Bob Barton (#351)

Bob Barton was a journeyman catcher for the Giants and Padres. His only season as an everyday player came in 1971 with the Padres. 

Barton was signed by the Giants in 1959 and started out with the Class D Hastings (Nebraska) Giants. By 1963 he made it to the triple-A level, where he remained for another 5 seasons. He did get a cup of coffee with the Giants in September 1965. 

He began the 1966 season with the Giants, backing up starter Tom Haller. By mid-season he was demoted to triple-A Phoenix, with veteran 3B/C Ozzie Virgil called up to replace him. Barton alternated with prospect Dick Dietz and veteran Dick Bertell while at triple-A. 

In 1967 the Giants decided to keep Dietz as Haller’s backup, and with another catching prospect (Don Bryant) slated to play for Phoenix, Barton was loaned out to the Cubs’ AAA team for most of the year.

 

Haller was traded to the Dodgers after the 1967 season, so Barton made the Giants on a full-time basis as the 3rd-string catcher (behind Dietz and Jack Hiatt). Bob played in 45 to 50 games each season, and started about half that many. He was almost never used as a pinch-hitter (whereas Hiatt not only pinch-hit, but played first base too). 

After the 1969 season, Barton was traded to the Padres along with pitcher Ron Herbel and 3rd baseman Bobby Etheridge for pitcher Frank Reberger. This was an immediate promotion to 2nd-string status. He started a third of the games behind the dish in 1970, with Chris Cannizzaro starting most of the other games. 

In 1971 Bob finally made it to the top, starting 111 games, while rookie Fred Kendall and Cannizzaro gave him some days off. He had career highs in at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers, RBI, and walks. Topps even selected him for an “In-action” card in their 1972 set, although I’m not sure how this qualifies as “action":

 

Barton: “Hey, what’cha doin?” 

Guard: “Not much. What’choo doin?” 

Barton: “Not much.” 

 

It turned out, Bob was just keeping the spot warm for Kendall, who took over the starter’s job in 1972. In mid-June he was traded to the Reds for Pat Corrales, but did not play for the Reds (or in the minors) in the second half. 

After only catching 5 innings for the Reds in the first month of 1973 (hey, they had Johnny Bench!) he was released in mid-June. As in the previous year, he was idle for the remainder of the season. 

The Padres signed him in April 1974, and he played in 30 games as their 2nd-string catcher, then was released at the end of the season, ending his 10-year career. 

Barton passed away in 2018 at age 76. 

 

Rob Gardner (#219)

This is Rob Gardner’s first card as a member of the Chicago Cubs. I first became aware of him when I got his Mets’ card in the 1967 set.

Gardner was signed by the Twins in 1963 (I did not know that.) After the ’63 season, he was selected by the Mets in the first-year draft.

Rob made his major-league debut with the Mets in September 1965. He appeared in 41 games (17 starts) for the Mets in 1966, more than twice as many games as he played in any other season. 1966 was the only year he did not spend any time in the minor leagues.

He began 1967 in triple-A, then was traded to the Cubs in mid-June (with catcher JOhn Stephenson) for pitcher Bob Hendley. Rob pitched in 18 games for the Cubs over the second half.

Gardner was traded to the Indians during Spring Training 1969 for pitcher Bob Tiefenauer. He spent most of 1968 and all of 1969 in the minors, only appearing in 5 games for the Tribe in September 1968.

He was traded to the Yankees in June 1969 for catcher Johnny Orsino, but only played 1 game for the Yanks in September 1970.

New York traded Ron to the Athletics in early-April 1971 for Felpie Alou, but 6 weeks later he was traded back to the Bronx for Cury Blefary. He played 20 games for the Yankees in ’72, but spent most of ’71 and ’72 in the minors.

After the 1972 season he was traded BACK to Oakland, this time for MATTY Alou.

He was sold to the Brewers in May 1973, but after 10 games was returned to the A’s in July.

Gardner played for the Tigers’ AAA team in 1974 and the Yankees’ AAA team in 1975 before retiring.

John Hiller (#307)

John Hiller played for 15 seasons (1965-80), all for the Tigers. He pitched in 545 games, all but 43 in relief. The most games he ever started was 12 in 1968 and 8 in 1969.

