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.

Wes Parker (#218)

Wes Parker played for 9 seasons (1964-72) and all for the Dodgers. He was the regular 1st baseman every season from 1965-72, making over 495 plate appearances every year (705 in 1970!) and won the Gold Glove award in his last 6 seasons.

I wonder why he retired after 9 seasons, at age 32? It seems he was still going strong. Maybe Night Owl knows the answer.

Parker was signed by the Dodgers and played only 1 season (1963) in the minors (split between A and AA). He debuted with the Dodgers in April 1964 and played in 124 games as a rookie, although only starting 47 games (28 at 1st base, 19 in the outfield).

In 1965, Wes began his 8-year stint as the Dodgers’ regular 1st baseman, with incumbent Ron Fairly moving to right field. Parker started the majority of the games there over that span (including every game in 1970). He also occasionally started in the outfield, with Fairly or others filling in at first base.

Parker won the Gold Glove award in his final 6 seasons, but curiously was never an All-Star. The fact that he was a corner infielder whose season-high homerun output was 13 probably affected his All-Star chances. He was named to the All-time Gold Glove team in 2007.

After retiring following the 1973 season, he broadcast Cincinnati Reds’ games for a year, then played in Japan in 1974.

Returning from Japan after 1 season, he began an acting career, appearing on (of course) The Brady Bunch and other TV shows. He returned to broadcasting from 1978-83.

Bob Miller (#461)

During his 17-year career, Bob Miller played for 10 of the 24 MLB teams, tying a modern-day record (since broken). He also played for 3 teams in the same season THREE TIMES!

Miller began his pro career in June 1957 as a bonus baby, pitching for the Cardinals (with no prior minor-league experience). After pitching 9 innings over 5 games that season, it was back to the minors for all of 1958.

He split the ’59 and ’60 seasons between the Cardinals and their minor-league teams. Bob was back in the majors to stay in 1961, pitching in 34 games (5 starts) in his final season with the Cardinals.

Prior to the 1962 season, Miller was selected by the Mets in the expansion draft. (Bob was one of 2 pitchers named Bob Miller on the ’62 Mets. ) After compiling a 1-12 record for the wretched expansion team, he was traded to the Dodgers in the off-season for first baseman Tim Harkness and 2nd baseman Larry Burright.

Bob really got his career on-track during his 5 seasons with the Dodgers. Mostly a reliever, he also started 23 games in 1963 and a few more over the next 4 seasons. In ’63 he reached a career-high 10 wins (pretty good for a reliever) and in ’64 he led the NL with 74 appearances. His ERA was also under 3.00 in each of his first 4 seasons.

Miller closed out 2 games in the 1965 World Series vs. the Twins, and also pitched 3 innings in a game vs. the Orioles in the ’66 World Series.

With Jim Brewer emerging as a fine reliever, the Dodgers traded both Miller and Ron Perranoski (along with starting catcher John Roseboro) to the Twins after the 1967 season for shortstop Zoilo Versalles and pitcher Mudcat Grant.

The Dodgers were trying to plug the hole they created at shortstop by trading Maury Wills a year earlier, but that trade was a disaster. Roseboro had 2 solid seasons with the Twins and made the All-Star team in 1969, Perranoski led the AL in saves in ’69 and ’70, and Miller went on to pitch for 7 more seasons. Meanwhile Versalles was a bust after leaving Minnesota - after batting .196 in 1968, he was selected by the Padres in the expansion draft, but quickly flipped to the Indians for minor-leaguer Bill Davis (he of the 5 Rookie Stars cards). What a waste, eh Night Owl?

After two seasons in Minnesota (including an appearance in the 1969 ALCS), Miller spent the final 5 years of his career bouncing around to 7 teams: Indians (’70), White Sox (’70), Cubs (’70-’71), Padres (’71), Pirates (’71-’72), Padres again (’73), Tigers (’73), and back to the Mets (’73-’74).

