Ty Cline (#591)

The back of this high-numbered card says "[Ty Cline will] be Atlanta's #1 left-handed pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder", but by the time this card had come out in late-summer, Ty was long gone. He was sold to the Giants in late-May, with Gary Geiger continuing in the “Atlanta’s #1 left-handed pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder” role that he had also manned in 1966.

Cline began his career with the Indians' organization in 1960, and although he played in the majors every year from 1960-66, his only full big-league seasons at that time were in 1962 (with the Indians), and 1964-65 (Braves).

After appearing in 10 games for Atlanta in 1967, he moved on to the Giants in May, filling the 5th outfielder role for the remainder of 1967.

With regular outfielder Ollie Brown missing most of the 2nd half in 1968, Cline saw more action in the outfield than he normally would have, splitting the left field assignments with 3rd-baseman Jim Ray Hart, while also filling in at the other 2 spots.

After the 1968 season, Cline was drafted by the expansion Montreal Expos, and was 1 of 9 center fielders used by the Expos in their 1st season.

Ty must have began the 1970 season on the DL, because his first game wasn't until June 10th. After a 2nd appearance 3 days later, Cline was traded to the Reds. Good for him! He went from worst-to-first, as the Reds made it to the World Series that season. Cline had 1 at-bat in the NLCS (a triple), and 3 at-bats in the Series (.333).

After one more season on the Reds' bench, Cline was released in January 1972.

Chico Cardenas (#325)

Here is Reds’ shortstop Chico Cardenas (not to be confused with another Reds’ middle infielder, Chico Ruiz).

Cardenas was signed by Cincinnati in 1956, and at age 17 began his pro career with the Class C Tucson Cowboys in the Arizona-Mexico league.

After 2 seasons at Class A Savannah, Cardenas was promoted to the Reds’ AAA team in Havana Cuba, his native land. He played there in 1959 and for part of 1960. (Later that season, the team moved out of Cuba, to Jersey City).

Chico made his major-league debut with the Reds on July 25, 1960. Cardenas immediately took over the starting shortstop job for the next 38 games, replacing injured veteran Roy McMillan, who had been the starter for the past decade. McMillan and Cardenas shared the post for the month of September.

In December 1960 McMillan was traded to the Braves, but Cardenas was still the backup, this time to Eddie Kasko. Chico played in 74 games in 1961, starting 43.

Chico took over the starting shortstop job in the 2nd week of the 1962 season, and held onto it through the 1968 season. He made 4 All-Star teams with the Reds, and collected over 600 plate appearances 4 times. In 1966 he showed surprising power with 20 home runs.

After the 1968 season, Cardenas was traded to the Twins for pitcher Jim Merritt, and was their starting SS for the next 2 seasons, while again making the All-Star team in 1971.

Chico played one year with the Angels (1972), which would be his final season as a regular. (Acquiring Cardenas allowed the Angels to trade Jim Fregosi to the Mets for Nolan Ryan.)

He spent the final 3 seasons of his career as a utility player for the Indians (’73) and Rangers (’74-’75).

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.

Jim Maloney (#80)

Here is Jim Maloney’s 1st series (no dot between name and position) card. Maloney was the Red’s ace in the mid-1960s, and with the trading away of Joey Jay in June 1966 and Jim O'Toole after the ’66 season, he was the only remaining pitcher from the Reds’ 1961 World Series team.

Maloney was signed by the Reds in 1959 and made his big-league debut in late-July 1960, starting 10 of his 11 games during the second half.

In 1961 he was a swing man, starting 11 games while working out of the ‘pen in 16 others. He was primarily a starter in 1962.

Maloney was 1st or 2nd among Reds’ starters in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched from 1963 to 1966. He was also consistently among the league leaders in strikeouts during that time, piling up more than 200 each season.

Jim won at least 20 games in ’63 and ’65, and was in double-digit wins every season from 1963 to 1969. He also made the All-Star team in 1965 – hard to do with all the Koufaxes, Marichals, Gibsons, Drysdales, and Bunnings under foot.

