Bill Landis (#189)

Although his debut came with one game in 1963, Bill Landis' rookie season was 1967, with the Impossible Dream Red Sox. This is his rookie card.  His only other card (in 1969) used the same photo.

Landis was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961 (I did not know he was previously with the Athletics), and pitched one inning for them in the last weekend of the 1963 season. Otherwise, he spent 6 seasons in their farm system.

In November 1966 the Red Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He was on Boston’s roster for all of 1967, and had a rough start to his career.

Bill pitched in 18 games (all but one in relief) in his first season. He pitched in 7 games between 4/16 and 6/10, often for less than 1 inning per game. His ERA varied from 54.00 to 9.00 in the season’s first half.

After his June 10th appearance he was only used once until late-July. (The Sox had called up another rookie left-handed reliever in early July, who gave them better results.)

Landis settled down during his 7 appearances over the season’s final 2 months. He did not make the post-season roster for the Sox (nor did Lyle, which is surprising given his 2.28 ERA over 27 games).

Bill pitched 2 more seasons with the Red Sox, and was the 5th man in the bullpen both years, making 38 and 45 appearances. He came down with a sore arm late in the 1969 season, which would affect the remainder of his career.

He played the 1970 season with Boston’s AAA team in Louisville, then was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Bill McCool that winter.

Landis pitched only 10 innings for the Cards' AAA team in 1971 before retiring.

John Donaldson (#244)

John Donaldson played 6 seasons from 1966-1970, and in 1974, all for the Athletics except for playing the 2nd half of 1969 with the Seattle Pilots.

Donaldson was signed by the Twins before the 1963 season, and drafted by the Kansas City Athletics after his first season. He played in the Athletics’ farm system for the next 3 seasons, initially as a shortstop until making the switch to 2nd base in 1966.

John made his major-league debut in late-August 1966, playing 15 games over the final weeks of the season.

After starting the 1967 season in AAA, he joined the Athletics in early-June and started 100 of the final 110 games at 2nd base, pushing incumbent Dick Green over to a 3rd base rotation with Danny Cater and Sal Bando.

In 1968 he started 81 of the first 103 games at 2B, then was replaced by Green and only made 9 more starts for the rest of the season, including three at 3rd base.

Donaldson found a seat on the bench in 1969, his only start coming in the first game of a May 30th doubleheader. On June 14th he was traded to the Seattle Pilots for backup catcher Larry Haney. He returned to regular playing time with the hapless Pilots, starting 91 of the final 107 games.

In mid-May 1970, the Brewers traded him back to the Athletics for shortstop Roberto Pena. John returned to the backup role he had from mid-‘68 to mid-‘69.

Donaldson didn’t make the team in 1971, and spent the next 3 years in the minors – bouncing to the Tigers, Orioles, and Padres, but never playing for any of them.

He was released by the Padres in April 1974 and signed with the Athletics. He spent most of his final season in the minors, but did play 9 games for the Athletics in April and May, and one in October.

Jim Hardin (#222)

Jim Hardin pitched for the Orioles from 1967 to 1971. Early-on, he and Tom Phoebus backfilled a rotation decimated by injuries to Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker. After a few years, Palmer recovered and returned to the Orioles’ rotation, and Mike Cuellar was acquired from the Astros. Having served his purpose, Hardin moved on to the Yankees.

Hardin was signed by the Mets, and played in their farm system from 1962-1965. After the ’65 season the Orioles acquired him in the minor-league draft.

He made his Orioles’ debut in June 1967, after the above mentioned injuries decimated the starting rotation (also including Dave McNally).

Jim was 8-3 as a rookie, and won 18 games in 1968 as the O’s #2 starter behind a fully-recovered McNally, who won 22 games.

He slipped to 6-7 in 1969, but by then was the #5 starter behind Cuellar (23 wins), McNally (20), Palmer (16) and Phoebus (14).

