Joe Hoerner (#227)

One of the all-time Rule 5 success stories, Joe Hoerner went from barely hanging on with a bad 4th-year team in 1965 to heading up the bullpen for the 2-time NL champion Cardinals from 1966-69).

Hoerner was signed by the White Sox in 1957, and after 5 seasons in their farm system he was selected by the soon-to-join-the-NL Houston Colts .45s in November 1961.

Primarily a starter for his 1st 2 seasons in the minors, he was a swing man for his final 3 minor-league seasons. In the majors, every one of his 493 games was as a reliever.

During his years with Houston (1962-65), Joe mostly played in the minors, but appeared with the Colt .45s for 1 game in ’63 and 7 games in ’64.

Selected by the Cardinals in the November 1965 Rule 5 draft, he immediately rose to bullpen star status. Joe appeared in 45 or more games in each of his 4 seasons with the Cardinals, while fashioning ERAs of 1.54, 2.59, 1.47, and 2.87. He led the team in saves for all 4 seasons as well.

Hoerner also pitched in 2 games in the ’67 World Series and 3 games in the ’68 Fall Classic.

After the 1969 season, Hoerner accompanied Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, and Byron Browne to Philadelphia in exchange for Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas, and Jerry Johnson. The Phillies’ relief corps had been headed up by Turk Farrell and Dick Hall for the past few seasons, but by 1970 both were gone, with Hoerner and Dick Selma (acquired in the 69-70 off-season for Johnny Callison) in their place.

My recollection of Hoerner’s time with the Phillies is that he was their bullpen ace for 2 seasons, but as I am typing this, I see in Baseball-Reference.com that he had the fewest innings pitched of the 5 relief pitchers, and his 9 saves were well behind Selma’s 22 saves. However, Hoerner did make the All-Star team that season (his only time), so maybe he was the situational lefty specialist (pitching 57 innings in 44 games).

He also had 9 saves in 1971, which was good enough to lead the team that season.

In June 1972 the Phillies made another of their bad trades, sending Hoerner and 1st base prospect Andre Thornton to the Braves for pitchers Jim Nash and Gary Neibauer. (Nash went 0-8 for the Phillies, to close out his career. Neibauer pitched 18 innings for the Philles, then returned to the Braves the following season. Meanwhile Thornton hit 250 home runs over the next 14 seasons with the Cubs and Indians!) 

Hoerner pitched for the Braves and Royals for the next 2+ seasons, then returned to the Phillies for the 1975 season. He was just a supporting player in his 2nd stint with Philly, as they now had Tug McGraw and Gene Garber heading up the bullpen.

Joe spent his final 2 seasons with the Rangers (’76) and Reds (’77) before retiring.

 In October 1996 he was killed in a farming accident at age 59.

Dave Ricketts (#46)

Wait... is this guy a major-league ballplayer, or a high school science teacher?

This is my first Dave Ricketts card. His rookie card (1967) was in the high-number series, so I didn’t get that until decades later. Dave had cards every year from 1967-70, and appears very scholarly on each card (see below).

Dave Ricketts was signed by the Cardinals in 1957, and played 8 seasons in the minors (missing the ’58 and ’59 seasons while in military service). He debuted with 3 games in late-September 1963, and also played in 11 games for the Cards scattered over the 1965 season.

Ricketts made the Cardinals on a full-time basis in 1967. He was one of Tim McCarver’s backup catchers for 3 seasons, and as such, he rarely played outside of some pinch-hitting appearances. Dave started 16 games in 1967, but only 1 game in 1968. (The newly-acquired Johnny Edwards was the 2nd string backstop that year.) However, Ricketts did get 3 at-bats in the 1967 World Series and 1 at-bat in the ’68 Fall Classic.

In 1969 Edwards had moved on, but the Cardinals traded for long-time Braves’ catcher Joe Torre before the season. Torre primarily played 1st base, but also made 16 starts behind the dish when McCarver needed a rest, leaving only 7 starts for Dave.

After the 1969 season, Ricketts and pitcher Dave Giusti were traded to the Pirates for backup catcher Carl Taylor. (?!?) He filled the same role for the Pirates: a seldom-used 3rd string catcher behind Manny Sanguillen and Jerry May (14 games, 12 at-bats, no starts).

Dave was released after the season, then was a bullpen coach for many years (Pirates 1971-73, Cardinals (1974-91). He was activated by the Pirates for a few weeks in 1971 but did not play.

Dave’s older brother Dick pitched for the Cardinals in 1959.

Dave Ricketts passed away from cancer in 2008 at age 73.

Bob Gibson (#100)

Last week, I was surprised to realize that I hadn’t featured Willie McCovey on any of my blogs so far. This was corrected immediately with a post to the 1967 blog. Later, I took a mental cross-country trip (NYM-Phil-Pitt-ChiC-StL-Atl-Cinn-Hou-SF-LA) and a 2nd lap (Bos-NYY-Balt-Wash-Clev-Det-ChiW-Minn-KC/Oak-Cal) to see if I could think of any superstars that I missed on my blogs. 