Maloney pitched his first no-hitter in 1965 against the Cubs, and in 1969, he and the Astros’ Don Wilson pitched back-to-back no-hitters against each other’s team, the 2nd time that had been done.

A ruptured Achilles tendon in 1970 limited him to 16 innings pitched over 7 games, and derailed his chance to stick around for the Big Red Machine era. Maloney was traded to the Angels for pitcher Greg Garrett. (Garrett’s major-league career consisted on 74 innings for the Angels in 1970, and 8 innings for the reds in 1971.) Jim pitched 30 innings over 13 games for the Angels in 1971, then was released in early-January 1972.

The next day he was picked up by the Cardinals (I think he is shown as a Cardinal in the 1972 Topps set) but was released on April 9th, before playing any games. The Giants signed him a few weeks later and assigned him to their AAA team, where he pitched in 7 games team before retiring in mid-June.

In his 12-year career, he won 134 games (all with the Reds). Maloney was inducted into the Reds’ Hall of Fame in 1973.

Matty Alou (#10)

Matty Alou (the middle of the 3 Alou brothers) played the outfield for 15 seasons, mostly for the Giants and Pirates.

Alou was signed by the Giants in 1957, and played 4 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in the final week of the 1960 season, 2 ½ years after his brother Felipe joined the team.

Matty spent the next 4 seasons as the Giants’ 5th outfielder, behind Willie Mays, brother Felipe, whichever of Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey wasn’t playing 1st base, and the veteran Harvey Kuenn.

After Felipe was traded away following the 1963 season, it looked like things would open up for Matty, but his younger brother Jesus joined the team that year and jumped ahead of him in the outfield mix.

Not until 1965, when Cepeda missed most of the season to injuries and Kuenn moved on did Alou get a starting position. (Actually, he shared left field with Len Gabrielsen, but Matty’s time as a backup at the other 2 spots pushed him up to #3 in overall playing time.)

After the 1965 season, he was traded to the Pirates for pitcher Joe Gibbon and catcher Ozzie Virgil. Although Alou batted .310 and .292 in part-time duty in ’61 and ’62, it wasn’t until he got to Pittsburgh that his bat exploded (maybe due to the influence of manager Harry Walker?).

Alou was immediately installed as the Pirates’ center fielder, and collected over 575 plate appearances in each of his five seasons with the Pirates. His batting average soared, reaching .342 (NL best), .338 (2nd to Pete Rose), .332, .331, and .297 for those 5 seasons. Alou also made the all-star team in 1968 and 1969, and led the NL in hits (231), doubles (41), and plate appearances (746) in 1969.

Matty’s final games as a Pirate were in the 1970 NLCS. With young Al Oliver waiting in the wings, the Pirates dealt Alou while he was at the top of his game, sending him to the Cardinals (with pitcher George Brunet) for pitcher Nelson Briles and outfielder Vic Davalillo prior to the ’71 season.

Alou started 144 games for the Cardinals in 1971, dividing his time between center field and 1st base. The following season he was the primary first baseman (while also playing in right field) until his August trade to the Athletics. Matty finished out the rest of that season (including the ALCS and World Series) with Oakland, then was traded to the Yankees in the off-season.

Alou played most of 1973 with the Yankees, sharing the first base and right field starting assignments with his brother Felipe. In September Matty was sold back to the Cardinals, who flipped him to the Padres after the season.

Matty played 48 games for the Padres in 1974 before his release in mid-July. He then played in Japan from 1974 through 1976.

Alou passed away in November 2011 at age 72.

Final Card: Ray Barker

This is the last of four cards for Ray Barker (#583). Ray's first card appeared in 1961, a solo card with a yellow "rookie" star, as was the custom that year. He also appeared on a 4-man Indians Rookies card in 1965, and his own Yankees card in 1966.

