The 1967 Athletics

Last week on my 1969 blog I reviewed the first Royals team to play in Kansas City. Today on this blog I am reviewing the last Athletics team to play in Kansas City.

I started collecting baseball cards in May 1967. Before that time, I has NO IDEA who any of the players were, except for four: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, who were pop culture figures in the early-1960s so I must have heard of them on the TV; the Phillies' Johnny Callison, because I remembered some kids referring to him in elementary school recess (“I wanna be Johnny Callison!”); and Harmon Killebrew, because my elderly neighbors' grandchildren would come visit them from Minnesota every summer, and they would go on about Killebrew and the Twins.

My knowledge of the team names probably came from my brother and me having those child’s baseball jackets, with all the team logos on them. When I started collecting cards in May 1967, I can remember the first Athletics card I got was Phil Roof. I had never heard of the Athletics, probably because they were not on that jacket I had a few years earlier. I remember saying to my brother “Who are the Athletics? Are they a minor-league team? Do they make minor-league cards too?” (That is how naïve I was at the time.) Thinking back now, I probably never heard of the Astros or Angels either, but I don’t remember questioning them.

In their final season in Kansas City, a few good things were happening. They were building a foundation of good, young starting pitchers (Jim Hunter, Jim Nash, Johnny Odom, Chuck Dobson, and Lew Krausse), it was Rick Monday’s rookie season, and Reggie Jackson made his major-league debut in June. Otherwise they were a bad team, finishing in last (10th) place with a 62-99 record.


Here are the pitchers, in order of innings pitched:

Jim Hunter (13-17), Jim Nash (12-17), and Chuck Dobson (10-10) were the top three starters. Lew Krausse (7-17) (hey, what’s with this "losing 17 games" trend?) and John Odom (3-8) each started about half their games. All five were between the age of 21 and 24 and surprisingly, all were righthanders. In fact, the only lefties on the staff were Paul Lindblad and Tony Pierce.

Paul Lindblad was primarily a reliever but also made 10 starts. Rookie Tony Pierce appeared in 49 games (43 in relief). Jack Aker pitched in 57 games (all in relief) and led the staff with 12 saves. Diego Segui was the 9th and last member of the "core 9" pitchers (all the remaining hurlers pitched in less than 16 games), working 70 innings in 36 games. Segui was the "old man" of that group at age 29.

Roberto Rodriguez (see rookie stars card below) appeared in 15 games, mostly in August and September. These next three were veterans at the end of their careers: Jack Sanford was acquired from the Angels in mid-June for Roger Repoz, and wrapped up his 12-year career with 10 games for the A’s. Bill Stafford spent most of the season in triple-A, but pitched his final 14 major-league games in August and September.  Bob Duliba finished up with 7 games in April and early-May. George Lauzerique and Bill Edgerton also pitched for the Athletics in 1967.


The starting eight:

Phil Roof had started 119 of the final 128 games in 1966, but got more of a break in 1967, starting 107 games. Rookie Ramon Webster started 78 games, splitting the job with Ken Harrelson and Danny Cater. Rookie John Donaldson was called up in early June and started all but 10 games the rest of the season. Bert Campaneris led the team with 145 starts.

Danny Cater was all over the place, starting 51 games at 3rd base, 54 in left field, and 33 at 1st base. Jim Gosger was actually the 3rd outfielder but he split his time at all 3 positions (LF/34 starts, CF/27, RF/29). Although his 841 outfield innings were double that of 4th outfielder Cater, he played less in left field than Cater.

Rookie Rick Monday took over the center field job in game #10 and never looked back. He was named to the Topps All-Rookie team, but Topps forgot to put the trophy on his 1968 card. Mike Hershberger was the Athletics’ starting right fielder from 1965-67. In 1968 Reggie Jackson came along, and that was it for Mike's playing time.


Here are the subs, in order of at-bats:

Dick Green was the starting 2nd baseman until Donaldson arrived in early-June. He made 48 starts at 2B and another 47 starts at 3B. Ken Harrelson was the team's regular 1st baseman in 1966, but began the '67 season with the Senators. He returned in early-June and started most games at 1B in July and August, until he was released in late-August following Al Dark's firing.

