Tommy John (#609)

What, has it been 11 months already? 

I have come to the realization that I no longer enjoy blogging. A year ago, I shut down 3 of my baseball set blogs, and now the remaining dominoes will fall. 

But what better way to go out than with this Tommy John card?  After completing all the low numbers in 1967 (and all but 5 high numbers in the 1980s), last week I picked up one of the last three cards I needed - and at a steal for $5.00!

There's a slight crease on the left side, and ever-so-slightly rounded corners, but last week I found this at an antique store near me, where the dealer was selling all manner of late-60s/early-70s stars for $5.00 each. (Well, the 1970 Henry Aaron was $75.00, but everything else was a flat $5.00). 

I've often heard the adage that the first and last card numbers in the set are hard to find in good condition, because kids would rubber-band their cards together, and damage the front and back cards in the stack.  

To that I say bah!  Who is going to rubber-band 609 cards into one stack? Back in the day, my friends and I would group our cards by team, and rubber-band each team separately. I don't know about the other guys, but I would then have my 10 NL bundles in one box and the 10 AL bundles in another box.  (Our local Mom-and-Pop vendor would let us take the box home if we bought the last pack(s) in the box.)

Now I only need the Tom Seaver and Rod Carew rookie cards to complete the set, but that is only a passive goal at this point. I think I will be much more likely to complete my 1966 set.

Anyhoo, this is the last card in the 1967 set, and also the last card to be featured on this blog.

One more post will follow (probably less than 11 months from now. lol)

Aurelio Monteagudo – Why Does He Have a Card?

As Ed McMahon always said to Carnac, “I hold in my hand the last…” 

There were 490 players with their own card in the 1967 Topps set. Before today, I had blogged about 489 of them on one or another of my set blogs. And now, last but (not?) least…

 

It seems like over the years, Aurelio Monteagudo had more Topps cards than games played. Let’s check out my hunch:

Ok, it’s not as drastic as I had imagined, but after 1966, when he did have a card he didn’t play for that team, and when he did play, he didn’t have a card that year. He's also had more cards than seasons played.

Monteagudo was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961, and played in the minor leagues every season from 1961 to 1973. After playing in the Mexican League from 1974-1980, he made a 1-game comeback in 1983 with the Angels’ AAA team. 

Aurelio made his major-league debut in September 1963 with the Athletics, appearing in 4 games in relief. In 1964 he pitched in 11 games, starting half of them. Those would be his last major-league starts except for his one game with the White Sox in 1967. 

After 4 relief appearances in 1966, the A’s sent him to the Astros in May, where he made 10 relief appearances. 

At the end of the 1966 season, the Astros sold him to the Reds, but he never played for the Reds in the majors or minors, and was released in mid-July. 

On the same day, the White Sox signed him, and after starting one game, he was cut a week later. On THAT same day, the Reds picked him up. (Essentially, he was loaned out to the White Sox for one game.) 

Monteagudo did not play for the remainder of 1967, but pitched for the Reds' farm teams for all of 1968 and the first half of 1969.

In June 1969 he was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Dennis Ribant. Playing no games for St. Louis, he was selected by the Royals in the post-1969 minor-league draft. He started the ’70 season in the minors, but pitched 21 games for the Royals in the second half, before returning to the minors for all of 1971. (Wow, Topps had their hands full dealing with his yo-yoing career!) 

In November 1971 he was selected by the Brewers in the Rule 5 draft. (Ok, that explains his 1972 card with the Brewers.) However, he was released during spring training, having never played for Milwaukee. The same day, the Padres took THEIR turn on this merry-go-round, but by mid-June they swapped him to the Angels for infielder Ron Clark. 

Aurelio pitched 15 games for the Angels in the second half, then was dealt to the Phillies in December. Monteagudo never played for the Phillies, but did show up as a Phillie in the 1974 “Traded” subset. (If you couldn’t make the 1974 Phillies’ bullpen, you know it’s time to hang them up.) 

That’s exactly what he did, moving down to Mexico where he was primarily a starter for 4 different teams from 1974-80. 

