Phillies protected list prior to 1968 expansion draft

Ok folks, I moved about a month ago, and last week I bought a new scanner (which is much easier to use, and without the 5-minute pesky warmup time before the first scan). So now I'm ready to get back onto a blog schedule. As a side benefit while moving, I found the box with all my Phillies yearbooks from the 1960s and 1970s.

--

In January, I posted a review of the 1968 Phillies team. Who did the Phillies protect in the expansion draft following that 1968 season? Well, that was a closely-guarded secret.

The rules were:
- Each NL team protected 15 players on their 40-man roster (or was it in their entire organization?)
- The Expos and Padres took turns selecting from the pool of players, 1 at a time.
- When an established team lost a player, they could add 3 players to their protected list.
- By the end of the draft, each new team had to have selected 3 players from the 10 established teams.

Theoretically, each established team was going to lose their 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd, and 36th best players.
(The American League followed the same rules for their draft.)

What follows here is my carefully-considered guess:


1. Who I think the Phillies protected prior to the October 1968 expansion draft (listed in what I think was their priority order):

Richie Allen (1B)
Five seasons and 145 homeruns into his career, Allen was rubbing management’s last nerve raw, but you don’t give away a player like this.

Chris Short (SP)
Short was the team’s pitching ace. He won 18, 20, 9, and 19 games from 1965-68, but missed most of 1969 to a back injury.

Woodie Fryman (SP)
This lefthander was acquired prior to the 1968 season from the Pirates, where he was named to the Topps All-Rookie team in 1966.

Rick Wise (SP)
Wise came up through the Phillies’ system. After debuting in 1964, he played for the Phillies for part of 1966. In his first full season (1967) he began as the #5 starter and moved up to #4. By 1971 he was the team’s ace.

A pair of promising rookies:
Don Money (SS)
Money was acquired from the Pirates before the 1968 season, and was selected to the Topps All-Rookie team in 1969.

Larry Hisle (CF)
Hisle claimed the center field job as a rookie in 1969, and was also selected to the Topps All-Rookie team.

Johnny Callison (RF)
Callison has been with the Phillies since 1960. He had huge HR and RBI years in ’64 and ’65, and although he began declining in 1966, he was still the team’s #2 slugger.

Cookie Rojas (2B)
Rojas began as a utility player, and was a competent 2nd baseman as a regular since 1966.

John Briggs (OF)
With the Phillies since 1964, the team had high hopes for Briggs, whose power didn’t switch on until he moved to the Brewers in 1971.

Three of their top prospects:
Larry Bowa (SS)
Bowa was a highly-touted AA prospect in 1968, with a bright future in Philly.

Denny Doyle (2B)
The Phillies often touted the Bowa/Doyle keystone combo back in the day, although they didn’t play together until 1968 in double-A ball.

Lowell Palmer (SP)
20-year-old Palmer was the Phillies’ top pitching prospect in triple-A in 1968 (13-8, 191 strikeouts).

Grant Jackson (RP)
Jackson’s rookie season was in 1967. He was the only lefty in the bullpen during the late 1960s.

Mike Ryan ( C )
An excellent defensive catcher but poor hitter, Ryan was acquired from the Red Sox after the 1967 season. He platooned with veteran Clay Dalrymple in 1968. I thought maybe the Phillies would leave both catchers unprotected with the idea that no team would select these 2 lunch-pailers, but they had just acquired him in the previous off-season, so maybe didn’t want to risk losing him. Had they lost him, it would have been another year with Dalrymple in 1969.

Barry Lersch (SP)
Lersch was 13-8 with 114 strikeouts for the Phillies’ AAA team in 1968, 2nd best after Palmer.


2. These players were lost in the expansion draft:

Gary Sutherland (INF)
He was the 1st Phillies’ player taken in the draft. Gary spent the ’68 season as a utility player, backing up a career minor-leaguer at shortstop after the team’s first 2 options didn’t work out. Hard to believe Sutherland was the best Phillie available. Bill White comes to mind first, along with Tony Gonzalez, and 34-year-old reliever Turk Farrell.

Mike Wegener (SP)
He was the 2nd Phillies’ player taken in the draft. Wegener was 10-13 with 169 strikeouts in class-A in 1965, but struggled for the next 3 seasons.