This exercise netted Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, and Johnny Bench, and some lesser stars like Jim Hunter, Tony Oliva, Phil Niekro, Billy Williams, Norm Cash, Willie Horton, Boog Powell, Bill Mazeroski, and Willie Stargell. So, I’ve got my work cut out for me over the next few weeks… 


First up is Bob Gibson, the lead dog during 1968’s “The Year of the Pitcher”. Gibby followed up a 3-complete-game (and a 1.00 ERA) 1967 World Series performance with a 1968 season where he led the NL with 13 shutouts, 268 K's, and a 1.12 ERA. (That’s ONE point ONE TWO!)

He also compiled a 22-9 record, and won both the Cy Young and MVP awards. Gibson pitched another 3 complete games in the World Series, but unlike the previous season, he was 2-1 in those games. Bob's post-season ERA was a miniscule 1.67. Oh… he also set a record by striking out 17 Tigers in game #1.
 

Gibson was signed by the Cardinals in 1957, and made his major-league debut in April 1959, although he spent a good deal of time in the minors during both 1959 and 1960. He also played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters during these early years.

Bob made the majors to stay in 1961, and spent his entire career (1959-75) with the Cardinals. He had double-digit wins every season from 1961 to 1974, and won 20 or more games in ’65, ’66, ’68, ’69, and ’70 (missing 2 months with a broken leg in 1967). His 23 wins led the NL in 1970.

Hoot’s “ace of staff” days were from 1963 to 1972, although Curt Simmons managed to keep up with him in ’63 and ’64. Besides his World Series performances in ’67 and ’68, Bob also won 2 of his 3 starts in the 1964 Series against the Yankees.

Gibson ended his career with a down year in 1975, when he was 3-10 in only 109 innings.

He was a 1st-ballot Hall of Famer in 1981.

After his playing career, Bob was the pitching coach for the Mets and the Braves in the early 1980s, while former teammate Joe Torre managed those teams.


This is my original card from 1968, and is well-scuffed from all the "playing time" it got. This is the last of the 1968 "hero cards" that I listed in the first such post. 

Orlando Cepeda (#200)

Card #200 in the 1968 set is Orlando Cepeda. Good choice! Cepeda was the 1967 NL MVP, led the league with 111 RBI, bashed 25 homers, and bat .325 during the season (although only .103 in the World Series).

Orlando was signed by the New York Giants in 1955. After 3 seasons in the minors, Cepeda began the 1958 season with San Francisco, and started 147 games at first base, en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award (only the 2nd player to win unanimously).

In late-July 1959, the Giants called up rookie Willie McCovey, moving Cepeda to left field for the rest of the season. Cepeda played most of 1960 in left field, but when McCovey spent the 2nd half of the season in the minors and on the Giants' bench, Orlando reclaimed the 1st base job.

He split the 1961 season between 1B and LF, and led the NL in home rums (46) and RBI (142). Cepeda returned to his old 1st base job for the 1962-64 seasons, but missed most of the 1965 season with a knee injury.

Orlando was traded to the Giants in May 1966 for pitcher Ray Sadecki. He spent 3 seasons in St. Louis (including his MVP season in '67 and World Series appearances in '67 and '68).

During spring training 1969, he was traded to the Braves for catcher Joe Torre. He had another big power season in 1970 (34, 111), then was traded to the Athletics in July 1972 for pitcher Denny McLain.

Cepeda only played 3 games with the A's when a knee injury ended his season. Released after the season, he hooked on with the Red Sox when the AL instituted the DH before the 1973 season. He DH'ed in 142 games, but never played the field or pinch-hit that season.

He was released after the 1973 season, and spent most of 1974 playing in Mexico, until the Royals signed him for the final two months of the season.

Cepeda was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Veterans Committee.

Dick Hughes (#253)

Today I’m featuring the last of the 1967 Topps All-Rookie selections. Normally, 10 players were selected (including 1 left and 1 right handed pitcher). In the 1968 set, Topps not only left the cool trophy off 3 of the cards, but they decided that Dick Hughes would share the right-handed pitcher slot with Tom Seaver. (Imagine!)


Hughes was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, but was a late-bloomer, pitching 9 seasons in the minors before reaching the majors in September 1966 at age 28.

He had a phenomenal rookie season for the World Champion Cardinals in 1967, compiling a 16-6 record in 37 games (including 27 starts), while leading the staff in wins and innings pitched. (Bob Gibson missed a month of the season with a broken leg.) Dick finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Seaver.

Hughes spent most of the 1968 season in the bullpen, starting just 5 of his 25 games, and finishing at 2-2 in only 63 innings of work. What a difference a year makes! In the 1967 World Series, Dick started 2 games. In ’68, he pitched 1/3 of an inning in relief against the Tigers.

I’m guessing he had arm troubles, because he spent the 1969 season playing in the single-A Florida State League, then was out of baseball at the ripe old age of 31.

1967 World Series

I'd better get this posted, before the World Series ends.....