Hardin pitched one more full season with the Birds (1970), and although they won the World Series, it was a down season for him personally, posting a 6-5 record. He and Phoebus (5-5) were the forgotten members of the rotation, as the Big Three all won 20+ games and made 40 starts each.

Jim was traded to the Yankees in May 1971, and after another bad season was released the following April. He was picked up by the Braves a few weeks later and pitched 26 games (mostly in relief) in his final season.

After his playing career, Hardin became a small aircraft pilot. He was killed in 1991 when his 6-seat plane crashed in Key West, FL. He was 47.

Vern Fuller (#71)

This is the rookie card for Vern Fuller, the Indians' starting 2nd baseman for most of 1967-1969.

Fuller was signed by the Indians before the 1963 season out of Arizona State University (just before the Athletics started using that school as their farm system, producing Rick Monday, Sal Bando, and Reggie Jackson!)

After a season in the minors, Vern missed almost all of 1964 with injuries, playing no minor-league ball and only 2 games with the Tribe in September.

He played all of '65 and '66 back on the farm, save for a September call-up in 1966.

Fuller was up and down between Cleveland and triple-A for the first half of 1967, but was recalled in mid-July and started 62 of the final 73 games at 2nd base, replacing the floundering tandem of Gus Gil, Pedro Gonzalez, and Chico Salmon.

In 1968 Vern split the 2nd base duties with Chico Salmon for the first half of the season, and with rookie Dave Nelson in the second half.

Surprisingly, even though Nelson was named Topps all-rookie 2nd baseman in 1968, he only started 30 games in 1969, mostly from late-July to mid-August. Meanwhile, Fuller started 72 games, with newly-acquired bust Zoilo Versalles playing some games there as well.

Rookie Eddie Leon took over in 1970, relegating Fuller to just 33 at-bats in 29 games for the season. He only made 1 appearance between 6/12 and 8/18, and spent no time in the minors, so maybe he was injured for a good chunk of the season? Anyway, he retired after the season.

Mike Marshall (#201)

Mike Marshall was a relief pitcher for 9 teams from 1968 to 1981, most notably for the Expos and Dodgers.

He was signed by the Phillies (I didn’t know that until today) in 1960, and played in their farm system as a SHORTSTOP (also didn’t know that) through the 1964 season. He switched over to pitching at the start of the 1965 season, and after 1 year was sold to the Tigers. D’oh! Why did the Phillies let go of so many good young players back then? 

After a year on the Tigers’ farm, he made his major-league debut in May 1967. Mike pitched in 37 games (all in relief) and fashioned a team-leading 1.98 ERA as a rookie. What did he get as a reward? He spent all of the 1968 season in triple A, posting a 15-9 record with 190 strikeouts, but didn’t even get a September call-up to help the eventual world champs! (I also didn’t realize until today that he didn’t pitch for the Tigers in ’68. That makes 3 things I’ve learned today. I’m tired now!) 

Apparently the high-riding Tigers didn’t need the services of this promising young hurler, and left him unprotected in the expansion draft. As a further insult, he was the FIFTY-THIRD pick in the draft, by the Seattle Pilots. Marshall played all of 1969 for the expansion Pilots, his only season as a starting pitcher. He also hit .259 (7 for 24), a higher average than all but 3 of the every-day batters.

He was sold to the Astros after the season, but by mid-June 1970 was traded to the Expos for outfielder Don Bosch.

Mike played for the Expos for the next 3 ½ seasons. The “light” switched on during the 1971 season, as Marshall began a 6-year period of unusually high workload. He led the NL in games pitched from 1972-74, and in games finished from 1971-1974. In 1973 (his last with the Expos), he appeared in a phenomenal 92 games, finishing 73 of them, while collecting an NL-best 31 saves. He also was the Cy Young Award runner-up.

After the 1973 season he was traded to the Dodgers for outfielder Willie Davis. (Amazing, because he was at the peak of his career, while Davis was in decline.) As if 92 games weren’t enough to wear a man out, in 1974 Marshall pitched in ONE HUNDRED AND SIX GAMES! He again led the NL in games finished (83) and saves (21), and won the CY Young Award that season. He also made his first of 2 All-Star teams that year, the other coming in 1975.