 

There have been 3 players named Aurelio in major league history. All 3 were killed in car accidents between the ages of 44 and 52.

 

So, I have posted all the 1967 player cards I planned to, but that's not the end of this blog.  I still need to complete my team reviews for the Astros and the Mets, then just freelance whatever comes along.  

It was never my intent to post about every card in this or any other set.  Rather than blogging about cards, I have been blogging about players. My intention was to write about every player that appeared in the 1966 to 1969 sets, and every significant player in the 1970 set, but not necessarily repeat a player on multiple blogs. I have now reached that point on my '66 and '67 blogs, and I'm 6 cards away on my '68 blog. 

 

Jim Beauchamp (#307)

Well, it's been eleven years (yesterday) since I started blogging here, with the 1967 set being my first blog. That set included 490 individual player cards, and for 11 years I have featured 486 of those players on one set blog or another. The 4 remaining are Bob Barton, Jim Beauchamp, Aurelio Monteagudo, and Carroll Sembera.

I’m not sure why Jim Beauchamp even has a card in this set. Since the Braves acquired him in May 1965, his major-league action consisted of 4 games in 1965, no games in 1966, and 4 games (all pinch-hitting appearances prior to May 6) in 1967. I guess somebody at Topps liked the Braves, which is why we see cards for Beauchamp, Tommie Aaron, and Dave Nicholson, despite little or no playing time. 

Beauchamp was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, and made his big-league debut in September 1963. He was traded to the Colt .45s in February 1964, and to the Braves in May 1965. 

After 3 seasons of non-use, he was traded to the Reds in October 1967 (with Mack Jones and Jay Ritchie) for Deron Johnson. Jim had more playing time with the Reds in ’68 and ’69 than he did since his days with the Colt .45s. 

He returned to Houston in December 1969, but by the following June was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher George Culver. 

In October 1971, Jim was part of an 8-player trade with the Mets.  After 2 seasons in New York, he was released during spring training 1974, and played that season with the Cardinals’ AAA team before retiring. 

Beauchamp passed away in 2007 at age 68.

Chris Zachary (#212)

Next-to-last alphabetically (and almost next-to-last on this blog) is Chris Zachary, who pitched for the Astros, Royals, Cardinals, and Tigers.

Zachary was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962, but did not play that season. In 1963, he started his pro career at the top, appearing in 22 games (7 starts) for the Colts, and fashioning a 2-2 record in 57 innings.

From 1964-67, he spent most of his time with the club’s AAA team in Oklahoma City, but also saw some action in Houston each season.

After playing all of 1968 in triple-A, he was purchased by the Royals shortly after the expansion draft. Although he played 8 games with Kansas City in 1969, he spent most of that season and all of 1970 in the minors.

In July 1970, he was traded to the Cardinals for reliever Ted Abernathy, but the Cards did not bring him up until May 1971. That year he pitched in 23 games, the first time he logged more than 10 games since his rookie 1963 season.

After the 1971 season, he was traded to the Tigers for pitcher Bill Denehy, and again had another good season, playing in 25 games (all but 1 in relief) while logging a 1.41 ERA over 38 innings.

Just before the 1973 season, he was traded to the Pirates for backup catcher Charlie Sands. He pitched in 6 games but played most of the year in triple-A (starting 25 games).

In December 1973 Chris was traded to the Phillies for catcher Pete Koegel. He started 24 games for their AAA team in Toledo before retiring at season’s end.

Zachary passed away in 2003 at age 59.

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.

Wade Blasingame (#119)

Wade Blasingame pitched for 10 seasons from 1963-72. The first half of his career was with the Braves, and the last half with the Astros. (He also pitched 12 games for the Yankees in his final season.)

He was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961, and made his major-league debut in September 1963.

Blasingame was a member of the Braves' starting rotation from 1964 until June 1966, when he moved to the bullpen. His best season was 1965, when he tallied 16 wins and 117 strikeouts. (He never again reached 10 wins or 100 strikeouts.)

