Mike Andrews (#502)

This is Mike Andrews’ first solo card (having previously appeared on a Red Sox Rookies card in the 1967 set). Mike is fresh off his rookie season with the 1967 Impossible Dream BoSox. I was surprised today to see that Andrews had a relatively-short 7-year career (not counting his 5 games in 1966).

Signed by Boston in 1961, he played for 5 seasons in the minors (1962-66) – mostly as a shortstop, until switching to 2nd base for 1966.

Mike made his major-league debut in September 1966, then took over the starting 2nd base job with the Red Sox as a rookie. After riding the bench for the first 6 games in 1967, Andrews started 135 games that season, and played in 5 of the 7 World Series games, batting .308 in the Fall Classic.

He was the team’s regular 2nd baseman through 1970. In ’69, Mike made his only All-Star team, and hit .293 that year, along with 15 homers (more than double the previous year).

With newly-acquired rookie Doug Griffin ready to take over the 2nd base job in 1971, Andrews was traded to the White Sox for shortstop Luis Aparicio. In Chicago, Mike split the 2nd base job with Rich McKinney, while also starting a few dozen games at 1st base in relief of Carlos May.

In 1972 he was the full-time 2nd baseman, starting 143 games there. That was to be his last year as a regular, probably thanks to his batting average dropping to .220 from the .282 he hit the previous season.

Andrews was used mostly as a DH in 1973. After only starting 35 of the first 90 games, he was released on July 16th.

Two weeks later he was picked up by the Athletics, and was reunited with his old Red Sox manager Dick Williams. Andrews played 18 games over the final 2 months of the season. He also played 2 games each in the ALCS and the World Series.

There was a ruckus during that World Series, when owner Charlie Finley tried to fire Andrews after making 2 errors in 1 game. The commissioner forced Finley to reinstate Andrews, but he was subsequently released in November, ending his major-league career.

Andrews played 123 games in Japan during 1975, then retired.

His younger brother Rob Andrews played for the Astros and Giants from 1975-79.

Felix Millan (#241)

Here is Braves' 2B Felix Millan. 1968 is the year he finally nailed down a starting job, after some brief playing time in '66 and '67.

"The Kitten" began the season as the team's starting 2nd-sacker in 1968. By mid-June, last year's starter (Woody Woodward) was traded away to the Reds in the 6-player Clay Carroll-for-Milt Pappas deal, leaving plenty of playing time for Millan, who started 143 games while posting a .289 batting average.

Felix continued his fine play for four more seasons with the Braves. He made the All-Star team every year from 1969-71, and won Gold Gloves in 1969 and 1972. He also hit a career-high .310 in 1970.

After the 1972 season he was traded to the Mets with pitcher George Stone for pitchers Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella. Millan played for the Mets for 5 seasons, the first 4 as their regular 2nd baseman.

His final season was 1977. Felix started the year as the regular 2nd baseman, but by mid-May was alternating with Lenny Randle, Doug Flynn, and Joel Youngblood. Millan started 81 games that year, but at age 33 with his batting average dropping 35 points from the previous season, the Mets decided to go with Flynn for the following season.

Millan played in Japan from 1978-80. After winning the batting title in 1979, he had a bad year in '80 and was released after the season.

Reggie Smith (#61)

Since I posted Walt Williams' card some time ago, I'm skipping ahead to center fielder Reggie Smith.

Reggie Smith was the starting center fielder for the AL champion Red Sox during his rookie season. His rookie card appears in the 1967 set. My guess is that it's the 3rd most valuable rookie card (after Tom Seaver and Rod Carew) because unlike most Rookie Stars cards that include a hit and a miss (or 2 misses), it portrays 2 starting position players for the AL champs.

Smith was signed by the Twins in June 1963, and played 65 games as a shortstop for their rookie-level team. After the season he was selected by the Red Sox in the first-year player draft.

Reggie played 3 seasons in Boston's farm system, as an outfielder for 430 games, but also saw time at 3rd base (66 games) and 2nd base (37 games). He made his debut with the Red Sox in September 1966, playing in 6 games.

Smith began the 1967 season as the starting 2nd baseman, but after 6 games he was moved to center field (replacing Jose Tartabull) and went on to start 139 games in Center that season. Reggie finished 2nd to Rod Carew in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and was 6-for-24 with 2 homers in the '67 World Series.

Reggie was a starting outfielder for the Sox from 1967 through 1973, usually the center fielder, except for the first half of 1971 (Smith played right, with Billy Conigliaro in center) and all of 1972, when he was the regular right fielder (with Tommy Harper in center). He also made the '69 and '72 all-star teams, and led the AL in doubles in '68 and '71.

After the 1973 season, Reggie was traded to the Cardinals (with pitcher Ken Tatum) for pitcher Rick Wise and outfielder Bernie Carbo. His stay in St. Louis lasted 2 1/2 seasons. In '74 he was the right fielder, and in '75 split his time between RF and 1st base. Smith made the NL all-star team in both his full seasons with the Cards.

He was traded to the Dodgers in June 1976 for catcher Joe Ferguson. Smith was with the Dodgers for 5 1/2 seasons, making the all-star team 3 more times (for a total of 7 appearances).

His final major-league season was spent with the Giants in 1982 as their first baseman.

Smith played 2 more seasons in Japan before retiring.

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: Fred Valentine

Since starting this blog on 9/28/09, there have been 63 posts, representing every team except the Washington Senators, so...


Fred Valentine (#248) was an outfielder in the mid-1960s for the Senators and Orioles. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1956, and spent 8 seasons in their farm system, including 5 seasons in triple-A. During this time, he had brief appearances with the Orioles in 1959 (12 games) and 1963 (26 games).

After the 1964 season, he was sold to the Senators. In his first season with the Senators, Fred was the 4th outfielder behind Don Lock (CF), Chuck Hinton (LF), and Jim King (RF). Fred played all 3 positions, and was also frequently used as a pinch-hitter.



After acquiring outfielder Willie Kirkland in August 1964, and Frank Howard from the Dodgers before the 1965 season, the Senators' outfield became very crowded, so Valentine spent all but 12 games in triple-A that season.

In 1966, Fred was back in the big leagues, and played more games in the Senators' outfield than anyone. He started 55 games in center and 64 games in right, alternating with Don Lock and Jim King, respectively.

After the 1966 season, Don Lock was traded to the Phillies, 5th outfielder Willie Kirkland was sent to the minors, and in June 1967, Jim King was traded to the White Sox. However, a new batch of outfielders (Cap Peterson, Hank Allen, Ed Stroud) came on board, competing with Valentine for playing time. Fred started about a third of the games in center field (with Allen and Stroud evenly starting the rest), and started 50+ game in right field, where Peterson was the regular. Valentine was also occasionally used as a defensive replacement for Frank Howard in left field.

1968 was the end of the line for Valentine. 23-year-old rookie Del Unser (10 years younger than Valentine) took over the center field job, starting 154 games. Valentine started 24 of the first 56 games in right field, then was traded back to the Orioles on June 15th for pitcher Bruce Howard.

With the Orioles, Fred's situation declined, as the O's had 7 other outfielders, all getting more playing time than him. Fred was used mainly as a pinch-hitter and late-inning outfield sub.

His last major-league game was on September 24th, 1968. He spent the 1969 season with the Orioles' triple-A team in Rochester.