Barker was signed by the Orioles in 1955, and spent ten seasons in the Orioles' and Indians' minor-league organizations. After finally making the Indians at the start of 1965, he was traded to the Yankees in mid-May for 2nd baseman Pedro Gonzalez. Ray was productive in his rookie year, starting 43 games at 1st base (behind Joe Pepitone's 113 starts) and hitting 7 homers.



His stats dipped in 1966, as he made only 82 plate appearances and 14 starts at first base. Rookie 1st baseman Mike Hegan came up in September and started most games at 1B for the last 2 weeks of the season, essentially ending Barker's Yankee career.

With Mickey Mantle moving in to 1st base for the 1967 season, and Hegan getting more playing time, Barker was done in New York, playing his last big-league game on May 21st. He spent most of 1967 in the minors with Syracuse and, after a July 4th trade for Orioles' pitcher Steve Barber, Rochester.

Dick Ellsworth (#359)

No Phillies card in over a year! That won't do...

Dick Ellsworth was signed by the Cubs in 1958. He joined their starting rotation in 1960, and was a fixture in the rotation for 7 seasons, winning 22 games in 1963, but losing a league-high 22 games in 1966.

Naturally, the Phillies decided that the time was right to trade for him - another veteran Cubs' starting pitcher on the downside of his career. At least it only cost them Ray Culp this time!



Ellsworth only lasted one season with the Phillies (and was only in the rotation for the first half of the season). In December 1967, he was traded to the Red Sox (with catcher Gene Oliver, whose stay in Philadelphia was shorter than Ellsworth's) for young catcher Mike Ryan.

Dick pitched for the Sox until April 1969, when he was part of a 3-for-3 swap with the Indians. Ellsworth wrapped up his career with the Brewers from August 1970 to June 1971.


Topps was not kind to Dick Ellsworth in the late 1960s. Besides the big-head photo above, he had similarly goofy photos in 1968 and 1969. At least it was him, though. On his 1966 card, Topps used a photo of Ken Hubbs, who had been dead for 2 years!

Jesse Gonder (#301)

Jesse Gonder was one of 3 Pirates catchers featured in the 1967 set. (Because his was the first one of the three that I got, and because I knew next-to-nothing about major-league baseball prior to 1967, for a while I assumed Gonder was the team's starting catcher.)

Jesse was signed by the Reds before the 1955 season, and spent 5 years in their system as a catcher and sometimes-outfielder. Before the 1960 season, Gonder was dealt to the Yankees, and spent two seasons with their triple-A Richmond, VA club, although he did appear in some games for the Yankees in late 1960 and early 1961. After 1961, Jesse was traded back to the Reds, but spent all season with the Reds' AAA team in San Diego, plus a few September games with Cincinnati.



From 1963 to 1966, Gonder managed to stay out of the minor leagues. He split the 1963 season between the Reds and the Mets. Used mostly as a pinch-hitter by the Reds, he was traded to the Mets in early July, and started 23 of the next 29 games, before settling into the 3rd-string catcher's role.

In 1964 he was the Mets' #1 catcher, starting half the games behind the plate, while Chris Cannizzaro and Hawk Taylor split the remaining games. This was the high point of Jesse's career, as he bat .270, and collected 11 doubles and 35 RBI.

1965 saw Cannizzaro take over the starting job, and with John Stephenson as the backup, Gonder was traded to the Braves in July for Gary Kolb. Jesse settled back into a pinch-hitting role with Milwaukee. After the season, he was selected by the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft.

Gonder started 40 games in 1966 as Jim Pagiaroni's backup, while rookie Jerry May filled the 3rd-string role. 1967 was Gonder's last in the big leagues. Although he started 3 of the Pirates' 1st 5 games, he soon was displaced by Jerry May, and spent most of the season in the minors. His final game was on June 17th.

Gonder spent 1968 and 1969 playing for the triple-A teams in the Braves', Angels', and Giants' organizations. He didn't have a card in the 1968 set, and although he appeared in the 1969 set (as a member of the expansion Padres) he never played for that organization.

