Topps' Blunders

One of the recurring themes on my blogs has been “That’s just Topps being Topps”, where I highlight (or more correctly, lowlight) their many blunders, whether it be including the wrong player on a card (’66 Dick Ellsworth, ’69 Aurelio Rodriguez), using capless photos long after they had the chance to get a new photo of a traded player, wretched airbrushing techniques, failing to secure a licensing arrangement with the ’68 and ’69 Astros, failing to consider back-loading the 1968 Athletics’ and 1969 expansion teams’ cards until later in the year to give themselves time to take photos, or just incorrect text on the back of a card (or nonsensical text, as with Dave Bennett’s 1964 card – “This 19-year-old right-hander is just 18 years old!”). 

 

Anyway, I’m going to show some examples of their tendency to use capless photos well past a logical time point, and will only focus on the Phillies. (This could apply to all 20 teams, but even I reach a point of overkill.) 

 

 

First, I will start off with the 1967 Dick Hall card, Topps’ version of “even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes”. Hall joined the Phillies before the start of the 1967 season, but somehow managed to get a current photo of him for that year’s set. 

 

1967 Bob Buhl

Ok, now we are seeing their true colors. Yes, Buhl’s card is in the 1st series, but he was acquired on the same day in early-1966 as Larry Jackson, and they managed to get a new photo of Jackson for his 1967 card.

 

1968, 1969 Turk Farrell

Farrell re-joined the Phillies in late-May 1967, and was their top reliever for the next 2+ seasons. Surely there was an opportunity to take new photos before the ’68 and ’69 cards went to press. If not, why not re-use a photo from his early-1960s stint with the Phils? It’s not like they were against using old photos. Just look at Jim Grant’s 1969 card, wearing an Indians’ uniform from his pre-1965 years with Cleveland.

 

1967 Ruben Gomez

Gomez rejoined the Phils in early 1967 for a few games, and appears in a Phillies uniform in a 5th series card. Topps, you’re not getting credit for this one – he looks about the same age as he did on his 1960 and 1961 Phillies’ cards. Why didn’t you also re-use an old photo of Farrell?

 

1967, 1968, 1969 Don Lock

Topps! Don Lock joined the Phillies in the 66/67 off-season. Get off your ass! 

 

1968, 1969 Woody Fryman 

Fryman joined the Phillies before the 1968 season, but if they couldn’t get a Turk Farrell photo for these 2 sets while also having most of 1967 to do so, there’s little reason to expect they would for Fryman.

 

1968, 1969 Mike Ryan

See Woody Fryman.

 

1969 Jerry Johnson

Johnson didn’t join the Phillies’ organization until November 1967, and made his debut with them in July 1968. Yet he has a card in an early-season 1969 series. Were Farrell, Lock, Fryman, and Ryan all hiding from the photographer?

 

1970 Larry Hisle 

Topps already used good photos of Hisle in the ’68 and ’69 sets. Topps, this was one of your All-Rookie Team cards. WTF?

 

1970 Ron Stone

Ol’ Ron is depicted in his 1966 Kansas City A’s vest. Stone only played 26 games for the A’s that year. He played over 100 games for the 1969 Phillies, but here we are with a capless 4-year-old photo. Stone was a major news item during Spring Training in 1969, tearing the cover off the ball and anointed a Spring Phenom. You would think Topps wanted to get in on the ground floor for the next “superstar”.

More Details of the 1968 Expansion Draft (Part 2)

 

Last time we looked at the Cleveland Indians, the only team whose complete protection list was revealed. This time we will take a look at the remaining teams. 

 

Each team lost 6 players. They won’t be named here, because they can be found elsewhere. 

 

By looking at each team’s 1968 roster in baseball-reference.com, it should be easy to guess who might have been protected. In this blog entry, I’m only going to mention players who were specifically named in the Sporting News on 11/2/1968. 

 

Of the remaining 19 teams, the news columns for only 11 of the teams named any players (other than those lost to expansion). 

