Andy Kosco (#366)

Andy Kosco was a spare outfielder (and sometime starter) for several teams from 1965-74, most notably the Twins and Yankees.

Kosco was signed by the Tigers in 1959. (I always assumed he started in the Twins' organization.) After 5 ½ seasons, and having flip-flopped between A and AA ball several times, the Tigers released him on June 3, 1964.

Three days later the Twins picked him up, and after spending the remainder of that season in single-A, he jumped to AAA ball in 1965, and by August he made his major-league debut with the Twins.

Andy spent the entire 1966 season with Minnesota, but only saw action in 57 games, as a pinch-hitter and #3 left fielder. He was back in triple-A for most of 1967.

In October 1967 he was purchased by the Athletics, but was lost to the Yankees a month later in the Rule 5 draft. Kosco got regular playing time (131 games) during his one season in the Big Apple, starting 93 games as the primary right fielder and another 23 starts at first base as Mickey Mantle's backup (in the Mick's final season).

Andy was traded to the Dodgers after the season for pitcher Mike Kekich. He played 2 seasons in LA, his best season coming in 1969 with 67 starts as the primary right fielder, and another 36 starts in left field.  He only hit .248, which may have contributed to his fall to #5 outfielder in 1970.

Kosco bounced around for the rest of his career. He spent 1971 with the Brewers (traded for pitcher Al Downing), and split the 1972 season between the Angels and Red Sox.

He was traded to the Reds prior to the 1973 season, and spent the first half in the minors. Andy was a part time player for Cincinnati for the second half of '73 and the first half of '74. In the closing months of the '73 season, he platooned in right field with Ken Griffey Sr.

Kosco’s final MLB game was on July 30, 1974. I wonder if he was injured during the 2nd half, because he has no minor-league record that season, and was released by the Reds in October.

 Kosco retired after playing for the Phillies' AAA team in 1975.

Casey Cox (#414)

I didn’t realize until today that Casey Cox only had one season under his belt when this card came out.

Cox was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1962 (I didn’t know that!), then was picked up by the Indians after that season in the 1st-year draft (didn’t know that either!).

In May 1963 the Senators made a waiver claim for him, and he spent the next 2 1/2 seasons on their farm before making his major-league debut in April 1966. He led the staff with 66 games as a rookie, also picking up 7 saves.

After a full season in 1966, Casey pitched most of 1967 with the Senators (except for a brief trip to the minors in late-May/early-June), but pitched almost all of the 1968 season for the Senators’ AAA team.

Cox returned to Washington in 1969, this time also mixing in some starts (having previously only pitched in relief). He posted a 12-7 record and was 3rd on the team in innings pitched (171).

In 1970 he was primarily a starter (30 of his 37 games), but slipped to an 8-12 record. (The Sens’ top 3 starters each lost 12 games that season.)

After 1970 Cox went back to a primarily-relief role. After 2 more seasons with the club, the Rangers traded him to the Yankees in late-August 1972 for pitcher Jim Roland.

Cox was rarely used in the Big Apple, only pitching 5 games in the season’s final month. After pitching 1 game in 1973 (on April 6th) he was released a week later.

Casey pitched the remainder of 1973 for the Cubs’ AAA team before retiring.

Phil Roof (#129)

This was one of the first cards I remember getting in 1967. As card #129, this was in the 2nd series, issued about the time I began collecting baseball cards (May 1967).

I remember that the first time I saw this card, I asked my brother if the “Athletics” were maybe a minor-league team, because I hadn’t heard of that team before. (Most likely, because the Athletics were not found on one of the baseball jackets my brother and I had back in the day.)

Phil Roof was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, and played in their farm system for 6 seasons (1959-64). During that 6-year span, his only big-league action with the Braves was 1 game in April 1961, and 1 game in May 1964.

After the 1964 season, the Braves traded him to the Angels for pitcher Dan Osinski. Roof played in the majors for the entire 1965 season, but only lasted with the Angels until mid-June.

After only playing 9 games as Bob Rodgers' backup, Phil was shipped to the Indians for outfielder Bubba Morton. He finished out the season with Cleveland, mostly as a pinch-hitter and 3rd-string catcher.

In December 1965, Roof was traded to the Kansas City Athletics (with outfield prospect Joe Rudi) [I learned something new today!] for veteran outfielder Jim Landis. Phil became the Athletics’ regular backstop for 1966 (119 starts) and 1967 (107 starts).

He missed most of the 1968 season due to a torn shoulder muscle, and was replaced by Jim Pagliaroni and Dave Duncan.  Phil returned to the starting job in 1969, starting 83 games behind the plate (to Duncan’s 40).

