Steve Blass (#562)

Steve Blass was the Pirates' ace from 1968 to 1972. This is his high-numbered 1967 card.  Oddly enough, there are FOUR Pirates among the 47 cards that follow Blass' card in the 1967 set.

After winning 19 games in '72 and finishing 2nd in the Cy Young voting, Blass seemingly forgot how to pitch in 1973. That year, he led the NL with 12 hit batters (IN ONLY 88 INNINGS!), while compiling a 3-9 record and a 9.85 ERA. After pitching 5 innings in April 1974, his career was over.

Blass was signed by the Pirates in 1960, and pitched in the minors from 1960-63. He made his major-league debut in May 1964, and pitched 24 games as a starter and reliever in his rookie season.

He returned to the minors for all of 1965, making 25 starts for AAA Columbus.

Blass returned to the Pirates in 1966, joining a rotation led by Bob Veale that also included rookie Woodie Fryman, Tommie Sisk, and long-time Pirate Vern Law. After 1967, Law retired and Fryman was traded to the Phillies, leaving Veale and Blass as the Bucs’ top 2 starters.

Blass became a full-time starter in 1968, winning 18 games and leading the NL with a .750 winning percentage. He followed that up with 16 wins in 1969. By now Dock Ellis had joined the squad, supporting Blass and Veale.

Steve won 15 games in 1971 and 19 in 1972, and pitched in 6 games in the ’71 and ’72 post-seasons, including 2 complete game wins in the ’71 World Series. During his 5 prime seasons with the Pirates (’68-’72) he struck out 652 while walking 368 – a 1.77 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In 1973, Blass came down with what became known as “Steve Blass disease” – an inability to find the plate. In 1973 he pitched 88 innings in 23 games, only striking out 27 while walking 84 (the same number he walked in 249 innings the previous season). His strikeout-to-walk ratio in 1973 was 0.32. His ERA also ballooned to 9.85.

After pitching just 1 game in April 1974, Blass spent the remainder of the season in the minors, trying to find his control. It never returned and he was released in January 1975.

Blass has been broadcasting Pirates’ games since the 1980s.

Pete Mikkelsen can't focus on the task at hand

Four years ago,  I posted Pete Mikkelsen's 1968 card on my '68 blog (which I thought is where I referred to having this odd 1967 card below). Thanks to the 'Search my Blogs' function, I found my comment was in this 1967 Pirates Team post. Anyway, I unearthed this card a few weeks ago. This was my first Mikkelsen card, acquired midway-through the summer of 1967.

Not only are there printing errors and about 47 creases, but at some point the card appears to have gotten wet, so it has a general mottled appearance.

Here he is after taking some muscle relaxers:

Hmm.. Pete "was the Bucs' number one stopper last season", but midway through the '67 season he was selected off waivers by the Cubs!  What have you done for me lately?

Here are 2 other oddball cards I have from back in the day.

2015 Post-Season - Cubs vs. Pirates

Tonight I'm turning back the clock on the NL Wild Card teams.

The Pirates won the World Series in 1971, defeating the Orioles. They repeated that feat over the Orioles again in 1979.

The Cubs? Well, they're the Cubs.

Juan Pizarro (#602)

Juan Pizarro appeared in the rare 7th series in the 1967 set. I didn’t get this card until the 1980s, so for a long time my only Pizarro cards were from 1968 (looking surly, with a hole in his shirt) and 1969 (a capless, big-head shot). I'm impressed that this isn't a capless card, since '67 was his first season with the Pirates.

Pizarro played for 8 teams over 18 years (1957-74). He was primarily a starting pitcher for his first 9 years (seasons spent with the Braves and White Sox). After that he was mostly a reliever (except for his 1971 season with the Cubs).

Juan was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1956, and after a full season in Class-A ball, he split each of the next 3 seasons (57-59) between the Braves and their AAA club. He was a swing man with the Braves, pitching behind Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Joey Jay, and Bob Buhl in the rotation, and closer Don McMahon in the ‘pen. Pizarro pitched 1 inning each in the ’57 and ’58 World Series.