The 1967 Fall Classic featured the Cardinals and the Red Sox. The Cards were making their 2nd trip there in 4 years, while the Red Sox hadn't seen post-season action since 1946 (when coincidentally, their opponent was the Cardinals).

In 1967, Boston had just come off two 9th-place finishes, and entered the season not only with a new manager (Dick Williams), but it was Williams' 1st big-league managing assignment.

Leading the way for the rejuvenated Sox were triple-crown winner Carl Yastrzemski, pitcher Jim Lonborg, infielders George Scott and Rico Petrocelli, and outfielders Reggie Smith and (until his mid-August beaning) Tony Conigliaro.

The Cardinals were too much for the upstart Sox. This was a veteran club that had just won the Series in 1964, and had an all-star caliber player at just about every position.

In short...Gibson would just not lose. All St. Louis had to do was find one more win from among the rest of their rotation, which they did in game #3.

Final Card: Jack Lamabe

This is the final card for Jack Lamabe (#311).

Jack was signed by the Phillies in 1956. After one season with their class-D club in the Carolina League, he was released and subsequently picked up by the Pirates. Lamabe spent 5 seasons in the Pirates minor-league organization before making his major-league debut with the Pirates in April 1962.

After just one season in Pittsburgh, he was traded to the Red Sox (along with 1st baseman Dick Stuart) for pitcher Don Schwall and catcher Jim Pagliaroni. In his first season with Boston, Jack was the #2 man in the bullpen behind Dick Radatz. In 1964 Lamabe joined the rotation, compiling a 9-13 record. He spent most of 1965 with Boston's triple-A team in Toronto, then was traded to the Astros in September for pitcher Darrell Brandon.



Jack only played 3 games for the Astros. In December he was traded to the White Sox for outfielder Dave Nicholson and catcher Bill Heath. Lamabe made 17 starts and 17 relief appearances for the Sox in 1966.

He was one of baseball's big travelers in 1967, as one of 5 players to play for 3 teams that season (along with Jim King, Jim Landis, Ken Harrelson, and White Sox teammate John Buzhardt). In April he was shipped to the Mets, and 3 months later he had the good fortune of being traded from the lowly Mets to the eventual world champion Cardinals. He pitched in three games in the 1967 World Series (pretty much all the games that were not complete games by Bob Gibson).

All good things must come to an end however, and for Jack that was April 1968, when the Cardinals traded him to the Cubs. He finished his major-league career in 1968 with the Cubs, and spent the 1969 season in the minors, both with the Cubs' and Expos' organizations.

Cardinals Team (#497)

In previous seasons, all teams except the Astros had team cards. In 1968, for some reason there were only 13 team cards.

Here is the team card for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Manager Red Schoendienst is front and center, flanked by 2 of his coaches on either side. Curt Flood and Orlando Cepeda (#30) are the 2 players seated on the far left. Steve Carlton (#32) is behind Schoendienst.



The back of the card shows the previous year's leader in several categories. Bob Gibson is absent from these leaders, because he missed 2 months of the 1967 season with a broken leg.

The Cardinals' started the 1967 season with Bob Gibson, Ray Washburn, Larry Jaster, and Al Jackson in the rotation, with Steve Carlton as the #5 starter. In early May, rookie Dick Hughes pushed Jaster out of the rotation. A surprise to me TODAY was that Nelson Briles didn't join the starting rotation until 7/21 (while Gibson was out with a broken leg). When Gibson returned, Briles stayed in the rotation, and both Jaster and Jackson were out.

The Cardinals 1967 World Series rotation was:
1. Gibson (CG)
2. Hughes (others in relief)
3. Briles (CG)
4. Gibson (CG)
5. Carlton (Washburn and others in relief)
6. Hughes (Briles, Washburn, and others in relief)
7. Gibson (CG)

Final Card: Roger Maris

Everyone knows about Roger Maris (#330) and his 1961 season, so I won't re-hash that here.

Roger's major league debut was in 1957, with the Indians. Before that, he played minor-league ball in the Indians' system for 4 years, including a stop in Reading, PA in 1955 (then an Indians' farm club, but since 1967, the Phillies' double-A team).

In mid-1958, the Indians traded him (along with 2 other guys) to the Kansas City Athletics for infielder Woodie Held and 1st baseman Vic Power. As with most good Athletics players of that era, Maris was eventually traded to the Yankees. New York acquired Maris (and 2 other guys) for P Don Larsen, RF Hank Bauer, LF Norm Siebern, and 1B Marv Throneberry.



As you can see by the back of his card, as soon as Maris joined the Yankees, he became a homerun machine. He appeared in 5 straight World Series with the Yankees (1960-64).

Yankee outfielders in the "Maris era" (click to enlarge):


After the 1966 season, Maris was traded to the Cardinals for 3rd baseman Charley Smith. After 7 seasons with the Yankees, Roger could now be "just another guy" on a team already led by Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda, Lou Brock, and Curt Flood. He played his final 2 seasons in St. Louis, and appeared in the World Series both years. A nice way to wrap up a career!