Hiller was signed by the Tigers in June 1962, and pitched in the minors from 1963-64, before making his big-league debut in September 1965.

He pitched 1 game for the Tigers in April 1966, but returned to the minors for the rest of the season.

John began the 1967 season in the minors, then was called up for the 2nd half of the season. He made the Tigers to stay beginning in 1968. Hiller pitched 2 innings in the 1968 World Series, but gave up 4 runs for a 13.50 ERA.

After having a heart attack in January 1971, he missed all of 1971 and the first half of the 1972 season.

Hiller's best years were 1973 and 1974. In '73, he led the AL in saves (3), games (65), and games finished (60), and had a career-low 1.44 ERA while winning 10 games. He also finished 4th in the Cy Young voting.

In '74 he won 17 games (all in relief) and made his only All-Star team. John led the Tigers in saves from 1973-76, and again in 1978.

1980 was his final season. After pitching 11 games in April and May, he retired as the Tigers' all-time leader in games pitched. At that time, he was 4th on the career saves list, behind Sparky Lyle, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Rollie Fingers.

Final Card: Ted Davidson

I don't often post back-to-back cards of players on the same team, but 6 years after (I thought) I completed my "1968 Final Cards" series, yesterday I discovered that Reds' pitcher Ted Davidson also had his final card (#48) in the 1968 set.

Davidson was signed by the Reds in 1960. He made his major-league debut in late-July 1965 (at age 25). In 1966 he pitched in 54 games (all in relief), but his career took a turn for the worse in 1967.

Davidson was shot by his estranged wife in a bar in March 1967 and missed a few months while recovering. He began pitching in the minors by June, and was back with the Reds for 9 games in September.

Ted pitched 23 games out of the Reds’ bullpen during the first half of 1968, but was traded to the Braves (with pitcher Milt Pappas and infielder Bob Johnson) for pitchers Tony Cloninger and Clay Carroll, and shortstop Woody Woodward.

For the Braves, he pitched 2 games in June and 2 in July, then spent the rest of the season in the minors, never to return.

In his final pro season (1969), he bounced around in triple-A for the Cubs, White Sox, and Indians.

Davidson passed away in 2006 at age 66.

Bill Hands (#279)

Bill Hands was a top-3 starter for the Cubs from 1968-72. His best season came in 1969, when he won 20 games for a team apparently headed to the post-season.

Hands began his career in the Giants’ organization in 1959. He pitched in their farm system for SEVEN seasons, and made his major-league debut with 4 games in 1965 (3 in early June, 1 in October).

After the ’65 season, he and catching prospect Randy Hundley were traded to the Cubs for veteran reliever Lindy McDaniel and fading outfielder Don Landrum, in what many Giants' fans consider to be another in a string of bad trades by Giants' management in that era.

Bill was a full-time pitcher for the Cubs for the next 7 seasons. Primarily a starter in ’66 and a reliever in ’67, Hands became a full-time starter in 1968, and responded by winning 16, 20, 18, 12, and 11 games in each of the next 5 seasons. Along with winning 20 games in 1969, he pitched 18 complete games.

After the 1972 season he was traded to the Twins for reliever Dave LaRoche. Hands was primarily a reliever during his 2-year hitch with the Twins, but did not enjoy the same success that he had during his stay with the Cubs.

In September 1974 he was claimed off waivers by the Rangers. He appeared in 2 games for Texas that month and 18 in 1975. Although traded to the Mets in February 1976 for pitcher George Stone, Hands retired before the ’76 season.

 He died in Orlando, FL in March 2017 at age 76.

Horace Clarke (#263)

Here is Yankees’ 2nd baseman Horace Clarke. Horace played for the Yankees from 1965-74, and is one of 3 Yankees (along with Mel Stottlemyre and Roy White) to bridge the gap between the Mantle/Maris/Ford era and the Munson/Nettles/Murcer/Piniella era.

Clarke (a native of the US Virgin Islands) began his career in 1958 with the Yankees’ Class-D team in Kearney, Nebraska. After six seasons as a shortstop, he switched to 2nd base in 1964 (his 2nd season in triple-A).

