Bob Bailey (#580)

Here is the only card showing Bob Bailey in a Dodgers' uniform. Bailey played for the Dodgers only for 1967 and 1968 (traded from the Pirates for Maury Wills). His 1967 card is a capless number showing him in a Pirates' uniform. After the 1968 season, he moved on to the expansion Montreal Expos, and his 1969 card ALSO shows him capless in a Pirates’ uni. So Dodgers' fans: this is it for Bob Bailey!

Bailey played in the Pirates' minor league system for 2 seasons (1961-62) before making his major-league debut with the Pirates in September 1962. He started 12 of the final 15 games at 3rd base, replacing the veteran Don Hoak.

With Hoak traded to the Phillies in the off-season, Bailey became the starting 3rd baseman for the Pirates from day 1 of the 1963 season. He started 153 games at the hot corner in his rookie season.

The Pirates picked up veteran Gene Freese in 1964, and he shared the 3rd base job with Bailey that season (with Bob getting 60% of the starts at 3B, and another few dozen in left field). Bob was back to full-time status at 3rd base the following season, making 133 starts (to Freese's 17).

In Bailey's final season with the Bucs, he shared the 3rd base job with utility man Jose Pagan, with both starting about half the games. Bob also saw some playing time in left field on Willie Stargell's days off. After collecting over 500 at-bats in his first 3 seasons, Bob’s workload was reduced in 1966, only having 380 at-bats in 126 games.

After the '66 season, the Pirates sent Bailey and shortstop prospect Gene Michael to the Dodgers in return for shortstop Maury Wills. (With Gene Alley set at shortstop, Wills played 3rd base for the Pirates for the next 2 seasons. He would join Bailey in Montreal at the start of the 1969 season.)

Bob didn't have a full-time spot for his 2 seasons in LA. He had 322 at-bats in both seasons, playing less than 120 games each year. The Dodgers had also acquired 2nd baseman Ron Hunt in the same off-season, so their former ROY Jim Lefebvre moved over to 3B for many games, leaving only 65 starts there for Bailey. (He did start 23 games in left field.)

The following season Hunt was gone (freeing up 2nd base for Lefebvre), but Bob only started 88 games there, and none in the outfield.

Selected in the expansion draft, Bob was the Expos' 1st starting 1st-sacker. He started 83 games then gave way to ex-Dodger Ron Fairly in the 2nd half of the season. That was his only season with significant playing time at 1st base.

Bailey played for the Expos for 7 seasons (1969-75). After backing up young Coco Laboy in 1970, Bob regained full-time status from 1971-74, mostly at 3rd base, but at 3B and LF in 1974.

After the 1975 season he was traded to the Reds for pitcher Clay Kirby. Bob rode the bench in Cincinnati for 2 seasons, then played his final season (1978) with the Red Sox, mostly as a DH or pinch-hitter.

When his playing career was over, Bailey managed in the minor-leagues for several organizations from 1979 to 1987.

Mike McCormick (#400)

Now that we've finished with the Topps All-Rookie Team, let's check out the stars with '00' card numbers. Topps made a curious selection for some of their superstars (some folks refer to them as "hero cards"). 

#100 - Bob Gibson - of the world champion Cardinals 
#200 - Orlando Cepeda - see Bob Gibson 
#300 - Rusty Staub - huh? 
#400 - Mike McCormick - see below 
#500 - Frank Robinson - yeah, Robby won the triple crown in 1966, but what about the 1967 triple crown winner, who also won the AL MVP with 98% of the vote? 

Carl Yastrzemski was relegated to #250, while veterans Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were #50 and #280 respectively.


In December 1966, Mike McCormick was traded by the Washington Senators to the Giants for pitcher Bob Priddy and outfielder Cap Peterson. Because Priddy and McCormick's 1967 cards were in the first series, they were still shown as members of their former teams, although some versions of their cards include a traded note on the back.

What did Mike do after escaping the DC Zoo? He led the NL with 22 wins in 1967, and was named the NL Cy Young Award winner, getting 18 of the 20 first place votes. The Sporting News also named him the NL Comeback Player of the Year.

McCormick was signed by the New York Giants in 1956, after posting a 49-4 record in American Legion ball, and as a "bonus baby", went straight to the parent club. He made his major-league debut at age 17 on September 3rd, and pitched 6 innings over 3 games that year. In 1957, he appeared in 24 games, working mostly in relief.

When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, Mike joined the starting rotation, and won in double-digits for the next 4 seasons. He led the NL with a 2.70 ERA in 1960, and made the all-star team in '60 and '61.

After a down year in 1962, McCormick was traded to the Orioles with reliever Stu Miller and catcher John Orsino for pitchers Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft, and catcher Jimmie Coker.

After 2 uneventful seasons with the Orioles (including spending much of 1964 in triple-A, his first taste of the minor leagues), Mike was dumped on the Senators for a minor-league pitcher and cash. He played in 40-plus games in each of his 2 seasons with the Senators, starting 50% in '65 an 75% in '66.

Returning to the National League in 1967 worked wonders for McCormick. He, Juan Marichal, and Gaylord Perry formed the big 3 in the Giants' rotation until Mike's July 1970 trade to the Yankees.

1971 was a traveling year for him: released by the Yankees in March, signed by the Royals in April, then released again on June 2nd. His final big-league game was on May 22, 1971.

Mike was signed by the Giants the following spring, but spent the 1972-73 seasons in the minors, before retiring.

Jim Pagliaroni (#586)

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.

Wayne Causey (#522)

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.

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.