On Dec 15, 1960 the Braves traded Pizarro to the Reds (with pitcher Joey Jay) for SS Roy McMillan. On the same day, the Reds flipped him to the White Sox for 3rd baseman Gene Freese. Juan played for the White Sox from 1961-66, and had his best seasons in 1963 (16 wins) and 1964 (19 wins). He made the all-star team in both seasons.
Juan became a nomad after the 1966 season. Traded to the Pirates for pitcher Wilbur Wood, he lasted with the Bucs until June 1968, when he was purchased by the Red Sox.

In April 1969 he was traded to the Indians with pitcher Dick Ellsworth and 1B-OF Ken Harrelson for catcher Joe Azcue and pitchers Sonny Siebert and Vicente Romo. Later that season he moved on to the Athletics, and to the Angels in early 1970.

Pizarro landed with the Cubs in July 1970, and stayed there for exactly 36 months – the longest stint in the 2nd half of his career. He returned to a starter’s role with the Cubs, although he spent part of 1971 and the first half on 1973 in the minors.

Juan played the 2nd half of the ’73 season with the Astros, then was released the following spring. He played in the Mexican League in 1974, until the Pirates signed him in late August.

Released after the season, he returned to the Mexican League for the ’75 and ’76 seasons before retiring.

Matty Alou (#10)

Matty Alou (the middle of the 3 Alou brothers) played the outfield for 15 seasons, mostly for the Giants and Pirates.

Alou was signed by the Giants in 1957, and played 4 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in the final week of the 1960 season, 2 ½ years after his brother Felipe joined the team.

Matty spent the next 4 seasons as the Giants’ 5th outfielder, behind Willie Mays, brother Felipe, whichever of Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey wasn’t playing 1st base, and the veteran Harvey Kuenn.

After Felipe was traded away following the 1963 season, it looked like things would open up for Matty, but his younger brother Jesus joined the team that year and jumped ahead of him in the outfield mix.

Not until 1965, when Cepeda missed most of the season to injuries and Kuenn moved on did Alou get a starting position. (Actually, he shared left field with Len Gabrielsen, but Matty’s time as a backup at the other 2 spots pushed him up to #3 in overall playing time.)

After the 1965 season, he was traded to the Pirates for pitcher Joe Gibbon and catcher Ozzie Virgil. Although Alou batted .310 and .292 in part-time duty in ’61 and ’62, it wasn’t until he got to Pittsburgh that his bat exploded (maybe due to the influence of manager Harry Walker?).

Alou was immediately installed as the Pirates’ center fielder, and collected over 575 plate appearances in each of his five seasons with the Pirates. His batting average soared, reaching .342 (NL best), .338 (2nd to Pete Rose), .332, .331, and .297 for those 5 seasons. Alou also made the all-star team in 1968 and 1969, and led the NL in hits (231), doubles (41), and plate appearances (746) in 1969.

Matty’s final games as a Pirate were in the 1970 NLCS. With young Al Oliver waiting in the wings, the Pirates dealt Alou while he was at the top of his game, sending him to the Cardinals (with pitcher George Brunet) for pitcher Nelson Briles and outfielder Vic Davalillo prior to the ’71 season.

Alou started 144 games for the Cardinals in 1971, dividing his time between center field and 1st base. The following season he was the primary first baseman (while also playing in right field) until his August trade to the Athletics. Matty finished out the rest of that season (including the ALCS and World Series) with Oakland, then was traded to the Yankees in the off-season.

Alou played most of 1973 with the Yankees, sharing the first base and right field starting assignments with his brother Felipe. In September Matty was sold back to the Cardinals, who flipped him to the Padres after the season.

Matty played 48 games for the Padres in 1974 before his release in mid-July. He then played in Japan from 1974 through 1976.

Alou passed away in November 2011 at age 72.

The 1967 Pirates

Here are the 1967 Pirates. In 1966, the team finished in 3rd place with a 92-70 record. In 1967 they dropped to 81-81.

Manager Harry Walker was replaced in mid-season by Danny Murtaugh (in his 2nd of 4 stints as the Pirates' manager). At least the Bucs were consistently a .500 team. Walker's record was 42-42, while Murtaugh's was 39-39.

