Hank Bauer (#534)

Hank Bauer managed the Orioles for 4 ½ years. Hired prior to the 1964 season, he piloted the team to two 3rd-place finishes before steering them to the team's first World Championship in 1966.

The O's fell to 7th place in 1967, due to multiple injured starting pitchers and Frank Robinson’s absence from the lineup for a while due to injury. After 80 games into the 1968 season, Bauer was replaced by Earl Weaver.

As the manager of the defending World Champs, Bauer also appeared on 2 other cards in the 1967 set.

Card #1:

With game #4 winner Dave McNally:

Bauer also managed the 1969 Oakland Athletics, but was fired by the ever-intelligent Charley Finley after the A’s finished in SECOND place. (Bauer had also managed the Athletics in 1961 and 1962, when they were in Kansas City. The team finished in 9th place both times.)

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Prior to his baseball career, Bauer was in the Marines during World War II.  He was awarded 2 Bronze Stars and 2 Purple Hearts while stationed in Guadalcanal and Okinawa.

Bauer had a 14-year career as an outfielder for the Yankees and Athletics. After making his major-league debut in September 1948, he was the Yankees’ regular right fielder from 1949 through the 1959 season. Hank was a 3-time All-Star (1952-54) and passed the 20-homer mark twice (’55, ’56).

Traded to Kansas City in December 1959 (with pitcher Don Larsen, OF/1B Norm Siebern, and 1st baseman Marv Throneberry) for outfielder Roger Maris and shortstop Joe DeMaestri, Hank shared the right field job with Russ Snyder in 1960 and was a player/manager in 1961.

Bauer passed away in 2007 at age 84.

Moe Drabowsky (#125)

Here is relief pitcher Moe Drabowsky, fresh off his success in the 1966 World Series.

Drabowsky was signed by the the Cubs in 1956 as a bonus baby, and spent his first 4 seasons on the Cubs’ roster as a starting pitcher.

Although only appearing in 9 games in his first season, he pitched in 36, 22, and 31 games over the next 3 seasons, so he wasn’t the typical bonus baby who sat on the bench for his minimum required time and then went to the minors for some needed “seasoning”. Moe was 13-15 for the Cubs in 1957, and led the staff in starts, innings pitched, ERA, and strikeouts.

In 1958 his record slipped to 9-11, but he still led the starting pitchers in wins with that paltry number. The following season his record slipped even further to 5-10.

Drabowsky pitched most of the 1960 season out of the Cubs’ bullpen, but also found himself down with the Cubs’ AAA team in Houston for much of July.

The following pre-season he was traded to the Braves for shortstop Andre Rogers. Moe manned the Braves’ bullpen until mid-June 1961, when he was demoted to AAA for the 2nd consecutive season.

After the season, the Reds picked him up in the Rule 5 draft. After several months as a Reds’ starter in 1962 he was purchased by the Kansas City Athletics, and flipped back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen for the next 2+ seasons. He also spent part of the ’63 back in triple-A.

After making 5 starts at the beginning of the ’65 season, Moe was relegated to the bullpen until mid-June, then was sent to the minors for the remainder of the season. After the season he was purchased by the Cardinals, but a few weeks later was picked by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft (his 2nd Rule 5 move).

Drabowsky (by this time strictly a reliever) pitched for the O’s for the next 3 seasons, and was the game 1 hero in the 1966 World Series.


Taking over for starter Dave McNally, Moe pitched a no-hitter over the last 6 2/3 innings while striking out 11 and picking up the win. The Orioles went on to sweep the Dodgers with shutouts in games 2, 3, and 4. He also led the team in saves in 1967, and compiled an ERA of 1.60 in ’67 and 1.91 in ‘68.

After the ’68 season, he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft (as was his O’s teammate Wally Bunker). While Bunker led the upstart Royals in wins (12) and innings pitched, Drabowsky led in saves (11) and also won 11 games. Moe began the 1970 season with the Royals, but returned to the Orioles via trade in June.

His 2nd stop in Baltimore was a short one, as he moved on to the Cardinals after the season. He pitched a season and a half for St. Louis, then was released in early August 1972. A week later the White Sox picked him up but released him in October, ending his 17-year career.

