AL Batting Leaders (#2, 4, 6)

NL Pitching Leaders? Check! NL Batting Leaders? Check! Now it's time for the AL Batting Leaders. After several seasons buried in the 3rd series, the League Leaders cards are front and center (#1 - #12) in the 1968 (and 1969) set.

1967 was the season of the Yaz. Like Frank Robinson one year earlier, Yastrzemski won the triple crown and led his team to the World Series. Unlike Robby, Yaz' team didn't win, nor did he finish ahead of all others in home runs. Lost in the hype is the fact that Harmon Killebrew was tied for the lead in homers.


Four AL players finished with a .300 or better average.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but the following season, only Yastrzemski would accomplish that, with a .301 average.   Following that, the mound was lowered, 40 minor-league pitchers were given major-league jobs (expansion), and Bob Gibson was asked to go easy on the batters.

 

As usual, the same 5 or 6 players seem to fill the 9 spots on these leader cards.

 

Yaz was one-and-done in the late-1960s' home run derby, while Killebrew and Frank Howard would make multiple appearances on these cards.

Off the Grid in '68

After all these years, I know exactly which players do and don't have a card in the 1967 set. I'm a little less sure about the players in the 1968 set. In the course of my travels through these blogs and my card binders over the past few years, I have discovered players that had their own "full" card in 1967 and 1969, but not a 1968 card.

Recently, I compared the list of players in the '67, '68, '69, and '70 sets, and found all the rest who are missing a 1968 card. This post is a place for me to list those names (should Michael Eisner ever approach me about ideas for a 1968 update set!)


Cards in 1967 and 1969, but not 1968:
Jim Beauchamp - OF
Bo Belinsky - P
Bob Chance - 1B
Galen Cisco - P
Pat Corrales - C
Tom Egan - C
Gary Geiger - OF
Jesse Gonder - C
Jim Hannan - P
Chuck Harrison - 1B
Jim Hickman - OF
Jim Hicks - OF (appeared on the Cardinals Rookies card in '69)
John Kennedy - 3B
Fred Newman - P
Dave Nicholson - OF
Joe Nossek - OF
Johnny Podres - P (retired for 1968)
Dick Radatz - P
Tommie Reynolds - OF
George Thomas - OF

Cards in 1967 and 1970, but not '68 or '69:
Jack Baldschun - P
Tito Fuentes - 2B
Bill Heath - C
Marcelino Lopez - P
Jim Stewart - INF
Chris Zachary - P

Dick Hall (#17)

This is the last of Dick Hall's two Phillies' cards. Hall was traded from the Orioles during the winter of 1966-67, and returned to Baltimore after the 1968 season. Surprisingly, Topps was able to produce both of Hall's Phillies cards showing hin in a Phillies uniform, and not some airbrushed or capless travesty, which is how they handled the Turk Farrell and Don Lock cards for the several years they were with the Phillies.

Hall was signed by the Pirates as an outfielder in September 1951. He made his major-league debut in April 1952, but after sticking with the Pirates until mid-May, he was sent down to their class-B team, where he spent much of the '52 and '53 seasons.

He played the entire 1954 season with Pittsburgh, starting 84 games in the outfield. Dick began pitching in 1955, and split that season between the Pirates and their class-A team in Lincoln, Nebraska. After a full season with Pittsburgh in '56, he was in triple-A for most of 1957 and out of baseball altogether in 1958.

Hall returned in 1959 and compiled an 18-5 record in 27 starts for the Pirates' AAA team in Salt Lake City. After the season he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics, and spent one season in their starting rotation before moving on to the Orioles in April 1961.

Hall spent his first season in Baltimore divided evenly between starting and relieving, but the next 5 seasons found him firmly entrenched as a bullpen mainstay for the Birds. He wrapped up his first stint with the O's as a member of the World Series champs in 1966.

After the season he was traded to the Phillies and spent 2 seasons co-closing with Turk Farrell, before returning to the Orioles in 1969, where he pitched in the World Series in each of his last 3 seasons before retiring after the 1971 season.

Hall was an amazing control pitcher!  Since becoming a full-time reliever in 1962, he pitched 780 innings, during which he only issued 61 unintentional walks.

Although a full-time major-leaguer since 1960, Hall did not have a baseball card in the '64, '65, '66, or '69 Topps sets.

Final Card: Bob Saverine

This is the last baseball card for utility man Bob Saverine (#149). The first of his cards I got was the 1967 card, where (I thought back then) he looked like Jim Nabors. My only other thought about Saverine back then was this.

Bob was signed by the Orioles in 1959 and played 4 seasons in their system, then played one game with Baltimore in September 1962. After 2 full seasons as an INF/OF with the Orioles, Saverine was back in the minors for all of 1965. (He was traded to the Astros in April for veteran pitcher Don Larsen, but played for the Orioles' AAA Rochester team.)

The Senators selected him in the Rule 5 draft following the 1965 season, and Bob spent all of '66 and '67 in Washington. In 1966 he started 67 games at 2nd base, more than veteran Don Blasingame and Ken Hamlin.

The Senators acquired Bernie Allen from the Twins in the off-season, so Saverine was relegated to utility infielder for 1967. His final big-league game was October 1, 1967. Saverine played for Washington's AAA team in Buffalo in 1968, then retired.