 

Astros 

One of these pitchers was initially protected, and the other three were pulled back after the first round: Jim Ray, Tom Griffin, Wayne Twitchell, Bob Watkins. 

The column also said manager Harry Walker was thinking about moving Joe Morgan to center field!

 

Cardinals 

Pitchers Jerry Reuss and Ray Washburn were initially protected. 

Pitchers Joe Hoerner and Mike Torrez, and infielder Steve Huntz were pulled back after the first round.

 

Phillies 

Infielder Terry Harmon was protected. It was implied that shortstop Don Money was protected. 

Pitcher Woodie Fryman and shortstop Larry Bowa were pulled back after the first round. 

 

In my Phillies analysis, I was sure that Fryman and Bowa would have been protected. I'm also very surprised that Harmon was protected, given that he was never more than a utility player in the majors, plus the Phillies also had shortstop prospects Money and Bowa. 

 

When writing up that Phillies tome, I remember thinking that Joe Lis must have been protected because of all his minor-league home runs, but I couldn't see who would have been bumped for him.  Now with the knowledge that Fryman and Bowa were unprotected, Lis must surely have been among the 15 protected players.

 

Pirates 

Pitcher Jim Bunning and infielder Jose Pagan were left unprotected (and undrafted) in all rounds. 

 

Reds 

Pitcher Wayne Granger and shortstop Darrell Chaney were protected. Pitchers Gerry Arrigo and George Culver were initially unprotected. 

 

Angels 

Pitcher George Brunet was unprotected, but pulled back after the first round. 

 

Athletics 

Pitcher Vida Blue and outfielder George Hendrick were protected as first-year players. 

 

Red Sox 

Outfielder Tony Conigliaro was left unprotected and undrafted for the entire draft. 

 

Senators 

These players were all unprotected and undrafted during the entire draft: 

Pitchers Dave Baldwin, Bruce Howard, Bob Humphreys, and Phil Ortega, and outfielders Hank Allen, Cap Peterson, and Ed Stroud. 

 

Tigers 

Pitcher Les Cain was initially protected. 

Pitchers Joe Sparma, Pat Dobson, and John Hiller were initially unprotected (but no mention of if or when they were pulled back). 

 

Yankees 

Pitcher Lindy McDaniel and catcher Frank Fernandez were pulled back after the first round. 

 

 

Orioles 

Although not mentioned in this issue, I read somewhere else that the Orioles left sore-armed Jim Palmer unprotected. (He missed most of 1967 and all of 1968.) 

  

More Details of the 1968 Expansion Draft (Part 1)

 

Who needs a break from obituaries? *raises hand* 

 

 

Back in May 2017 on my 1968 set blog, I theorized on who the Phillies protected prior to the 1968 expansion draft, and which players were subsequently pulled back after each player was lost. In the comments, someone mentioned that the 11/2/1968 Sporting News gave some details on the Phillies’ players. 

 

Recently, I bought a copy of that issue on eBay, hoping that every team’s player list would be mentioned. True, every team had a column in that issue that discussed their player protection strategy, but (with the exception of the Indians), only a few players were mentioned. There were no lists. However, the Indians’ column does list every player protected, as well as the additional players pulled back after the first 3 rounds. 

 

This much is certain about that draft: 

• Each existing team protected 15 players in their organization. 

• Each team would lose 6 players (but not necessarily 3 players to each of the 2 expansion teams in their league). 

• After losing a player, each team could protect an additional 3 players. 

• The commissioner forbade teams from disclosing who was on their protected list (although obviously, some leaked out). 

 

I saw a comment under one team that some of their players were protected “as first-year players”, so I assume that in addition to the 15 protected players, none of an organization’s first-year players were eligible to be drafted. 

 

Cleveland Indians 

The Indians were either the only team that ignored the commissioner's directive, or the only team unable to keep a secret. The protected players were:

Sam McDowell – P	Mike Paul – P		Dave Nelson – 2B
Luis Tiant – P		Joe Azcue – C		Larry Brown – SS
Sonny Siebert – P	Duke Sims – C		Max Alvis – 3B
Stan Williams – P	Ray Fosse – C		Jack Heidemann – SS
Vicente Romo – P	Tony Horton – 1B	Jose Cardenal – OF

Ray Fosse and Jack Heidemann were the only minor-league prospects protected. Meanwhile, they protected 31-year-old journeyman Stan Williams, their 5th starter. 