Horace began the 1965 season in triple-A, but made his Yankees’ debut in mid-May, playing in 51 games that year, including 21 starts (mostly at 3rd base).

Long-time shortstop Tony Kubek retired after the 1965 season, so the Yankees moved 3rd baseman Clete Boyer to SS for the first half of the 1966 season, then Clarke started almost every game at shortstop during July and August. In September Horace moved over to 2nd base (replacing the soon-to-retire Bobby Richardson) to make room for September call-up Bobby Murcer.

Clarke was a fixture at 2nd base for the Yankees from 1967 through 1973. Over that 7-year period, he played more games (1059) and started more games at one position (1017) than any other Yankee. Roy White was a distant 2nd with 985 games played and 875 outfield starts.

After playing sparingly (9 starts) over the first 2 months of the 1974 season, Clarke and pitcher Lowell Palmer were dealt to the Padres at the end of May. Horace finished out his 10th and final season as the Padres’ 3rd-string 2nd baseman, behind Derrel Thomas and Glenn Beckert.

Mark Belanger (#118)

Here is Mark Belanger’s first card all to himself. (He appeared on a high-numbered Orioles Rookie Stars card in 1967.)

Topps has his position as 2B-SS because that was his position during his rookie year of 1967, when he played 69 games as a backup for 2nd baseman Dave Johnson and shortstop Luis Aparicio. Once Aparicio was traded back to the White Sox in November 1967, Belanger was the team’s regular shortstop from opening day 1968 until giving way to Kiko Garcia in 1979.

Mark was signed by Baltimore in 1962, and played in the minors from 1962-66 (missing the ’63 season to military service). He played a few games with the Orioles in ’65 and ’66, then made the team for good at the start of the 1967 season.

Belanger took over the shortstop reins in 1968, winning 8 Gold Gloves in the 10 years between 1969 and 1978. He made the All-Star team in 1976, and played in the post season 6 times (’69, ’70, ’71, ’73, ’74, ’79). Always a light stick (only 20 homers in an 18-year career), he hit a home run in his first post-season series (the ’69 ALCS vs. the Twins).

After sharing the job with Garcia in ’79 and ’80, and with Len Sakata in 1981, Belanger was granted free agency in the off-season. He signed with the Dodgers and played his final season (1982) as a backup in LA. He played 44 games at shortstop, including only 12 starts behind long-time regular Bill Russell.

Mark retired with the highest fielding percentage (.977) of any AL shortstop. After his playing career, he worked for the players’ union.

Belanger passed away in October 1998 at the age of 54.

Jim McGlothlin (#493)

Jim McGlothlin pitched for the Angels, Reds, and White Sox for 9 seasons from 1965-1973.

McGlothlin was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 1962. After 3 season in the minors (with excellent seasons in 1963 (13-5, 165 Ks) and 1965 (14-8, 180 Ks)), Jim made his MLB debut with 3 starts in September 1965.

He began the 1966 season with the Angels, but with a 3-1 record in 19 games, he was sent down in July for the remainder of the season.

Jim returned to the Angels to start the 1967 season and was among the team’s top 3 starters (with George Brunet and Rickey Clark), posting a 12-8 record while leading the league with 6 shutouts. He also made his only All-Star team that year (the game was played in the Angels’ park).

McGlothlin was near the top of the Angels’ rotation for 2 more seasons, with Brunet, Clark, and Sammy Ellis, who was acquired from the Reds prior to 1968. (For years thought the Angels had traded McGlothlin to the Reds for Ellis.) 

After the 1969 season, Jim was traded to the Reds (along with pitchers Pedro Borbon and Vern Geishert) for outfielder Alex Johnson and infielder Chico Ruiz.

In 1970, McGlothlin won 14 games as the #3 starter behind Gary Nolan (18 wins) and Jim Merritt (20 wins). He also started 1 game in the 1970 World Series.

Like the Reds’ team in general, Jim’s production slipped in 1971, compiling a 8-12 record.

In 1972 he went 9-8, and moved farther down the rotation ladder that season, while also relieving in several games. The Reds went to the World Series that year, and Jim pitched in 2 post-season games.

McGlothlin played most of 1973 with the Reds, but was traded to the White Sox for pitcher Steve Kealey in late August. The White Sox released him in March 1974.