Larry Jackson (SP)
He was the 3rd Phillies’ player taken in the draft. Jackson was 37 and had just finished his 14th season. No reason to protect him, with all the other arms.

Tony Gonzalez (CF)
He was the 4th Phillies’ player taken in the draft. With Larry Hisle set to take over in center field, the Phillies didn’t need to protect Gonzalez or Don Lock. My guess is that if one of them were selected, the other would be subsequently protected, to provide outfield depth.

Roberto Pena (SS)
He was the 5th Phillies’ player taken in the draft. After spending most of his career in the minors, Pena was the Phillies regular shortstop for most of 1968, after first Don Money failing his early-season tryout, then Bobby Wine was lost for the season with a bad back.

Steve Arlin (SP)
He was the 6th Phillies’ player taken in the draft. Arlin struck out 116 in 110 innings as a class-A rookie in 1966, then struggled for the next 2 seasons. As the 6th Phillie taken, he was theoretically the organization’s 36th-best player – probably about right.


3. Why I think these players also were not protected:

Bill White (1B) - A major-leaguer since 1956, White hit 20 to 27 homers every season from 1961-66, but his numbers fell off sharply after 1966, Partially because of missing time with injuries in both seasons, but also because of advancing age (34 in 1968). With Richie Allen moving in to first base in 1969, White was not in the team’s future plans. I guess they gambled that nobody would select him in the early rounds.

Tony Taylor (INF) - Taylor was the team’s 2nd baseman from 1960-64. He played as much as any regular from 1966-70, shuffling around the diamond (2B/1B/3B) filling in for injured players. Still, you can’t protect utility players in the first 15 slots, especially at age 32.

Turk Farrell (RP) - Farrell was the Phillies’ closer in ’67 and ’68, but at age 34 it didn’t make sense to protect him.

Dick Hall (RP) - Hall was 3 years older than Farrell, and although they both joined the Phillies’ bullpen in 1967, Hall played much less in ’68 than in the previous season. Besides, the Phillies released him a week after the draft.

Clay Dalrymple ( C ) - Dalrymple was the Phillies' starting catcher from 1960-66, and platooned in ’67 and ’68. At age 31 in 1968, and batting .172 and .207 in his last 2 seasons, there was no need to protect him. In January he was traded to the Orioles for outfield prospect Ron Stone.

Bobby Wine (SS) - Wine was the team’s primary shortstop from 1962-65, and in 1967. He missed most of 1968 with a back injury, and hit under .200 in his last 2 seasons as a Phillie. With Don Money ready at shortstop, it was time to move on.

Gary Wagner (RP) - The right-handed Wagner pitched in 59 games for the Phillies as a rookie in 1965, then spent the next 2 seasons in the minors. He returned in ’68, pitching 44 games with a 4-4 record a 3.00 ERA, but you can’t protect everybody.

Don Lock (OF) - Lock was acquired from the Senators before the 1967 season to provide outfield punch which never materialized. Platooning with Briggs and/or Gonzalez for all of ’67 and ’68, he was certainly expendable. My theory is that if either Gonzalez or Lock was selected in the draft, the other may have been re-protected for depth. Once Ron Stone was acquired in January, Lock was literally unnecessary, and was traded to the Red Sox in early-May for a bag with 1 bean in it (a player with 1 career MLB at-bat).

Jerry Johnson (SP) - The Phillies’ #5 starter for the last 2 months of 1968 (as a rookie), he compiled a 4-4 record, but there were too many others ahead of him.

Jeff James (SP/RP) - James was also a rookie in 1968. Working mostly out of the bullpen, he got the occasional 5th start until Johnson was called up in August. I think the Phillies had soured on him during that season.

Rick Joseph, John Boozer, Doug Clemens, John Sullivan
Backup players who would not be missed, even if somehow selected.


4. Unprotected minor-league prospects: 

Class AAA: 
Billy Wilson (RP) - Wilson was 8-6 in triple-A in 1968, at age 25. He had a history of arm troubles, so probably wasn’t as attractive to other teams.

Al Raffo (SP) - Raffo was in the Phillies’ organization since 1963, and compiled records of 11-7, 14-10, 12-6, and 11-7 in ’63, ’64, ’67, and ’68, but never got a call-up until late-April 1969, so the Phillies must not have been very high on him.

