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.

2015 Post-Season - Royals vs. Blue Jays

So now we have the two teams for the ALCS. I was hoping for an Astros vs. Rangers series, if for no other reason than to have an all-Texas affair. (Ok, truth be told, I could do more with those 2 teams on this blog than who we have here, but...)

Yes, there are no 1967 cards here, but then these 2 teams didn't exist in 1967. If I had thought ahead, maybe I should have done this series on my 1969 or 1970 blog, but there's always next year.


In the last round, we looked at 6 first-year Royals in their shiny, new uniforms. This time we have some early-season veterans in all their Topps airbrushed/capless glory.

Q. What is this rag-tag collection of Dodgers and non-Dodgers?
A. These are the only members of the 1977 expansion Blue Jays that had cards in the 1969 set. (Well, Phil Roof too, but he only played in 3 games for the Jays in 1977.)

In 1969, the Royals had a 69-93 record and finished 4th in the 6-team AL West, ahead of the White Sox (!) and the Seattle Pilots. For some reason, the geniuses-in-charge put both expansion teams in the same division. KC finished 28 games behind the AL West champion Twins.

In 1977, the Blue Jays finished at 54-107 - dead last in the 7-team AL East, and 45 games behind the Yankees.

2015 Post-Season - Royals vs. Astros

Ok, the Astros made it past the Yankees in a 1-game Wild-card playoff. Now they take on the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS.

I was going to scan some of my 1967 Kansas City cards, but it turns out they were the Athletics, not the Royals. ;)    So, here are some late-series 1969 cards - the first to show the Royals in their new uniforms.

We already saw the 1967 Astros' best players a few posts ago, so here are some 2nd-tier guys.

Galen Cisco (#596)

Here is the rare, 7th-series card for Galen Cisco. Galen looks older than his 30 years here.

Cisco was signed by the Red Sox in 1958, and spent 2 seasons in the low minors followed by 1 1/2 seasons in triple-A, all in the Red Sox' organization. He made his major-league debut in June 1961 with the Red Sox.

Galen was with Boston full-time until early September 1962, when he was picked up by the Mets. He spent the next 3 full seasons pitching for the hapless Mets, both as a starter and reliever. Cisco pitched in the minors for the entire 1966 season, first for the Mets, then 2 days after his June 4th release, his old Red Sox team picked him up and assigned him to their AAA Toronto team.



Since this is a late-season card, it includes a note about him making the '67 team as a non-roster spring training invitee. It didn't last long though, as he only pitched 11 games for the Sox that season, and was soon back in the minors. This time, he stayed down until being rescued in 1969 by the expansion Royals. (He was actually purchased by the Royals in August 1968, before they fielded a team. This also happened to Jim Bouton, who was purchased by the Seattle Pilots in 1968 from the Yankees.)

Besides pitching in 15 games for the Royals in 1969, Cisco pitched for their triple-A Omaha team in '69 and '70. His final player card is in the 1969 set.