Drabowsky passed away in 2006 at age 70.

Brooks Robinson (#600)

STOP THE PRESSES!!! 

Forty-nine years ago this month, I started collecting baseball cards. (I think I began when the 2nd or 3rd series of 1967 cards were in the stores, so I had to get the earlier cards through trades and "shooting" cards.) Anyway, by the end of that season I had collected every card in the first 6 series except the Cardinals Team card.

The high-numbered 7th series wasn't sold in my area, so I didn't get any of them until visiting card stores and shows in the 1980s. In a year or so, I was able to get all but five of those high-numbers. Six years ago, I got the Maury Wills card, cutting my want list to four.

Today, I scored the hard-to-find Brooks Robinson card, at the same antique store where I picked up 100 or so 1965 cards last year, and also these Topps 1964 giant cards.

I have already posted my 1966 Brooks Robinson card here, so I won't re-hash his playing career. Just want to say "1 more down, 3 to go!"

While at that store, I also picked up these two Mickey Mantle cards, which I will feature on my '65 and '66 blogs at some point. These are 1996 reprints with Stadium Club-like cardstock, and are glossy on both sides. Even so, they will now take their place in my '65 and '66 binders, because there's little chance that I will get the originals.

Wally Bunker (#585)

This is my oldest Wally Bunker card, but not my first. Bunker is one of the four Orioles’ cards (along with Brooks Robinson, manager Hank Bauer, and an O’s Rookies card featuring Mark Belanger) in the high-numbered 7th series which was not sold in my area in 1967. I got his ’68 card (Orioles) and ’69 card (Royals) in those years, but it was not until the 1980s that I collected all but 5 of the '67 high-numbers.

The O’s #3 starter in 1966, Wally pitched a complete-game shutout in the ’66 World Series, but wasn’t shown on the post season cards in the 1967 set either. (Paul Blair was featured on the game #3 card.)

Bunker was one of the mid-1960s' pitching phenoms for the Orioles (along with Dave McNally and Jim Palmer). He was signed by the Orioles in 1963, and after going 10-1 with 95 strikeouts in 99 innings in class A ball, he made his major-league debut on Sept 29th.

Wally made the Orioles squad for good in the 1964 pre-season, and was the team’s ace as a rookie – winning 19 games and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting (to the Twins’ Tony Oliva).

He followed up his rookie season with two 10-win seasons, and a complete-game shutout of the Dodgers in game #3 in the World Series (sandwiched between Palmer’s complete-game shutout in game #2 and McNally’s complete-game shutout in game #4).

Wally struggled for the next 2 seasons, as sore arms swept through the O’s starting rotation (Bunker, Palmer, McNally). Bunker only won 5 games combined in 67-68, and spent much of ’67 in the bullpen, and part of ’68 in triple-A. As such, he was left unprotected for the expansion draft following 1968, and was selected (along with Orioles’ teammate Moe Drabowsky) by the upstart Kansas City Royals.

Bunker was the Royals’ first-ever opening-day starter in 1969, and led the staff with 31 starts, 222 innings, and 12 wins.

Arm troubles cropped up again, leaving him with a 2-11 record in 1970, and led to his release following his final game on 5/26/1971. He played for the Royals’ AAA team for the remainder of 1971 and part of 1972 before retiring.

In recent years, Bunker has been a writer and illustrator of childrens’ books.

Russ Snyder (#405)

A few months ago, I found a page on Baseball-Almanac.com listing the 100 oldest living ex-players. Within the scope of the 1966 to 1970 card sets, the only names listed there were 3 managers. Last week I decided to find out who were the oldest living ex-players from that time period that I haven’t yet featured on my blogs.

As best as I can determine, they are pitchers Orlando Pena and Camilo Pascual, and outfielder Russ Snyder (all age 80), 1B-OF Felipe Alou (79), and pitchers Bob Humphreys and Jim Perry (both 78). Nine others are 77, with Fred Gladding, Vic Davalillo, and J.C. Martin turning 78 later this year. 


