Ken Holtzman (#185)

Here is Ken Holtzman’s rookie card. Holtzman was signed by the Cubs in 1965, and although he compiled a record of 8-3 in his only minor-league season, and made his debut with the Cubs (3 games) in September 1965, Topps saw fit to exclude him from all the Cubs Rookie Stars cards in the 1966 set, preferring instead to allocate one of those cards to John Boccabella and Dave Dowling (?!?!?)

Ken pitched the entire 1966 season for the Cubs, leading the staff in strikeouts (171), with a record of 11-16 as the Cubs’ #2 starter behind veteran Dick Ellsworth (whose record was 8-22, and would be traded to the Phillies in the off-season).

Holtzman missed much of the 1967 season while in the National Guard, but he compiled an excellent 9-0 record in 12 starts.

Ken was one of the Cubs’ top 3 starters from 1968-70, behind ace Fergie Jenkins and Bill Hands. Holtzman won 17 games in both ’69 and ’70, and reached a career-high 202 strikeouts in 1970.

After a sub-par season in 1971 (9-15), Ken asked for a trade and was sent to the Athletics before the 1972 season for outfielder Rick Monday. Holtzman had great success in his 4 seasons with Oakland, winning 19, 21, 19, and 18 games per season. He made his only All-star teams in ’72 and ’73, and pitched in the ALCS each of those 4 years, and in the World Series for the first 3 seasons (with the A’s winning all 3 times). That was to be his only post-season action for his career.

One week before the start of the 1976 season, Ken and Reggie Jackson were traded to the Orioles for outfielder Don Baylor and pitchers Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell. Ken’s stay in Charm City would be short, as he was sent on to the Yankees in June (with catcher Elrod Hendricks and pitchers Doyle Alexander and Grant Jackson) for catcher Rick Dempsey and pitchers Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May and Dave Pagan.

Holtzman was a non-factor in the Yankees' starting rotation during his time there, and although the Yanks were in the post-season in ’76 and ’77, Holtzman did not play.

Ken returned to the Cubs in a June 1978 trade, and pitched 23 games for Chicago in each of ’78 and ’79.

After the 1979 season the Cubs released him, ending his 15-year career with a record of 174-150.

Jay Johnstone (#213)

Jay Johnstone will be appearing on my 1970 blog soon, as part of the “Bat Rack” series, so I’ll focus on his entire career in that post. I wanted to show his 1967 card also, specifically because of the uniform he is wearing.

Here it is 2 years after the Angels moved from Los Angeles to Anaheim, and Jay is shown in his “Los Angeles” uniform. (Maybe the Topps' expert misread this as "Angels", and let it go.) This was brought to my attention about a year ago by fellow blogger Eric C. Loy, as we were discussing Topps’ inability to photograph Angels’ players in a timely fashion. This must have been a spring training photo from 1965, because Johnstone didn’t begin playing for the Angels until 1966, when they were in Anaheim.

This is also Johnstone’s rookie card. He was one of 6 rookies with significant playing time in 1966 that didn’t appear in the 1966 Topps set, even on a Rookie Stars card. I previously posted this list on my 1966 blog in April 2010:


I began paying attention to Jay in the mid-1970s when he was with the Phillies. Johnstone was one of 2 players (along with Bill Robinson) that the Phillies rescued from the minor-league scrap heap during that time, who went on to revive their careers the second time around. Jay was the Phillies’ regular right fielder from late 1974 to mid-1977, when the Phillies acquired Bake McBride from the Cardinals.

Johnstone was known as a character (a “flake” in 1970s’ parlance), and was dubbed “The Jay of Johnstone” by Phillies’ broadcaster Harry Kalas. I remember him specifically for a great defensive play he made against the Pirates during a game in 1975. Playing right field, he ran in and took a snap throw from catcher Johnny Oates, picking runner Frank Taveras off of first base. (I discovered today that this event is mentioned by the sponsor of Johnstone’s Baseball-Reference.com page.)

Final Card: Ron Campbell

Program Note: I recently acquired the 1969 Topps Blog from its previous owner. Be sure to check it out, and add it to your sidebars. (You may also want to add my 1963 and 1970 blogs to your sidebars, if you haven't already done so.)