Although Joe Nossek played in the same number of games (87) that he did in when he was the primary center fielder in 1966, with Monday onboard Joe was the 5th outfielder in ’67. Sal Bando started 38 games at 3rd base in mid-May and September, but spent the rest of the season in triple-A.

Reggie Jackson had 2 stints with Kansas City in 1967, starting 18 games in left field in June, and 13 games in right field in September. Ted Kubiak played in 53 games as a rookie, mostly as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement, although he started 14 games at shortstop.

Dave Duncan was the Athletics' backup catcher in June and September, appearing in 34 games. Roger Repoz started 6 of the first 9 games in center field, then Rick Monday took over. Roger found a seat on the bench until his mid-June trade to the Angels for Jack Sanford.

Ken Suarez started 22 games as Phil Roof’s backup, although he had no playing time during Duncan’s June stint with the team. Ed Charles began the season as the starting 3rd baseman, but was traded to the Mets in early-May when Bando was called up. Ossie Chavarria played 38 games as a backup infielder, also starting 10 games at 2nd base. Joe Rudi played 19 games in April and September, but spent most of the season in the minors. Allen Lewis played in 34 games, mostly as a pinch-runner.


Others:

Al Dark was the manager for 1966 and most of 1967, but was fired in late-August. He returned to manage the A’s in ’74 and ’75, and with better players finished in first both years, winning the World Series in 1974. Wes Stock retired before the season and became the pitching coach.  He was activated for 1 game (May 7th). Gil Blanco and Rene Lachemann were in the minors for all of 1967.


Rookie Stars cards:

Randy Schwartz had cups of coffee in September ‘65 and ’66, but didn’t play for the Athletics again. Tim Talton played 46 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter.  He was with the team for the entire season, but did not play from mid-May to mid-July. George Lauzerique played 3 games in September.


The back of the 1968 team card:

Transactions from the end of the 1966 season to the end of 1967: 
10/14/66 - Larry Stahl selected by the Mets off waivers.

11/28/66 - Bill Landis drafted by the Red Sox in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/66 - Tommie Reynolds drafted by the Mets in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/66 - Drafted Dave Roberts from the Pirates in the rule 5 draft.

11/29/66 - Manny Jimenez selected by the Pirates in the minor league draft.
11/29/66 - Rick Joseph selected by the Phillies in the minor league draft.

04/07/67 - Returned Dave Roberts to the Pirates.

04/11/67 - Released Wes Stock.

05/02/67 - Signed Wes Stock as a free agent.

05/10/67 - Traded Ed Charles to the Mets for Larry Elliot.

05/16/67 - Released Wes Stock.

06/09/67 - Purchased Ken Harrelson from the Senators.

06/15/67 - Traded Roger Repoz to the Angels for Jack Sanford and Jackie Warner.

08/14/67 - Sold Joe Grzenda to the Mets.

08/15/67 - Released Jack Sanford.

08/20/67 - Fired manager Al Dark. Named coach Luke Appling as interim manager.

08/25/67 - Released Ken Harrelson.

10/15/67 - General Manager Eddie Lopat resigned.

10/19/67 – Purchased Andy Kosco from the Twins.

11/21/67 - Traded Ron Tompkins to the Reds for Floyd Robinson and Darrell Osteen.

11/28/67 - Drafted Ed Sprague from the Cardinals in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Jim Holt drafted by the Twins in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Andy Kosco drafted by the Yankees in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Skip Lockwood drafted by the Astros in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Ken Suarez drafted by the Indians in the rule 5 draft.
11/28/67 - Bill Edgerton selected by the Angels in the minor league draft.

12/03/67 - Purchased Jim Pagliaroni from the Pirates.


Team reviews remaining: Mets, Tigers, Astros, Angels, Padres.
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Chuck Dobson (#438)

Here's another last look at a Kansas City Athletics' player. I really like these A’s cards – it's sad to see the mess Topps created in the 1968 set after the team moved to Oakland.

This looks like a Spring Training shot, with palm trees behind the fence. His rookie card in 1966 (below) shows him in the same location.

Chuck Dobson was signed by the Athletics late in 1964. After one game in the Florida Instructional League that year and splitting the 1965 season between A and AA ball, he debuted with the Athletics at the start of the 1966 season. His first major-league appearance was to start Kansas City's final home opener on April 19th, where he collected his first career win.

