Chuck Hinton (#189)

It’s been awhile since I've seen a card with "In Military Service" on the back! 

Hinton was a jack-of-all-trades player (but primarily an outfielder) for the Indians, Senators, and Angels from 1961-1971. In his 11-year career, he played every position but pitcher (although only catching for 73 innings, and 5 innings at shortstop). He did pitch 1 game in the minors.

Hinton was signed by the Orioles in 1956, and played in their farm system for 3 seasons (missing the '57-'58 seasons while in military service). He played Class-C ball in ’56 and ’59, and most of 1960 before getting a call-up to AAA.

Chuck was drafted by the expansion Washington Senators before the 1961 season, and was a regular outfielder (mostly in left) during the franchise's first 4 seasons. Hinton made his only All-Star team in 1964 (his last with the Nats).

After the 1964 season he was traded to the Indians for Bob Chance (the Tribe’s regular 1st baseman as a rookie in 1964) and Woodie Held, who had been Cleveland’s starting shortstop from 1959-62, but by now was a utility player (which is why Topps was saddling him with the “INF-OF” position).

Leon Wagner, Vic Davalillo, and Rocky Colavito were already manning the 3 outfield spots, so playing time was hard to come by for Hinton for the next 2 seasons. Still, he managed to start 56 games in the outfield and 36 at first base in 1965, and 82 in the outfield the following season.

With Colavito fading (and then finally traded) during 1967, Hinton finally saw the playing time he had in Washington. He started 119 games in the outfield, and was the #1 outfielder with 1115 innings played, (ahead of Wagner, Davalillo, Lee Maye, and Colavito).

Once again, just as he rose to the top he was traded. This time to the Angels for outfielder Jose Cardenal. Hinton only spent the 1968 season with the Angels, and because they seemed to employ too many outfielders, Chuck was used mainly as a backup to Don Mincher at 1st base (48 games), along with 37 games in the outfield and another 2 dozen split between 2B and 3B.

After that season he was traded back to the Indians for outfielder Lou Johnson. Now in his late 30s, Hinton spent his final 3 seasons as a backup first baseman and occasional outfielder.

Chuck had an interesting post-playing career. He was the head baseball coach at Howard University from 1972-2000, and in 1982 he founded the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

Hinton passed away in 2013 at age 78.

Steve Hargan (#440)

Steve Hargan was the 4th member of the Indians’ excellent starting rotation in the mid-to-late 1960s.

Hargan signed with the Indians in 1961 and made his major-league debut in August 1965. By mid-June 1966 he joined he starting rotation, where he stayed until early 1971.

Steve’s best years were 1966, 1967, and 1970. In those 3 years only, he won in double figures, and had an ERA below 3.00. He also had over 130 strikeouts in ’66 and ’67. In 1967, he led the AL with 6 shutouts, and made his only All-Star team.

Anchored by Sam McDowell, it seemed like McDowell, Luis Tiant, Sonny Siebert, and Hargan were always showing up among the AL pitching leaders:

Hargan's career derailed in 1971. After posting a 1-13 record that season, he only pitched 20 innings for the Tribe in 1972 while spending most of that season and all of 1973 in the minors.

After the 1973 season he was traded to the Rangers for pitcher Bill Gogolewski. Hargan bounced back with Texas, winning 12 games in ’74 and 9 games in ’75 as a starter. He was primarily a reliever in his 3rd season with the Rangers, only starting 8 of his 35 games on his way to an 8-8 record.

Hargan was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the expansion draft following the 1976 season. After only 6 games (29 innings) he was traded back to Texas in early-May. A month later he was flipped to the Braves, where he finished out the season (and his career).

He pitched in the minors in 1978 before retiring.

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.

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.

Sam McDowell (#295)

After being bumped 5 times (for Al Dark, Red Schoendienst, and 3 opening-day posts), Sam McDowell finally gets his turn. 


“Sudden” Sam McDowell was a hard-throwing strikeout artist who pitched for 15 seasons from 1961 to 1975, the first 11 seasons with the Cleveland Indians.

McDowell was signed by the Indians in 1960, and after one season in class-D ball, he jumped to triple-A in 1961. Sam made his major-league debut in 1961, pitching one game on September 15th.

In 1962, he played 25 games with the Indians, but spent most of June and July back in triple-A. McDowell was in the Indians rotation for most of ‘63 and ’64, except for a stint in AAA from July ’63 to May ’64.

