfielder Curt Blefary. Midway through his only season with the Astros, he was acquired by the Cubs, where he would play until May 1973. In his first season in Chicago, he was their centerfielder, then came two seasons as their first baseman. In 1973, the Cubs traded him to the Braves, who released him one month later.

In summary, Joe Pepitone came along and replaced Moose Skowron, then Mickey Mantle, then Ernie Banks! During his career, Pepitone was famous for milking the slightest on-field injury for maximum sympathy.

Jim Palmer (#575)

2009-10-26T19:48:00.008-05:00

Jim Palmer was a key part of the Orioles pitching staff for almost 2 decades.

The early years:

His major-league career began in 1965. Since the rotation was already capably manned by Milt Pappas, Steve Barber, Dave McNally, and Wally Bunker, Palmer found himself as the #3 man in the bullpen behind Stu Miller and Dick Hall. He did manage to make 6 starts to go along with his 21 relief appearances.

Palmer's potential enabled the Orioles to trade Pappas to the Reds for Frank Robinson prior to the 1966 season. In his 2nd year, Palmer joined the starting rotation and made 30 appearances (all starts). He was the #2 starter in innings (behind McNally), with Bunker and Barber completing the rotation. The top-notch pitching, along with Frank Robinson's triple crown season, led the Orioles to a World Series championship.

In 1967, the wheels fell off the entire starting rotation, with Palmer affected the most. Because of a sore arm, he made only 9 starts for Baltimore in 1967. He was sent down and only played 34 innings combined in A and AAA ball. The Orioles dropped to 6th, as McNally and Bunker were also having problems.

In 1968, he wasn't on the Orioles at all, and only managed to pitch 37 innings combined for 3 Orioles farm teams. (Back then, the Orioles were my "A.L. team", and Palmer was one of my favorite players. I remember thinking at the time that Palmer was done.) Meanwhile, the Orioles rebounded to 2nd place, thanks to McNally's comeback season of 22 wins.

In 1969, Palmer was back, with 16 wins. Mike Cuellar was acquired from the Astros (for Cury Blefary - what a steal!), and posted 23 wins. McNally won 20 games, and the Orioles finished in 1st place, meeting the Mets in the World Series.

In 1970, Palmer began a string of winning 20 or more games 7 times in 8 years. The rest is well-known history.