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Dobson was one of several youngsters who made up the Athletics' starting rotation for the next few years. He teamed with Catfish Hunter, Blue Moon Odom, and (for the first few seasons) Jim Nash and Lew Krausse. In the early 1970s they would be joined by Vida Blue.

Chuck won between 10 and 16 games every season from 1966 to 1971. He missed all of 1972 due to elbow surgery, and spent all of 1973 in the minors, only pitching 1 game that year for Oakland (on 9/25).

Released by the Athletics during Spring Training in 1974, he hooked on with a Mexican League team until the California Angels came calling in late-June.

Although he pitched a few games for the Angels in '74 and '75, he spent most of 1974-76 pitching for their 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.

Al Dark (#389)

Last week, I was browsing the Baseball-Almanac.com site, and came across a list of the 100 oldest living ex-players. (The oldest name I recognized was Alex Monchak (age 97), who was a major-league coach for manager Chuck Tanner's teams in the 1970s and '80s.)

Also on the list are Al Dark, Sam Mele, and Red Schoendienst. Although they are #39, #41, and #53 on the list, they are the only three who had cards in the 1967 Topps set. Dark and Mele are both 92, while Schoendienst is 91. As such, I have moved Al and Red to the top of the to-be-blogged schedule.


This card shows Al wearing the white cap that was worn by the Athletics’ coaching staff, while the players wore green caps. Dark's nickname was "Blackie".  Give him an unfiltered cigarette, and it looks like Blackie would fit right in on an old Western movie, chasing down Clint Eastwood.

Alvin Dark was a shortstop (and later 3rd baseman) for several teams including the Boston Braves (1946, 48-49), New York Giants (1950-56), Cardinals (1956-58), and Cubs (1958-59), before wrapping up his playing career in 1960 as a sub for the Phillies and Milwaukee Braves.

Dark played in the minors only during the 1947 season, then was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1948, and led the league with 41 doubles in 1951. He was his team’s starting shortstop from 1948-57, and 3rd baseman from 1958-59).


Dark began his major-league managing career immediately after retiring as a player. He managed the Giants for 4 seasons (1961-64), including a trip to the 1962 World Series.

Al managed the Athletics during their final 2 seasons in Kansas City (1966-67), then moved on to the Indians (1968-71). He returned to the Athletics for the 1974-75 seasons, winning the World Series in 1974.

Dark wrapped up his managing career in 1977 with the Padres.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter (#369)

Here is my first card for Jim “Catfish” Hunter. It’s a nice spring training shot, much better than the rather plain photo from 1966, or the ridiculous capless head shots in the ’68 and ’69 sets.

Catfish was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1964, and became the last "bonus baby".  (The bonus baby rule became moot with the advent of the amateur draft.) They immediately sent him to the Mayo Clinic to correct a foot injury due to a hunting accident a year earlier.

Hunter never played in the minor leagues, and made his major-league debut at age 19 in early May 1965. Catfish joined the starting rotation permanently 2 months later, and finished his rookie season with a record of 8-8.

In 1966 the Athletics’ starting rotation was rebuilt, with Hunter now joined by Lew Krausse, Blue Moon Odom, Jim Nash, and Chuck Dobson, all in their early 20s. Hunter made more starts (25) than any other A’s pitcher.

The rotation stayed the same in 1967, although Odom and Krausse both alternated between the rotation and the bullpen. Hunter became the team’s ace, leading the staff in wins (13), starts (35), innings (259), and strikeouts (196).

1968 was the Athletics’ first season in Oakland, and Hunter marked the occasion by twirling a perfect game on May 8th against the Minnesota Twins. [Earlier this year, my daughter got me this book about the 20 perfect games pitched in MLB history. So far, I have read the chapters on Jim Bunning and Jim Hunter. I learned from the book that A’s outfielder Joe Rudi (who had played 19 games in 1967) was just recalled from the minors, and was playing his first game of the 1968 season that day. He made a critical defensive play to preserve Hunter’s perfecto.]

Hunter and his rotation mates chugged along for the next few seasons, although Nash and Krausse were traded away after the 1969 season.