Topps re-used the same photo in the 1969 set:

1965 was the beginning of a 6-year stretch where Sam was a dominant pitcher in the American League. He led the AL in strikeouts every season from ’65 to ’70, except for 1967, when he finished 10 strikeouts behind Jim Lonborg. Sam was also the ERA leader in 1965 (2.18), and won 17 games that season. He also won 18 in 1969 and 20 in 1970, and was a 6-time all-star.

After the 1971 season, McDowell was traded to the Giants for pitcher Gaylord Perry and shortstop Frank Duffy. After starting for the Giants in 1972, he worked out of the bullpen in 1973 until he was sold to the Yankees in early June.

Sam started for the Yankees for the remainder of that season, but was back in the ‘pen in 1974. Released after the season, he hooked on with the Pirates for his final season in 1975. After 14 appearances, he was released in late June, ending his career.

During his final 4 seasons, he never came close to the success he had with the Indians.



If a picture is worth 1000 words, what are 5 pictures worth?

(He missed the top spot in 1967 by 10 strikeouts) 

McDowell also hobnobbed with the ERA leaders from time to time:

The 1967 Indians

Someone once said "Cleveland Rocks!", but it probably wasn't an Indians fan in the 1960s-1980s. Between 1961 (when the AL expanded to 10 teams) and 1994 (when the leagues were split into 3 divisions each), the Indians finished higher than 5th place (or 4th place after divisional play) only once.  In 1968 they finished in THIRD place, but 16.5 games behind the Tigers.


Here are all the players (who had cards) seeing action with the Cleveland Indians in 1967. The tribe had good starting pitching during the mid-to-late 1960s (with Sam McDowell at or near the top in all 3 AL pitching categories, and often accompanied by one or more of his teammates), but they always seemed to finish in 5th or 6th place (and finished 8th of 10 in 1967).

McDowell was the ace of the Tribe's staff. He led the AL in strikeouts in '65, '66, '68, '69, and '70, but finished 10 behind Boston's Jim Lonborg in 1967. The Indians' top 4 starters finished with double-digit wins in 1967: McDowell (13), Steve Hargan (14), Luis Tiant (12), and Sonny Siebert (10).

John O'Donoghue was 8-9 as the 5th starter, and relieved in as many games as he started. Orlando Pena was purchased from the Tigers on May 6th, and went on to lead the staff with 8 (!) saves. Reliever George Culver went 7-3 in 53 games during his rookie season, then was traded to the Reds for Tommy Harper after the season. Bob Allen was 0-5 over 47 games in his last big-league season. He spent 5 more seasons in the minors before retiring.

Here are the starting eight. All but Azcue, Horton, and Fuller played 135 or more games.

Joe Azcue was the team's regular catcher from 1963-68, and made the all-star team in 1968. Tony Horton was acquired from the Red Sox on June 4th for Gary Bell, and was the regular 1st baseman until personal issues forced him into retirement in August 1970. Topps never issued a card for him. Rookie Vern Fuller took over the 2nd base job from the Pedro Gonzalez/Gus Gil tandem on July 19th, and started most of the remaining games. Larry Brown was the regular shortstop since July 1963, and started 150 games in 1967.

Max Alvis led the team in home runs (21) and RBI (70) in '67. Leon Wagner was a major slugger from 1961-66, but he slipped to 15 homers in 1967, and continued his decline for several more seasons. Vic Davalillo was the primary center fielder, but started less than half of the games there. Chuck Hinton split his time between right and center. He was traded to the Angels after the season for Jose Cardenal.
[Tony Horton photo courtesy http://www.ootpdevelopments.com]
 

The bench players, in order of plate appearances:

Lee Maye got into 115 games, primarily sharing right field with Hinton, but also pinch-hitting and backing up the other 2 outfield spots. Lefthanded Duke Sims platooned at catcher, starting 77 games to Azcue's 80. Fred Whitfield had been the regular 1st baseman since 1963, but was relegated to pinch-hitting after Horton's arrival. Utilityman Chico Salmon played a lot of shortstop in 1966, but reverted to handyman in '67.

Rocky Colavito hit 358 homers from 1956-66 (including 30 in 1966), but his power vanished in 1967. He was traded to the White Sox in late July for Jim King. Pedro Gonzalez was the regular 2nd baseman since May 1965, but lost his job to Gus Gil to start the season. He got it back in May, only to lose it to Fuller a month later. This was his last big-league season. Don Demeter came over in the Bell-Horton deal, and spent the final months of his 11-year career as the backup center fielder. Rookie Gus Gil was given a shot at the 2nd base job, but was back in the minors by mid-July. He would resurface with the Pilots in 1969.