In June 1967 he was traded to the Astros for pitcher Claude Raymond, and resumed regular starting duty with Houston. Blasingame was a reliever for the 1968 and 1969 seasons before returning to the starting rotation for '70 and '71.

1972 was his final season, and not a very good one at that.  After only pitching 8 innings over 10 games, the Astros traded him to the Yankees in early June. He did no better in the Bronx, only pitching 17 innings over 12 games.

Blasingame was traded to the Cardinals during spring training in 1973, but never played for them. He pitched for AAA teams in the Cardinals', Cubs', and Padres' organizations from 1973-74 before retiring.

Apparently, he became a lawyer after his playing career!

Tommie Reynolds (#487)

Tommie Reynolds was a journeyman outfielder for the Athletics, Mets, and others from 1963-72. Check out the huge gap between his first and last names. I think Topps planned to print "TOMMIE" (like they did on the card back) but changed their mind at the last minute.

It's also odd that his position is listed as "OF-1B", because he only played 2 innings at first base and that was in 1972.  (His first minor-league game at 1st base was in 1968.)

Reynolds was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, and made his major-league debut with 8 games that September. Tommie started the 1964 season with the A’s, but by early-May found himself back in the minors until a September call-up.

In 1965 he was with the team for most of the season (except for May and June) . He was the team’s #3 outfielder (behind Mike Hershberger and Jim Landis), starting 72 games in left field and another 7 games in right. Upon his return from the minors, Tommie started 68 of the final 92 games in left field.

With all that playing time during the 2nd half, it’s puzzling why he spent all of 1966 in the minors. Maybe it was his .237 batting average? Maybe his 1 home run? In any case, he was stuck in triple-A all year, until the Mets picked him up in the Rule 5 draft after the season.

Reynolds played in 101 games in ’67, but only had 136 at bats. As the Mets’ 4th outfielder he only starts 24 games. Repeating recent history, he played all of 1968 back in triple-A.

Almost 2 years from the date of his acquisition by the Mets, the Athletics “Rule-Fived” him again. He was back with the A’s (this time in Oakland) and in 1969 received the most playing time of his career (107 games, 315 at bats). He almost duplicated his playing time from the 1965 A’s, starting 71 games in left and 6 in right as the team’s #3 outfielder.

He was one-and-done in Oakland though. The Angels acquired him in May 1970 and he played parts of the next 2 seasons with California.

After 1 season with the Brewers (1972), he played for their triple-A team from 1973-77 before retiring.

Reynolds was a coach for the Athletics and Cardinals from 1989-96.

Jose Santiago (#473)

It’s been a very busy summer for me. Let’s see if I can get back into the blogging thing… 

Jose Santiago was a pitcher for the Athletics and Red Sox from 1963 to 1970.

Signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1959, he pitched in their farm system until making his major-league debut with 4 games in September 1963.

Jose was mostly a reliever for KC. He pitched most of ’64 with the Athletics, but spent much of the ’65 season back in triple-A.

After the 1965 season he was sold to the Red Sox, and spent the next 4 ½ seasons pitching for Boston. Jose was mostly a starter during the 1966 season, but spent much of 1967 in the Sox’ bullpen. He did start 11 games that year, including games 1 and 4 of the World Series, where he was matched up against Bob Gibson both times, but lost both games. (He did hit a homerun in game 1!)

After 18 consecutive starts in 1968, an elbow injury ended his season in mid-July, and pretty much cut short his career. He only pitched in 10 games during 1969, and after a few games in 1970 was sent down to the minors for the second half of the season, never to return.

Santiago finished the 1970 season (and played all of 1971) with the Red Sox’ in triple-A team in Louisville.

In 1979 he managed a team in the Inter-American League.

John O'Donoghue (#127)

John O'Donoghue is the oldest living player from the 1966-70 era that I have not blogged about yet.

I think of him as a Cleveland Indian, but he played more games for the Pilots/Brewers and Athletics than he did with the Tribe. After 2 seasons as a front-line starter with Kansas City, he became a supporting player for the remainder of his career.

John was signed by the Athletics in 1959, and made his major-league debut in 1963 (on Sept 29th!)