In 1971, Catfish was eclipsed by rookie Vida Blue, who won 24 games while striking out 301, on his way to winning both the Cy Young and MVP awards. Hunter did his part, winning 21 games (a feat he would repeat in ’72 and ’73), as the A’s made it to the ALCS, only to be swept by the Orioles.

Hunter continued pitching for the A’s through the 1974 season. The team won the World Series for 3 consecutive seasons (1972-74), and Catfish led the AL in wins (25) and ERA (2.49) in 1974, and won the Cy Young award.

Catfish was granted free agency after the 1974 season, due to owner Charlie Finley botching a provision in Hunter’s contract. He was approached by all the other teams (except the Giants), and signed a 5-year contract with the Yankees for over 3 million dollars – the largest contract at the time.

In his first season with New York, he again led the AL in wins (23), and also in complete games (30), while finishing 2nd in the Cy Young voting to Jim Palmer. After going 17-15 in 1976, Hunter’s workload and performance dropped off over the next 3 seasons due to arm injuries. He was also diagnosed with diabetes early in 1978.

He retired after the 1979 season, at age 33. After his playing career, he returned to his farm in North Carolina, hunting and raising various crops. He was also a spokesman for diabetes awareness.

In early 1998, he was diagnosed with ALS, and died at age 53 on September 9, 1999, a month after falling at home and hitting his head on concrete steps.

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My brother (who I’ve referred to several times on this blog) was diagnosed with ALS early in 2012. He continues to battle this disease, and his mobility and speech have been severely impaired. I will be visiting him tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner.

Kansas City Athletics - Spring Training Shots

While I was putting the Lew Krausse card back in my 1967 binder after a recent post, I noticed a large number of Athletics' players photographed in spring training. The Athletics trained in Bradenton, FL from 1963-68, before moving to Arizona in 1969.  (The Pirates moved in to Bradenton in 1969, where they remain to this day.)

As I did with the Dodgers about a year ago, here are the Athletics, in their last year as Kansas City Athletics. Most of the players in the 1967 set are featured WITH caps, and in their green and white uniform. (I think only infielders Ed Charles and Ossie Chavarria are in the green and gold (away?) uniforms.

Here are the two standard "pitching poses". Most of the A's pitchers were very young. Catfish Hunter completed 2 years in the majors, Jim Nash and Chuck Dobson 1 each, with Lew Krausse the veteran of these four pitchers with 4 years.

Here are four more players, warming up before manager Al Dark puts them through some "fundamentals training". That white building behind Campy appears in several of the photos. I wonder if that's the clubhouse, or maybe just the maintenance shed for the lawn tractors and such.

Here we see Al Dark, in the white cap that the coaching staff wore (maybe so the fans in Kansas City knew where to direct their vitriol during a game?). Paul Linblad's cap looks like it just came out of the box THAT day.

Lots of youth here. Every one of these 11 players had 4 years or less in the bigs, except Mike Hershberger with 6 years.

I really like the 1967 Athletics' cards.  In the 1968 set, they're a complete airbrushed mess, what with their move to Oakland.

Lew Krausse (#565)

Today we check out Lew Krausse, pitcher for the Kansas City Athletics. This was the Athletics' last year in Kansas City, and Krausse was in the rare 7th series, so it's really the last look at a player in a KayCee uniform. (The other 7th series Athletics are rookie cards, and a capless Bob Duliba.)

Krausse grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs (the topic for my next 1960s Baseball blog post), and went to Chester High School, as did long-time Pirates' manager Danny Murtaugh. (Lew's stomping grounds were the same as my dad's, although Krausse was 12 years younger, so they probably didn't cross paths.)

Krausse's dad (Lew Sr.) pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931-32.

Lew Jr. had been a star all through little league and high school baseball (pitching 18 no-hitters in high school), and was signed as a $125,000 bonus baby by the Athletics in 1961. He pitched a complete game shutout (vs the Angels) in his major-league debut in June, at age 18.

After appearing in 12 games (8 starts) as a rookie, he spent all of 1962 (class-A) and 1963 (AAA) in the minors. Krausse also spent the bulk of 1964-65 in the minors, but did appear in a half-dozen games with the A's in each season.