 

Interesting that they protected 3 catchers, but only 1 outfielder. Outfielders Lee Maye (age 33), Tommy Harper (27), Lou Johnson (33), Jimmie Hall (30), and Russ Snyder (34) were initially unprotected.

 

The Tribe lost 6 players: Tommy Harper (OF), Chico Salmon (INF), Lou Piniella (OF), Billy Harris (2B), Mike Hedlund (P), and Fran Healy (C ).

 

The Indians subsequently protected these players:

After round 1		After round 2		After round 3		
Horacio Pina – P	Steve Hargan – P	Ken Suarez – C		
Ed Farmer – P		*Gary Boyd – P	        Vern Fuller – 2B
Richie Scheinblum – OF	Eddie Leon – SS	        Jack Hamilton – P

The news article says that after round 4, “the rest of the prominent members of the varsity” were protected. I assume that was Lee Maye, Lou Johnson, and Jimmie Hall. 

 

Other veterans left unprotected and undrafted were Russ Snyder (OF) and Rob Gardner (P). 

 

*Gary Boyd’s major-league career consisted of 11 innings pitched, all for the 1969 Indians. 

I was hoping for this much detail on all the teams, but only the Indians complied with my wishes. lol

Next time – The few players mentioned by name for 11 other teams.

Oldest living players from 1966-70 (redux)

With the recent passing of Willie Mays, I remembered a post I made almost 6 years ago today:  

 

“Who are the oldest living players with baseball cards in the Topps sets that I am following?”

Pirates’ reliever Elroy Face is still at the top of the list for the 1966-69 sets, at age 96. Here are the 5 oldest living players per set that I follow:

1966 
Elroy Face
Al Worthington
Vern Law
Bob Skinner
George Altman

1967 
Elroy Face
Al Worthington
Vern Law
Ozzie Virgil
George Altman

1968 
Elroy Face
Al Worthington
Al Spangler (6th in 1966 set)
Rocky Colavito (6th in 1967 set)
Orlando Pena (7th in 1967 set)

1969
Elroy Face
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual (6th in 1968 set)
Bill White (7th in 1968 set)
Luis Aparicio (8th in 1968 set)

1970
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual
Luis Aparicio
Felipe Alou (8th in 1969 set)
Bob Humphreys (9th in 1969 set)

Fathers' Day

60 years ago, Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game against the Mets on Fathers' Day 1964.

It Was 80 Years Ago Today

 

The D-Day invasion of Normandy. 

 

The most famous baseball player there that day was 19-year-old Lawrence Berra, of the U.S. Navy. 

 

 

Other future celebrities there included: 

Alec Guinness - British Royal Navy 

James Doohan - Canadian Army 

Medger Evers - U.S. Army 

Charles Durning - U.S. Army

https://www.newsweek.com/d-day-remembrance-celebrities-who-served-during-normandy-invasion-1440071

   

Seasoned Veterans

 

Here are the 9 oldest living players who saw action after the 1965 season. They are all over age 90, with Roy Face leading the pack at 95. 

 

Many of them retired after the 1966 or 1967 season, but Willie Mays played through the 1973 season (including the World Series).

How old are these guys? 

- Willie Mays played in the Negro Leagues in 1948. 

- Ray Herbert and Vern Law made their MLB debut in 1950. 

- Al Worthington and Willie Mays played for the New York Giants. 

- Dick Groat played NBA basketball with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952. 

 

Famous Eagle Scouts

 

I found a list of notable Eagle Scouts on Wikipedia. Here is a shorter list of sports figures, and others I have heard of. 

 

Most surprising is Albert Belle. It's not like an Eagle Scout to attempt running down trick-or-treaters with your car.