Here are the starting pitchers, in order of games started. Bob Veale led the team with a 16-8 record in 31 starts (203 innings). Tommie Sisk also started 31 games (207 innings) and compiled a 13-13 record. After that, the rotation was a mixed bag of guys who started and relieved. Dennis Ribant was 9-8 in 22 starts, while Woody Fryman slumped to 3-8 after a fine rookie season, and was traded to Philadelphia after the season for Jim Bunning.

Steve Blass started half of his 32 games, with a 6-8 record. Veteran Billy O'Dell was 5-6 in 11 starts in his 13th and final season. Vern Law was also in his last (17th) season, fashioning a 2-6 record in 10 starts. Al McBean was primarily a reliever, but made 8 starts along with his 43 relief appearances.

Veteran Elroy Face (a Pirate since 1953) was the short man in the bullpen, pitching 74 innings over 61 games, while saving 17. Juan Pizarro made 9 starts and 41 relief appearances, contributing 8 wins. Pete Mikkelsen pitched in 32 games (all in relief) before shipping out to the Cubs in early August. [My first '67 Mikkelsen card had a printing error, with each color printed slightly out of alignment. I'll have to see if I still have it.] Rookie John Gelnar joined the team after Mikkelsen's departure, and pitched in 10 games with an 8.05 ERA.

Other pitchers were Bruce Dal Canton (8 games in a September call-up), Jim Shellenback (3 games in April, 3 in September), Bob Moose (getting his feet wet in late September, prior to his key rotation role from 1968-73), and journeyman Bill Short (6 games in April-May).

Except for catcher Jerry May (at age 23 in his 1st season as a regular), the starting 8 were a veteran group. Donn Clendenon had a career year in 1966 then settled back to his usual output in 1967. Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley were a fine defensive keystone combo.

Former Dodgers' shortstop Maury Wills came over in the off-season, and spent 2 years as the Pirates' 3rd baseman. Like Clendenon, left fielder Willie Stargell also slumped in '67, dropping from 33 to 20 home runs. Willie also started 33 games at 1st base, mostly during Clendenon's mid-June trip to the DL. Center fielder Matty Alou led the NL in batting in '66 with a .342 average, and hit .338 in 1967. "Bob" Clemente led the team with 23 homers, and led the NL with a .357 batting average.

Here are the subs, in order of playing time. Manny Mota had 378 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter and 4th outfielder. He made 3 dozen starts each in left and center. Jose Pagan was the primary infield sub, playing 2nd, short, and third, as well as left field. Veteran Jim Pagliaroni was the team's regular catcher for 4 seasons, but only played in 44 games this year. Most of his starts came during Jerry May's 4-week absence in mid-season. Al Luplow was acquired from the Mets in late June, and was used as a pinch-hitter and corner outfield reserve.

Rookie Manny Sanguillen was called up in late July when May was injured, and started 23 games behind the plate. He was back in the minors for all of 1968 before returning in 1969. Andre Rodgers, Manny Jimenez, and Jesse Gonder all played bit parts in 1967, with Gonder's MLB career ending in June.

Bob Robertson had a 9-game cup of coffee in September. His big seasons with the Pirates were 1970-73. Stargell and Clendenon were INDEED Pitt Power in 1966, but both saw their numbers dip in '67. This was Harry Walker's 3rd and last season with the Pirates. Danny Murtaugh (who preceded Walker) replaced him after 84 games, and would finish out the season before re-retiring. He came back twice in the 1970s.

Jim Price was sold to the Tigers 4 days before the season opener. Luke Walker did not play for the Pirates in 1967. George Spriggs played 38 games (mostly as a pinch-hitter) in the first 10 weeks of the season, before being sent back to the minors.


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

10/12/66 - Traded pitcher Wilbur Wood to the White Sox for Juan Pizarro.

10/14/66 - Released outfielder Jerry Lynch.

10/17/66 - Purchased Bill Short from the Red Sox.

11/28/66 - Lost outfielder Dave Roberts to the Athletics (rule 5 draft).

11/29/66 - Drafted Manny Jimenez from the Athletics (minor league draft).

12/01/66 - Traded 3B Bob Bailey and SS Gene Michael to the Dodgers for Maury Wills.

12/06/66 - Traded outfielder Don Bosch and pitcher Don Cardwell to the Mets for catcher Gary Kolb and Dennis Ribant.