Ron Santo (#70)

WILL THIS GUY EVER MAKE IT INTO THE HALL OF FAME?

Many months ago, I had a discussion with Wrigley Wax, where I said that I (like many others, I suspect) overlooked the impact of Cubs' outfielder Billy Williams. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Ron Santo. Why? Probably a number of reasons, including playing in Ernie Banks' shadow, the Cubs having bad teams in the 1960s, the presence of so many headline-grabbing power hitters back in the day (Mays, Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, McCovey, Killebrew, Yastrzemski, etc, etc).

A few months ago, the MLB Network ran a Prime 9 episode on the greatest player at each position in the 1960s. Before watching it, I assumed that several players would be slam-dunks (Sandy Koufax, Brooks Robinson, etc..). I was shocked to learn that neither of those 2 were selected. RON SANTO was selected by MLB Network as the greatest 3rd baseman of the 1960s! On closer review, it's not that surprising. Santo was a notch below Robinson defensively, but although always edged out of the home run crown by Mays, Aaron, or McCovey, Santo was an RBI machine for most of his career.



Ron Santo was signed by the Cubs in 1959, and spent the year playing double-A ball. After 71 games with the Cubs' triple-A Houston team in 1960, Santo made his major-league debut on June 26th. He took over the 3rd base job from Don Zimmer, starting 94 of the final 96 games there in 1960.

Santo was a workhorse for the Cubs. He played 160 or more games in 7 of the 8 seasons from 1962 to 1969. His most productive seasons were from 1963 to 1970, when he tallied 98 or more RBI 7 times, cracked 30+ home runs 4 times, and led the league in walks 4 times. During that time, he made 6 all-star appearances and collected 5 gold gloves.

Although his numbers began to slip from "Santo standards" beginning in 1971, he still made the all-star team 3 more times as a Cub. Santo moved across town to the White Sox for his final season in 1974. With the Sox, he played 47 games as the DH, 39 games at 2nd base, and 28 games at 3rd base.

Following his playing career, Santo was a broadcaster for the Cubs for the past 20 years. He passed away in early December 2010.

Final Card: Walt Bond

This is the final card for Walt Bond (#224). He was released by the Twins on May 15, 1967. Four months later, he would die from leukemia.

Walt played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in the mid-1950s. This led to his signing by the Cleveland Indians in 1957, where he spent 7 seasons in the minors (1957-63), although he did play a few dozen games with the Indians from 1960 to 1962.

After the 1963 season, Bond was sold to the Houston Colt .45s. Not only did this get him back to the major leagues, but he became an everyday player in Houston in 1964, starting 76 games at 1st base and 70 games in the outfield.

Walt's playing time decreased slightly in 1965. Where he had been the clear #1 first baseman the previous season, now he split the position evenly with Jim Gentile. Bond started 68 games at 1st base, but got only 36 starts in the outfield this season, as the newly-acquired Lee Maye got most of the playing time in left field.



Two days before the start of the 1966 season, Bond was traded to the Twins for Ken Retzer, a 30-ish minor-league catcher who played for the Senators from 1961-64. Walt spent the entire 1966 season at triple-A Denver, since the the big club's outfield was well-stocked with Tony Oliva, Jimmie Hall, Bob Allison, Ted Uhlaender, Andy Kosco, and Sandy Valdespino, as well as frequent outfield starts by infielders Harmon Killebrew and Cesar Tovar.

Walt began the 1967 season with the Twins, but his leukemia (which had been in remission) returned. He played only 10 games (his last on May 7th) before he was released in mid-May. He played briefly with the Mets' AAA team, but his illness had caught up to him.

Walt Bond died on September 14, 1967, a month before his 30th birthday.

More information here, here, and here.

Final Card: Terry Fox

Here is the final card for Terry Fox (#181). Of the 27 players pictured on Phillies' cards in 1967 (not counting rookie cards), Fox is the only one who did not play for the Phillies that season.