Name			Known for		Year
Ozzie Nelson		Actor/Band leader	1920
Sheldon Leonard		Actor/Director	        1923
William Hanna		Hanna-Barbera		1924
L. Ron Hubbard		Author			1924
Gerald Ford		Politician		1927
William Westmoreland    Army general		1930
Ewing Kauffman		MLB exec		1931
Robert McNamara		Politician		1932
Sam Walton		Walmart founder		1934
Lloyd Bentsen		Politician		1938
Bill Gates Sr.		B. Gates Jr father	1941
John Ehrlichman		Politician		1942
H.R. Haldeman		Politician		1942
Jim Lovell		Astronaut		1943
Ross Perot		Politician		1943
Ray Malavasi		NFL coach		1944
Neil Armstrong		Astronaut		1947
Michael Dukakis		Politician		1949
Donald Rumsfeld		Politician		1949
Jim Mora                NFL coach               1950
Roger Chaffee		Astronaut		1951
Pat Gillick		MLB exec		1951
Maxie Baughan	        NFL player		1952
Lamar Alexander		Politician		1954
James Brady		Politician		1955
Dick Gephart		Politician		1955
Tom Matte		NFL player		1955
Tom Mack		NFL player		1960
Steven Speilberg	Director		1961
Beasley Reece		NFL player		1967
John Tesh		TV / Radio		1968
Michael Moore		Director		1970
Ken Whisenhunt		NFL coach		1976
Mike Rowe		TV - Dirty Jobs		1979
Albert Belle		MLB player		1981
Zack Galifianakas	Actor			1986
Shane Victorino		MLB player		1996

Spring Training Sites

 

It's March, and thoughts turn to Spring Training. No, not this season, because I have no interest in today's baseball (or any pro sports, really). 

 

Here are the teams' Spring Training sites during the 1960s. Orange indicates Florida (of course), while yellow indicates Arizona. (I should have probably used yellow and green, the color of grapefruit and cactii.) 

 

(As always, click on the charts to enlarge.)

Teams named in red did not relocate their camps during the decade. 

I was surprised to learn that the Red Sox and Astros began the 1960s in Arizona. 

 

My Card Collecting History - Part 2

 

Look at me, channeling George Lucas as I start off with Part 2.  (Part 1 will come later.) 

 

I started collecting sports cards in 1967. Prior to that, I collected non-sports cards (which will be the topic of the "Part 1" post later). 

 

My brother (one year younger than me) and I started collecting baseball cards later than other kids. I can remember seeing kids having baseball cards with them on the school playground as early as 1962. I also started playing youth baseball in 1964, so I don't know why the baseball-card bug didn't bite us until 1967. Maybe because that was the first year we went to a major-league game. 

 

I had two distinct periods of collecting sports cards as a kid. These are shown in yellow in the chart below. (I don't remember why I took a break from Fall 1969 to Summer 1971.)

Although I wasn't buying or actively collecting during that middle period, I did have a handful of '70, '71, and '73 baseball and '69 and '73 football cards. My brother collected baseball cards from 1967-73, and football cards from 1969-73, so he must have given me his doubles. 

 

I don't recall having any problem with the 1972 high numbers, and by the end of that summer I had the entire '72 set except for Bill Russell. However, the 1967 and 1969 7th series cards, and the 1968 6th series cards were not sold in my neighborhood. 

 

Aside from those series, probably 99% of my cards were bought at the same Mom-and-Pop store in my neighborhood.  I mentioned this in a post on my 1967 blog back in 2010. (Actually, my 1967 football cards were bought at another store one block away, which I discovered during an unsuccessful attempt to find '67 baseball high numbers.) 

 

So where did I find my 1968 6th series cards? Back then, I would ride my bicycle all over the neighboring towns, just to "explore". I sketched out where I traveled in a pocket-sized spiral notebook, and after returning home I added my new-found territories to a map I was drawing on a 2'x3' poster board. (I still have it!). I don't remember how long that went on for - probably months, or maybe a year or two. 