04/07/67 - Sold Jim Price to the Tigers.

06/21/67 - Purchased Al Luplow from the Mets.

08/04/67 - Pete Mikkelsen selected by the Cubs off waivers.

10/03/67 - Released Billy O'Dell.

11/28/67 - Drafted 2B Chuck Hiller from the Phillies (rule 5 draft).
                  Lost George Spriggs to the Red Sox (rule 5 draft).
                 Traded Dennis Ribant to the Tigers for Dave Wickersham.

11/29/67 - Sold Bill Short to the Mets.

12/02/67 - Traded 1B Bob Oliver to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Ron Kline.

12/03/67 - Sold Jim Pagliaroni to the Athletics.

12/15/67 - Traded pitchers Woodie Fryman, Bill Laxton, Hal Clem, and SS Don Money to the Phillies for pitcher Jim Bunning.
.

Roberto Clemente (#400)

Today is the 40th anniversary of Roberto Clemente's death.

In the 1967 set, Topps assigned #400 to his card, one of the "superstar" numbers (ending in "00"). The others were:
100 - Frank Robinson
200 - Mickey Mantle
300 - Willie Mays
400 - Bob Clemente
500 - Juan Marichal
600 - Brooks Robinson

In addition to the "00" number status, each player had their "floating head" appear on the checklist containing their base card. (Jim Kaat appeared on the 4th series checklist. Maybe his card number was 350?)  


Roberto Clemente was playing ball in Puerto Rico when the Brooklyn Dodgers signed him, and sent him to their AAA team in Montreal. After 1 season as a bench player, the Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 draft, and the rest is history.

After the 1958 season, Clemente joined the US Marine Corps Reserve. His 6-month stint in basic training was credited with improving Roberto's strength and conditioning (which had been affected by a car accident during his rookie season).

Clemente and the Pirates won the World Series in 1960. That year he began a string of 6 consecutive seasons as an all-star. Roberto led the NL in batting during the '61, '64, '65, and '67 seasons, and won the MVP award in 1966.

In 1968, his batting average dipped to .291, which would be his only season under .300 (and only all-star absence) after 1959. He bounced back with 4 more "Clemente" seasons.

Roberto led his team to a World Series victory in 1971, and collected his 3000th hit in the next-to-last game of his final season (1972).

He was 38 when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico, en route to Nicaragua on a humanitarian mission on 12/31/1972.


Also check out Clemente's 1970 card.  

Woody Fryman (#221)

Woody Fryman was the left-handed pitcher selected by Topps for their all-rookie team in 1966.

Fryman was signed by the Pirates in 1965, and after only 1 season in the minors, he made the Pirates out of spring training in 1966, and compiled a 12-9 record in his rookie season. He slumped to 3-8 in his sophomore season, and was traded to the Phillies (with 3 minor-league prospects) for veteran pitcher Jim Bunning.

Woody spent 4 1/2 seasons with the Phillies, and was the team's only all-star in 1968. Early on, he was strictly a starting pitcher, but he made a number of relief appearances for them from 1970-72.

Fryman was shipped off to the Tigers in August 1972, and helped the Tigers reach the postseason. He was in Detroit's rotation through the end of the 1974 season, then after 2 seasons in Montreal, he spent a season with the Reds and a half season with the Cubs, before being traded back to the Expos in June of 1978.

After finishing the season in the Expos' starting rotation, Fryman moved to the bullpen at the start of the 1979 season, and was strictly a reliever for the remainder of his career (and was the team's #1 reliever in 1980 and 1981). Woody spent most of the 1983 season on the disabled list (appearing in only 6 games), and was released following the season.

Fryman passed away on 2/4/2011 at age 70 in his hometown of Ewing, KY.


Also see his 1968 card.

Jesse Gonder (#301)

Jesse Gonder was one of 3 Pirates catchers featured in the 1967 set. (Because his was the first one of the three that I got, and because I knew next-to-nothing about major-league baseball prior to 1967, for a while I assumed Gonder was the team's starting catcher.)

Jesse was signed by the Reds before the 1955 season, and spent 5 years in their system as a catcher and sometimes-outfielder. Before the 1960 season, Gonder was dealt to the Yankees, and spent two seasons with their triple-A Richmond, VA club, although he did appear in some games for the Yankees in late 1960 and early 1961. After 1961, Jesse was traded back to the Reds, but spent all season with the Reds' AAA team in San Diego, plus a few September games with Cincinnati.