I can remember that my first 1967 Terry Fox card was a beat pup, with 4 badly-rounded corners (and maybe some creases, but not as creased as my first 1967 Bill White card). Some years ago I upgraded to this card, and although you could put an eye out with these corners, the card is badly off-center vertically.

Terry began pitching in 1954 with the unaffiliated class-C New Iberia (La) Pelicans. After 2 seasons there, the Braves picked him up and he eventually made his major-league debut with the Braves on September 4, 1960. After the season, he was part of a 6-player trade with the Tigers.



Fox never started a major-league game. Except for brief (rehab?) stints in the minors in 1962 and 1964, Terry was a fixture in the Tigers' bullpen from opening day 1961 until he was sold to the Phillies on May 10, 1966. In between, he led the staff in saves in 1961-63 and 1965.

With the Phillies for most of 1966, Terry (along with Ray Herbert and Roger Craig) provided veteran bullpen support for rookie closer Darold Knowles.

His final major-league game was on September 25, 1966. Fox spent the 1967 season with Philadelphia's triple-A team in San Diego. He probably didn't feel out of place, because that team had a large collection of ex-major-leaguers, including Ed Roebuck, Dick Stigman, John Tsitouris, Dick Bertell, Jimmie Schaffer, Jim Gentile, Marty Keough, and Lou Clinton!

Final Card: Chuck Estrada

This the final card for Chuck Estrada (#537). Because this was a rare high-number card, and he had no card after this year, Estrada was one of several players I knew nothing about (for the same reasons) until getting their 1967 cards many years later; (players such as Joe Adcock, Jack Sanford, Johnny Klippstein, Doug Camilli, Andre Rogers, Don Demeter, Dick Egan, Bob Duliba, and Jim Owens).

Chuck was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1956. After 3 seasons in the minors (1957 with the Braves, 1958-59 with the Orioles), Estrada made his major-league debut with the Orioles on April 21, 1960.

Thus started a string of fine starting pitchers promoted to the big club during the 1960s, which would include Dave McNally (1963), Wally Bunker (1964), Jim Palmer (1966), Tom Phoebus (1967), and Jim Hardin (1968).

Chuck finished a distant 2nd to teammate Ron Hansen for 1960's American League Rookie of the Year. He also led the staff in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched. In his sophomore season, he also led the staff in strikeouts, and was 2nd to Steve Barber in wins and innings pitched.



According to the back of his card, he injured an elbow in 1962, and it appears the wheels fell off his career after that season. He spent most of 1965-1969 in the minors, while only pitching 9 games for the Cubs in 1966, and 9 games for the Mets in 1967.

Baltimore had many good, young starting pitchers come up in the 1960s. Unfortunately, it seems that most of them also experienced arm trouble early, with only McNally and Palmer ever fully recovering.

Final Card: Arnold Earley

Here's relief pitcher Arnold Earley (#388), now with the Cubs, but still in his BoSox uniform.

Earley was signed by the Red Sox in (late?) 1952, and began playing in their farm system in 1953. After missing 2 seasons while in military service, Arnold returned to the minors in 1956, where he stayed until making his major-league debut on September 27, 1960 with the Red Sox. (Oddly enough, the record shows that he spent most of the 1960 season with the Phillies' triple-A team in Indianapolis.)

Arnold spent 5 full seasons (1961-65) in the Red Sox' bullpen, but never as the ace. (Dick Radatz had that role nailed down from 1962-65).



After the 1965 season, Earley was traded (with outfielder Lee Thomas and pitcher Jay Ritchie) to the Braves for pitchers Dan Osinski and Bob Sadowski. In early 1966, he was forwarded on to the Cubs (with outfielder Marty Keough) for outfielder John Herrnstein.

Arnold spent most of 1966 and 1967 playing in the minors, with the triple-A teams of the Braves, Cubs, and Astros. (He was traded to the Astros in June 1967). His last major-league game was on July 25, 1967.

Final Card: Lou Clinton

This is Lou Clinton's final card (#426) and final major-league season.