O’Donoghue was a starter for the Athletics for the next 2 seasons. In 1964 he won 10 games as a 24-year-old rookie, and was the youngest of the 3 primary starters (after Orlando Pena and Diego Segui) on the staff. (In 1965, 19-year-old rookie Catfish Hunter claimed that title.)

Meanwhile, in '65 John led the AL with 18 losses. He did have 9 wins, which was 1 less than the leader for this bad Kansas City team. He also made the All-Star team, despite his eventual 9-18 record.

John got a reprieve in 1966 as he was traded to the Indians in early-April for pitcher Ralph Terry. During his 2 seasons with the Indians he was the infrequently-used #5 starter, behind a strong rotation of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, Steve Hargan, and Gary Bell / Luis Tiant.

After the 1967 season he moved on to the Orioles, in exchange for knuckle-baller Eddie Fisher. After leaving the Indians, John was used almost exclusively in relief for the remainder of his career.

He played for triple-A Rochester in August 1968 and April 1969, then was traded to the expansion Pilots in late-April, where he joined his old teammates Segui, Bell, and Fred Talbot in Seattle. John appeared in 55 games for the Pilots, and another 25 games for the Brewers in 1970, before his mid-June trade to the Expos.

He split the 2nd half of the 1970 season between Montreal and their AAA team. After 13 appearances in 1971, the Expos released him at the end of June, ending his 9-year career.

His son (also named John) pitched for the Orioles in 1993.

Don Wert (#511)

Here is Tigers’ 3rd baseman Don Wert. The back of the card tells us that Don was voted “Tiger of the Year” in 1965. Hmm… this, on a team that included Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, and Bill Freehan. Looks like he's practicing on the Detroit School District's baseball field (or maybe it's at Spring Training in Lakeland, FL).

The Tigers signed Wert in 1958, and he played in their farm system for 5+ seasons. He was called up to the Tigers in mid-May 1963 and soon started 20 consecutive games, replacing incumbent Bubba Phillips (maybe Phillips was injured?) After May, Wert settled into the backup 3rd baseman role (behind Phillips), only starting 25 more games there over the rest of the season.

From 1964 to 1970, Wert was the Tigers’ regular 3rd baseman. In 1968 he made his lone All-Star team, surprising because that season he only batted .200 – the lowest of his 8 years with Detroit. He also only hit .118 in the ’68 World Series.

After the 1970 season, Don was traded to the Senators along with pitcher Denny McLain and outfielder Elliot Maddox in exchange for shortstop Ed Brinkman, 3rd baseman Aurelio Rodriguez, and pitchers Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan.

Unfortunately for Wert, the Nats already had Dave Nelson er, Dave Nelson at their hot corner, with Joe Foy and Bernie Allen in reserve. Don made only 7 starts (2 at 3B, 5 at SS) then was given his walking papers in late-June, having only played 20 games thus far.

Wally Bunker (#585)

This is my oldest Wally Bunker card, but not my first. Bunker is one of the four Orioles’ cards (along with Brooks Robinson, manager Hank Bauer, and an O’s Rookies card featuring Mark Belanger) in the high-numbered 7th series which was not sold in my area in 1967. I got his ’68 card (Orioles) and ’69 card (Royals) in those years, but it was not until the 1980s that I collected all but 5 of the '67 high-numbers.

The O’s #3 starter in 1966, Wally pitched a complete-game shutout in the ’66 World Series, but wasn’t shown on the post season cards in the 1967 set either. (Paul Blair was featured on the game #3 card.)

Bunker was one of the mid-1960s' pitching phenoms for the Orioles (along with Dave McNally and Jim Palmer). He was signed by the Orioles in 1963, and after going 10-1 with 95 strikeouts in 99 innings in class A ball, he made his major-league debut on Sept 29th.

Wally made the Orioles squad for good in the 1964 pre-season, and was the team’s ace as a rookie – winning 19 games and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting (to the Twins’ Tony Oliva).

