Showing posts with label Ken Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ken Johnson. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2016

1964 Topps Giant Cards (Part 4)


Wow! Aside from a bunch of 1965 Topps cards, I have bought so little product in the past few years that it's surprising that I could lose track of some of the items I did buy.

Today I found these 5 Topps Giant cards from 1964 in a box with other stuff. I don't remember where or when I bought them, but I do know it was since my last adventure. I already had 13 of these cards, and now I can add 5 more to the set. (Now all I need to get are some pages to put them in. I've seen the correct size at a store I frequent, but only in boxes of 100. No thanks!)


All three of these players were stars for their teams, but by 1967 would be on the downside of their careers.  Unfortunately for Phillies' fans, Dick Groat and Dick Ellsworth would do their regressing while with the Phils.  Leon Wagner was a slugging outfielder whose power vanished overnight in 1967.



The last two cards are for Ken Johnson and Jim Gentile. Both are wearing soon-to-be-retired uniform styles. In 1965 the Colt .45s became the Astros, and the Kansas City Athletics switched to green/gold/white uniforms about this time. After 1967 they moved to Oakland, so the caps would change again.


My 1964 Giant card scoreboard:
3 - Colt .45s
2 - Athletics, Dodgers, White Sox
1 - Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Indians, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Twins
0 - Giants, Pirates, Red Sox, Reds, Senators, Tigers, Yankees

I also found four 1964 baseball coins today, which will be a topic for a future post.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

RIP - Ken Johnson


Former 1960s' starting pitcher Ken Johnson passed away on November 21, 2015 at age 82.


Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1952, Johnson pitched from 1958-70 for 7 teams, mostly the Kansas City Athletics, Houston Colt .45s, and the Atlanta Braves.

Johnson was the Colts' top starting pitcher for their first 3 seasons. In 1964 he pitched a no-hitter against the Reds, but lost 1-0. To date, he is the only pitcher to lose a no-hitter.

New York Times obituary

Fox Sports obituary