Lou was signed by the Red Sox in 1955, and made his big-league debut with them in April 1960. Lou started more games in right field than anyone else, but he only hit .228, so the Sox sent him back to triple-A for most of 1961, this time to Seattle (where Boston's triple-A team had relocated since the Twins set up shop in Minnesota that season).

Clinton returned to the majors full-time in 1962, and took over as the regular right fielder for the next 2 seasons, peaking at 146 starts in 1963.



In June 1964, Lou was traded to the Angels for right fielder Lee Thomas. As in Boston, Clinton became the main right fielder, starting 83 of the 113 games after his trade.

Lou split the right field starts evenly with Albie Pearson in 1965, until he was claimed off waivers by the Athletics on September 8th. After 1 game with Kansas City, for some reason that deal was voided, and the next day the Indians took a crack at him. Lou played 12 games with the Indians for the remainder of the season, then was traded to the Yankees in January 1966 for catcher Doc Edwards.

After 80 games in 1966 (mostly as a pinch-hitter and backup right fielder), and 12 games in 1967, Clinton's major-league career was over. He played the remainder of the 1967 season with the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego (which was also hosting former major-leaguers Terry Fox, Ed Roebuck, Dick Stigman, John Tsitouris, Dick Bertell, Jim Gentile, Bobby Klaus, Roberto Pena, and Marty Keough).

Final Card: Doug Camilli

Doug Camilli (#551) was a 2nd-generation major-leaguer. His father Dolph was a 1st baseman for the Cubs, Phillies, and Dodgers in the 1930s and 1940s. Doug was signed by the Dodgers in 1957, and spent 5 full seasons in their minor-league system, with brief call-ups in 1960 and 1961.

From 1962 to 1967, Doug was a fulltime major-league catcher, but averaged only 33 starts per season during that time. After the 1964 season, the Dodgers sold him to the Senators.



Washington released him prior to the 1968 season. He was out of baseball until the Senators re-signed him on September 13, 1969. He caught six innings the following day, then did not play again. He was released after the season.

Final Card: Mike de la Hoz

Mike de la Hoz (#372) was a utility infielder for the Indians and Braves during the early-to-mid 1960s. He was signed by the Indians in 1958 and made his major-league debut in July 1960. He remained with the Indians for the rest of 1960, and all of 1961 and 1963. He spent most of 1962 in the minors, but played 12 games for the Indians that year.

Just before the 1964 season, he was sent to the Braves as the player to be named later in an earlier trade for infielder Chico Salmon. Mike spent all of 1964-67 with the Braves as a backup infielder.

From 1968 to 1970, de la Hoz toiled in the minors for the Braves' and Reds' triple-A teams. He played one last game in the majors in September 1969 for the Reds.

Really, could Topps have put a little more thought into these "posed" shots? We're to believe that Mike is poised to take a ground ball, but not only is the on-deck circle visible behind him, but there's a bat lying on the ground ready for him to trip over. On top of all that, he's in a fielding pose WEARING A BATTING HELMET!
"Few players in the majors can match Mike's determination and desire to excel." Few, indeed!

Final Card: Doug Clemens

Not only is this the final card for Doug Clemens (#489), but it is also his rookie card. After 7 seasons in the big leagues, Topps finally issued a baseball card for Clemens. This is especially surprising, given that he had 218 at-bats in 1964 and 340 at-bats in 1965. You would think that he at least would have had a card in 1966.

Clemens was signed by the Cardinals in 1960, and spent most of 1960-63 in the minors. His major-league debut came on the last day of the 1960 season, when he was a late-inning substitution in right field. Over the next 3 seasons, he played in 6, 48, and 5 games for the Cardinals.

In 1964, he was in the majors to stay. The Cardinals started the season with Clemens and Charley James alternating in left field, Curt Flood in center, and Johnny Lewis and Carl Warwick alternating in right. They also had veteran outfielder Bob Skinner on the bench. On June 15th, Clemens was part of a trade with the Cubs that brought Lou Brock to the Cardinals. (The Cards put Brock in left, installed Mike Shannon in right, and it was on to the World Series!)



