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Jerry Buchek, an infielder for the Cardinals and Mets in the last half of the 1960s, passed away on January 2, 2019 at age 76.
Buchek was a backup at SS and 2B for the Cardinals in 1961 and again from 1964-66. He was traded to the Mets just before the 1967 season, and started just over half the games at 2nd base that year.
In 1968, he fell to #3 on the 2nd base depth chart, and was traded back to the Cardinals after the season.
The following Spring he was flipped to the Phillies for veteran Bill White, but spent the entire 1969 season in AAA before retiring. (Hmm.. It seems Buchek would have been a better middle-infield option for the 1969 Phillies than rookie Terry Harmon!)
Obituary
3 comments:
Sorry to hear of Jerry's passing, but appreciate the subject matter. The 67 set could be the greatest all time set ever. I have lots of 67 cards, but like so many collectors, I stopped collecting near the end of the year and missed out on many of the 7th series cards. I have recently managed to acquire some of the less expensive 7th series cards like Norm Cash and Maury Wills. I also acquired this card of Buchek, but paid too much, in my opinion. I gave up on collecting the entire set and decided to settle for collecting the starting lineups for that year. However, I doubt that will happen, because I need Brooks Robinson and Mike Shannon. Just can't bring myself to pay the asking price for these two. Might settle for them in poor condition, but all the listings I have seen show them in great shape and large prices. Sorry for the long comment, but really appreciate your blog.
I collected all of series 1 - 6 in 1967, but the 7th series wasn't sold in my area.
Fortunately, I happened upon card shops in the local malls in the 1980s, and bought almost all of the high numbers (for about $1.00 each, as I recall). It was before card-collecting got crazy in the late-1980s. By then, all I needed were Seaver, Carew, Robinson, Wills, and Tommy John.
I was able to get the Wills card about 7 or 8 years ago for less than $40 (IIRC), and Brooks about a year or 2 ago (I think less than $50, surprisingly. It's a bit off-center).
Good deal. I remember those crazy days in the late-1980's very well.
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