NL Batting Leaders (#1, #3, #5)

A (long) while back, I posted the NL Pitching Leaders cards. Today we have the NL Batting Leaders. Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron each appear twice among these cards (backing up the voters' choices in a recent poll).


Roberto Clemente led the NL in batting for the 4th and final time (also in '61, '64, and '65). Tony Gonzalez began the 1967 season as a platoon player, but stepped up midway through, and batted .339 overall. Matty Alou picked up where he left off the previous season.

Orlando Cepeda powered the Cardinals to the 1967 World Series. "Bob" Clemente makes his 2nd appearance here, along with Hammerin' Hank.

Hank Aaron continued his assault on Babe Ruth's record, winning his 4th and final NL home run crown with 39 homers. (His other three titles were all won with 44 home runs.) Only Harmon Killebrew hit more home runs in the 1960s. Next we have Jim Wynn (now playing for "Houston"), followed by Ron Santo and Willie McCovey tied for 3rd place.

Gary Sutherland (#98)

This Gary Sutherland's first solo card. It's also the first of his cards that I got (in 1968), since his rookie card was in the 1967 7th series (none of which I had until the mid 1980s).

Sutherland was one of my favorite players on the 1967 Philadelphia Phillies (my introduction to MLB). Why? I don't really remember - maybe because he was an upstart rookie, getting a lot of playing time as a platoon player among so many veterans.



Sutherland was signed by the Phillies in 1964, the year after they signed his brother Darrell (and his other brother Darryl). Gary played just 2 seasons in the minors (as the fulltime 2nd baseman at double-A Chattanooga in 1965, and the fulltime shortstop at triple-A San Diego in 1966) before making the Phillies at the start of the 1967 season.

Although this card lists his position as "INF-OF", during his rookie season he only played shortstop and left field. For the first half of the season he platooned in left field with Johnny Briggs, and also played shortstop when Bobby Wine was not in the lineup. As the season wore on, the Phillies stopped platooning in left field, decreasing Sudsy's playing time.

During the 1968 season, Sutherland was relegated to utility infielder status (even with starting shortstop Bobby Wine going down for the season on May 12th with a back injury). The team recalled journeyman infielder Roberto Pena from the minors to handle the shortstop post. Sutherland only made 6 starts there to Pena's 128 starts.

After the '68 season, the Phillies lost Sutherland, Wine, and Pena to the expansion draft, with Sutherland and Wine going to the Montreal Expos. Gary was the Expos' starting 2nd baseman in their inaugural season, but shared the position with Marv Staehle in 1970. In 1971 he was the backup 2B/SS (behind starters Ron Hunt and Bobby Wine).

Sutherland spent most of 1972 and 1973 in the minors. Along the way, he was traded to the Astros in June 1972. It would take a December 1973 trade to the Tigers to get him back to the major leagues.

Gary made a comeback as the Tigers' regular 2nd baseman from the start of the 1974 season until his early June 1976 trade to the Brewers. In Milwaukee, Suds shared the 2nd base job with Tim Johnson and Jack Heidemann.

Gary was released prior to the 1977 season, and soon signed with the Padres. After the season he was released again. In January 1978 he was signed by the Cardinals, but was released in late May, ending his career.

Lee May (#487)

For 6 straight seasons in the 1960s, the Cincinnati Reds had at least one of the 10 Topps All-Star Rookies:

1963 - Pete Rose 2B, Tommy Harper OF
1964 - Bill McCool P
1965 - Tony Perez 1B
1966 - Tommy Helms 3B
1967 - Lee May 1B
1968 - Johnny Bench C

(What, no shortstop?)

Lee May was signed by the Reds in 1961, and played for 6 seasons in their farm system, mostly at first base, with a few games as an outfielder in 1964 and 1965. Those 2 seasons were big for May, as he batted over .300 and collected over 100 RBI each year. He also hit 25 and 34 homers, respectively.

Lee got a big-league cup of coffee in 1965 and another 25 games in 1966, before making the Reds for good at the start of 1967.



I always thought the arrival of Lee May in 1967 set the Reds' defense in shuffle mode: Tony Perez from 1B to 3B, Tommy Helms to 2B, and Pete Rose to the outfield. In fact, Helms and Rose had moved at the start of the season, before May cracked the starting lineup, (with Deron Johnson coming in from left field to play 3B). In early May, Perez moved from 1st to 3rd, with Johnson and May alternating chunks of games as the starting 1st baseman. (Lee also spent about a month in left field, with Rose returning to 2B and Helms to shortstop during Chico Cardenas' trip to the DL.) By the time the season was over, May had started 68 games at 1B and 47 in the outfield.

Things settled down defensively in 1968. In the off-season, Johnson was traded to Atlanta which opened up a full-time 1st base job for May. Lee began a string of 11 very productive seasons. He was with the Reds through 1971, then 3 seasons with the Astros (sent there in the Joe Morgan trade), before settling in Baltimore in 1975.

May was the Orioles' 1st baseman in his 1st season there, then eased into the DH role in '76 and '77 before becoming the full-time DH in '78 and '79. In his last 3 seasons, May was relegated to a part-time role, the final 2 with Kansas City.

Lee retired after the 1982 season. His brother Carlos was the White Sox' regular left fielder during the early 1970s.

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!)