He came back to earth in 1975, pitching a modest 58 games. In June 1976 he was traded to the Braves for Lee Lacy and pitcher Elias Sosa. (I guess the Dodgers wanted to unload him before he broke down from over-use! If so, that worked out for them. After pitching 54 games in 1976, he only made 16 appearances in 1977.)

After a short time with Atlanta, the Rangers purchased his contract at the end of April 1977, but he played only that 1 season for Texas.

He was granted free agency after the 1977 season, and was without a team until the following May, when the Twins signed him. Marshall made a comeback with the Twins, pitching in 54 games in 1978 and an AL-leading 90 games in 1979. He also led the league with 32 saves in 1979.

He was released in June 1980, and more than a year later was picked up by the Mets in August 1981, but was released after the season.

Oddly enough, the record shows he pitched 1 inning for the Angels’ AAA team in 1983. Seems like a bad idea, resulting in a 60.75 ERA.

Chuck Hartenstein (#13)

Chuck Hartenstein (nicknamed “Twiggy” because his slender build was similar to the British model of that era) was strictly a relief pitcher in the majors (mostly for the Cubs and Pirates).

After leading his Texas Longhorns team to the College World Series in 1962 and 1963, Hartenstein was signed by the Cubs in 1964, and was a starting pitcher in their farm system in ’64 and ’65. In 1965 he posted a 12-7 record in double-A, and was called up to the Cubs in September. His only major-league appearance that season was as a pinch-runner on 9/11.

Chuck returned to the minors for 1966 and was converted to a reliever. He also appeared in 5 games for the Cubs during a September call-up.

Hartenstein began the 1967 season in the minors, but was called up in early June, and pitched 73 innings over 45 games, while leading the Cubs ‘pen with 10 saves. He was one of the few rookies in 1967 that did not appear in the 1967 Topps set.

In April 1968, Phil Regan was acquired from the Dodgers to be the Cubs’ closer, and Hartenstein was pushed down to the #4 man in the bullpen, pitching only 35 innings, while also appearing in 20 games for triple-A Tacoma.

After the ’68 season, Chuck was traded to the Pirates with infielder Ron Campbell for reserve outfielder Manny Jimenez (Wow, what a fall from his 1967 season!) At least he stayed out of the minors in 1969, the first of 2 seasons that would occur during his 1964-77 professional career. Hartenstein led the Pirates’ with 10 saves in 1969, pitching 95 innings.

Just like in Chicago, Chuck followed up a good season with a not-so-good season. By mid-June 1970, he was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals, who traded him to the Red Sox 3 weeks later. He also spent time in the Sox’ farm system that season.

After the 1970 season, he was purchased by the White Sox, but was banished to the minor leagues from 1971-76, hopping from the White Sox to the Giants, to the Padres to the Blue Jays.

Hartenstein resurfaced with the Blue Jays in 1977, appearing in 13 games from April thru late-July. His final game was a ninth-inning mop-up appearance in a 14-0 loss to the Rangers on 7/26.

Hartenstein coached for the Indians in 1979 and the Brewers from 1987-89.

Manny Sanguillen (#251)

This is Manny Sanguillen's rookie card. He rated a whole card to himself, by virtue of a second-half call-up in 1967. (Hey Topps, where was Reggie Jackson's 1968 card?)

Manny had a card in 1968, but not major-league playing time. He spent the entire season in the minors, then returned in 1969 as the starting catcher.

Sanguillen was signed by the Pirates in late 1964, then played 2 seasons in A ball before jumping up to triple-A for 1967.

When Pirates' regular catcher Jerry May went down with an injury in late July, Sanguillen was called up and started 14 of the next 24 games behind the plate, alternating with aging veteran Jim Pagliaroni. When May returned in mid-August, Pags was shelved for the remainder of the season, with Sanguillen backing up May.