Bob also pitched in the ’71 and ’72 post-season for the Pirates, and closed 2 games in the 1972 World Series.

After his playing career, Miller was the pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays during their first 3 seasons (1977-79) and later was a coach and scout for the Giants.

He passed away in August 1993 from a car accident at age 54.

Willie Davis (#160)

After more than 5 years and 750+ posts on my various blogs, there are still about a dozen all-star caliber players I have not featured yet. Willie Davis is one of those.

This is one of my poorer-conditioned ’67 cards. I remember that many of my early-series cards that year were won in a variety of “flipping” games, so the corners are not very sharp. I have replaced many of these over the past 20 years, and Davis is certainly a candidate for an upgrade.

Willie Davis was signed by the Dodgers in 1958, and made his major-league debut in September 1960. He started 21 of the last 22 games in center field, taking over the position from Tommy Davis (no relation).

In 1961 he started 84 games in the middle, and was backed up by Tommy. (T. Davis was a 3B/LF/CF swingman during the 1961 season, having not settled in as the Dodgers’ left fielder until 1962.)

Willie was the team’s everyday center fielder from 1962 through the 1973 season. During that time, he led the NL in triples twice (’62, ’70), made 2 All-Star teams (’71, ’73), and won a Gold Glove in 1972. Aside from catcher John Roseboro, Willie was the only other Dodgers’ regular that didn’t move around the field to a variety of positions.

After the 1973 season, Davis was traded to the Expos for pitcher Mike Marshall. He was only north-of-the-border for one season, moving on to Texas after 1974 for pitcher Don Stanhouse and infielder (and current Phillies’ manager) Pete Mackanin.

Davis was flipped to the Cardinals in June 1975, and moved on to the Padres after the season. San Diego released him after the 1976 season, and Willie played in Japan for the ’77 and ’78 seasons. [Wow – before today I thought he only ever played for the Dodgers!] 

Davis hooked on with the Angels during spring training in 1979, and played in 43 games (mostly as a pinch-hitter) that season. He wrapped up his career playing in Mexico in 1980.

Davis passed away in 2010 at age 69.

2015 Post-Season - Dodgers vs. Mets

In 1967, the Dodgers were fresh off 3 World Series appearances in 4 years (winning in '63 and '65), but '67 to '69 were uncharacteristically lean years for the team - the longest stretch of underachievement during Walter Alston's tenure.

(note to self: I need to upgrade my Willie Davis card! )


The Mets finished in their customary last place in 1967, Tom Seaver's rookie season. The following year would be the first for Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Tommy Agee, and manager Gil Hodges in the Big Apple. One year later they won it all.

Ron Perranoski (#197)

Here is relief pitcher Ron Perranoski, shown on his last card as an LA Dodger. After the 1967 season, he was traded to the Twins with catcher John Roseboro and pitcher Bob Miller for pitcher Mudcat Grant and shortstop Zoilo Versalles. 

(This deal looks like a steal for the Twins. Versalles was the 1965 AL MVP, but was a bust in his one season with the Dodgers. After 1968, he was lost (read: unloaded) to the expansion Padres. Even the Padres didn’t keep him – he was flipped to the Indians for a career minor-leaguer before the ’69 season. Grant only pitched one season for the Dodgers, while the 3 new Twins each had several productive seasons in Minnesota.) 


After pitching for Michigan State University (where one of his teammates was Dick Radatz), Ron was signed by the Cubs in 1958. He spent 2 seasons as a starting pitcher in their farm system, then was traded to the Dodgers in April 1960 for infielder Don Zimmer.

After a season on the Dodgers’ farm, Perranoski made his major-league debut in April 1961. During his 7 seasons in LA, he led the league in appearances 3 times (’62, ’63, ’67). In 1963, his 16-3 record gave him a league-leading .842 winning percentage. He also had a career-low 1.63 ERA that season.

Ron led the Dodgers in saves every season from 1962 to 1965, and again in 1967. He also pitched in the World Series in ’63, ’65, and ’66.