Larry Colton (SP) - Colton had good numbers in 3 minor-league seasons (1965-67) but pitched in only 1 game for the Phillies in 1968, and was injured for much of that year, so at age 26 his future was suspect.


Class AA: 
Gene Rounsaville (SP) - Gene was 12-10 with 153 strikeouts in class A in 1966, but spent the next 2 seasons in double-A. Although compiling a 14-5 record and 1.76 ERA in ’68, his strikeouts in those two AA seasons were almost half of his class-A mark.

Pat Bayless (SP) - In 1967, the 19-year-old Bayless was 18-8 with 217 strikeouts in class-A ball. The following season in double-A, he was 12-8 with a 1.76 ERA and 130 strikeouts. Although he pitched in the Phillies’ organization through 1971, he never made the majors.

Luis Peraza (RP) - Peraza was 9-8 with 156 strikeouts in 1967 (class-A) and 13-3 in 1968 (AA), but never reached that level again.

Ron Allen (1B) - Richie’s brother was a double-A prospect, but 9 homers and 61 RBI is not a good sign for a 1st baseman.

Dave Watkins ( C ) - Watkins was the team’s AA catcher in 1968, batting .264 in 117 games. With the non-existent hitting of their major-league catchers, and aging ex-big-league backstops at AAA, Watkins was worth keeping.


Class A:
Billy Champion (SP) - Champion was 15-5 with 193 strikeouts in 1968. That it was in class-A ball made it easier for the Phillies to hide him, than Palmer or Lersch.

Ken Reynolds (SP) - Reynolds was 10-5 with 132 strikeouts at age 21 in 1968. He was also 13-10 with 225 K’s in the previous season.

Dave Bennett (SP) - In the Phillies’ organization since age 17 in 1963, Bennett had a 1-game tryout with the Philies in 1964, but never made it back, despite playing in their farm system through 1969, and posting 11-9 and 11-5 records in ’67 and ’68. He made it to AA and AAA from 1964-65, but regressed to single-A from 1966-68.

Joe Lis (3B) - Lis hit over 30 homers and collected over 90 RBI in each of 1967 and 1968 while in class-A, and hit .293 in 1968, easily the organization’s top minor-league slugger. He was converted to an outfielder in 1969.

Gene Stone (1B) - Stone hit 21 and 20 homers in class-A in 1967 and 1968. Advancing to double-A in 1969, he was called up to the Phillies for 28 at-bats in 1969, the sum of his major-league career. That was his last pro season. Curiously, he never played in triple-A.


5. Subsequently protected players: 

Following Sutherland’s selection:
Champion – Good numbers in Class A won’t stay hidden for long.
Lis – Same reason as Champion.
Taylor – Need some infield depth.

Following Wegener’s selection:
(That Wegener was selected 2nd makes me think that Palmer, Lersch, and Champion were already off the board.)
Wagner – Gotta start building a bullpen.
White – May be a useful trade chip, if not given away in the draft.
Rounsaville – Numbers were too good to leave exposed for another round.

Following Jackson’s selection:
Bayless – Numbers were too good to leave exposed for another round.
Watkins – Best-hitting catcher in the entire organization.
Farrell – Someone needed to head up the 1969 bullpen.

Following Gonzalez’ selection:
Reynolds – At age 21, can only get better. (D’oh!)
Ron Allen – Good prospect, even without corner infield power.
Lock – For outfield depth.

Following Pena’s selection:
Johnson – Need to round out starting rotation.
Wilson – AAA bullpen prospect.
Gene Stone (no photo) – Good numbers, even if only class-A.


(Since pitcher Steve Arlin was taken as the 6th pick, pitching prospects Palmer, Lersch, Champion, Reynolds, Rounsaville, and Bayless would almost certainly have been off the board already.)


6. Veterans not protected or drafted: 

Hall, Dalrymple, Wine, James

Joseph, Boozer, Clemens, Sullivan


7.  Epilogue: 

When Larry Jackson retired rather than report to the Expos, the Phillies offered a list of players to the Expos, for them to choose 1 player as compensation. They chose Bobby Wine. I suspect the list looked like this:

Bobby Wine
Jeff James
Rick Joseph
John Boozer
John Sullivan
Doug Clemens (if not already retired)


Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  CommishBob, maybe you can take a crack at the Orioles.  I read somewhere that Jim Palmer (rehabbing in the minors for most of '67 and '68) was left unprotected (and fortunately was passed over).