He followed up his rookie season with two 10-win seasons, and a complete-game shutout of the Dodgers in game #3 in the World Series (sandwiched between Palmer’s complete-game shutout in game #2 and McNally’s complete-game shutout in game #4).

Wally struggled for the next 2 seasons, as sore arms swept through the O’s starting rotation (Bunker, Palmer, McNally). Bunker only won 5 games combined in 67-68, and spent much of ’67 in the bullpen, and part of ’68 in triple-A. As such, he was left unprotected for the expansion draft following 1968, and was selected (along with Orioles’ teammate Moe Drabowsky) by the upstart Kansas City Royals.

Bunker was the Royals’ first-ever opening-day starter in 1969, and led the staff with 31 starts, 222 innings, and 12 wins.

Arm troubles cropped up again, leaving him with a 2-11 record in 1970, and led to his release following his final game on 5/26/1971. He played for the Royals’ AAA team for the remainder of 1971 and part of 1972 before retiring.

In recent years, Bunker has been a writer and illustrator of childrens’ books.

Vic Davalillo (#69)

Vic Davalillo (currently age 78) is one of the 2 oldest living players from 1966 to 1970 that I have not yet featured on one of my blogs. He played for the Indians and five other teams in his 16-year career from 1963 to 1980.

Vic was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1958. After 4 seasons in their minor-league organization (mostly as a pitcher), he was purchased by the Cleveland Indians and converted to an outfielder.

After playing in the minors in 1962, Vic made his major-league debut with the Tribe in April 1963, starting every game in center field through June 12th. By that time he was hitting .304 and was a front-runner for AL Rookie of the year, but was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken wrist. He didn’t return to the lineup until mid-August, and finished his rookie season with a .292 batting average.

Davalillo was the Indians’ starting center fielder for the next two seasons, then shared the position with Chuck Hinton in ’66 and ’67. Back then, I didn't give Davalillo a second thought (probably because he was on the Cleveland Indians, and not named Sam McDowell), but he was 3rd in AL batting in 1965:

When the Indians acquired Jose Cardenal from the Angels prior to the 1968 season, Vic moved to right field, starting 43 games there until his mid-June trade to the Angels for outfielder Jimmie Hall. Davalillo started 66 games for the Angels, mostly in July and August. By September he was relegated to the bench.

In May 1969, Vic moved on to the Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Jim Hicks. With Lou Brock, Curt Flood, and Vada Pinson manning the Redbirds’ outfield, there was little for Davalillo to do. Even the famous departure of Flood after the ’69 season didn’t help him, as the Cards acquired Jose Cardenal, who had taken away Vic’s playing time in Cleveland 2 years earlier. Davalillo rode the bench for his 1 ½ seasons in St. Louis, made 2 appearances as a relief pitcher, but also began his 2nd career as a go-to pinch-hitter.

In January 1971 he and pitcher Nelson Briles were traded to the Pirates for outfielder Matty Alou and pitcher George Brunet. He also played for the Athletics from August 1973 until his release in May 1974. Vic had played in the ’71 World Series with the Pirates, and also in ’73 with the A’s.

He then played ball in Mexico for the rest of 1974 and also in 1975-77. Normally, Mexico or Japan signals the end of the line for someone’s career, but that was not the case for Davalillo.

The Dodgers signed him in August 1977, and was a key pinch-hitter for them for the next 3+ seasons. The Dodgers were well-stocked with pinch-hitters during this time: Davalillo from the left side and Manny Mota (.313 with the Dodgers) from the right side. Vic hit .297 in 158 at-bats for the Dodgers (almost all as a pinch-hitter). Vic hit .333 in both the ’77 and ’78 World Series.

He was released after the 1979 season, and played part of 1980 back in Mexico before the Dodgers re-signed him in July 1980. After his final release following the 1980 season, he once again played in Mexico for the 1981 season.

Vic's older brother Yo-Yo Davalillo played briefly for the Senators in 1953, and for the Reds' AAA team in Havana from 1955-60.

Jim Ray Hart (#220)

Jim Ray Hart played 3B/LF for the Giants from 1963 to 1973, and was their #3 power source behind Willie McCovey and Willie Mays during his best seasons (1964-68).