Manny spent the entire 1968 season back in triple-A "getting his playing time", while journeymen types like Chris Cannizzaro and Gary Kolb were retained as May's backups.

Sanguillen returned in 1969, splitting the catching assignments with May for awhile, but by late-May Manny had taken over, ending up with 107 starts to Jerry's 50 starts. Except for the first half of 1973 (when Manny started 53 of the first 54 games in right field, in an attempt to replace the late Roberto Clemente), Sanguillen was the Pirates' regular catcher until September 1976, when he gave way to Duffy Dyer and Ed Ott.

Manny was an all-star in '71, '72, and '75, and hit a career-high 12 home runs in 1973. He also collected 11 hits in the 1971 World Series, good for a .379 batting average.

After the 1976 season, he was traded to the Athletics for manager (yes, manager) Chuck Tanner. Manny returned to Pittsburgh after only one season in Oakland, with the Pirates using him as a pinch-hitter and occasional backup first baseman for the next 3 seasons.

Traded to the Indians after the 1980 season, he was released in spring training the following year. Manny sat out the 1981 season, then played in the Mexican League in 1982.

Final Card: Clarence Jones

This is the first and last card for Clarence Jones (#506). For the second consecutive post, we are saying goodbye to a short-time Cubs' first baseman.

Jones was signed by the Phillies in June 1959. After finishing that season in the Phillies' organization, he was out of baseball in 1960. Clarence returned in 1961, and spent the next 5 seasons in the Dodgers' farm system.

After the 1965 season, he was drafted by the Cubs, and finally made it up to triple-A during the 1966 season.

Jones made his major-league debut in April 1967 with the Cubs. He played in 53 games that year, mostly as a pinch-hitter, but also 2 dozen games in right field and a dozen as Banks' backup at 1st base. He also spent mid-May to mid-July back in the minors.

The following season, he was back in triple-A for most of the season, only playing 5 games with the Cubs in September. After the '68 season he was dealt to the Reds, but spent the 1969 season at triple-A Indianapolis.

Jones then played in Japan from 1970 through 1977.

Final Card: Cal Ermer

Today we have the last of the "final cards" in the 1968 set. In all, there were 42 final cards this year, down from 80 final cards in both the 1966 and 1967 sets. Coincidentally, the last card to be posted is that of the Minnesota Twins' manager (just like on my 1967 blog).

This is the final card for Twins' manager Cal Ermer (#206). Because his major-league playing career consisted of 1 game in 1947, this is also his rookie card.

Ermer played minor-league baseball from 1942 to 1951 (except for missing the 1943-45 seasons while in the Marines). Although mostly in the Washington Senators' system, he also played for the Giants, Tigers, and Philadelphia Athletics' organizations, but never progressed above the class-A level.

His one major-league appearance came on 9/26/1947, playing 2nd base for the Senators against the Philadelphia Athletics.

Cal's managerial career began as a player-manager for various class-B and D teams in the Washington Senators' farm system in '47, '50, and '51. From 1952-57, he managed the Sens' double-A team in Chattanooga.

After a year with the Tigers' AA team in Birmingham, he moved up to triple-A, managing the Pirates' team in Columbus for 2 seasons. In 1961, he managed the Yankees' top farm team in Richmond, where his charges included future major-leaguers like Tom Tresh, Don Lock, Phil Linz, Hal Reniff, Jake Gibbs, and Bill Short.

After coaching for the Orioles, Ermer was hired to manage the Twins' AAA team in Denver in 1965. Two and a half years later, he was promoted to the Twins, following the firing of Sam Mele on June 9, 1967. Cal was replaced after the 1968 season by Billy Martin.

Ever the organizational man, Ermer later managed the Twins' triple-A teams in Tacoma (1974-76) and Toledo (1978-84). After his managing days, he became a scout for the Twins.

Don Wilson (#77)

Like Gary Nolan, Don Wilson was a notable rookie in 1967 that was not included in the 1967 Topps set.

Wilson was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1964, and pitched 3 seasons in the minors, making his big-league debut on September 29, 1966.

Don joined the Astros' starting rotation as a rookie in 1967, compiling a 10-9 record in 31 games. He was a top-4 starter in each of his seasons with the team (1967-74). Early on, Wilson was behind veterans Mike Cuellar, Dave Giusti, and Larry Dierker.

By the end of the 1960s, Cuellar and Giusti were gone, leaving Dierker and Wilson at the top of the rotation. 1971 was Don's best season, going 16-10 with 180 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA in 268 innings. He also made his only all-star appearance that season, pitching 2 innings. [Interesting note: both teams only used 4 pitchers in the '71 all-star game.]

Wilson tragically died in January 1975, at age 29 of carbon monoxide poisoning. The incident occurred at his home, and also claimed the life of his son. This was one of several deaths of current or former Astros players.

Gary Nolan (#196)

This is Gary Nolan's rookie card. I've always wondered why he wasn't included on a Reds Rookies card in the 1967 set. Checking his minor-league stats tonight, I found that he was the Reds' #1 pick in the 1966 draft, and played that season in the class-A Northern League. Ok, Topps probably doesn't rush to include players with only low-level minor-league experience on their cards, I get that.

But, he made the Reds' starting rotation from the beginning of the '67 season, struck out 12 Dodgers in his 2nd big-league game, and by the end of April, had pitched 4 games, striking out 33 while walking only four. Didn't Topps consider bumping someone off a yet-to-be-issued 7th-series "NL Rookies" card in favor of Nolan? What about the dubious Norm Gigon?

Gary finished his rookie season with a 14-8 record over 226 innings, with 206 strikeouts and 62 walks. He came in 3rd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Tom Seaver and Cardinals' pitcher Dick Hughes.

Although he mostly played for the Reds in '68 and '69, he spent some time in the minors (including a stint in single-A in 1968) with arm issues. Nolan was back to full speed in 1970, going 18-7 in 250 innings as the Reds' ace, on a staff that also featured 20-game winner Jim Merritt.

1971 and 1972 were also fine years for Gary, as he again sat on top of the rotation, along with rookies Don Gullett ('71) and Ross Grimsley ('72). In 1972 Nolan compiled a 15-5 record and a 1.99 ERA, although mid-season injuries forced him to miss some time, including the all-star game. He missed almost all of the next 2 seasons with injuries, pitching 2 games for the Reds in '73 and 2 games in the minors in '74.

Gary staged a comeback in 1975, compiling identical 15-9 records in '75 and '76, and pitched in his 3rd and 4th World Series. After getting off to a slow start in 1977, he was traded to the Angels in June. Injuries cropped up again, limiting him to only 5 games with the Angels.

California released him in January 1978, and the next month he was picked up by the Brewers, who also released him a month later, ending his 10 year career.

Final Card: Bruce Von Hoff

This is the only Topps baseball card for Bruce Von Hoff (#530). Like Ron Campbell in 1967 and Dave Watkins in 1970, his major-league career was over before his only card was issued.



Bruce was signed by the Giants in 1964, and pitched in the minors for 7 seasons (1964-70), mostly at the double-A and A levels. He was a starting pitcher in all but his first season. After one season in the Giants' system, Von Hoff pitched for various Astros' clubs for 4 seasons, before moving on to the Reds (1969) and Cardinals (1970).

His only big-league experience came in 1965 (3 relief appearances, 3 innings) and 1967 (10 starts, 50 innings total).

I'm surprised he even has a card in this set, since a) he wasn't one of the Astros' top 12 pitchers in 1967 in terms of games played, and b) this is card #529 (in the last series), so there was plenty of time for Topps to pull this card in favor of someone else more deserving (like a Giants Rookie Stars card!)

Final Card: Dick Kenworthy

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.

Danny Frisella (#191)

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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