10 Years Already? / Joe Moeller

Today marks the 10th anniversary of this 1967 blog (my first of many). I found Blogger a day earlier when I happened across this post on the 1969 set blog (which was run by someone else at the time). I made a non-anonymous comment there, but didn't actually have a blogger account at that time.

The next day I thought, "Hey, this is something I could really get into!" and signed up. Within a few days I had set up 3 blogs: this one, the 1968 set blog, and a 1960s Baseball blog.  The next month, a 1966 set blog soon followed, and a year later my 1963 and 1970 blogs launched. I was hooked!

I took ownership of the 1969 set blog from the previous owner in January 2012, after it had been idle for a few years.

Yes, it's a lot of blogs, but I have an interest in all the sets (well, not enough in the 1963 set, as you've probably noticed). At the 5-year mark I took a 12 month break, although at the time of my 5-year post, I wasn't sure if I would be returning.

A few months ago I was considering whether to take another break at this 10-year mark, but there's still a few projects I want to complete (1969 Final Cards, the remaining 5 team reviews, the '69 and '70 League Leaders) before I go on hiatus again. I have been slacking off this past summer, so what I thought I could finish by this week hasn't happened.

Although there's 160 unposted players and managers listed in my blog index, I am only planning on blogging around 100 of them. After that, who knows?

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So who's the high-profile player I saved for my 10th anniversary post? (Oops!) Ok, Joe Moeller will have to do.

Joe Moeller was signed by the Dodgers in 1960. He had an 8-year career (1962-71), all with the Dodgers. He was primarily a relief pitcher, except in '62, '64, and '70.

Although he spent most of 1962 and all of 1964 with Los Angeles, he was back in the minors for all of 1963 and 1965. Joe returned to the Dodgers for all of 1966, but continuing the trend, he spent parts of '67 and '68 in the minors. Along the way, the Astros selected him in the Rule 5 draft after 1967 (hence his 1968 "Houston" card) but returned him to the Dodgers the following Spring.

Joe managed to stay with the Dodgers for all of 1969-71, but those were his final big-league days.

He pitched in the minors for the Padres and Phillies in 1972 and 1973, before retiring.


 I also have Joe's 1968 card:

and this "variation" that was the first post on my 1968 blog.

Dave Morehead (#297)

Dave Morehead had an 8-year career from 1963 to 1970.  After 6 seasons with the Red Sox, he played his final 2 years with the Kansas City Royals.

Morehead was signed by Boston in 1961 and made his big-league debut in April 1963 by shutting out the Senators. A month later he pitched a 1-hitter against Washington. (If only all his starts could be against the Nats!)

For his first 3 seasons he was a starting pitcher, making around 30 starts per season, and pitching from 165 to 190 innings per year. His strikeout totals those years were 136, 139, and 163. Although he led the AL with 18 losses in 1965 (the Sox lost 100 games that year), he remained in the starting rotation, and pitched a no-hitter against the Indians in September.

The bottom fell out of his career in 1966. As the back of his card says, he had arm trouble limiting him to just 12 games. This continued to plague him through the 1969 season. Whereas he was routinely starting 30 games and pitching 160+ innings, he averaged just 11 games and about 34 innings for the Sox from 1966-68, while spending a good deal of time in the minors.

After the 1968 season, he was selected by the Royals in the expansion draft. He spent part of 1969 in the minors, and although appearing in 21 games for KayCee, only 2 were starts, and he pitched only 33 innings while compiling a 5.73 ERA.

Dave finally bounced back in 1970, starting 17 of his 28 games and posting a 3.62 ERA in 121 innings. Although only compiling a 3-5 record, his other stats were good compared to his previous 4 seasons.

Arm troubles resurfaced, and he was released during spring training in 1971.