From 1963 to 1966, Gonder managed to stay out of the minor leagues. He split the 1963 season between the Reds and the Mets. Used mostly as a pinch-hitter by the Reds, he was traded to the Mets in early July, and started 23 of the next 29 games, before settling into the 3rd-string catcher's role.

In 1964 he was the Mets' #1 catcher, starting half the games behind the plate, while Chris Cannizzaro and Hawk Taylor split the remaining games. This was the high point of Jesse's career, as he bat .270, and collected 11 doubles and 35 RBI.

1965 saw Cannizzaro take over the starting job, and with John Stephenson as the backup, Gonder was traded to the Braves in July for Gary Kolb. Jesse settled back into a pinch-hitting role with Milwaukee. After the season, he was selected by the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft.

Gonder started 40 games in 1966 as Jim Pagiaroni's backup, while rookie Jerry May filled the 3rd-string role. 1967 was Gonder's last in the big leagues. Although he started 3 of the Pirates' 1st 5 games, he soon was displaced by Jerry May, and spent most of the season in the minors. His final game was on June 17th.

Gonder spent 1968 and 1969 playing for the triple-A teams in the Braves', Angels', and Giants' organizations. He didn't have a card in the 1968 set, and although he appeared in the 1969 set (as a member of the expansion Padres) he never played for that organization.

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: Andre Rodgers

This is the final card for Andre Rodgers (#554), an infielder who played 11 years for 3 teams. This was a high-numbered card that I didn't get until many years later. Until then, to me he was only an unknown name on the 1967 7th series checklist card.

Rodgers began in the New York Giants' system in 1954. He played there for several years until his major-league debut with New York in 1957.

Rodgers was back in the minors for most of 1958, but played a few dozen games with San Francisco. 1959 was the opposite - a brief time in the minors but most of the season in the majors. Rodgers was primarily the backup shortstop during his time with the Giants.



After the 1960 season, Rodgers was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for third baseman Alvin Dark, but in the spring training 1961 he was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Moe Drabowsky. Andre played 4 seasons with the Cubs, the last 3 as their everyday shortstop. He replaced Ernie Banks, who had moved over to first base.

He was traded to the Pirates for infielder Roberto Pena after the 1964 season. During his three seasons with Pittsburgh, he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter and utility infielder. Each year saw his playing time decreased more and more, as in 1966 and 1967, he played less than 20 games in the field. His final game was on September 16, 1967.

He played for the Pirates' triple-A team in 1968 before retiring. Rodgers, who was born in Nassau Bahamas, died there as well, 11 days after his 70th birthday in 2004.

Dennis Ribant (#527)

Dennis Ribant only played for 6 seasons, but managed to squeeze 6 teams on his resume in that short time.

He was originally signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961. In August 1964, the Braves traded Ribant to the Mets for pitcher Frank Lary. (The Mets got Lary back the following March.) Dennis played a dozen or so games for the Mets in each of 1964 and 1965.

Ribant's first full season in the majors was 1966, and he compiled a record of 11-9. This was the first time a Mets' pitcher ever finished with a winning record! As a reward (actually, it was a reward to leave the Mets in those days) he was traded to the Pirates after the season for pitcher Don Cardwell.


(I just noticed that his won-loss records at Denver in '63 and '64 on the back of his card don't match those found on Baseball-Reference.com.)

Ribant's only season in Pittsburgh was 1967, as he was traded to the Tigers after the season for pitcher Dave Wickersham.

This began a hectic final 2 seasons for Ribant. In 1968 he pitched for both the Tigers and the White Sox. After the season, the Tigers purchased his contract back from the White Sox, but two months later they sold him to the Royals. During spring training 1969, the Royals sold him to the Cardinals. In the span of 16 months, he was with 6 teams!

In 1969, he played for the Cardinals and the Reds. This was his last season in the majors.

In February 1970, the Reds sold him back to the Pirates, but he remained in the minors for 1970-1973, playing in the Pirates, Padres, and Phillies organizations.

