Al Ferrara was a promising young outfielder for the Dodgers in the mid-1960s. The back of this card states that since outfielder Lou Johnson broke his ankle on 4/26/67, Ferrara would likely see increased playing time.
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Not so, because Len Gabrielson had to go and join the Dodgers on May 10th, making frequent starts in the Dodgers outfield. (Since Willie Davis and Ron Fairly were fixtures in CF and RF, there was only one spot left for the others.) Unfortunately for Ferrara, Lou Johnson was back in 6 weeks, and put a hammerlock on the left field job, leaving Ferrara and Gabrielson fighting for table scraps.
In 1968, Ferrara broke his leg in the second game, and was lost for the season.
Fortunately for Al, 1969 brought 2 new NL teams via expansion, and Ferrara was drafted by the San Diego Padres. He immediately became their starting left fielder, playing in 138 games in both 1969 and 1970.
In 1971, he only appeared in 17 games with the Padres before being traded to the Reds on May 13th. His last game was on September 1st, 1971.
Also check out Ferrara's 1966 card.
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4 comments:
My exception to the rule: I'll collect high number 1967 Dodgers. I have the Ferrara card already. I think I'm missing just two of the high-number Dodgers.
Dick Egan is further down in this blog.
Sometime late in the Carter administration, Al Ferrara came to our house in Northern California one evening (by appointment) as a sales rep for a company that installed home insulation. In his briefcase, he had several of his own cards and gave me one of his 1969's.
In my mind's eye, I can still see him in our family room in a 70's salesman's suit and big sideburns. Really happy, gregarious guy, always smiling. That baseball card was more like a business card for him. Only 8 or 9 years old, I'd never heard of him before (he acted surprised).
Did he not play a piano concert at Carnegie Hall as a teen?
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