 

Anyway, during one outing I found a variety store about 4 towns away from where I lived, and they had 3-panel rack-packs of 1968 baseball cards. I returned to that store many times, until I had completed that series (and the entire 1968 set). 

 

You may notice that I also collected basketball and hockey cards during the 1971-72 season.  That was the only year I bought cards for those sports, and I have a few dozen of each - nowhere near a complete set. 

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After 1972, I stopped collecting for several years, until I was lured back by the free Phillies cards that came with every Philadelphia-area Burger King purchase during the summers of 1979 and 1980. As you may know, these were identical to the regular Topps cards, except for 3 things: 

1. There was a Burger King logo on the backs. 

2. The cards were numbered from 1 to 20 (or whatever) 

3. Some of the players differed between the Topps and Burger King sets. For example, Pete Rose was in the 1979 BK set as a Phillie, but as a Red in the Topps set. In 1980, players no longer on the Phillies (as I recall Tim McCarver, Rawly Eastwick, and Doug Bird) were in the Topps set, but replaced in the BK set by Keith Moreland, Kevin Saucier, and Lonnie Smith. 

 

So I didn't buy any cards in '79 or '80, but after the Burger King teaser sets, and because the Phillies won the 1980 World Series, I dove back in for 1981 - buying my first factory sets (Topps and Fleer). That was also the first year for Donruss sets, but I had to draw the line somewhere. lol

 

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That year was one-and-done for me, as I stopped collecting until the early 1990s, when I started buying cards for my sons (and me), as I previously mentioned at the top of this post.

 

During this collecting period (1990 to 1993), besides completing the Fleer and Donruss sets 5 rack-packs at a time (hah!), I bought Topps factory and update sets from about 1987 to 1993. 

 

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After '93, I drifted away from the hobby (probably because of the strike), until returning again in 2008. From about 2008 to 2012 I just bought Phillies team sets. 

 

Sometime after starting these blogs in 2009, I stopped buying current cards, and focused on vintage sets. I now have most of the 1966 and 1970 sets, about half of the 1965 set, and a few dozen cards from '63 and '64. As I look at the small Excel chart on the sidebars of my '65 to '70 blogs, I am reminded that I haven't added any baseball cards to my collection since August 2019. Wow, it doesn't seem like that long ago. 

 

What doesn't appear on those charts are the 2 dozen custom 1967 cards (fronts only) that I bought on eBay a few months ago. I was skeptical at first, but they are printed on sturdy white cardboard, although the players are obviously super-imposed on stadium backgrounds. I don't know if I will get any more of them.

 

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Stay tuned for Part 1 of this series, where I will regale you with my Batman and Combat cards, among others. 

 

The Inter-American League

This isn’t a 1960s’ topic, but it isn’t card-related either so I have nowhere else to post it but here.

Recently I posted a few players who wound up their careers in the Inter-American League in 1979, so I decided to dig a little deeper into this short-lived minor league.

The league began play in 1979 as a triple-A league, with teams in Miami and 5 other locations in the Caribbean. The fact that the teams were unaffiliated with major-league teams, plus the Caribbean weather, multi-national air travel (and visas), and just being poorly-funded in general all contributed to the collapse of the league by June 30th.

These were the 6 teams, with their records and position in the standings when the league folded:

1. Miami Amigos (51-21)
2. Caracas Metropolitanos (37-27)
3. Santo Domingo Azucaeros (38-29)
4. Maricaibo Petroleros de Zulia (31-36)
5. Panama Banqueros (15-36)*
6. Puerto Rico Baricuas (16-39)*

*these two dropped out on June 17th

Miami was managed by Davey Johnson, and included major-league alumni Orlando Pena, Hal Breeden, Wayne Granger, Mickey Scott, Mike Wallace, Porfi Altamirano, Bob Reynolds, and Oscar Zamora.

Caracas was managed by Jim Busby, with players such as Cesar Tovar, Tom House, Butch Metzger, and Remy Hermoso.

Santo Domingo was managed by Mike Kekich, and included Cito Gaston, Tito Fuentes, Johnny Jeter, Dave May, Dick Pole, Dave Wallace, and Fred Andrews.

Maracaibo was managed by Pat Dobson, Gus Gil, and hometown guy Luis Aparicio, and included Angel Bravo and Mike Stanton.

Panama was managed by Chico Salmon, with “name” players like Adolfo Phillips, Ramon Webster, and Lee Richard.

Puerto Rico was managed by Jose Santiago, and featured Bobby Tolan, Bobby Brown, Angel Mangual, and Leo Foster.

What's In a Name?

Topps had this habit of changing a player's first name sometime during their career.

This was especially annoying for the time I was using Zistle. Their search feature only finds the cards having the name you entered, and doesn't include their cards having an alternate first name. (Last-name only searches would have been ok for Clemente and Dalrymple, but you wouldn't want to do that for Taylor.)

The most famous example of this is the case of Roberto Clemente. Topps called him "Roberto" in 1955 and 1956, until switching to "Bob" for the next 13 years, before finally relenting in 1970.

Orlando Martinez had cards from 1967-72, the first two having "Orlando" before Topps changed it in 1969. (Is there a more unimaginative nickname for someone named Martinez than "Marty"?) 

Hawk Taylor cards showed up every year from 1961 to 1969 (except for 1967).  He was "Hawk" from '65 to '68, "Bob 'Hawk' Taylor" in 1961, and just "Bob" for the other years. When I hear "Bob Taylor", I think of the Flyers' backup goaltender during their Stanley Cup championship years very (very, very, very, very, very) long ago.

"Clay" was good enough for Topps every year except 1970, when they went all formal on Dalrymple.

Here, Topps just couldn't make up their mind.

10-year vets playing for only one team

Earlier this year, I pondered the question of "Who played the longest, and with just one team?"

As far as I can tell, these are the 30 players who played for only one team, and for at least 10 seasons. (Also that their career intersected the 1960s. I'm not including Ted Williams, because only 1 of his 19 seasons was in the 1960s - 5% of his career.)

Seasons:
23 - Brooks Robinson
23 - Carl Yastrzemski
22 - Stan Musial
22 - Al Kaline
21 - Willie Stargell
19 - Ernie Banks
19 - Jim Palmer
18 - Roberto Clemente
18 - Mickey Mantle

18 - Ed Kranepool
17 - Johnny Bench
17 - Bob Gibson
17 - Bill Mazeroski
16 - Whitey Ford
16 - Vern Law
15 - Bill Freehan
15 - Mickey Stanley
15 - Tony Oliva

14 - Don Drysdale
14 - Jim Gilliam
13 - Bob Allison
13 - Gates Brown
13 - Jim Davenport
13 - Rico Petrocelli
12 - Dick Green
12 - Sandy Koufax
12 - Bobby Richardson 

11 - Gene Alley
11 - Mel Stottlemyre
10 - Steve Blass

The top half of the list is all Hall of Famers except for Ed Kranepool. (How did The Krane stick around so long?)  Mickey Stanley is another surprise.
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Magic Valley Cowboys

Last week I posted Ken Henderson's card on my 1966 blog. One of the minor league teams he played for was "Magic Valley". That jogged my memory of seeing that team listed on the back of some Phillies' cards in the mid-1960s. so I decided to investigate this magical place.

Magic Valley is an area in south-central Idaho. The Magic Valley Cowboys were a minor-league franchise off-and-on from 1952-71. (On a few of the players' cards below, the team's location is referred to as "Twin Falls" instead of "Magic Valley".)


From 1952-58 it was a Cubs' class-C team, where the likes of John Buzhardt, Bob Will, and Bill Pleis passed through.

From 1961 to 1963 it was a Phillies' outpost.
In 1961 Dick Allen and Adolfo Phillips played class-C ball there. The following year, Phillips returned, and was joined by Hank Allen and Johnny Morris.
In 1963 it was reorganized as a class-A team, featuring Alex Johnson, Jeff James, Al Raffo, and Mike Marshall. (Yes, Marshall was once Phillies' property!)