This is the final card for Cubs' utility infielder Ron Campbell (#497). It also happens to be his rookie card. Ron is one of several in the 1967 set whose career ended before the 1967 season. I wonder if anyone else had their rookie card issued after their major-league career was over?



Ron was signed by the Cubs in 1960, and played 11 seasons (1960-70) in the minors, mostly with the Cubs' organization, but his last 2 seasons in the Pirates' system. In the minors, Campbell played 3rd base about 85% of the time, but also saw action at 2nd base and shortstop.

He made his major-league debut on September 1, 1964, and played about 2 dozen games with the Cubs in each of 1964 and 1966, and only 2 games in 1965. Probably the arrival of rookie infielder Paul Popovich in 1967 made Campbell's presence unnecessary on the major-league roster. Of course, with Ron Santo, Don Kessinger, and Glenn Beckert as the starters, extra infielders by any name weren't really necessary!

Check out Wrigley Wax's post on Ron Campbell.

Maury Wills' Rookie Card

Two days ago marked the 6th-month anniversary of this (my first) blog, and this is my 100th post. For the occasion, I'm posting my most recent acquisition - the 1st Maury Wills card from Topps. Yes, after 8 years, Wills finally got his "rookie" card. It's only taken me 43 years to get it!


Maury Wills (#570) was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and played 7 seasons in their minor-league system before even advancing to triple-A (in 1958). After a year and a half in triple-A, Maury made his major-league debut on June 6, 1959. Don Zimmer had been the Dodgers' starting shortstop, but from July 4th on, Wills was making most of the starts there. (They each started 70 games at shortstop that season.)



From 1960 to 1966, Wills started 140 or more games at shortstop for the Dodgers each season (except 1963). The Dodgers inexplicably started Dick Tracewski at shortstop for long stretches of games in 1963, while Wills was either starting at 3rd base or was out of the lineup. (Maybe an old-school Dodgers fan can shed some light on that?)

In 1962, Wills actually started 164 of the Dodgers' 165 regular-season games that year! That season, he set a record with 104 stolen bases, and won the MVP award. He also led the league in plate appearances, at-bats, and triples that season.

After the 1966 season, Wills was traded to the Pirates for third baseman Bob Bailey and minor-league shortstop Gene Michael. He played 3rd base during his 2 seasons in Pittsburgh.

Maury was selected by the Expos in the expansion draft following the 1968 season, and after starting 46 of the Expos' first 50 games at shortstop in 1969, he was traded to the Dodgers (with outfielder Manny Mota) for outfielder Ron Fairly and infielder Paul Popovich. The Dodgers, who had been getting by with Ted Sizemore and Billy Grabarkiewitz at shortstop, returned Wills to his familiar post. Maury started all but 6 games at short for the rest of the season.

Wills was the Dodgers' starting shortstop until April 28, 1972 when Bill Russell took over the position. Wills remained with the team for the rest of the season as a backup, and was released in late October.

He later managed the Seattle Mariners for parts of 1980 and 1981.

11/10/2018 edit: Here is the No card for Wills story.

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: 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.

Chris Short's first card

This is Chris Short's rookie card (#395). Yes, in 1967, this veteran of 8 years, 87 wins, and 988 strikeouts finally got a Topps baseball card! I don't know the story behind it, I just assume that he never signed a contract with Topps. (The same was true for Maury Wills. 1967 was his first Topps card, although Wills appeared on a Fleer baseball card in the early 1960s.)

Back in 1967, this was my favorite Phillies card. I'm not sure why - maybe the bright red windbreaker worn under his shirt, maybe the cool swagger he had.



I thought it was odd that Short threw left, but batted right (the rarest of the throws/bats combinations).

Short was the Phillies' left-handed ace during the 1960s. His best seasons were '64, '65, '66, and '68. He only pitched 10 innings in 1969 due to a back injury, and was never the same after that. By 1971 he was used more and more as a reliever, and in his final season with the Phillies (1972), he appeared only in relief. Chris wrapped up his career in 1973 with the Brewers.

Short suffered an aneurysm in 1988, lapsing into a coma until passing away on August 1, 1991 at age 53.

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.