Lew became a full-time big-leaguer at the start of the 1966 season. In each of the next four years, he split his time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, but was always among the top four or five A's pitchers in innings pitched (along with Catfish Hunter, Chuck Dobson, Blue Moon Odom, and Jim Nash).

After the 1969 season, Krausse was traded to the Brewers (along with outfielder Mike Hershberger, catcher Phil Roof, and pitcher Ken Sanders) for 1st baseman Don Mincher and infielder Ron Clark.

After 2 seasons in Milwaukee, Lew was traded to the Red Sox (with pitcher Marty Pattin and outfielder Tommy Harper) for first baseman George Scott, pitchers Jim Lonborg and Ken Brett, catcher Don Pavletich, and outfielders Billy Conigliaro and Joe Lahoud. Lew pitched for the BoSox in 1972, but was released the following spring.

He was quickly re-signed by the Athletics, and spent most of the season in the minors, before signing with the Cardinals in September. Krausse spent the '74 and '75 seasons bouncing around in the minors with the Braves and Athletics.

Jim Nash (#90)

Starting a series on all the Topps 1966 all-star rookies...

Jim Nash made his major-league debut with the Kansas City Athletics on July 3, 1966. In just half a season, he compiled a 12-1 record with a 2.06 ERA, and finished 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year voting to White Sox' outfielder Tommie Agee. Just 6 seasons later, his career would be over.

Nash was signed by Kansas City in 1963, and collected 14 wins in each of his 2 full minor-league seasons ('64,'65). After fashioning a 7-4 record in 13 starts in 1966, he was called up to the Athletics in early July.

Nash joined the all-righthanded starting rotation that included full-timers Lew Krausse (14-9) and Catfish Hunter (9-11), along with John Odom (5-5) and Chuck Dobson (4-6). At age 23, Krausse was the senior statesman of the group.

Jim won 12 games again in 1967, but lost 17 games. The other Jim (Hunter) also lost 17, but they were the top 2 starters on a bad team, with Odom and Dobson again rounding out the rotation. Last year's ace Krausse spent half the season in the bullpen.

Two .500 seasons followed (13-13, 8-8), but by then team management had seen enough. Nash was traded to the Braves after the 1969 season for outfielder Felipe Alou.

He had a bounce-back year in Atlanta's starting rotation in 1970 (13-9 in 33 starts), but slipped in 1971, was relegated to the bullpen by mid-July, and finished with a 9-7 in 32 games (19 starts).

After 11 appearances, the Braves traded Nash and his 5.46 ERA to the Phillies in mid-June 1972. He started 8 games for the Phillies (0-8, 6.27 ERA), and was part of the horrendous, non-Steve Carlton portion of the Phillies' pitching staff that season. As such, he was released the following March.

Nash wrapped up his pro career with the Athletics' double-A team in 1973.

Final Card: Gil Blanco

This is the final card for Gil Blanco (#303). His only other baseball card was a Yankees Rookie Stars card in 1965.

Gil was signed by the Yankees in 1964, and started 23 games for class-A Fort Lauderdale, compiling a 12-7 record. In 1965, Blanco spent the entire season with the Yankees, but only appeared in 17 games (fewer than 9 other Yankee pitchers).



After his unimpressive performance in 1965, Gil was back in the minors to start the 1966 season. In June he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics (along with pitcher Bil Stafford and outfielder Roger Repoz) for pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Bill Bryan. Blanco appeared in 11 games (8 starts) for the remainder of the 1966 season, with his September 22nd appearance being his last major-league game.

Blanco continued to pitch in the minor leagues from 1967 to 1971, mostly in the Athletics' system.

Final Card: Ossie Chavarria

Ossie Chavarria (#344) was a utility infielder who played a season and a half with the Kansas City Athletics.

Ossie (from Panama) was signed by the Cubs before the 1959 season, but after only 1 season in their system, was traded to Kansas City. He spent 6 seasons with various Athletics' farm teams. Primarily a 2nd baseman, he also saw significant playing time at 3rd base and shortstop, as well as occasional games at 1st base and in the outfield.