Hart was signed by the Giants in 1960, and played in their farm system from 1960 to 1963. He was primarily a 3rd baseman, but played only shortstop and outfield in 1961. In 1963, Hart was called up to the Giants twice: he started both games of a doubleheader on July 7th, and also started 5 consecutive games in mid-July.

Jim made the Giants’ squad at the start of the 1964 season. He took over the starting 3rd base job from veteran Jim Davenport, who had been the team’s regular 3rd-sacker from 1958 to 1963. As a rookie, Hart started 145 games at third, banged 31 homers, and collected 81 RBI along with posting a .286 batting average. That was good enough to finish a distant 2nd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting (garnering 1 vote to Dick Allen’s 18 votes).

From 1964 to 1966, Hart remained the regular 3rd baseman, starting 145, 141, and 137 games over that 3-year span. Although his home runs dipped to 23 in 1965, he bounced back with 33 the following season. Jim also made his only all-star roster in 1966.

In 1967, his defensive short-comings came to a head. Although Hart began and ended the season at the hot corner, during July and August he was moved out to left field (forcing Jesus Alou to co-exist in right field with Ollie Brown) while the Giants worked out the veteran Davenport and rookie Bobby Etheridge at 3rd base. The defensive shuffling didn’t affect his bat, as he finished with more than 90 RBI for the 3rd consecutive season, while clubbing 29 homers.

His career began to wane in 1968. Jim split his time between his 2 positions that season, then only started 71 of his 95 games in 1969 – surprising since the Giants had lost outfielders Alou and Brown in the expansion draft.

Hart continued to lose playing time over the next several seasons, and spent the first half of the 1970 and 1971 seasons, and most of 1972 in the minors. He began 1973 with the Giants, but after 1 game was sold to the Yankees. Now in the AL, Hart was able to DH (which he did for 104 games). The Yankees assigned him to the minors in 1974, then released him in early June.

Jim played in Mexico for the remainder of 1974, and all of ’75 and ’76.

Cleon Jones (#165)

Cleon Jones was one of the three outfielders selected to the Topps all-rookie team in 1966. Jones was the Mets' regular center fielder as a rookie in 1966, and again in 1967.

Cleon moved over to left field beginning in 1968, after incumbent left fielder Tommy Davis was traded to the White Sox for center fielder Tommie Agee, also a Topps all-rookie selection in 1966. In fact, along with Ron Swoboda (1965), the Mets' entire starting outfield beginning in 1968 were all-rookie selections.

Cleon Jones (who like Agee, Hank Aaron, and Willie McCovey, hailed from from Mobile, Alabama) was signed by the Mets in 1963, and played the remainder of that season in class-A ball. His major-league debut came during a September call-up.

He jumped up to triple-A at the start of 1964, and played with the Mets' Buffalo club for 2 seasons, except for his time with the Mets in April and September 1965.

Jones was a mainstay in the Mets outfield from 1966 to 1974. He finished 4th in Rookie of the Year voting, and was named to the all-star team in 1969. He also flashed defensive excellence in the 1969 World Series.

Cleon began the 1975 season as a role player, and was released in late July. The White Sox signed him on April 3, 1976, but released him at the end of the month, ending his 13-year career.

Sonny Jackson (#415)

Roland "Sonny" Jackson was the Topps all-rookie shortstop in 1966. (Two seasons later, the Astros' Hector Torres would also be the Topps all-rookie shortstop.)

Jackson was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1963, and made an orderly 3-year progression (A, AA, AAA) through their farm system. After each minor-league season, he was called up to Houston, playing in 1, 9, and 10 games in 1963-65.

Jackson took over the starting shortstop job on day 1 of the 1966 season, replacing veteran Bob Lillis (and Eddie Kasko), who had manned the position since the team's inception in 1962. Sonny started 150 games that season, batting .292 with 174 hits and a rookie record 49 stolen bases. He also finished 2nd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Cincinnati's 3rd baseman Tommy Helms.

