The 1967 Reds

I last posted a 1967 team review in August 2016 (and that was after a 2-year delay since the previous one), so today’s post is long overdue. I have 7 more teams to review after the Reds, but those should occur more frequently now, since I only have about 100-120 player cards remaining (and only about a dozen stars). The upside to this delay is that most of these Reds players' cards have already been posted, so there are links to follow.

Here are the Reds, pictured in their 1966 uniforms. I think that was the last year for the vests and white hats (if Gary Nolan's and Lee May's 1968 cards are any indication). I seem to recall that the Reds spent a lot of time in first place in 1967. Unfortunately for them, September and October were not included in that run.

Only Gary Nolan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose, and Johnny Bench would still be around for Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" days.


The first 5 are the starting pitchers, in order of innings pitched:

Gary Nolan didn't even have a card in the 1967 Topps set, but as a 19-year-old rookie he led the team in starts (32), innings (226), complete games (8), and strikeouts (206, 53 more than perennial leader Maloney). He also led the starting staff in winning percentage (.636) and ERA (2.58).

Milt Pappas led the Reds with 16 wins as the #2 starter. Long-time staff ace Jim Maloney won 15 games and struck out 153 in 29 starts. In his first year as a full-time pitcher, #5 starter Mel Queen won 14 games and struck out 154.

Sammy Ellis was the team's #4 starter, but had an off year (8-11) with 80 strikeouts. Ted Abernathy was stolen from the Braves in the Rule 5 draft after the 1966 season, and led the team with 28 saves and a 1.27 ERA while pitching 70 games.

Bill McCool had primarily been a reliever since breaking in with the Reds in 1964, but started 11 games in '67 along with 20 relief appearances. Don Nottebart was just the opposite – although a starter for the Colt .45s from 1963-65, he was a reliever for the Reds in '66 and '67. In 79 relief innings, he posted a 1.93 ERA but an 0-3 record, and found himself relegated to triple-A for all of 1968.

Gerry Arrigo was a reliever and spot starter for the Reds in 1967. He and McCool were the only lefthanders on the 10-man full-season staff. Bob Lee was acquired from the Dodgers at the end of May, and pitched 50 innings in 27 games, all but one in relief.

Jack Baldschun spent most of the season in AAA, only pitching 13 innings across 9 games, all from mid-June to late-July. Ted Davidson’s season mirrored Baldschun’s – 13 innings pitched in 9 games, his all in September.


Here are the starting eight players:

Johnny Edwards was the Reds’ catcher from 1961 until 8/28/1967 – the day Johnny Bench made his 1st start. In his final season with the Reds, Deron Johnson split his time between 1st base and 3rd base.

Tommy Helms was the 1966 Rookie of the Year at 3rd base, but moved to 2nd base in 1967 and made 2 consecutive All-Star teams. Chico Cardenas was the Reds’ regular shortstop from 1962-68, making 4 All-Star teams during that time.

Tony Perez moved across the diamond to 3B in early-May 1967 to accommodate Lee May. He was an All-Star from 1967-70 and 1974-76. Perez topped 100 RBI 6 times, and 90 RBI 5 times in an 11-year stretch. Pete Rose led the league in hits 6 times in 11 years (from 1965-76), but only collected 176 hits in ’67 (his lowest total from 1965-80).

Vada Pinson started 156 games in center field, and led the NL with 13 triples in 1967. Tommy Harper started 87 games in right field, but was out of the lineup from late-May to late-July, and also the season’s final 2 weeks.


Here are the bench players, in order of at-bats:

Lee May started 68 games at 1B and 47 more in the outfield in his rookie season. He had more at-bats than all but Pinson, Perez, Rose, and Helms. Chico Ruiz started 47 games at 2B, mostly in July when Cardenas was out of the lineup (with Helms moving to SS).

Don Pavletich started 57 games at catcher (same as Edwards), but with the arrival of Bench, neither of those 2 were going to see any more playing time. Art Shamsky was a left-handed pinch-hitter, also starting a few dozen games at the corner outfield spots.

Floyd Robinson was primarily a pinch-hitter, but also started 30 games in right field. Jimmy Coker was the #3 catcher, starting 22 games (mostly in late-June and early-July when Edwards was unavailable).

Johnny Bench made his major-league debut on August 28th, and started 26 of the final 36 games. Dick Simpson had 54 at-bats in 44 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Jake Wood was acquired from the Tigers in late-June for infield depth. Gordy Coleman was the Reds’ 1st baseman for the first half of the decade, but lost playing time to Perez in 1966, and with May joining the team in ’67, was a spare part. After playing 4 games during the first month, Coleman played in AAA for the rest of the season.

Len Boehmer (shown on his 1969 Yankees Rookies card) had 2 pinch-hitting appearances during a mid-season callup. John Tsitouris was a regular starter for the Reds from 1963-65, but only pitched 2 games in 1967.


Others:

Dave Bristol was the youngest major-league manager (age 33) in 1967. Aurelio Monteagudo did not play for the Reds in 1967 (or ever, for that matter). After a 15-year career with the Reds (which began in 1944 as a 15-year old), Joe Nuxhall retired before the 1967 season.

Darrell Osteen pitched 11 games in relief for the Reds, all before mid-June. He also appeared with Lee May on the 1966 Reds Rookies card.


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

11/28/66 - Drafted Ted Abernathy from the Braves in the rule 5 draft.

12/15/66 - Traded Jim O'Toole to the White Sox for Floyd Robinson.
12/15/66 - Traded Hank Fischer to the Red Sox for pitchers Dick Stigman and Rollie Sheldon.

5/31/67 - Purchased Bob Lee from the Dodgers.

6/23/67 - Purchased Jake Wood from the Tigers.

7/15/67 - Signed Aurelio Monteagudo.

7/22/67 - Released Aurelio Monteagudo.

9/18/67 - Traded Len Boehmer to the Yankees for pitcher Bill Henry.

10/10/67 - Traded Deron Johnson to the Braves for outfielders Jim Beauchamp and Mack Jones, and pitcher Jay Ritchie.

10/11/67 - Sold Jake Wood to the Indians.

10/20/67 - Traded Floyd Robinson and Darrell Osteen to the Athletics for pitcher Ron Tompkins.

11/8/67 - Traded Art Shamsky to the Mets for infielder Bob Johnson.

11/21/67 - Traded Tommy Harper to the Indians for pitcher George Culver and 1B Fred Whitfield.

11/28/67 - Drafted Jimmie Schaffer from the Phillies in the rule 5 draft.

11/29/67 - Traded Sammy Ellis to the Angels for pitcher Bill Kelso.