Chavarria made his major-league debut on April 14, 1966, and spent the entire 1966 season with Kansas City. In 1967, he split his time evenly between Kansas City (38 games) and triple-A Vancouver (40 games). His final major-league game was in early August 1967.



Ossie spent the next four seasons in the minors, playing for the Athletics' AAA team in 1968-69, and for the Yankees' AAA team in 1970-71. After the 1969 season, the A's traded Ossie and 1st baseman Danny Cater to the Yankees for pitcher Al Downing and catcher Frank Fernandez.

Chavarria never played for the Yankees. After the 1971 season, he was traded to the Mexico City Tigers for 3rd baseman Celerino Sanchez.

Final Card: Bob Duliba

This is the last card for Bob Duliba (#599). It's also the same exact photo that Topps used for his 1966 card. Apparently, the Topps photographer was too busy running around photographing all the George Korinces in the league to have any time to give the veteran Duliba a proper send-off.

Bob began pitching in the low minors in 1952. In 1953, he became the property of the Cardinals, and pitched for their farm teams for the next 3 seasons. He missed 3 seasons (1956-58) due to military service. Duliba is the first player I've seen (while posting my 1966-68 cards) who missed more than 2 seasons to the military.

In 1959, he returned to pitch for the Cardinals' triple-A Omaha team, and also played 11 games with St. Louis. He was in the Cardinals' bullpen for all of 1960, and spent the 1961-62 seasons bouncing between the Cardinals and triple-A ball.



At the start of the 1963 season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels. Bob played most of 1963 with triple-A Hawaii, and all of 1964 with the Angels. In 1965, it was on to the Red Sox, where he split his season between Boston and triple-A Toronto.

In May 1966, he was traded to the Athletics in a deal involving all minor-leaguers, and spent the entire season in the minors. (Hey, I'm starting to not feel so bad for the Topps photographer!)

Bob surfaced in the majors for one last time in early 1967, playing 7 games for the Athletics in April and early May, before returning to triple-A for the Athletics (1967-69) and the Braves (1970-71).

Final Card: Wes Stock

Wes Stock (#74) was a relief pitcher for the Orioles and Athletics in the early and mid-1960s.

Stock was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1956. After 1 season in class-D ball, he spent 2 years in military service before returning to the O's in 1959. Although he made his major-league debut in April 1959, he spend most of that season and some of 1960 in the minors.

Wes came up to stay in 1961, but was always just "another guy in the bullpen", stuck behind Hoyt Wilhelm, Dick Hall, and later Stu Miller.



In June 1964, Stock was traded to the Athletics for catcher Charlie Lau. With Kansas City, it was more of the same - stuck behind John Wyatt or Jack Aker. (In 1966, the Athletics used twenty-three pitchers!)

On April 11th, 1967 (opening day), the Athletics probably did him a favor by releasing him. They re-signed him on May 2nd, only to release him 2 weeks later.

After his playing career, Stock began a long career as a pitching coach.

Classic Crew Cuts (part 1)

I'd like to wrap up today's posts with the first installment of what I call "Classic Crew Cuts". Topps gave recently-traded players either the hats-off treatment, or the dreaded airbrush! Looking through the 1967 card set, there's about 20 players sporting the old-school look. These 3 are probably the tops (extra points for flatness and square corners!)

Long-time Phillie Curt Simmons (#39) leads off the parade. (I think he wins the contest for most surface area!) This is Curt's last baseball card, as he closed out a fine career in 1967 with the Cubs and Angels, one year after his contemporary Robin Roberts ended his MLB career (although Roberts pitched for the AA Reading Phillies in 1967). Curt is one of only 3 players with 1967 cards to have his MLB debut in the 1940s (along with Smoky Burgess and Joe Nuxhall).




Next up is Danny Cater (#157) , also an ex-Phillie. After spending 6 years in the Phillies' minor league system, followed by 1 year in Philadelphia, Cater was traded to the White Sox. Here we see him in his Sox jersey, with just enough overhead clearance for his name.




Contestant number three is Eddie Fisher (#434) (no, not that Eddie Fisher!). Eddie looks like he also just escaped from the Chicago White Sox. He lucked out, and went to the world champion Orioles, whereas Cater went to "the Yankees farm team" in Kansas City.





Of course, no discussion on crew cuts is complete without the king: