Claude Osteen (#440)

Claude Osteen was a starting pitcher for 18 seasons (1957-75), primarily for the Dodgers and Senators. He compiled a career record of 196-195, and started 488 of his 541 career games. Most of his relief appearances came early in his career.

Osteen was signed by the Reds in 1957 and was assigned to their AA Nashville team. Although he pitched in the minors from 1957-59, he played a few games with the Reds in ’57 and ’59.

Claude was with the Reds for the entire 1960 season, starting 3 games but mostly working out of the bullpen. He spent most of 1961 back in the minors, then was traded to the Senators in September for pitcher Dave Sisler (brother of Phillies’ outfielder Dick Sisler).

Osteen pitched the next 3 seasons in the Senators’ rotation, his high point winning 15 games in 1964.

After the 1964 season, Claude was traded to the Dodgers (with 3rd baseman John Kennedy) for outfielder Frank Howard, 3rd baseman Ken McMullen, pitchers Phil Ortega and Pete Richert, and 1st baseman Dick Nen.

Osteen pitched for the Dodgers for the next 9 seasons, joining a rotation featuring Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and a fading Johnny Podres. Over time, Don Sutton replaced Podres and Bill Singer replaced Koufax. With the retirement of Drysdale after the 1969 season, Claude became the dean of the starting rotation.

Claude started 2 games in the 1965 World Series, and 1 game in the 1966 Series. He also won 20 games in 1969 and 1972, and was a 3-time all-star with the Dodgers. He got the win in the 1970 all-star game (thanks to Pete Rose’s walk-off steamrolling of Ray Fosse at home plate!)

1973 was Osteen’s final season with the Dodgers. He won 16 games that year, but with a fully-stocked rotation of Sutton, Andy Messersmith, Tommy John, and Al Downing, Osteen was traded to the Dodgers after the season for outfielder Jimmy Wynn.

Claude played most of 1974 with the Astros (compiling a 9-9 record in 138 innings), but moved on to the Cardinals in August in exchange for 2 minor-leaguers. He pitched in 8 games (mostly in relief) over the final six weeks, then was released the following April.

Osteen spent his final season with the White Sox in 1975, pitching 204 innings in 37 starts with a 7-16 record. (After his shabby treatment by the Cardinals in 1974, it was good to see him wrap up his long career as a workhorse!) He was released in April 1976.

After his playing career, he was a pitching coach for the Cardinals, Phillies, Rangers, and Dodgers.

Russ Nixon (#515)

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.

Back on Topps' Radar: Hawk Taylor

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: John Tsitouris

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: Roger Maris

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!