Happy 80th birthday today to Russ Snyder! Russ played outfield for 12 seasons from 1959 to 1970, and is best remembered as the Baltimore Orioles’ 4th outfielder from 1961 to 1967.

Snyder was signed by the Yankees in 1953, and played in their farm system through the 1958 season. Three days into the 1959 season, he was part of yet another trade between the Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics.

Snyder made his big-league debut as a pinch-hitter in mid-April 1959, then was sent to the minors. He was recalled in mid-July, and became the Athletics’ starting left fielder from late-July to mid-August, before moving over to center field for most of September.

In 1960, Russ was part of a 3-way tandem in right field (along with Hank Bauer and Whitey Herzog) who replaced the departed Roger Maris.

After the 1960 season, Snyder and Herzog were traded to the Orioles for 4 players, including infielder Wayne Causey and catcher Clint Courtney. Except for being limited to 56 games in 1964, Snyder was the Orioles’ 4th outfielder and got the most at-bats of the non-regulars every season from 1961 to 1967.

Russ bounced around in his last 3 seasons. Traded to the White Sox with Luis Aparicio for Don Buford and others in November 1967, Snyder was flipped to the Indians in mid-season for outfielder Leon Wagner.

After a year and a half in Cleveland, he played his final season (1970) with the Brewers. Snyder was released by the Brewers during spring training in 1971.

Dave Johnson (#363)

Dave Johnson (I refuse to refer to him by that ridiculous nickname, suited to a small child) was the Topps all-rookie 2nd baseman in 1966.

Johnson was signed by the O's in 1962, and played in the minors for 3 seasons, early-on as a shortstop, before switching over to 2nd base.

Dave made his major-league debut with the Orioles in April 1965, and played in 20 games (including starting every game between 5/10 and 5/20) before being sent down in mid-June.

Johnson took over the starting 2nd base job on day 1 of the 1966 season, starting 125 games there. He finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting. He was the team's regular 2nd baseman until they began phasing in rookie Bob Grich in 1972.

After the '72 season, Dave was traded to the Braves (with catcher Johnny Oates and pitchers Pat Dobson and Roric Harrison) for catcher Earl Williams, the 1971 NL Rookie of the Year.

Johnson spent 2 seasons with the Braves. In 1972 he hit 43 home runs, 25 more than his previous high. After 1 game in 1975, Dave was released by the Braves, and spent the next 2 seasons playing in Japan.

He played for the Phillies from 1977-78, backing up Ted Sizemore at 2B and Richie Hebner at 1B. In August 1978, Dave was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Larry Anderson. After 24 games with the Cubs, he was released at the end of the season.

After his playing career, Johnson managed the Mets (1984-90, winning the World Series in '86), Reds (1993-95), Orioles (1996-97), Dodgers (1999-2000), and Nationals (2011-12).

He was last seen watching his Nationals blow a 6-run lead in game 5 of the NLDS 2 days ago.

Final Card: John Miller

This is the final card for pitcher John Miller (#141). Miller was 26 in 1967, but I always thought he looked like someone's grandfather here. John had a brief career in the mid-1960s for the Orioles, mostly as their 5th starter in 1965 and 1966.

Miller was signed by the Orioles in 1961, and pitched in the minors for 4 full seasons, while making a few appearances for Baltimore in 1962 and 1963. After a full season on the farm in 1964, he split the 1965 season between triple-A and Baltimore's starting rotation.

Although he was with the team for all of 1966, John didn't appear in the World Series, since 3 of the 4 games were complete-game shutouts.

 
John's career went downhill after 1966. After 2 games with the O's in 1967, he was sold to the Mets on May 10th, and spent the rest of that season as a reliever in triple-A. He started 19 games in the single-A Carolina League in 1968 before retiring.

Only one more 'Final Card" to go in the 1967 set.  Can anyone guess who?  Hint: He's on the Twins.

The 1967 Orioles

Here are the 1967 Baltimore Orioles. The team swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series, but would have two off-years before returning to form and winning their division 5 times between 1969 and 1974, including 3 consecutive trips to the World Series (1969-71).