The Cowboys became a Giants' rookie-league affiliate from 1964 to 1966, featuring future major-leaguers Ken Henderson, Bob Schroeder, Ron Bryant, Chris Arnold, Don Hahn, and Bob Reynolds.

Next, the Braves took over the team from 1968-70, and it became home to Mike McQueen and Grady Little ('68), Mickey Rivers and Larvell Blanks ('69), and Adrian Devine and Rod Gilbreath ('70).

1971 was the last year for the Magic Valley Cowboys. Now unaffiliated, it included future big-leaguers Jerry Remy and Butch Metzger.

Oldest living players from 1966-70

With the recent passing of long-time Cardinal Red Schoendienst, it was said that he was the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame. Bringing that idea closer to this blogosphere, I wondered “Who are the oldest living players with baseball cards in the Topps sets that I am following?”

Pirates’ reliever Elroy Face is at the top of the list for the 1966-69 sets, at age 90. One would think Willie Mays (at age 87) is up there too, but there are 13 living players older than Mays in the 1966 set. That number drops off to 7 in the 1967 set, as 6 players had their final card in the ’66 set.

In the ’68 set, only 3 players are older than Mays. In the 1969 and 1970 sets, there is only one player older than Mays – Face (’69) and Hall (’70). (Elroy Face’s final card was in 1969. Dick Hall was not in the ’66 or ‘69 sets, but was in the ’67, ’68, and ‘70 sets.)


Here are the 5 oldest living players per set that I follow:

1966 
Elroy Face
Whitey Ford
Don Mossi
Al Worthington
Curt Simmons

1967 
Elroy Face
Whitey Ford
Al Worthington
Curt Simmons
Vern Law (10th in the ’66 set)

1968 
Elroy Face
Al Worthington
Dick Hall (6th in the ’67 set)
Willie Mays
Maury Wills

1969 
Elroy Face
Willie Mays
Maury Wills
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual

1970 
Dick Hall
Willie Mays
Maury Wills
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual

Topps! Pay Attention!

Normally, a player "graduates" from a Rookie Stars card to his own card the next year (or in the case of Lou Piniella, 6 years down the road!)

But Topps was in reverse gear for these 3 players. After already appearing on their own card, they later found themselves on the baseball card equivalent of "the childrens' table".

1965:

1966:

1965:

1966:

1967:

1969:

There can be only one explanation!
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Orioles Starting Pitchers of the late 1960s

Oh, have I mentioned that the Orioles were my favorite American League team in the mid/late 1960s?

I recently posted Steve Barber's card on my 1966 blog, and it made me want to do this:


Here are their top 4 starting pitchers from 1965 (making-do with 1966 cards):

In 1966, they traded Milt Pappas to the Reds, and won the World Series without him.

To look at the 1967 card set, you would think this was the Orioles' rotation:

But due to a sore-arm epidemic, it turned out to be this:

By 1968, Dave McNally regained his earlier form (although Jim Palmer was still rehabbing):

Mike Cuellar joined the team in 1969, giving the O's their best rotation since 1966:

This is one of the four multi-player cards in the 1969 set.  Before the season, Palmer's comeback was still considered questionable, so he missed this photo op:

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Utility Schmoes Abound!

I think I've figured out why the Cubs were so bad in the mid-1960s (well, besides that they didn't employ a manager). Their roster was clogged with utility players!

All 3 of these players had cards in the 1965 set as Cubs. Leo Burke and Jim Stewart were both on the team from 1963-65, and Harry Bright came on board in 1965.

Look at Bright - I wonder if he felt superior to the other two. ("I'll SEE your INF-OF, and raise you a Catcher!")

Nothin' But Blue Sky

I don't know where the Giants trained in the mid-1960s, but THAT'S some blue sky!

Hey Jim, you're pitching tonight!

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Here's 60% of the 1967 Minnesota Twins pitching staff:


If only they also had Palmer, Hunter, Maloney, and Bunning. They could have run the table.

Imagine being the manager/pitching coach/catcher having to come up with enough nicknames to differentiate them all!
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