Also check out Ribant's 1969 card.

Final Card: Billy O'Dell

One side-benefit of scanning all these cards is that, after all these years, I'm finding out which cards could use an upgrade. This is probably the most beat-up of my 1967 cards.



Billy O'Dell (#162) was winding down his career in 1967. He started pitching in 1954 with the Baltimore Orioles (their first year after moving from St. Louis). Although the card back says 'Major & Minor League Pitching Record', Billy never played in the minor leagues.

[Since blogging here, I've learned that:
1) Billy O'Dell, Dick Groat, and Sandy Koufax never played in the minors. (I already knew about Al Kaline.)
2) Some players (like Harmon Killebrew) played in the majors before playing in the minors. After seeing several of these players, I noticed that they were also all "bonus babies", so I assume the requirement was that they spend X amount of time on the major-league roster after signing a contract.]

After returning from the service, Billy joined the team full-time in 1957, appearing in 35 games (15 starts) and pitched 140 innings, 5th-most on the team. 1958 was more of the same, as he started 25 of the 41 games he pitched.

After one more season with the Orioles, he was traded to the Giants, where he pitched for 5 seasons, including the Giants' 1962 pennant-winning season. That season, O'Dell led the rotation (which included Jack Sanford, Juan Marichal, and Billy Pierce) in games, starts, innings pitched, and complete games, and was second in wins to Sanford's 24.

After the 1965 season, Billy was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for catcher Ed Bailey. After a year and a half with the Braves (mostly as a reliever), he was traded to the Pirates in mid-1966, and retired following the 1967 season.

Final Card: Vern Law

A few days ago on my 1966 blog, I posted the card of Pirate great Bob Friend. Vern Law (#351) was the other half of the Pirates' long-time 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. Law's career paralleled Friend's, except that Law missed 2 years early on to the military, and stayed in Pittsburgh 2 years after Friend was traded.

1960 was a big year for Vern as he was a 20-game winner, and won the Cy Young award. He also won 2 games in the World Series, as the Pirates defeated the Yankees.



The 1961 to 1963 seasons seem to have been troublesome ones for Vern. Maybe this was due to injuries? He only made 10 starts in 1961. In 1962 he was back, appearing in 23 games (20 starts), but still not the 35-40 games that top starting pitchers made back in those days. In 1963, Law appeared in 18 games (12 starts) but only pitched 76 innings. He also made 2 starts for class-A Kinston. (Sent down to class A? This seems like a rehab assignment.)

In 1964, Law returned to the Pirates rotation full-time, but by now Bob Veale (who has previously been a reliever) was the top dog. Eventually, aging stars like Bob Friend and Vern Law were squeezed out by the younger Steve Blass and Woody Fryman.

Law's final appearance was on August 20, 1967, ending his 16-year career.

Many a Manny

The other day on another blog, there was a battle of the Pirates' Mannys: Manny Sanguillen vs. Manny Mota.
Here's my 2 cents (circa 1967):

Manny #1:
In 1964 and 1965, Manny Mota (#66) started about 1/3 of the games in center field. In 1966, Mota's former Giants teammate Matty Alou arrived in Pittsburgh and took over as starting centerfielder for the retired Bill Virdon. This development reduced Mota's starts in center field to 1/4 of the games each year from 1966 to 1968. After the 1968 season, Manny was drafted by the Montreal Expos.




Manny #2:
After a fine rookie season with the Kansas City Athletics in 1962, Manny Jimenez (#586) bounced between Kansas City and the minor leagues for a few years until the Pirates selected him in the minor league draft on November 29th, 1966. The card back tells us he was sent down on May 10th, 1967, but he appeared in 50 games for the Pirates in 1967. After spending 1968 with the Pirates, he ended his career in 1969 with 6 pinch-hitting appearances for the Cubs.


(The fellow in the background is most likely a coach. This picture was taken in early 1967, but no player wearing #6 appeared during the regular season. Numbers 7 to 39 were all used by players, and manager Harry Walker wore #3. Perhaps the coaching staff also wore the low numbers?)


Not quite a Manny:
We learn from the back of the Minnie Rojas (#104) card that while Minnie was pitching in the Mexican League in 1964 and 1965, he turned down a chance to play in the major leagues.