After his trade to Minnesota, Perranoski continued to perform well. Pitching behind veteran Al Worthington in 1968, he then became the Twins’ closer in ’69 and ’70, leading the team in saves both years. Ron also pitched in the ALCS in 1969 and 1970.

On July 30th, 1971 he was claimed off waivers by the Tigers, and pitched the rest of that season and the 1st half of 1972 in Detroit, before getting his release exactly one year later.

A week later (August 7th) the Dodgers picked him up for the remainder of the 1972 season. Perranoski finished his career by pitching for the Angels in 1973. He was released in October 1973, although he hadn't pitched since mid-June.

Perranoski pitched in 737 games over his 13-year career, all in relief except for 1 game during his rookie season. 

After his playing career, he was the Dodgers’ minor-league pitching instructor from 1973-80, and their major-league pitching coach from 1981-94. Since then, he has held various positions for the rival Giants.

Spring Break at Vero Beach, FL

While uploading images for all the 1967 Dodgers to Zistle today, I noticed there seemed to be a lot of spring training photos. (The cards for Phil Regan and Claude Osteen almost seem to be the same photo!)

Whether these photos were taken in spring training 1966 or 1967, the Dodgers were fresh off a championship season.

They seem to be enjoying the championship glow, whether pitching:

hitting:

or just standing around doing nuttin:

 Ahhhh Spring. Night Owl, you shoulda been there...

The 1967 Dodgers

After being swept by the Orioles in the 1966 World Series (including 3 complete game shutouts), Sandy Koufax retired, and the Dodgers embarked on a 3-year tour to oblivion, their only one in the Walter Alston era. In those 23 seasons, the Dodgers finished in first place 7 times, and second place 9 times. From 1967 to 1969 was the only time they finished lower than second place for 3 consecutive seasons.

Based on everyone's games played, it seems that the Dodgers used 9 pitchers and 16 position players in 1967.


The Dodgers went with a 4-man rotation in 1967. These four accounted for 140 starts in 1967. With Koufax retired, Don Drysdale (13-16) was now in charge. Claude Osteen (17-17) was the only southpaw among the starters. Sophomore Don Sutton (11-15) and rookie Bill Singer (12-8) rounded out the rotation.


The bullpen was headed up by veteran lefty Ron Perranoski (16 saves). He was the only pitcher among the top 8 to appear strictly in relief. Righthanders Phil Regan and Bob Miller complemented Perranoski, as did southpaw Jim Brewer. Brewer appeared in about half as many games as the other 3 relievers, and 11 of those were as a starter.


Other pitchers: 30-year-old Dick Egan (who has been in the minors for most of his 10 year career) appeared in 20 games for the Dodgers, all in relief. This was Egan’s last season. Rookie Alan Foster appeared in 4 games, veteran Bob Lee made 4 relief appearances before he was sold to the Reds on May 31, and Joe Moeller (who played all of 1966 with the Dodgers) relieved in 6 games, but spent most of 1967 and 1968 in triple-A.


Except for center fielder Willie Davis, the Dodgers did a lot of shuffling at the 8 positions. These 8 played the most at each position.

John Roseboro started 93 games, and had been the team’s #1 catcher since the days of Roy Campanella. Wes Parker started 94 games at first base, and another 15 in centerfield. Ron Hunt was acquired from the Mets before the season, and started 89 games at 2nd base, pushing last year’s regular over to 3rd base.

Rookie Gene Michael came over from the Pirates in the Maury Wills deal, and shared the shortstop job (66 starts) with veteran Dick Schofield (56). He apparently didn’t impress, because he moved on to the Yankees after the season. Michael would eventually manage and GM the Yankees.