He was stricken with cancer during the spring of 1975, and died in December 1975 at age 32.

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.

Bud Harrelson (#132)

When I was collecting cards back in the late 1960s, I would keep them sorted by team, with each team rubber-banded and stacked in either my "NL box" or "AL box". The boxes were the actual boxes they were sold in (see photo below). The guy at the corner store where we bought our cards would let us take the box if we bought the last pack in the box. 

Anyway, I probably had four or five boxes for each year. Two boxes (NL, AL) would be used to store my singles, then the rest would hold my duplicates. Since the boxes held 3 stacks of cards, the 3rd box would be for doubles (2 stacks) and triples. The 4th box would be for my 4's, 5's, and 6's, and so on. 

Where am I going with this? I remember that for the 1968 set, I had more Bud Harrelson cards (8 or 9) than any other card. That 5th box was mostly for Bud.

Bud Harrelson was entering his 2nd season as the Mets' regular shortstop in 1968. In another year he, along with other newcomers Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Donn Clendenon, Tommie Agee, and Ed Charles would push the team all the way to World Series victory.

The switch-hitting Harrelson was signed by the Mets in 1963, and played 4 seasons (1963-66) in the minors. He was called up in September 1965, and again in late August 1966. Bud started most of the games at shortstop during September 1966, replacing incumbent veterans Roy McMillan and Eddie Bressoud. After the season, McMillan was released and Bressoud was traded, paving the way for Harrelson to be the everyday shortstop in 1967.

Except for missing most of the 1975 season, Harrelson was the Mets' regular shortstop for the next decade, until Doug Flynn took over on July 1977. Bud was also an all-star in 1970 and 1971, and played in the 1969 and 1973 World Series.

In March 1978 he was traded to the Phillies, where he played two seasons as a backup middle infielder, and finished his career with the Rangers in 1980.

After his playing career, Bud managed in the Mets's farm system in '84 and '85, then managed the Mets from 1990-91. He also managed the independent Long Island Ducks in 2000.

Harrelson's SABR bio


Here's one of the 1968 Topps' boxes (eBay photo):

Final Card: Pete Cimino

Philadelphia-area native Pete Cimino (#143) had a brief career in the mid-1960s. (Briefer than I realized before checking his past stats for this post. I always assumed he played a role in the Twins' 1965 World Series season.)

Cimino was a high-school basketball star, and once scored 114 points in a game.  From Wikipedia:
A star athlete at Bristol High School...Cimino might be best known for scoring 114 points in a high school basketball game on January 22, 1960. The single-game shooting outburst occurred during a 134–86 win over Palisades High School, in a Lower Bucks County League match. In the game, Cimino made 44 of 79 field goal attempts and 26 of 29 free throw attempts. He scored all 69 of his team's second half points. The 114-point total is still a Pennsylvania state record and is also the fourth highest in any United States boys high school game.

Pete was signed by the Washington Senators (soon to be Minnesota Twins) in 1960, and pitched 6 seasons in the minors, as a starter for 4 seasons, then primarily a reliever in '64 and '65. His major-league debut came on 9/22/1965, as he pitched the last inning in a 5-2 loss to the Orioles. It was his only appearance that season.

Cimino appeared in 35 games (all in relief) for the Twins in 1966, as the #2 reliever behind veteran Al Worthington (14 years his senior). After the season, he was packaged up with 1st baseman Don Mincher and center fielder Jimmie Hall, and sent to the Angels for 1964 Cy Young winner Dean Chance and shortstop Jackie Hernandez.

Pete's time as an Angel was pretty much just 1967, where he was the team's #3 reliever behind ace Minnie Rojas (27 saves) and rookie Bill Kelso (11 saves), and ahead of aging veterans Lou Burdette and Jim Coates.

After only 4 games in 1968, Cimino was sent down to the minors in mid-May, and spent the rest of the season with the Angels' AAA and AA clubs. It was his last pro season.

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!)

Back on Topps Radar: Frank Quilici

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).

Back on Topps' Radar: Roy White

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.

Final Card: Sandy Valdespino

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.

Norm Miller (#161)

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.

Jim Palmer (#575)

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.