Clemens found more playing time in Chicago than he did in St. Louis. Primarily the backup right fielder (to Len Gabrielson), he had a string of 13 starts in 14 games in August, and started the last 9 games of the season.

1965 was the high point of his career, as he collected the most games played (128), plate appearances (386), at-bats (340), runs (36), hits (75), and RBI (26) of his career. He also started 85 games in the outfield, 3rd most on the team after Billy Williams and Don Landrum. Still, he only batted .221, and after the season he was traded to the Phillies for outfielder Wes Covington.

Clemens played his final 3 seasons (1966-68) with the Phillies. He was primarily used as a pinch-hitter, but also saw occasional action at a corner outfield position. Doug spent most of 1968 at triple-A San Diego (104 games) although he did appear in 28 games for the Phillies.

Final Card: Gordy Coleman

This is the final card for the Reds' early-1960's 1st baseman Gordy Coleman (#61).

Coleman was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1953, and played in the minor leagues from 1953 to 1960, beginning with Reading, PA and Spartanburg, SC (both would be Phillies' outposts in future decades). After missing the 1957 and 1958 seasons while in the military, Gordy returned for one more season in the Indians' organization, capped by his major-league debut (6 games) in September 1959.

After the 1959 season, Coleman was traded (along with 2nd baseman Billy Martin and pitcher Cal McLish) to the Reds for 2nd baseman Johnny Temple.

In 1960 Coleman played 93 games at triple-A Seattle, before being called up to Cincinnati. He made his Reds' debut on July 24th, replacing Frank Robinson as the regular 1st baseman, and starting all but 1 of the remaining games.



Coleman maintained his grip on the starting first baseman's role until about July 1963. In the 2nd half of that season, he began sharing the position more and more with Don Pavletich and Marty Keough. In 1964, he took a back seat to the newly-acquired Deron Johnson, starting 48 games to Johnson's 106.

In 1965 Gordy shared the starting assignments with rookie Tony Perez. The following season was more of the same, but in addition to alternating with Perez, Deron Johnson also started a bunch of games at first.

The death knell for Coleman's career was the arrival of rookie first baseman Lee May in 1967. Perez moved over to third base, but Johnson and May each started about 70 games at 1st base. Coleman only played 4 games with the Reds that season (the last on May 3rd), then was sent to the minors where he played 30+ games each for two triple-A teams: Buffalo (Reds) and Spokane (Dodgers).

Juan Marichal (#500)

Card # 500 - always used for one of the best players. (Marichal's head also appeared on the 5th series checklist in 1967.)

Juan Marichal was signed by the Giants in 1957, and spent all of 1958-59, and part of 1960 in their farm system. His major-league debut was a 2-0 complete game shutout of the Phillies on July 19, 1960. Replacing Johnny Antonelli in the rotation, Juan started all 11 of his appearances in 1960.

In 1961, the Giants' big three starters (Jack Sanford, Mike McCormick, and Marichal) all won 13 games. Marichal's 124 strikeouts were 2nd on the Giants to McCormick's 163.

The Giants won the pennant in 1962, with excellent starting pitching from Sanford (24-7), Billy O'Dell (who returned from the bullpen to compile a 19-14 record), Marichal (18-11), and Billy Pierce (16-6, acquired from the White Sox in the off-season).

In 1963 Juan took over as the ace of the pitching staff, compiling a 25-8 record with 18 complete games. His 248 strikeouts were 90 more than Sanford's.



Marichal won 20 or more games 6 times in 7 years between 1963 and 1969. He completed 30 of his 38 starts in 1968 to lead the NL in that category.

After an off-year in 1970 (12-10), he came back to post a 18-11 record in 1971. Juan continued with the Giants through the 1973 season, and was sold to the Red Sox in December 1973.

Marichal was limited to 11 games in 1974, and was released after the season. The Dodgers signed him the following March, but he only pitched 2 games in 1975, the last on April 16th.