Wait, I may have just worn out my keyboard!  LOL

The 1968 Phillies

I kicked off my team reviews in April 2010 with the 1967 Phillies. Here's the next edition of the team, on their way to oblivion.

The Phillies didn't make ONE player deal during the 1968 season! I guess they were satisfied with the chemistry that went on to produce a 76-86 (7th place) season.

The only move they made was to fire manager Gene Mauch after 54 games. Mauch was given the boot on 6/14, after the team dropped the first game of a Friday doubleheader with the Dodgers, 6-0. 3rd base coach George Myatt took over for the nightcap, and for the next day (with the Phillies winning both games). AAA manager Bob Skinner was hired as the new manager, and when he took over on Sunday, the losing resumed!

The Phillies went with the same 4-man rotation for the entire season, with a 5th starter added as needed. Chris Short (36 starts) was the team's ace, and was coming off a '67 season where he was 3rd in the NL in ERA. Short won 20 games in '66 and 19 in '68. Larry Jackson (34 starts) was in his final season at age 37.

Woodie Fryman was one of the players acquired from the Pirates for Jim Bunning in the off-season, and made 32 starts. Rick Wise made 30 starts in his 2nd full season in the majors.

The bullpen was manned by 5 pitchers all season: closer Turk Farrell led the staff with 54 games and 12 saves. Gary Wagner returned to the team after spending most of '66 and all of '67 in the minors, and contributed 8 saves.

John Boozer worked exclusively out of the bullpen in 1968, after being a reliever and spot starter for the past few years. Grant Jackson was the only lefty in the bullpen, and also made 6 starts, all seemingly during doubleheaders.

Veteran Dick Hall was the oldest member of the staff at age 37. Joining the team in 1967, he was a co-closer of sorts with Farrell, but played a reduced role in his 2nd and final season in Philly. Rookie Jerry Johnson was picked up from the Mets in the off-season, and was recalled in mid-August to fill the #5 starter role.

Jeff James made his debut in April, and filled the occasional 5th starter role as needed for the first half of the season until he was replaced by Johnson. Paul Brown pitched in 2 games (4 innings) in mid-season, probably when someone else was on the DL. Brown was with the Phillies in 1962, and for parts of '61 and '63.


Here are the starting eight. There was some position shifting due to Richie Allen's off-season injury, as well as some patchwork moves at shortstop.

Mike Ryan was acquired in the off-season from the Red Sox, and was good defensively but absolutely could not hit. He shared the position with long-time regular Clay Dalrymple. Bill White was in his last of 3 seasons with the Phillies, but only started 103 games this year.

Cookie Rojas was a steady performer at 2nd base, starting 149 games there. Initially, the Phillies handed the starting shortstop job to rookie prospect Don Money, who was acquired from the Pirates with Fryman. However, after 3 starts it was clear he was not ready for the big time, and was replaced by Bobby Wine. Soon Money's roster spot was filled by journeyman minor-leaguer Roberto Pena. When Wine injured his back on May 12th, Pena started all but 6 of the remaining games.

Veteran infielder Tony Taylor started 137 games at the hot corner, where he had played since Allen injured his hand in late-August 1967. Already defensively challenged, Richie Allen returned to the lineup at the start of 1968, but this time in left field (136 starts). He also spent 7 games at 3rd base and a few more on the bench in the manager's doghouse.

Tony Gonzalez started 93 games in center field, and a dozen more in left. Johnny Callison was the team's #2 slugger (behind Allen) and although his career had been declining since 1966, he still started 106 games in right field.


Here are the subs, in order of at-bats:

John Briggs had been with the team since 1965, and although a starting outfielder in 1967, he got squeezed out because of Allen’s position switch. Briggs was the #3 center and right fielder in '68, and was also the starter at first base for most of July. Don Lock also felt the squeeze in 1968, only seeing playing time as the #2 in CF and RF.

Clay Dalrymple started just under half the games behind the plate in his final season with the Phillies. Rick Joseph was the corner infield backup since being called up in August 1967 after Allen’s injury.