Here is the starting rotation (in order of innings pitched). Why did the Orioles falter in 1967? Instead of the 1966 rotation of Jim Palmer (15-10), Dave McNally (13-6), Steve Barber (10-5), and Wally Bunker (10-6), they had Tom Phoebus (14-9), Pete Richert (7-10), a 7-7 version of McNally, and rookie Jim Hardin (8-3). (Oh, Frank Robinson also missed 6 weeks with injuries and double vision.)


Other starting pitchers included Steve Barber, Gene Brabender, rookie Bill Dillman, and Wally Bunker. Barber was in the rotation for the first half of the season, until his July 4th trade to the Yankees. Bunker also began the season in the rotation, but by May 1st was relegated to the bullpen, with only occasional starts for the rest of the season. The others did their best to fill in.


The O's bullpen was headed up by World Series hero Moe Drabowsky, young Eddie Watt, 40-year-old Stu Miller, and knuckleballer Eddie Fisher.


Other pitchers spending some time with Baltimore in 1967 (in playing-time order): Jim Palmer came down with a sore arm, and would spend much of '67 and '68 in the minors. Frank Bertaina was sent to the Senators in the Mike Epstein trade in late May. Marcelino Lopez was acquired from the Angels in mid-June for infielder Woody Held, but pitched only 4 times the rest of the way. Dave Leonhard made his major-league debut in late September.

John Buzhardt had a 1-month stay with the Orioles on his way from the White Sox to the Astros. Mike Adamson and John Miller played briefly in 1967, Roger Freed did not. Hank Bauer was the Orioles' manager since 1964. He piloted the team to a championship in '66, but the Orioles' sudden fall would cost him his job by mid-1968. He would be replaced by Earl Weaver.


The same 8 regulars returned from the '66 championship team. Andy Etchebarren returns behind the plate, while Boog Powell was their #2 power source behind Frank Robinson. Dave Johnson was the top rookie 2nd baseman in '66. Why does perennial all-star shortstop Luis Aparicio have "INFIELD" listed on his card? Only Topps knows.

Here we see Brooks Robinson in his trademark sawed-off batting helmet. Curt Blefary played his last season as the Orioles' left fielder in 1967. Paul Blair was a defensive wizard, and Frank Robinson garnered the AL Triple Crown and MVP awards in 1966. Not a bad group!


Here are the subs, in playing-time order. Russ Snyder had been an Oriole since 1961, and was the 4th outfielder in 1967, backing up all 3 spots. Mark Belanger started 33 games at shortstop and 10 at 2nd base, and would take over the shortstop job in 1968. Rookie Larry Haney started 45 games behind the plate as the #2 catcher. Sam Bowens was a pinch-hitter and corner outfield reserve.

Third-string catcher Vic Roznovsky started 22 games, rarely on consecutive days. Dave May and Curt Motton were corner outfield reserves, both spending most of the season in triple-A. Veteran utilityman Woody Held was traded to the Angels in June for pitcher Marcelino Lopez.


These guys also made token appearances for the Birds. Rookie Mike Epstein held out, demanded a trade, and was accommodated at the end of May - going to the Senators for pitcher Pete Richert. Charlie Lau was only used as a pinch-hitter in his final 2 seasons (1966-67). Utilityman Bob Johnson was sold to the Mets in early May.

Hmmm... I would have picked Powell and Frank Robinson as "Bird Bombers", but Robinson was already on "The Champs" card, so ok.


Topps did a good job with their rookie selections. Epstein and Phoebus made major contributions in 1967 (although Epstein's was with the Nats). Ed Barnowski did not play for the Orioles in 1967, but the others contributed in backup roles.


To the victors go the spoils (of additional cards in the next year's set)!


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

12/15/66 - Traded pitcher Dick Hall to the Phillies for pitcher John Morris.

05/10/67 - Sold Bob Johnson and John Miller to the Mets.

05/29/67 - Traded Frank Bertaina and Mike Epstein to the Senators for Pete Richert.

05/31/67 - Sold Charlie Lau to the Braves.

06/15/67 - Traded Woodie Held to the Angels for Marcelino Lopez.

07/04/67 - Traded Steve Barber to the Yankees for 1st baseman Ray Barker.