1965 rookie of the year Jim Lefebvre moved over to 3rd base after starting most games at 2B in 1966. He made 89 starts at 3B and another 33 at 2B this season. Lou Johnson was the primary leftfielder, with 73 starts. Willie Davis started 135 games in center, leading the team in starts at any one position. Ron Fairly (63 starts) shared the rightfield duties with Al Ferrara (62). Ron also started 62 games at 1st base.


Here are the subs, in order of their playing time: Al Ferrara was the co-starter in right field, along with backing up Johnson in left. Bob Bailey was acquired from the Pirates in the off-season for Maury Wills. He made 65 starts at 3B and 23 in left field.

Veteran Dick Schofield (like Bailey, seen here in his Pirates uni) started 56 games at shortstop. You may know that Schofield is ex-Phillie Jayson Werth’s grandfather. Len Gabrielson was acquired by the Dodgers on May 10th for infielder John Werhas. He was the team’s 5th outfielder, backing up the corner spots.


Nate Oliver was the middle infield reserve, also starting 23 games at 2B and 29 at short. Jeff Torborg made 63 starts as Roseboro’s backup, and was one of several 1967 Dodgers (along with Lefebvre and Michael) to become managers after their playing careers.

Jim Hickman came from the Mets in the Tommy Davis for Ron Hunt trade, and was used as a pinch-hitter and outfield reserve in his only season with the Dodgers. Jim Campanis was the 3rd-string catcher. He was with the team for the entire season, but played in only 41 games, half of them as a pinch-hitter. He was also the GM’s son.


Other bit players for the Dodgers: In a late-season fact-finding mission, Luis Alcaraz started 17 of the final 18 games at 2nd base, while Tommy Dean started 11 of the final 12 games at shortstop.

Willie Crawford played in 4 games, and was the only one of this foursome to have a decent career. Bruce Brubaker pitched ONE INNING for the Dodgers in 1967, and had no previous major-league experience. How does he get a card?


This was the 3rd and last (partial) season for John Werhas. He was dealt to the Angels for Len Gabrielson. Walter Alston managed the Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, all on one-year contracts!

John Kennedy did not play for the Dodgers in 1967. He shared the 3B position with Jim Gilliam in 1966, but was traded to the Yankees a few days before the start of the ’67 season, and spent the year as backup 3B-SS in the Bronx. Jim Barbieri also did not play in 1967. His big-league career consisted of 82 at-bats in 1966, but he did appear in the 1966 World Series. He also appeared in the Little League World Series in 1954.


Tom Hutton had cups of coffee with the Dodgers in 1966 and 1969. His career was really with the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Expos from 1972-81. This picture of Gene Michael is one of only 4 airbrushed photos in the 1967 set.


Transactions from the end of the 1966 season to the end of 1967:

10/31/66 – Released infielder Jim Gilliam.

11/21/66 – Released Wes Covington and Dick Stuart.

11/29/66 – Traded Tommy Davis and Derrell Griffith to the Mets for Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman.

12/1/66 – Traded Maury Wills to the Pirates for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael.

12/7/66 – Traded pitcher Howie Reed to the Angels for Dick Egan.

12/15/66 – Traded pitcher Nick Willhite to the Angels for Bob Lee.

4/3/67 – Traded John Kennedy to the Yankees for 2 minor leaguers.

4/26/67 – Traded pitcher Dick Calmus to the Cubs for pitcher Fred Norman.

5/10/67 – Traded John Werhas to the Angels for Len Gabrielson.

5/31/67 – Sold Bob Lee to the Reds.

6/6/67 – Drafted catcher Steve Yeager.

11/28/67 – Lost Joe Moeller in the Rule 5 draft to the Astros.

11/28/67 – Traded Ron Perranoski, Bob Miller, and John Roseboro to the Twins for pitcher Jim Grant and shortstop Zoilo Versalles.

11/30/67 – Sold Gene Michael to the Yankees.

11/30/67 – Traded Lou Johnson to the Cubs for infielder Paul Popovich.

12/1/67 – Released Dick Schofield.