I have to wonder about Gary Sutherland. As a rookie in 1967, he platooned at shortstop and in left field, seeing lots of playing time. In '68 he was relegated to utility INF-OF, starting only 27 games across 5 positions. This is especially surprising since after the failure of Money and the injury to Wine, the Phillies chose to go with organizational grunt Pena at shortstop instead of Sutherland. After the season, Gary was the first Phillie selected in the expansion draft! Bobby Wine was the team's shortstop for most of the mid-1960s, but played his last game as a Phillie in mid-May.

Doug Clemens was with the team in '66 and '67, and was recalled from the minors when rookie prospect Larry Hisle was sent down early in the season. John Sullivan was recalled in mid-season, and played in 12 games as a pinch-hitter or #3 catcher. Outfielder Howie Bedell also played a few games for the Phillies in 1968.

Don Money was the centerpiece in the December 1967 trade of Jim Bunning to the Pirates. After failing his first shot in April 1968, he was sent down for the rest of the season. Winning the starting job 1 year later, he was also named to the Topps All-Rookie team. Center fielder Larry Hisle's story is the same as Money's: handed the starting job in Spring 1968, flopped, sent down, returned in '69 as the starter, named to the Topps All-Rookie team.

Gene Mauch had been the Phillies' manager since game #2 of the 1960 season. He only lasted through mid-June '68, thanks to clashes with team star Richie Allen. Bob Skinner was managing the Phillies' AAA team in '67 and '68, and was named as Mauch's replacement. He only lasted until early-August 1969, also having had enough of Allen’s shenanigans, with little support from the front office.


Here are the Rookie Stars cards:

Larry Colton's major-league career consisted of 2 innings pitched on 5/6/68. Dick Thoenen had a brief tryout in 1967, but did not play for the Phils in '68.


Transactions from the end of the 1967 season to the end of 1968: 

11/28/67 - Lost Chuck Hiller and Jimmie Schaffer in the Rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Selected Doc Edwards and Jerry Johnson in the minor league draft.

12/15/67 - Traded Dick Ellsworth and Gene Oliver to the Red Sox for Mike Ryan.
12/15/67 - Traded Jim Bunning to the Pirates for Don Money, Woodie Fryman, Bill Laxton, and Hal Clem.
12/15/67 - Sent John Morris to the Orioles as the player to be named for the 1966 acquisition of Dick Hall.

02/19/68 - Purchased John Sullivan from the Mets.

10/14/68 - Lost Gary Sutherland, Mike Wegener, Larry Jackson, Tony Gonzalez, Roberto Pena, and Steve Arlin in the expansion draft.

10/29/68 - Released Dick Hall.

12/02/68 - Lost Billy Cowan and Bobby Klaus in the Rule 5 draft.

12/03/68 - Purchased Deron Johnson from the Braves.


Next time, we will look at who the Phillies protected in the October 1968 expansion draft.
 

NL / ML Rookies (#579, 569, 539)

Topps' custom for Rookie Stars cards from 1964 to 1972 was that by the time they got to the 7th series, if there weren't at least 2 remaining rookies for the same team, they would group them on "NL Rookies", "AL Rookies", or "ML Rookies" cards.  (I'm not sure why they just didn't put Ivan Murrell and Jim Ray on a "Houston Rookies" card.)


Larry Hisle was handed the Phillies' starting center field job to begin the 1968 season, but flopped miserably, and after only 7 games was sent down to AAA for much-needed seasoning. He returned the following spring as the #1 center fielder, and after a great rookie season, slumped in 1970 and split 1971 between the Phillies and the minors. He later played 5 years with the Twins (including a career year in 1977) and 5 years with the Brewers.

Mike Lum played 8 full years with the Braves (1968-75), and was then a part-time player for the Reds (1976-78) and Braves (1979-81). He was the Braves’ regular right fielder in ’71 and ’72, the years when Hank Aaron played 1st base.

After cups of coffee with the Astros from 1963-68, Ivan Murrell was drafted by the expansion Padres in 1969 and played 3 full seasons in San Diego as a part-time outfielder. Murrell bounced up and down between the Padres, Braves, and their minor-league teams from 1972-75, then played in Mexico from 1976-83.

Les Rohr pitched in the Mets’ farm system from 1965-70, and saw action in 6 games with the Mets between 1967 and 1969.

Jim Ray pitched a few games for the Astros in ’65 and ’66, then was a bullpen mainstay from 1968-73. He finished his career in 1974 with the Tigers.

I was surprised today to see how short Mike Ferarro’s MLB career was. Although he played in the minors from 1962-75, he only made brief appearances with the Yankees (10 games in ’66, 23 in ’68) and Seattle Pilots (5 games in ’69) before his only season as a regular in 1972 (124 games for the Brewers). He also managed the Indians in 1983 and Royals in 1986.

Phillies Rookies: Larry Colton / Dick Thoenen

This is the only Phillies Rookies card in the 1968 set (#348). (There was only one Phillies Rookies card in the '66, '67, and '68 sets. That number ballooned to 3 in the '69 set. Backlog of prospects? Nah.)

Each of these players had a major-league career lasting exactly one game. (Larry Colton pitched 2 innings on 5/6/1968, while Dick Thoenen pitched 1 inning on 9/16/1967.) This is the rookie card for both players, and the only card for Thoenen. Surprisingly, Colton re-appears on a 1969 Phillies Rookies card.


Larry Colton was signed by the Phillies in 1964, and was a starting pitcher in their farm system for 5 seasons (1965-69), starting at least 25 games each season except for 1968. That season, he spent part of the time riding the bench in Philadelphia, along with some time on the DL.

At the time, it was reported that he "hurt his shoulder reaching for the telephone on his bedside table". Years later, it was revealed that he was injured in a bar fight, and it cost him his shot in the majors.

After the '69 season, he was sent to the Cubs to complete the Johnny Callison for Dick Selma and Oscar Gamble trade. Colton pitched the 1970 season for the Cubs AAA team, then was out of baseball until pitching the 1975 season for an unaffiliated class A team.

At one time, Colton was married to the daughter of movie star Hedley Hedy Lamarr.

Dick Thoenen was signed by the Phillies in 1963, and pitched for 7 seasons in their farm system. Although a starting pitcher for his first 3 seasons, he was converted to a reliever at the start of the 1966 season and worked out of the bullpen in double-A (1966), and triple-A (1966-69).

His cup of coffee was pitching the 4th inning in relief of starter Rick Wise. After giving up hits to the Dodgers' Bob Bailey and Luis Alcaraz, he retired Don Sutton, Nate Oliver, and Wes Parker in order.

I found this write-up about Dick Thoenen recently at the NJ Baseball blog. At the end of the blog post, there's a newspaper clipping listing the Phillies' September 1967 call-ups. Larry Bowa was among them, although he wouldn't get into a major-league game until April 1970.

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.

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.

Back on Topps' Radar: John Boozer

John Boozer (#173) returns to the Topps set after missing out in 1967. John had a baseball card every year from 1963-69, except in the 1967 set. How ironic, since that was his only winning season (5-4).

Boozer was signed by the Phillies in 1958, and spent his entire career in the Phillies' organization. Except for the 1968 season, he pitched in the minors every season from 1958 to 1969, primarily as a starting pitcher.

John made his major-league debut in July 1962. He was primarily a long reliever for Philadelphia, but also made some spot starts. Most of his time in the bigs came from 1963-64, and 1967-69.



I remember that in 1967, he was recalled around Memorial Day, after the Phillies cleaned house of several veteran relievers. After the 1966 season, the Phillies went on a binge, signing aging veterans Dick Hall, Pedro Ramos, and Ruben Gomez to shore up their bullpen. Only Hall panned out, and the other 2 (along with holdover Bob Buhl) were all given an early-season boot.

The Phillies' revamped bullpen that season included Turk Farrell (acquired in May) and Hall as the 2 firemen, along with rookie Grant Jackson (a lefty) and the recently-recalled Boozer. They also reclaimed Dallas Green off the scrap heap, who didn't do too much in his final season except collect days toward his pension.

Anyhoo, Boozer was the right-handed long man and occasional spot starter. Somehow, he managed to stay with the big club for the entire 1968 season. I don't know if it was his performance, as much as it was the Phillies not having many other options. After all, it would be another year or so until their "phenoms" (Lowell "Shades" Palmer, Billy Champion, Barry Lersch, and Billy Wilson) were ready.

1969 Phillies Stamps

Ok, so these aren't from 1968, but the photos were probably taken in 1968 (well, all but Don Lock. Apparently, Topps was unable to locate Don Lock after 1966!)


I was just reading the latest post by Jim on his Phillies Room blog where he made a reference to the 1969 Topps baseball stamps. I forgot that I had these until reading his post. When I located them, I didn't find any doubles, but I have 76 of these stamps from various teams, mostly Phillies, Pirates, Cubs, Twins, and Athletics. I wonder why out of 76 stamps, I have none from the Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Cardinals, Expos, Astros, or Reds?


Here are the Phillies (I seem to be missing the Tony Taylor stamp that Jim referred to):



And here are 3 recent ex-Phillies. (Cater is actually about 4 years removed from the team, but Topps is still showing him in a Phillies uniform.)

Bobby Wine (#396)

I can still remember getting this card in 1968, and how I really liked it. Why? I wasn't really a Bobby Wine fan. I think maybe it was the fact that the photo was so crisp, and because there were many hatless Phillies' cards in the 1968 set, this one just stood out as a nice card.

This was Bobby's last card as a Phillie. After the season, the Montreal Expos selected pitcher Larry Jackson in the expansion draft. When he chose to retire, the Phillies sent Wine to the Expos as compensation. It wasn't a great loss for the Phillies. Wine had missed all but 27 games of the 1968 season with a back injury, and the Phils had rookie Don Money waiting in the wings to take over in 1969.

This photo is from 1965, as that is the only season that Wine didn't wear his familiar #7 uniform. He had switched to #13 for that season in deference to veteran Dick Stuart.



The Phillies signed Bobby in 1957, and after 5 seasons in the minors, Wine made the team in 1962. He shared the shortstop job with Ruben Amaro Sr that first season, but was the clear #1 shortstop from 1963-65, although Amaro continued to start many games at short.

After losing his starting job to veteran Dick Groat in 1966, Wine regained the position for the 1967 season. It was to be his last signifcant time with the Phillies. The 1968 season began with rookie Don Money being handed the SS job. When he faltered in early April, Wine took over for a few weeks until being sidelined for the season with his ailing back.

Moving to Montreal in 1969, Wine was the Expos' starting shortstop for their first 3 seasons. His playing time began to diminish in the final weeks of the 1971 season, and for 1972 he had lost the starting job to Tim Foli. After only 18 at-bats over 34 games, Wine was released on July 10th.

He went on to a long coaching career with the Phillies and Braves, and also scouted for the Braves.

Don Lock (#59)

First, let me point out that the late-1960s cards of Don Lock are the most complete example of Topps' photographical laziness that I have found. Lock was traded to the Phillies in November 1966. His 1967 card shows him in a hatless photo. Fine, no problem there, because he was just traded. But, here it is ONE YEAR LATER, and Topps puts out another hatless card of Lock (with a different photo than 1967). To top it all off, Don's 1969 card (still with the Phillies, mind you) has ANOTHER hatless photo! More than 2 seasons after his trade from the Senators, and while on the Phillies roster for all that time, Topps couldn't squeeze out a new photo of Don Lock.


Don Lock was signed by the Yankees (I didn't know that until today) in 1958, and spent over 4 seasons on the Yankees' farm, until he was traded to the Senators on July 11, 1962 for 1st baseman Dale Long. Six days later, he made his major-league debut with the Senators. He started 63 of the final 76 games that season, all but one in left field.



In 1963, Don began the season as the center fielder, and except for a stretch of 19 consecutive games in late April and early May, he was the undisputed #1 in center, with 129 starts there. He also started 9 games in right field. Lock bashed 27 homers in his first full season.

1964 was more of the same, with Lock making 120 starts in center, compared to Ken Hunt's 30 starts. Don also started 25 games in right field, spelling regular Jim King. He also hit 20 home runs.

1965? The center field scoreboard says Don Lock 116 games, Woodie Held 34 games. Replaced by Woodie Held? That's what happens when your average drops to .215 and you only hit 16 home runs.

1966? Lock 101, Fred Valentine 55. Don's playing time is similar to 1965, but for the 2nd straight year, he hits a mere 16 home runs and collects less than 50 RBI.

Lock seems to be slipping in his last 2 seasons with the Senators. This affirms what I have often thought was a bad trade made by the Phillies in the mid-1960s (and always overlooked, in the shadow of the Fergie Jenkins trade). The Phillies traded pitcher Darold Knowles, who led the team in saves during his rookie season in 1966, for a starting outfielder who, under closer examination, was already on the decline. I can remember back in the 1960s, one of the "great reasons" to get Lock was that he "hit 99 home runs with the Senators" (something that is repeated on the back of this card).

Knowles went on to accumulate 143 saves in a 16-year career, which ended in 1980. Lock was heavily platooned during his 2 full seasons with the Phillies, and was sent packing to the Red Sox in early May 1969, for a guy whose entire major-league career consisted of one at-bat in 1965. Lock remained with the Red Sox through the end of the 1969 season, before retiring.

"Highly sought-after slugger"? Bah!

Bill White (#190)

Bill White was signed by the New York Giants in 1953 and played with various minor league teams for 3 full seasons.

In 1956, after 20 games in the minors, Bill was called up to the Giants and started every game at first base from May 7th until the end of the season. Unfortunately for him, he missed the 1957 season due to military service, and when he returned in 1958, rookie Orlando Cepeda had replaced him at first base.

First base became even more crowded with the arrival of Willie McCovey, so White was traded to the Cardinals prior to the 1959 season.



Bill spent 7 seasons as the Cardinals' first baseman, making the all-star team 5 times and winning 6 gold gloves. He also participated in the 1964 World Series.

After the 1965 season, White was traded (along with shortstop Dick Groat and catcher Bob Uecker) to the Phillies for veteran pitcher Art Mahaffey and youngsters Pat Corrales and Alex Johnson. He played in Philadelphia for 3 seasons, winning another gold glove in 1966. During the winter prior to the 1967 season, he was injured during a paddle ball game, and never fully recovered his skills. From 1959 to 1966 he played 140-160 games per season. In 1967 and 1968, he only played in 110 and 127 games respectively, and only about 80% of them were starts at first base.

He was traded back to the Cardinals during spring training 1969, but only appeared in 49 games during the season, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

After his playing career was over, Bill became a Yankees' broadcaster during the 1970s and 1980s, and was the National League president from 1989 until the position was dissolved in 1994.

Turk Farrell (#217)

Another lousy hatless photo. Farrell pitched in FIFTY games for the Phillies in 1967 since his acquisition on May 8th. Why aren't Topps' photographers EARNING their money?

Turk Farrell began his career with the Phillies way back in 1953. After 4 seasons with their minor-league teams, he made his major-league debut in late September 1956. From 1957 to 1960, Farrell led the Phillies pitchers in saves each year.



In May 1961, the Phillies traded Turk to the Dodgers for third baseman Charlie Smith and outfielder Don Demeter. After the season, he was selected by the Houston Colt .45s in the expansion draft.

Farrell was primarily a starter during his 5 full seasons with Houston (1962-66), winning ten or more games in his first 4 seasons (quite an accomplishment for a bad team!)

In May 1967, he was re-acquired by the Phillies and spent the last 3 seasons of his career as the Phillies' bullpen ace. He was released by the Phillies on November 4, 1969, essentially ending his career.

In 1970, he was signed by the Braves on April 20th, but released on May 6th without having appeared in any games.

Farrell was killed in an automobile accident in Great Britain in 1977 at age 43.

Tony Gonzalez (#245)

Tony Gonzalez was one of the Phillies' regular outfielders for most of the 1960s. After playing in the Reds minor-league system (including 1958 and 1959 in Havana), Gonzalez made the Reds team in 1960, but was traded to the Phillies in June. He immediately took over the center field position, and held either the left field or center field job through the 1968 season. Primarily the center fielder, Gonzalez was the regular in left field during 1966 and 1967.

In 1967, Tony's .339 batting average was 2nd best in the NL.



Gonzalez was selected by the San Diego Padres in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season, He was the Padres regular leftfielder before being traded to the Braves in June 1969. The Braves outfield was already staffed by Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, and Hank Aaron, but Gonzalez was the swingman in left and center, giving Carty and Alou some rest.

Prior to the 1970 season, Alou was shipped to Oakland, so Gonzalez started 111 of the first 132 games in centerfield, before being sold to the Angels. Once in California, he took over the centerfield job that had been shared by Jay Johnstone and Roger Repoz. In 1971, Gonzalez had a reduced role for the Angels: splitting the left field job with Alex Johnson, and pinch-hitting.

1971 was the end of Tony's major-league career. In 1973, he returned to play 45 games for the Phillies double-A team in Reading, PA.