Richie Scheinblum got an 18-game call-up in September, but wouldn't play regularly until 1969. Jose Vidal spent most of 1965-69 with Cleveland's triple-A team, but played a few games with the Indians in May and September this season. Willie Smith was acquired from the Angels, spent most of the season in triple-A, and was sent to the Cubs in early 1968. Jim King's 3rd stop in his last season (1967) was Cleveland. The Indians used him as a pinch-hitter following his late-July arrival.

OTHER PITCHERS: In late July, veteran Stan Williams returned from 2 seasons in the minors and pitched in 16 games (starting 8). Gary Bell, a fixture on the Tribe's staff since 1958, was traded to the Red Sox in June and made a trip to the World Series. Bob Tiefenauer (who last pitched in the majors in 1965) made 5 appearances in a September call-up. Dick Radatz was the team's closer in 1966, but was traded to the Cubs in late April.

OTHERS: After 2 good seasons (1963-64) as a starter, followed by 2 off-years, Jack Kralick was sold to the Mets on May 1st 1967, but never pitched again. Tom Kelley pitched out of the Indians' bullpen in 1966, but would play only one game in 1967 (9/21). He didn't return to the majors until 1971, with the Braves. Future all-star Ray Fosse had a 7-game cup of coffee in September. Joe Adcock retired as a player after the 1966 season. He managed the 1967 Indians to an 8th-place finish, having no prior (or later) managing experience.

Also appearing for the Indians in 1967 were relief pitchers Steve Bailey (32 games) and Ed Connolly (15 games).

Bill Davis didn't play for the Indians in 1967, but that didn't stop Topps from putting him on a Rookie Stars card 5 times in the 1960s.

The Indians (and Orioles) got two multi-player cards in the 1967 set, while 9 other teams didn't have any.


Transactions from the end of the 1966 season to the end of 1967:

10/12/66 - Traded pitcher Floyd Weaver to the Mets for infielders Ernie Bowman and Lou Klimchock.

10/13/66 - Purchased Willie Smith from the Angels.

10/14/66 - Released catcher Del Crandall.

10/15/66 - Purchased Gus Gil from the Reds. Sold pitcher Bob Heffner to the Mets.

12/20/66 - Traded shortstop Dick Howser to the Yankees for minor-leaguer Gil Downs.

01/04/67 - Traded catcher Doc Edwards, outfielder Jim Landis and pitcher Jim Weaver to the Astros for Lee Maye and Ken Retzer.

04/25/67 - Traded Dick Radatz to the Cubs. Received a player to be named later (Bob Raudman).

05/01/67 - Sold Jack Kralick to the Mets.

05/06/67 - Purchased Orlando Pena from the Tigers.

06/04/67 - Traded Gary Bell to the Red Sox for Don Demeter and Tony Horton.

07/29/67 - Traded Rocky Colavito to the White Sox for Jim King and infielder Marv Staehle.

10/11/67 - Purchased 2nd baseman Jake Wood from the Reds.

10/17/67 - Released Jim King.

11/21/67 - Traded George Culver, Bob Raudman and Fred Whitfield to the Reds for outfielder Tommy Harper.

11/28/67 -
Lost pitcher Vicente Romo to the Dodgers (rule 5).
Drafted catcher Ken Suarez from the Athletics (rule 5).
Drafted pitcher Darrell Sutherland from the Mets.
Traded infielder Gordy Lund and John O'Donoghue to the Orioles for pitcher Eddie Fisher and 2 minor-leaguers.

11/29/67 - Traded Chuck Hinton to the Angels for outfielder Jose Cardenal.


.

Tom Kelley (#214)

Tom Kelley was a somewhat obscure pitcher for the Indians (mid-1960s) and Braves (early 1970s). One of the errors in the 1967 set is that on earlier versions of the 3rd series checklist, his card is listed as "Dick Kelley" (a Braves' pitcher also in the 1967 set).

Kelley was signed by the Indians in 1963, and was a starting pitcher in their minor-league system for 3 seasons, while also playing a few games with the Indians in '64 and '65. Tom was with Cleveland for the entire 1966 season, appearing in 31 games (7 as a starter). That was good enough to score a card in the '67 set:

Kelley was back in the minors for all but 1 game in 1967. In fact, he spent the rest of the decade with the Indians' double-A and single-A teams. (He must have had an injury. Does anybody get busted all the way down to single-A on merit?) In any case, Topps dropped him after 1967, and I thought I saw the last of him, until he resurfaced in the 1972 set.

