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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Shortest Player Names

A few days ago, I happened across a comment that I left on Night Owl’s 1971 Topps Mets Rookies post last year, where I wondered about how many players had one-syllable first and last names.

I checked through all the 1966-1970 baseball cards, and found just over 100 players, way more than I had expected. I started out with an idea to tile-post all their cards. As the list grew, that changed into just posting a list of the players.

Since it was over 100 names, I'm taking a different approach: Who has the shortest name? (I think 1980s' Pirates' catcher Ed Ott has that claim, but I’m just focusing on players from 1966-1970.)

I found eight people that could get the job done with SIX letters:

Actually, I’m going to disqualify Joey Jay, because nobody other than Topps ever referred to him as "Joe".

Extra credit to Gus Gil for the alliteration!



But wait! With only ONE additional letter, Eli Grba (GUR-ba) managed to squeeze in 2 more syllables.

Philadelphia was no place for a young player in 1967

After trading away rookie pitcher Ferguson Jenkins for 2 old-timers (Larry Jackson, Bob Buhl) in early 1966, the Phillies apparently thought old = good, as they loaded up on aging veterans in the off-season. Pitchers Pedro Ramos, Ruben Gomez, Dick Hall, and Joey Jay were all brought in to supplement Bob Buhl and Terry Fox in the bullpen. First baseman Jim Gentile was signed to give the equally-old Bill White some time off.

This preference for geezers soon went by the wayside, as Jay, Fox, and Gentile never made it out of spring training (the latter two spending the year with the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego, while surprisingly, Joey Jay wrapped up a long career by pitching for the Phillies single-A team in Tidewater). By mid-June, the Phillies had also dumped Buhl, Ramos, and Gomez, along with aging position players Dick Groat and Jackie Brandt. For good measure, little-used pitcher Dallas Green was let go 2 weeks before season's end.