Next team review: Baltimore Orioles
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Final Card: John Werhas

"INFIELD"... Is there anything that screams "short-timer" more than "INFIELD"? (other than "INF-OF", of course)

This is the final baseball card for John Werhas (#514). Werhas was signed by the Dodgers in 1960, and after 2 seasons in the low minors, he spent 5 seasons with the Dodgers' triple-A Spokane team, mostly as a 3rd baseman. During this time, he also played 29 games in 1964 and 4 games in 1965 with the Dodgers.

1967 was John's first full season in the major leagues. It would also be his last major-league season. After 7 games with the Dodgers, on May 10th he was traded to the Angels for outfielder Len Gabrielson. Werhas appeared in 49 games for the Angels in 1967, mostly as a backup 3rd baseman to Paul Schaal.



After spending the 1968 season with the Phillies' triple-A San Diego Padres, John played 2 seasons with the Angels' triple-A Hawaii team. He missed the 1971 season, then was back for 2 more seasons in Hawaii (by now the Padres' triple-A team).

Al Ferrara (#557)

Night Owl, I just read your 9/30/09 post that included the 1967 Dodgers team card. You said you wouldn't collect 1967 cards because the high numbers were too hard to find. Here's a high number AND a Dodger for you.


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.



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.

Jim Barbieri (#76) / Cubs Rookies (#272)

Jim Barbieri's major-league career consisted of 39 games with the Dodgers in 1966. (20 games in the outfield (17 starts), and another 19 games as a pinch-hitter.) This first-series card indicates that he was sent down to Spokane in October 1966. A check of his career stats shows that he never returned to the major leagues, and wrapped up his minor-league career in 1969. Although his card says "INF-OF", there's no evidence that he played anywhere but the outfield in LA or the minors.


Although his time in the majors was short, he did appear in the 1966 World Series. He also appeared in the 1954 Little League World Series, the first person to appear in both series. This link also tells us that his teammate on the 1954 little league team was Bill Connors (below).


Cubs Rookies (#272)

Bill Connors minor league career lasted 10 years, all with the Cubs and Mets. He had a few major-league appearances from 1966 to 1968.

Dave Dowling's career is even less impressive than Bill Connors. He kicked around the Cardinals, Cubs, and Giants farm systems from 1964 to 1968, and appeared in 2 major-league games.

Classic Crew Cuts (part 3)

More Classic Crew Cuts (LA Dodgers edition):

First up is Dick Egan (#539), who has spent most of his 10 years so far in the minor leagues, with brief appearances for the Tigers and Angels.

Because of the absence of much recent major league service time, and the fact that this is a high-number card, I think Egan was a last-minute addition to the 1967 series by Topps, based on his early-1967 performance. After 1967, he was back in the minors for 2 more years, before retiring.


(After Tom Egan and Dick Egan on consecutive nights, we are now fresh out of Egans.)


Next is Dick Schofield (#381). It looks like you could make a chip shot off his crew cut. Dick's longest stint was with the Pirates in the early 1960s. (We see him still in his Pirates uniform here, even after 2 1/2 years.) Dick's son (Dick Schofield) played shortstop for the Angels, and the Phillies' rightfielder Jayson Werth is his grandson.




Here we have Bob Lee (#313). After 8 years in the minors, and 3 with the Angels, Bob is now coming across town to the Dodgers. He looks more like a cast member of The Bowery Boys than a ball player.




Elsewhere in Los Angeles in 1967, another crew cut was making appearances:

Bruce Brubaker - Why does he have a card?

Here we have card #276 - Bruce Brubaker. Although the card back says the Dodgers acquired Bruce from the Tigers' organization, he spent the 1966 season (on loan?) with the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego, so I suspect that's a Phillies uniform he's wearing (with red windbreaker under his jersey, of course!)

The most interesting part (ok, the only interesting part) about this card are his stats on the back. To date, Bruce had not racked up any appearances for a major league team, yet he somehow managed to get a full baseball card all to himself.



Why does he have a card?