Prior to the 1970 season, Roof was traded to the Brewers with pitchers Lew Krausse and Ken Sanders, and outfielder Mike Hershberger, for 1st baseman Don Mincher and utility infielder Ron Clark. Roof was the team’s #1 catcher in 1970, but after losing that spot in May 1971, he was traded to the Twins in July.

Roof then spent 5 seasons as the Twins’ backup catcher. (In 1974, he didn’t play in his first game until June 4th!) In August 1976 he moved on to the White Sox, playing in a few games with Chicago that season, and 3 games for the Blue Jays in 1977.

After his playing career, Roof was a bullpen coach for several teams from the late 1970s to early 1990s.  He later managed in the Twins' farm system for 16 seasons, until retiring in 2005.

Dick Radatz (#174)

Last month I was about to post Dick Radatz' card on my 1968 card blog, when I realized (43 years late) that he didn't have a card in the 1968 set.


Dick Radatz (nicknamed "The Monster") was signed by the Red Sox in 1959. He spent 3 seasons in Boston's farm system. For a year and a half he was a starter for Class-B teams, then spent his remaining season and a half as a reliever in triple-A. Dick made his major-league debut in April 1962. In 381 games over 7 seasons, not once did Radatz start a game in the major leagues.



Dick was Boston's go-to guy in the bullpen for his 1st 4 seasons. He led the American League in games pitched (62) and saves (24) as a rookie in 1962, and finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. He also led the league with 29 saves in 1964. Radatz also made the all-star team in '63 and '64.

On June 2, 1966, the 29-year-old Radatz was traded to the Indians for 36-year-old closer Don McMahon and pitcher Lee Stange. Although he led the Indians with 10 saves in 1966, Dick did not pitch as much as he had in any of his seasons in Boston.

The Indians traded Radatz to the Cubs in late-April 1967, and as the last man in the bullpen, appeared in only 20 games for the rest of the season. Released by the Cubs in March 1968, Dick was picked up by the Tigers a month later, but spent the entire 1968 season with their triple-A team in Toledo Ohio (hence no card in the 1968 set).

He began the 1969 season with the Tigers, but was sold to the Expos in June. His last appearance was on August 15, 1969. Two weeks later, the Expos released him, ending his career. Dick's final card is in the 1969 set.

White Sox Team (#573)

The White Sox Team was one of the final 3 team cards (along with the Indians and the Red Sox) released in 1967, all in the 7th series. These three and the Cardinals Team were the final 4 team cards that I needed.

In 1966, the White Sox had finished in 4th place with an 83-79 record, 15 games behind the Orioles. In 1967, they improved their record by 6 wins, but still finished in 4th place, 3 games behind the Red Sox.


Now for the latest entry in the "You learn something new every day" file:
Yesterday I flipped this card over to see whether Gary Peters or Joe Horlen had the best record in 1966. I never found out, because there's no Peters, no Horlen, not even a John Buzhardt listed here! Despite the "CHICAGO WHITE SOX - 1966" heading on the back, all of these stats belong to the Cleveland Indians.


The back of the Indians' card? Nope, Indians' stats there also.

Final Card: Billy O'Dell

One side-benefit of scanning all these cards is that, after all these years, I'm finding out which cards could use an upgrade. This is probably the most beat-up of my 1967 cards.



Billy O'Dell (#162) was winding down his career in 1967. He started pitching in 1954 with the Baltimore Orioles (their first year after moving from St. Louis). Although the card back says 'Major & Minor League Pitching Record', Billy never played in the minor leagues.

[Since blogging here, I've learned that:
1) Billy O'Dell, Dick Groat, and Sandy Koufax never played in the minors. (I already knew about Al Kaline.)
2) Some players (like Harmon Killebrew) played in the majors before playing in the minors. After seeing several of these players, I noticed that they were also all "bonus babies", so I assume the requirement was that they spend X amount of time on the major-league roster after signing a contract.]

After returning from the service, Billy joined the team full-time in 1957, appearing in 35 games (15 starts) and pitched 140 innings, 5th-most on the team. 1958 was more of the same, as he started 25 of the 41 games he pitched.

After one more season with the Orioles, he was traded to the Giants, where he pitched for 5 seasons, including the Giants' 1962 pennant-winning season. That season, O'Dell led the rotation (which included Jack Sanford, Juan Marichal, and Billy Pierce) in games, starts, innings pitched, and complete games, and was second in wins to Sanford's 24.

After the 1965 season, Billy was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for catcher Ed Bailey. After a year and a half with the Braves (mostly as a reliever), he was traded to the Pirates in mid-1966, and retired following the 1967 season.