In 1967, Jackson's average fell off to .237, his stolen bases down to 22, and after the season he was packed off to Atlanta with part-time 1st baseman Chuck Harrison for pitcher Denver Lemaster and infielder Denis Menke. (Not to worry, in 1968 rookie Hector Torres also landed the Topps all-rookie shortstop slot, but also like Jackson, Torres' rookie season was the high point of his time in Houston.)

Sonny played shortstop for the Braves for the next 3 seasons, but only started a few more games there than Orlando Martinez (in '68) and Gil Garrido (69-70). Jackson was the team's regular center fielder during the 1971 season. (That season, Rico Carty missed the entire year with an injury, and Hank Aaron was starting his 2-year stint as the Braves' 1st baseman.)

Sonny split the 1972 season between the Braves and triple-A, then returned in 1973, but as a pinch-hitter and backup OF-SS. The remainder of his major-league career consisted of 5 games in July 1974, as he played most of the season in triple-A before getting his release at season's end.

Jackson ended his career in the minors with the Padres ('75) and White Sox ('76).

Final Card: George Smith

Only 3 more cards to go in my "Final Cards" series for the 1967 set: 

Topps chose a less-than-flattering photo for George Smith's final card (#444). George's major-league career was over before this card hit the streets. In fact, he's one of 11 players with their own card in the set who didn't play in the majors after 1966.

George began playing baseball in 1955 with his hometown St. Petersburg Saints, an unaffiliated class-D team in the Florida State League. After being out of baseball during '56 and '57, he was signed by the Tigers in 1958.

Smith played in Detroit's minor league system every season from 1958 to 1965, while also appearing in 52 games for the Tigers in 1963, and a handful in '64 and '65. Although primarily a 2nd baseman, he played a lot of 3rd base and outfield in the minors during the 1963 season.

Immediately after the 1965 season, he and outfielder George Thomas were sent to the Red Sox for veteran pitcher Bill Monbouquette. Smith took over the starting 2nd base job from the departed Felix Mantilla (who coincidentally, was also one of the 11 players in the 1967 set who didn't play after 1966).

George's employment in Boston only lasted one season, as rookie Mike Andrews took over the reins at 2B starting with game #7 of the pennant-winning 1967 season. (Rookie centerfielder Reggie Smith started at 2B for the first six games of the season.)

George spent the 1967 season as a backup 2nd baseman for the Giants' triple-A team in Phoenix. He did the same thing in his final season (1968), splitting time between the Astros' and Senators' triple-A teams.

Smith died in his hometown of St. Petersburg, FL in 1987, about 3 weeks short of his 50th birthday.

Rico Carty (#35)

Rico Carty was the Braves' regular left fielder in the mid-to-late 1960s. I remember him most as the first player to get a starting all-star berth as a write-in candidate.

Carty was signed by the Braves in October 1959, and played 4 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in September 1963. During his first 3 seasons in the minors, he was exclusively a catcher. In 1963, he played both catcher and outfield.



During his rookie season in 1964, Rico compiled a .330 batting average (2nd behind Roberto Clemente). He also finished 2nd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Richie Allen.

Carty hit over .300 during the 1965 and 1966 seasons, while his defensive shortcomings were nicely hid as the left fielder. He also started 14 games behind the plate in 1966, despite regular catcher Joe Torre being in the lineup at 1st base (I can't figure that one out!)

After an off-year in 1967, Rico missed the entire 1968 season due to tuberculosis, but roared back with batting averages of .342 in 1969 and a league-leading .366 in 1970. That season he also hit 25 home runs, collected 101 RBI, and was in the starting all-star lineup despite not being on the ballot.

Carty missed another entire season (1971) with a knee injury, and was never the same after that. Following the 1972 season, he was traded to the Rangers, and spent the remainder of his career bouncing around to several teams (primarily the Rangers, Indians, Blue Jays) as a DH and some-time outfielder.

Carty retired after the 1979 season.

Final Card: Nick Willhite

This is the 4th and final card for Nick Willhite (249). He also appeared on a Dodgers Rookies card in 1964, in the 1965 set as a Senator, and in the 1966 set as a Dodger.