The Indians released him after the 1969 season, and he was signed by the Braves in May 1970. After another season in the minors. Kelley was in the Atlanta's starting rotation for the 1971 and 1972 seasons. A 5-7 record in 1972 sent him back to the minors the following season. He pitched for the Braves' AAA club for 3 seasons, and wrapped up his career in 1976 playing for the Mets' AAA Tidewater team.

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.

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.

Final Card: Jack Kralick

Jack Kralick (#316) is one of those players you don't really give a second thought to. By 1967 he was a borderline pitcher, he played in the American League (which most young Phillies' fans could probably care less about), AND he played for the Indians (which in 1967, most baseball fans outside of Cleveland could care less about).

Kralick played in the White Sox' farm system from 1955 until he was released in June 1958. After the 1958 season, he was signed by the (old) Washington Senators. Jack spent most of the 1959 season at double-A Chattanooga, but appeared in 6 games for the Senators.

1960 was his first full season in the majors, and he was the #4 starter (in starts and innings pitched) behind Pedro Ramos, Camilo Pascual, and Don Lee. In 1961 the team moved to Minnesota, and Kralick moved up a notch, behind Ramos and Pascual. 1962 was more of the same for Kralick, but with 2nd-year man Jim Kaat leading the rotation (in place of Ramos).



In May 1963, Kralick was traded to the Indians for pitcher Jim Perry (as the Twins began their quest to corner the market on pitchers named Jim).

Jack led the Indians in wins in 1963 and 1964, but after that he faded into relative obscurity as Cleveland's rotation was taken over by Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant, Sonny Siebert, and Steve Hargan.

On May 1, 1967, he was purchased by the Mets. This seems like a dubious move by the Mets, since Kralick's final major league game was on April 23rd, and he has no minor league record during or after 1967.

Here's a funny news item I found a few months ago about the Mets' acquisition of Kralick.

Final Card: Joe Adcock

This is Joe Adcock's first and last manager card (#563). Joe retired as a player at the end of 1966, and was immediately hired to be the Indians' manager, without any previous major or minor league coaching or managerial experience. (!?!) He finished the season with the Indians, but was replaced for 1968 by Al Dark, fresh off Dark's firing by the Athletics the previous August.

I'm posting Joe's manager card here because his last card as a player was in 1963, even though he was the Angels' regular first baseman from 1964 to 1966. It's a mystery why he didn't have a card for those years. (None of the usual reasons, like diminished playing time, an extended trip to the minors, or a late-season release apply in this case.) While browsing the internet yesterday for possible reasons, I found none, but also learned that Orioles' pitcher Dick Hall didn't have a card from 1964 to 1966 either. If anyone knows why these players didn't have a card, please comment below.



You can view his stats here: minor-league major-league

Joe began his pro career in 1947 in the Reds system. After 3 seasons, he made the Reds team in 1950, and played for 3 seasons in Cincinnati, primarily as an outfielder.

Prior to the 1953 season, Adcock was traded to the Milwaukee Braves in a 4-team deal that also included the Phillies and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Once with the Braves, he switched to first base, staying there for the rest of his career. Joe hit 35 or more homers twice while with the Braves. He also played in 2 World Series with the Braves, both times against the Yankees (winning in '57, losing in '58).

Following the 1962 season, Joe was traded to the Indians. He only played one season in Cleveland, as after the season he was sent to the Angels for slugging outfielder Leon Wagner. Adcock was the team's full-time first baseman for his first 2 seasons with the Angels, and shared the position with Norm Siebern in 1966. He was released after the season, ending a 17-year playing career.

After managing the Indians in 1967, he managed the Angels' triple-A team in Seattle for the 1968 season.

Indians' Multi-player Cards

In 1967, Topps made multi-player cards for some teams, where 2 stars were featured. For some reason, only 11 teams were included in this subset. Given that 9 teams had no card, it seems a bit odd that the Cleveland Indians would get two cards:

Tribe Thumpers (#109) featured the Indians' two sluggers Rocky Colavito and Leon Wagner. However, Colavito was traded to the White Sox 63 games into the 1967 season. For Wagner, his power years were 1961 - 1966, as he finished 1967 with only 15 homers in 135 games.




Tribe Hill Aces (#463) featured two of the Indians' fine 4-man pitching rotation. Sam McDowell led the AL in strikeouts for 1965-1966, and 1968-1970.