RIP - Tom Timmerman

 

Tom Timmerman, a pitcher for the Tigers and Indians from 1969 to 1974, passed away on November 14, 2025 at age 85.

Timmerman played for the Tigers from 1969 to 1973, and was primarily a reliever except for the 1972 season. He also played for the Indians for parts of '73 and '74. 

 

Newsweek obituary 

 

I think it's rather lazy of Newsweek Magazine to just have a photo of a glove and team cap for their deceased baseball players' obituaries. They should get off their ass and find a photo of the player (like most other sources do). Recently, Newsweek has been the only available source. 

    

RIP - Steve Hargan

 

Steve Hargan, one of the Indians' excellent starting pitchers of the late-1960s, passed away on October 30, 2025 at age 83.

Hargan played for the Indians from 1965 to 1972. In 1967 he posted 14 wins, made the All-Star team, and led the AL with 6 shutouts. 

 

After spending all of 1973 with the Tribe's AAA team, he pitched for the Rangers from 1974-77, and also appeared briefly for the Blue Jays and Braves in 1977. 

 

Newsweek obituary 

 

Wow, Hargan pitched 221 games for the Indians, yet I couldn't find ONE link to a Cleveland newspaper about his passing! (disgraceful)

  

RIP - Bill Pleis

 

Bill Pleis, a relief pitcher for the Twins from 1961-66, passed away on October 17, 2025 at age 88.

Pleis pitched in the Senators, Cubs, and Red Sox organizations from 1956 to 1960, then made his MLB debut with the Twins in April 1961. 

 

He pitched in the minors from 1967-68 before retiring. 

 

Pleis scouted for the Dodgers after his playing career.  

 

Newsweek obituary 

 

LA Dodgers obituary 

   

RIP - John Morris

 

John Morris, a reliever for several teams from 1966-74, passed away on October 15, 2025 at age 84.

Morris played in the minors every season from 1960-74, except for 1970-71. 

 

He made his major-league debut in 1966 with the Phillies. After pitching all of 1967 in the minors, he was sent to the Orioles as the player to be named later for Dick Hall. 

 

Morris played for the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, then was a bullpen workhorse for the Milwaukee Brewers for the next 2 seasons, the only 2 years he didn't spend time in the minors. 

 

He was traded to the Giants after the 1971 season, and spent his final 3 seasons splitting time between the Giants and their AAA team.  

 

Philly Baseball News obituary 

 

Sports Illustrated obituary

     

RIP - Larry Burright

 

Larry Burright, a middle infielder for the Dodgers and Mets in the early 1960s, passed away on October 14, 2025 at age 88.

He played in the Dodgers' farm system from 1957-61, then spent the entire 1962 season with the Dodgers. 

 

After the 1962 season, he was traded to the Mets for pitcher Bob Miller. Burright played in the Mets' farm system from 1963-65, while also seeing action in 41 games for the Mets in 1963 (until losing his 2B job to rookie Ron Hunt) and 3 games in 1964.  

 

Sports Illustrated obituary 

  

RIP - Sandy Alomar Sr.

 

Sandy Alomar, a 2nd baseman for six teams from 1964 to 1978, passed away on October 13, 2025 at age 81.

Alomar was with 4 organizations during 1967: the Braves and Astros before the season, and the Mets and White Sox during the season. 

 

He saw regular playing time every season from 1968 to 1975 (with the White Sox, Angels, and Yankees), and had over 600 at-bats every year from 1969 to 1972, leading the AL in that category in 1971. 

 

After his playing career, he was a coach from 1986 to 2009, including a stint with the Padres, while his 2 sons were making their MLB debuts with the team.

 

ESPN obituary  

 

CBS Sports obituary 

    

RIP - Mike White

 

Mike White, an outfielder for the 1964 Houston Colt .45s, passed away on August 25, 2025 at age 86.

White played in the minors every season from 1959 to 1969, except for 1964. 

 

Although he played a few games with the 1963 Colts and the 1965 Astros, the bulk of his major-league action came in 1964, when he shared the center field starts with Jim Wynn and Carroll Hardy. 

 

While playing youth baseball, he was a teammate of future White Sox pitcher Joel Horlen.  

 

Baseball Almanac (on Facebook) obituary 

(Sorry for using a Facebook link, It's the only obit I could find.)

    

Jim Perry is 90

 

Happy 90th birthday (10/30) to Jim Perry!

Error Cards I Have Known

 

Below are the error cards I have spotted in the baseball sets I collect. (Not including minor typographical errors.) 

 

 

1963 

Eli Grba's card has a photo of Ryne Duren. 

Ken Hubbs' card is missing the position. 

 

1964 

Phillies Rookies card (that features Dave Bennett) says "This 19-year-old pitcher is just 18 years old!" 

 

1965 

Reds' catcher Don Pavletich's card has a position of "Pitcher". 

Jim Kaat's last name is mispelled on the front as "Katt". (I refuse to believe this is a typo. Some flunkie at Topps just didn't know how his name was spelled.) 

 

1966 

Dick Ellsworth's card has a photo of Ken Hubbs, Ellsworth's teammate who died 2 years earlier. 

George Banks' position is OF-3B on the front, 3B-OF on the back. 

 

1967 

The first Tigers Rookies card has an incorrect photo (corrected on the 2nd rookies card). 

The White Sox team card has the Cleveland Indians' statistics on the back. 

On the 3rd series checklists issued with the 2nd series, #214 incorrectly says "Dick Kelley". This was corrected to "Tom Kelley" on the checklists issued in 3rd series packs. (Dick Kelley's card is #138.)

Milt Pappas' card is missing the autograph. 

On Harmon Killebrew's card, the team name "TWINS" should be green, not yellow. 

On the Twin Terrors card, the card name (in place of the team name) should be green, not purple. 

On the Sox Sockers card, the card name (in place of the team name) should be purple, not orange. 

Luis Aparicio's position is "INFIELD" on the front, "SHORTSTOP" on the back. 

Johnny Klippstein's card has pitching stats on the back, but with a "Batting Record" heading. 

Charlie Lau's first name on the back of the card is "Charley". 

 

1968 

The Topps rookie trophy is missing from the cards for Rick Monday, Dick Hughes, and Rich Nye.

 

1969 

Aurelio Rodriguez's card has a photo of the Angels' bat boy. 

The photo on Larry Haney's card is reversed. 

SF Giant Frank Johnson's card has a cartoon on the back that says he plays for the Cubs. 

 

1970 

The Topps rookie trophy is missing from the card for Carlos May. 

Gil Garrido's card has his name misspelled as "Gill" on the front. 

Woody Woodward's and Richie Scheinblum's cards have their positions shown as S.S. and O.F. respectively. The periods are not necessary!

   

RIP - Bill Denehy

 

Bill Denehy, the pitcher the Mets traded to the Senators to acquire the services of manager Gil Hodges, passed away on June 27, 2025 at age 79.

Denehy played in the minors every season from 1964 to 1973. After spending his first 4 seasons in the Mets' chain, he played for 8 different organizations in his final 6 seasons.

 

Along the way, he managed to play 15 games for the 1967 Mets, and 31 games for the 1971 Tigers.

 

Perhaps more noteworthy than his career is the fact that he had a very expensive rookie card:

Hartford Courant obituary  

 

Newsweek Magazine obituary