Fathers' Day

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

1969 Phillies - Games per Position

  Wrapping up the series I started on November 8th, here is a breakdown of the 1969 Phillies team. Using information from a chart I recently discovered at Baseball-Reference.com, I have come up with sort of a depth-chart below. In each section, a dotted line separates the "main players" from the others.

As an added bonus, for the first two columns only:
   yellow indicates the player has a Phillies card in this year's set
   orange indicates the player is on a Rookie Stars card in this year's set
   blue indicates the player has a non-Phillies card in this year's set
   white indicates no card in this year's set

Had a Phillies card this year, but was not on the team: Clay Dalrymple

The Phillies only made two in-season trades in 1969 (2 more than in 1968!)
5/5 - Traded Don Lock to the Red Sox for outfielder Bill Schlesinger.
9/6 - Traded Gary Wagner to the Red Sox for pitcher Mike Jackson.

The first 13 non-pitchers on the list above (plus Vic Roznovsky) were with the team for the entire season. Everyone else was just taking their turn filling Don Lock's roster spot following his early-May trade.

Chris Short was the team's Opening Day starter. After one more start (4/15), he missed the remainder of the season with injuries.
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1968 Phillies - Games per Position

  Continuing with the series I started on November 8th, here is a breakdown of the 1968 Phillies team. Using information from a chart I recently discovered at Baseball-Reference.com, I have come up with sort of a depth-chart below. In each section, a dotted line separates the "main players" from the others.

As an added bonus, for the first two columns only:
   yellow indicates the player has a Phillies card in this year's set
   orange indicates the player is on a Rookie Stars card in this year's set
   white indicates no card in this year's set

The Phillies neither traded nor acquired any players during the 1968 season. (Yeah, why try to improve on 72 wins?)

Their only roster moves were to send down Don Money and Larry Hisle, put Bobby Wine on the DL, and call up Roberto Pena and (at various times) Doug Clemens, John Sullivan, Jerry Johnson, Paul Brown, Larry Colton, and Howie Bedell.

1966 Phillies - Games per Position

  Continuing with the series I started on November 8th, here is a breakdown of the 1966 Phillies team. Using information from a chart I recently discovered at Baseball-Reference.com, I have come up with sort of a depth-chart below. In each section, a dotted line separates the "main players" from the others.

As an added bonus, for the first two columns only:
   yellow indicates the player has a Phillies card in this year's set
   orange indicates the player is on a Rookie Stars card in this year's set
   blue indicates the player has a non-Phillies card in this year's set
   white indicates no card in this year's set
(Chris Short did not have a Topps card until 1967 - his 8th full season!)

Notice that three pitchers were used as pinch-runners.

Had a Phillies card this year, but was not on the team: Alex Johnson

In-season moves: 
4/11 - Signed Roger Craig as a free agent.
4/13 - Purchased Steve Ridzik from the Senators.
4/21 - Traded Fergie Jenkins, Adolfo Phillips, and John Herrnstein to the Cubs for Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl.
4/21 - Purchased Harvey Kuenn from the Cubs.
5/10 - Purchased Terry Fox from the Tigers.
Early-June - Recalled Rick Wise from AAA.
Mid-July - Recalled John Morris and Joe Verbanic from AAA.
7/23 - Released Roger Craig and Ed Roebuck.

Aargh! Fergie Jenkins barely had time to get his feet wet before they shipped him off to the Cubs!


I am planning to do this for each Phillies team from 1966 to 1969, then we'll see where it goes from there.
 

1967 Phillies - Games per Position

  A few weeks after I starting blogging here in 2009, I posted a summary of the 1967 Phillies roster on this blog.

Recently, I noticed that Baseball-Reference.com includes (for each team and season) a chart of the player roster and how many games each man played per position. Using that information, I have come up with sort of a depth-chart below. In each section, a dotted line separates the "main players" from the others.

As an added bonus, for the first two columns only:
   yellow indicates the player has a Phillies card in this year's set
   orange indicates the player is on a Rookie Stars card in this year's set
   blue indicates the player has a non-Phillies card in this year's set
   white indicates no card in this year's set

Notice that 2nd baseman Cookie Rojas pitched in one game, and pitcher Larry Jackson was used as a pinch-runner 3 times.

Had a Phillies card this year, but was not on the team: Terry Fox

In-season moves: 
4/10 - Bill White begins the season on the disabled list.
4/10 - Purchased Tito Francona from the Cardinals.
4/21 - Dick Groat placed on disabled list. Bill White activated from DL.
5/08 - Purchased Turk Farrell from the Astros. Released Ruben Gomez.
5/16 - Released Bob Buhl.
5/31 - Recalled John Boozer from AAA.
6/05 - Released Pedro Ramos.
6/06 - Traded Bob Uecker to the Braves for Gene Oliver.
6/09 - Sold Jackie Brandt to the Astros.
6/09 - Reactivated Dick Groat from disabled list.
6/12 - Sold Tito Francona to the Braves.
Late-June - Recalled Dallas Green from AA.
6/22 - Sold Dick Groat to the Giants. Recalled Billy Cowan from AAA.
7/11 - Traded Phil Linz to the Mets for Chuck Hiller.
8/24 - Richie Allen lost for the season with a wrist injury.
8/24 - Recalled Rick Joseph from AAA.
9/22 - Released Dallas Green.


I am planning to do this for each Phillies team from 1966 to 1969, then we'll see where it goes from there.
 

Prime 9 - Philadelphia Phillies

The 16th installment in the "Prime 9" series - spotlighting the 9 best players per team from the 1966-70 time period.

For the series backstory and team rankings, click here.

The Phillies won 381 games between 1966 and 1970. (16th out of the 20 teams.)

Chris Short, Tony Taylor, Johnny Callison, and Tony Gonzalez were with the team for most of the 1960s.  Jim Bunning, Turk Farrell, Tony Taylor, and Dick Allen each had two stints with the Phillies.

If only Fergie Jenkins hadn't been traded away in early-1966... but that's a story best swept under the rug.

Phillies 1967 Yearbook

A few months ago, I found the box containing all my Phillies' yearbooks from 1967 to 1980-something. I bought this yearbook on my first trip to a Phillies game, back in May 1967.

Fifty-six pages of Phillies' facts and photos for only ONE DOLLAR! Most major-league players got a full page to themselves, while some of the younger or marginal players shared a page with another player. (No one had more than a single page.)

I'm not going to scan and post every page (at least not all at once!), but I have already posted Jim Bunning's page here, and here are a few more:

If the yearbook was a dollar, I'm guessing that hot dog was a quarter!

Here's "Rich" (not Richie) Allen.

Johnny Callison was a fan favorite, and lived year-round in the Philadelphia suburbs.

In his lower-right photo, Bob Uecker seems to be thinking "There must be a better way to make a living!"

This page is interesting in that it is evidence that veteran Braves' and Reds' starter Joey Jay was given a spring training invite to Phillies' camp in 1967. He didn't make the team, but spent the year pitching for their single-A team before retiring.

After the player pages and center-spread color team photo, there's a section for minor-league managers, prospects, scouts, etc. Here are the Phillies pitching prospects that season. Both Steve Arlin and Mike Wegener were lost in the expansion draft after the 1968 season.

And the position-player prospects. Sutherland, Harmon, Hisle, and Doyle all had long careers in the majors. (Hmm... surprising that Larry Bowa is not here.)  Dick Allen's brother Ron had a cup of coffee with the Mets a few years later.

Inside the back cover is a shot of the infamous "spite wall" in the outfield. Connie Mack put that up years earlier to prevent the residents across the street from viewing the games for free.
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1967 Scrapbook - Larry Jackson

Wait, what? A non-obituary post? 

Here's another installment in an occasional series called "1967 Scrapbook". In 2011 I found a baseball scrapbook I had made in 1967, containing photos that I clipped from the Philadelphia sports pages that summer.


Unfortunately, Larry Jackson's Phillies' career is often summed-up by 2 stories:

1. He was one of 2 veteran pitchers obtained from the Cubs for a young Ferguson Jenkins ('nuff said).
2. He was selected by the Expos in the post-1968 expansion draft, but retired rather than start over with a new team.


Here are some "Larry Jackson moments" from the 1967 season:

On June 2oth, Jackson shutout the Mets 4-0 on a 1-hitter (Tommy Davis getting a leadoff double in the 2nd inning).

On July 7th, Jackson took a throw to the nose in the 6th inning against the Cardinals, while backing up home plate.

On the back of the 3rd photo above, there is a story about Reds' manager Dave Bristol fining batters for not driving in a man on 3rd with less than 2 outs. Pete Rose was the first one fined. There's a hilarious comment about Rose trying to pay his fine with trading stamps!!!

Stars of the 1960s: Johnny Callison

Here's the start of a new series on this blog - "Stars of the 1960s". (It's basically a ripoff take-off of Wrigley Wax's "All I Have of Him" series.) 

Johnny Callison was one of my favorite players on my hometown Phillies back in the 1960s. I started following baseball in 1967, so I missed his 1964 All-Star game exploits.

Callison was the one constant in the Phillies' lineup for the entire decade. Even with Richie Allen joining the squad in 1964, Allen was frequently changing positions due to his defensive shortcomings, and controversy was always swirling around him.


So now, just because...

(If I had one less Callison card, I could have squeezed the 1967 "Hurlers Beware" card into this Hollywood Squares matrix!)

CommishBob, enjoy!
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1967 Phillies Photos

I just found these in my house a few weeks ago. I bought them at the ballpark in 1967, and they have been in a folder in my desk since the 1970s (along with some old baseball card catalogs which I will be posting in the near future).

Here are 6 stars from the 1967 team. I don't know if these were the only ones issued, or if there were photos of all players, which you could collect in packs of 6. (Maybe Jim at The Phillies Room blog has these, or some more info about them.) Each photo is 5" x 7".

Jim Bunning was the ace of the pitching staff, but that didn't induce the team to make sure the negative wasn't reversed before printing these. Chris Short was the left-handed ace, and was just coming off a 20-win season.

Larry Jackson came over from the Cubs in early 1966 in exchange for Ferguson Jenkins, and was the team's #3 starter from 1966-68. Cookie Rojas upgraded from Jack-of-all-trades to starting 2nd baseman by the mid-1960s.

Dick Groat was acquired from the Cardinals along with Bill White and Bob Uecker before the 1966 season. Groat was the regular SS in 1966, but missed the first 2 months of 1967. Upon his return, he was sold to the Giants. Richie Allen was the Phillies' superstar slugger from 1964-69, and returned to the team for 1975-76.
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Trades: Dick Allen for Curt Flood? (Oct. 1969)

Another installment in the occasional series about some big trades in the 1960s: 

The Phillies closed out the decade with a major housecleaning. In separate deals, they moved sluggers Dick Allen and Johnny Callison, and also said goodbye to Cookie Rojas and Turk Farrell. By the start of the 1970 season, the only players remaining from the 1967 team were Chris Short, Tony Taylor, Johnny Briggs, Rick Wise, and Grant Jackson.

On October 7, 1969 the Phillies finally unloaded disgruntled slugger Dick "Richie" Allen. He and team management had been a thorn in each others' side for several seasons, with the Phillies' managers quitting or being fired during both the 1968 and 1969 seasons.

Allen (who had moved to 1st base for the 1969 season), along with fan favorite (but objectively speaking, serviceable) 2nd baseman Cookie Rojas and 2nd-year pitcher Jerry Johnson were dealt to the Cardinals. In return, the Phillies were getting 7-time Gold Glove center fielder Curt Flood, all-star catcher Tim McCarver, ace lefty reliever Joe Hoerner, and reserve outfielder Byron Browne. Flood and McCarver had played in 3 World Series in the past 6 years, while Hoerner participated in the '67 and '68 World Series.

Famously, Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies, setting the ball rolling for eventual player free agency.  As compensation, the Cardinals sent prospect Willie Montanez to the Phillies. Flood had just won 7 straight Gold Gloves, and was a 3-time All-Star with the Cardinals. He appeared in all 3 World Series for the Cardinals in the 1960s, and led the NL with 211 hits in 1964.

Tim McCarver was the team's starting catcher in the '64, '67, and '68 World Series, and was an All-Star in '66 and '67.  In 1967, he finished 2nd in the MVP voting.  Curiously, he led the NL with 13 triples in 1966.  (I always figured him as a lumbering plodder!)

Joe Hoerner was a Rule 5 pickup from the Astros before the 1966 season, and led the Cardinals in saves for each of his 4 seasons in St. Louis.

Byron Browne made a splash as a rookie with the Cubs in 1966 (hence the trophy), but spent most of 1967-69 in the minors.

Allen was the Phillies top slugger from 1964-69, and was among the league leaders in homers and RBI from 1964-66.  He was also the NL Rookie of the Year in 1964.

Cookie Rojas had been with the Phillies since 1963, working his way up from jack-of-all-trades to become the team's regular 2nd baseman for his final 4 seasons in Philly.

Jerry Johnson joined the Phillies during the 1968 season, and was a swing man in both '68 and '69.


SUMMARY:
So who "won" this deal?  On the surface you would think the Cardinals, because the Phillies gave up Allen and didn't get the services of Flood.

However, Allen only lasted 1 season in St. Louis before he was traded to the Dodgers for the punchless Ted Sizemore, and Rojas' stay was even less: by June he was traded to the Royals for a prospect that never panned out. Johnson was traded away a month earlier.

Although Flood never played for the Phillies, his career was done.  After sitting out the 1970 season, he had a failed 13-game comeback in 1971 with the Senators. McCarver had 2 1/2 good seasons with the Phils, then returned several years later as Steve Carlton's personal catcher.  Hoerner was the Phils' top reliever for 2 seasons, and made his only All-Star team in 1970, compiling a 9-5 record with a 2.65 ERA.  The next season his ERA shrank to 1.97. Browne was a reserve in 1970 and spent most of the next 2 seasons in the minors.

Throw-in Willie Montanez made the team in 1971, collecting 99 RBI and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting. After 3 years as a starting outfielder, he moved in to first base and was eventually flipped to the Giants in early 1975 for center fielder Garry Maddox. The reason the Phillies moved Willie?  To make room at 1st base for Dick Allen, who was re-acquired in mid-1975 and helped power the team to the playoffs in 1976.

ADVANTAGE: Phillies


Click the 'trades' label below to see all the installments in this series.
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Phillies Stadiums of Old

Who's up for a change of pace from obituaries? I know I am.

Here are 2 of my 3 Danbury Mint models that I unearthed recently. Years ago my uncle gave me one of Yankee Stadium, then I later bought these two.


Connie Mack Stadium (? - 1970): 

I went to my first Phillies game in May 1967, sitting in the upper deck bleachers in deep center field (just to the left of the flag in the 2nd photo). They were playing the Reds that day.

This model sizes the center field scoreboard incorrectly. I recall that it was taller than the outfield wall.

Veterans Stadium (1971-2003): 

My brother and I went to the first-ever game at Veterans Stadium in April 1971, sitting high in the 700-level in right field.

This model shows the Vet in later years, with the original levels of brown, tan, orange, and yellow seats (which you can see in this 1973 Ron Stone card) replaced by all blue seats.  Also new are the external towers with elevators to the retrofitted luxury boxes, and the 2 jumbo screens in center field.

1955 Granny Hamner Red Man Tobacco Card

Wow! After having none of the 1955 Red Man Tobacco cards for the first 59 years of their existence, I now have my 2nd card in three months. Now that's progress!

A few weeks ago, I returned to the same Pennsylvania Dutch-area antique store where I found this card, and snared another Phillie: the Whiz Kids' SS/2B Granny Hamner.

(The card back is identical to the Simmons card.) 

Hamner's major-league career spanned from 1944 to 1962, and he was the Phillies' regular shortstop (and later their 2nd baseman) from 1949 to 1957. Traded to the Indians during the 1959 season, he played in the minors from 1960-62 before retiring.

Jim Bunning Hall of Fame Poster

With all the recent hoopla about Jim Bunning's perfect game on Fathers' Day 50 years ago, I was reminded of a poster I picked up a few years ago.

I found this tonight, and remembered that I got it at a yard sale. They had a whole stack of them for sale, so I picked up one for me and one for my brother.

This poster is from 1996, when Bunning was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The poster is 8 1/2" x 11", with a very high gloss on the front. Surrounding Bunning's portrait are all his Topps individual baseball cards from 1957 to 1971, plus the NL Strikeout Leaders card from the 1967 set. At the bottom is the ticket from the perfect game against the Mets in June 1964.
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1955 Curt Simmons Red Man Tobacco card

Here's an unusual find - not from the 1960s, but the player was still active in the 1960s.

Last weekend I was out and about to several flea markets and antique stores in my area, and I found this Curt Simmons card. This is a 1955 Red Man Tobacco card, which appears to be cut out of a box, similar to the early-1960s Post and Jell-O cards. The bottom edge is a little rough, which I have cropped in the photo of the card front.

I had no idea these cards even existed, but this vendor had the Simmons card, along with a 1955 Granny Hamner and a 1953 Robin Roberts (both Red Man cards).

In the same display case were other assorted Topps baseball cards from the 1950s - 1970s. The only one that jumped out at me was a 1973 Roberto Clemente card, issued in the year after his untimely death.

At that point in my day, I only had enough money left for one of these cards, so the vintage Simmons card (from a set that I had no other cards from) won out over the '73 Clemente. Maybe next time, Roberto.

1967 Scrapbook - Richie Allen

Here's another installment in an occasional series called "1967 Scrapbook". In 2011 I found a baseball scrapbook I had made in 1967, containing photos that I clipped from the Philadelphia sports pages that summer. 


June 4th vs. Astros:

June 8th vs. Cubs:

Unknown date vs. Braves:

July 8th (against the Cardinals) was the only game Allen did not start in 1967 (prior to missing all games after 8/23 due to injury).