08/21/67 - Purchased John Buzhardt from the White Sox.

09/25/67 - Sold John Buzhardt to the Astros.

11/28/67 - Sold Sam Bowens to the Senators.

11/28/67 - Traded Eddie Fisher to the Indians for pitcher John O'Donoghue.

11/29/67 - Traded Luis Aparicio and Russ Snyder to the White Sox for 3B-OF Don Buford and pitchers Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson.


Next team review: San Francisco Giants
.

1966 World Series Cards

In 1967, Topps resumed their World Series subset, which was issued every year in the 1960s except for 1966. Here are the cards for each game, and the summary (#151 - #155).



Dave McNally started game 1 but lasted only 2 1/3 innings. After 3 straight walks, he was replaced by Moe Drabowsky who pitched a 1-hitter for the remainder of the game, while striking out 11. Brooks and Frank Robinson both homered.



20-year-old Jim Palmer pitched a 4-hit shutout (besting Sandy Koufax in the process) as the Orioles go up 2-0 in the series.



Game 3 was another complete game shutout of the Dodgers, this time by Wally Bunker.



Not to be outdone by teammates Palmer and Bunker, Dave McNally pitches a complete game shutout in game 4, as the Orioles sweep the Dodgers.



Here we see Dave McNally with (I think) manager Hank Bauer wearing a shaving cream pie. (Back in the day, I thought the pie-man looked like Jack Lemmon.)

Only FOUR Orioles' pitchers saw action in the series, as 3 of the wins were complete games. Game 2 was Sandy Koufax' last appearance before retiring after the 1966 season.

Final Card: Charley Lau

Charley Lau (#329) began his career in the Tigers' farm system in 1952. He missed the 1953 and 1954 seasons due to military service, but mostly toiled in the minor leagues for the remainder of the 1950s. (He had brief appearances with the Tigers in '56, '58, and '59.)

After the 1959 season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves, and was the Braves' #2 catcher for 2 seasons. In mid-August 1961, Lau was sold to Baltimore, where he started 13 of the final 33 games for the Orioles.


[Lau's name is spelled differently on the front and back of the card. His signature is of no help, since he signed "Charles Lau". Baseball Reference and Wikipedia both list him as "Charley Lau".]

From 1962 to 1965, Lau was used primarily as a pinch-hitter and backup catcher for the Orioles and Athletics. (He spent the 2nd half of 1963, and the 1st half of 1964 with the Athletics, before returning to the Orioles.) Because both teams carried 3 catchers, the backups were used frequently as pinch-hitters.

1965 was the last time Lau played defense. In his final 2 seasons he was strictly a pinch-hitter, making only 18 appearances in 1966, and 63 appearances in 1967. Most of his 1967 action came after being sold to the Braves on May 31st.

Charley was released after the 1967 season, and went on to a 2nd career has a hitting coach for five major league teams.


More on Charley Lau

Final Card: Stu Miller

Here's one for you Orioles fans:

Stu Miller (#345) began his minor-league career in 1949. His major-league debut was in 1952 with the Cardinals.

In early 1956, the Cardinals traded him to the Phillies (along with Harvey Haddix) for 2 guys named Murry Dickson (a 39-year-old starting pitcher who led the league in losses from 1952 to 1954) and Herm Wehmeier. At the end of the season, the Phillies traded him to the New York Giants for Jim Hearn, a pitcher in his mid-thirties.

After having been a starter and reliever during his career, Miller became primarily a reliever beginning in 1959. In 1961, he led the NL in saves, and appeared in the all-star game. (I remember Richie Ashburn telling a story on the radio of how Miller was blown off the mound during a game in San Francisco's Candlestick Park. I later learned it was the 1961 all-star game.)



After the 1962 season, Miller was traded to the Orioles in a 6-player deal. He led the AL in games and saves in 1963. He was the Orioles closer for the next 4 years, before being phased out in late 1966 and 1967 in favor of Moe Drabowsky and Eddie Watt.

Prior to the 1968 season, Stu was sold to the Braves, where he made 2 appearances before being released before the end of April. Following that, he appeared in 13 games with the Cardinals' triple-A team in Tulsa.

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: