Johnny Edwards (#202)

Here is my 220th post on this blog - 5 years to the day after my first post. I first stumbled upon the Google blogging community a day earlier, when I found and commented on this post on the 1969 Topps blog, which was formerly owned by Pack Addict (now known as SociallyAwkwardJellyFish). 

I began this 1967 blog on 9/25/2009 with two posts. Three days later I published FIVE posts! Within that first week I also started the 1960s Baseball and 1968 Topps blogs, and a few weeks later, the 1966 Topps blog. The 1970 and 1963 Topps blogs came along about a year after that. In January 2012 I took over the 1969 Topps blog (from Pack Addict), which had been idle for almost 2 years. 

Along the way, I have learned something about a lot of these players (especially the pre-1967 players, which was before my card-collecting time as a kid), and also “met” a lot of interesting bloggers, starting with Jim @ The Phillies Room, Paul @ Wrigley Wax, Steve @ White Sox Cards, CommishBob @ 1959 Topps, and Matt @ 1976, 77, 78 Topps, to name but a few. 

Anyway, it’s been a great 5-year ride. 

Johnny Edwards had the distinction of keeping the Reds’ catching gear warm for another Johnny (Bench) from 1962 thru Bench’s debut in September 1967. Edwards had a 14-year major-league career: 7 seasons with the Reds, 1 with the Cardinals, and 6 with the Astros.

Edwards was signed by the Reds in 1959, and after 2 1/2 seasons as a starting catcher in the minors, he was promoted to the Reds in late-June 1961, and shared the staring assignments with incumbent Jerry Zimmerman (who was also in his rookie season). Johnny hit .364 with 2 doubles in the 1961 World Series.

Zimmerman was traded to the Twins after the season, paving the way for Johnny to become the full-time catcher in 1962. He started 124 games in ’62, his first of 6 consecutive seasons as the Reds’ #1 catcher. Edwards made the all-star team every season from 1963-65, and won 2 Gold Gloves during that span. The high point in playing time was his 141 starts in 1963, after which he shared the catching load with Don Pavletich (his minor-league teammate in 1961).

Always a top defensive catcher, Johnny put up good offensive numbers until breaking a finger during spring training 1966. Edwards started 84 games that season, with Pavletich starting 46 and Jimmie Coker 30. 1967 was Edwards’ last in Cincinnati. He and Pavletich both started 57 games, but Johnny Bench was called up in late August and started 26 of the final 32 games. The Bench Era had started.

Edwards was traded to the Cardinals after the 1967 season for backup catcher Pat Corrales and minor-league infielder (and future manager) Jimy Williams. After one season backing up Tim McCarver (and appearing in the 1968 World Series), Edwards was traded to the Astros (who had lost both their incumbent catchers (John Bateman and Ron Brand) to the Expos in the expansion draft) for pitcher Dave Giusti and catcher Dave Adlesh.

Johnny spent the next 4 seasons (1969-72) as the Astros’ #1 catcher. By 1972, ex-Reds teammates Lee May and Tommy Helms joined Edwards in Houston, via the Joe Morgan deal.

Edwards began the 1973 season as the #1 catcher, but by mid-June had given way to 2nd-year catcher Skip Jutze, who played the majority of games in the 2nd half. 1974 was Johnny’s final season, and he was relegated to the bench, in favor of ex-Pirates’ backstop Milt May.

One of the SABR gurus has rated Edwards as the 2nd-best defensive catcher in baseball history.

Hey Arnold!

After a 3-week absence, Robert over at the $30 a Week Habit blog is resuming his 16-set tournament, where bloggers vote for which set he should complete next. The Final Four is down to the 1959, 1963, 1967, and 1974 sets.

Besides all the reasons given in the previous round, how can you NOT vote for a set with this card?


(I discovered today that this was Earley's only Topps card, despite having played full seasons for the Red Sox from 1962 to 1965.)

Fred Gladding (#192)

Fred Gladding was a relief pitcher from 1961 to 1973. He played his first 7 seasons with the Tigers, and the last 6 with the Astros. In 450 career games, he only made one start. At age 78, he is the oldest living player from the 1966-70 era that I haven’t featured on my blogs yet.

Gladding was signed by the Tigers in 1956, and pitched in their farm system from 1956 to 1960, mostly as a starting pitcher. Fred also spent most of the ’61 and ’62 seasons in the minors, but was used more and more as a reliever.

Fred made his major-league debut in July 1961, making 8 appearances in July and August. He also played 6 games early in 1962 before returning to the minors.

He returned to the Tigers for good in late-July 1963, and manned Detroit’s bullpen for the next 4 ½ seasons. Gladding was always behind either Larry Sherry or Terry Fox (or both) until 1967, when he led the team with 12 saves. (Wow, that seems low by today’s standards!) He also had a 1.99 ERA that season.

Fred missed out on the Tigers' 1968 championship team, as he was sent to the Astros after the 1967 season to complete an earlier trade for Eddie Mathews.

Gladding missed all but 7 games in 1968, but returned the following season to head up the Astros’ bullpen. At age 33, he was the oldest player on the roster, and managed to lead the NL with 29 saves.

Although he never again duplicated his 1969 numbers, he continued to lead the Astros in saves from 1970 to 1972.

Fred began the 1973 season where he left off in ’72, but after pitching in 16 games by early June, he spent the 2nd half of the season in the minors, and was released in October.

From Wikipedia:
“Gladding has the distinction of having the lowest non-zero lifetime batting average in major league history. For his career he batted .016 (1 for 63).”