Nick was signed by the Dodgers in the Fall of 1959. He played in the minors every season from 1960 to 1970, and in the majors every season from 1963 to 1967. Only in '65 and '67 would he spend more of his time up top.



Willhite made his major-league debut with the Dodgers on June 16, 1963. During his first stint with LA (1963-64) he was a starting pitcher, but was #6 on the depth chart for both seasons.

After the 1964 season, he was purchased by the Senators, who sold him back to the Dodgers in mid-May the following season. Besides playing for both teams in '65, he also spent some time with the Dodgers' AAA team in Spokane, Washington. Willhite played most of the 1966 season in the minors, and a few games with the Dodgers.

After the 1966 season, Nick was traded to the Angels for reliever Bob Lee (a steal for the Dodgers, considering that Lee was the ace of the Angels' bullpen that season, and Willhite was pretty much minor-league filler for the Dodgers). Nick appeared in 10 games (7 starts) for the Angels in 1967 before he was sent over to the Mets on June 10th for pitcher Jack Hamilton.

Willhite's stay in New York only lasted about 5 weeks. After 4 appearances (his last on June 23rd), he spent the rest of the season with the Tulsa Oilers (the Cardinals' AAA team). The 1968-70 seasons saw him bouncing around the minor-league organizations of the Mets, Cubs, Twins, and Royals.

Final Card: Dwight Siebler

Here is the last card for Dwight Siebler (#164). My card has a severely stubbed top right corner, a casualty found on many of my 1st and 2nd series 1967 cards. I didn't start buying cards until May or June of that year, so the early cards were acquired through the time-honored "tossing cards" method. I didn't start "taking care" of my cards until about the 5th series!

Siebler was signed by the Phillies in 1958, and pitched for 5 seasons (1959-63) in their farm system, the last 3 in triple-A. He was purchased by the Twins in late August 1963, and 2 days later made his big-league debut. Dwight remained with Minnesota to the end of the season, but he spent most of 1964 and 1965 pitching in triple-A, while playing less than 10 games with the Twins in each season.



Siebler was back with the Twins for the entire 1966 season, which would be his only full season in the majors. Dwight started off the 1967 season with the Twins, but after only 2 appearances in late April, he was back in AAA, compiling a 4-10 record primarily as a starter, before retiring after the season.

Final Card: Pedro Gonzalez

This is the last of 5 consecutive cards for Pedro Gonzalez (#424).

Pedro was signed by the Yankees in 1958, and spent the next 4 full seasons in their farm system, strictly at 2nd base until 1962, when he also played a significant amount of games at 3rd base and shortstop, as well as in the outfield.

Gonzalez made his major-league debut in April 1963 with the Yankees, but with Bobby Richardson starting 150 games at 2nd base, Gonzalez spent most of the season in triple-A. He made 4 starts at 2nd for New York, mostly in September.

In 1964, Pedro spent the entire season with the Yankees, and saw action in 80 games, more than any substitute except Phil Linz and Hector Lopez. He saw more action at 1st base than any other position.



In May 1965, Gonzalez was traded to the Indians for backup 1st baseman Ray Barker. He was the staring 2nd baseman for all but one game between May 30th and September 20th. (Cleveland has started the season with a keystone combo of Larry Brown and Dick Howser. Gonzalez replaced Brown, but by mid-season, Brown moved over to short to replace Howser. To complete this circle, Howser started most of the games at 2B after September 20th.)

Pedro was the regular 2nd baseman again in 1966, but rarely played after August. Howser, Chico Salmon, and rookie Vern Fuller each started a dozen or so games at 2nd base in place of Gonzalez.

His playing time was further reduced in 1967, as he only played in 80 games, while making 55 starts. His regular 2nd base job only lasted from May 9th to June 23rd. Cleveland started the season with rookie Gus Gill at 2B, while fellow rookie Vern Fuller took over the job as of July 19th.

Pedro's last major-league game was on September 27, 1967. He spent the next 4 seasons playing in the minors for the Indians, Cardinals, and Pirates.