Classic Crew Cuts (part 4)

More Classic Crew Cuts (Yankees edition):

First we have Dick Howser (#411). Dick was a serviceable shortstop, and was the regular SS for Kansas City in 1961, and Cleveland in 1964. (In 1964, he led the American League with 735 plate appearances.) He was acquired by the Yankees in December 1966. Howser was just one of many players who played for the Kansas City Athletics (affectionately known as the Yankees farm team) prior to joining the Yankees. He just made a stop in Cleveland along the way. Dick was primarily used as a pinch-hitter in 1967, with a few appearances at 2B and 3B. He wrapped up his career in 1968 as a Yankees pinch-hitter and backup 2nd baseman.

Dick is probably better known for his managing career, where he managed the Yankees in 1980 and the Kansas City Royals from 1981 to 1986.



Charley Smith (#257) had the twin misfortunes to:
1) Follow long-time Cardinals 3rd baseman Ken Boyer in St. Louis
2) Be the player for whom Roger Maris was traded

Charley started his career with the Dodgers, and made stops with the Phillies, White Sox, Mets, and Cardinals before landing at Yankee Stadium.

Like Dick Howser's card, Charley Smith's card tells us that the player will be "given a chance to win a regular job" in 1967, but for some reason, Charley's card specifies the shortstop position. Smith rarely played shortstop in his career, and played exclusively at 3B from 1965 to 1968. He was the Yankees regular 3rd baseman in 1967, but lost the starting job in 1968 to rookie Bobby Cox (the current Braves manager).

After 2 years with the Yankees, Charley finished his career in 1969 with 2 pinch-hitting appearances for the Cubs.




This is the last installment in my Crew Cut series. I'm ending it one post earlier than planned, because I've realized that the labels are more accurate if unrelated cards aren't combined in the same post. (Darold Knowles and Bob Duliba will just have to wait their turn.)


Oh... here's the wildcard crewcut:

Oops! With a name like Buzz Nutter, you would think he had to have a crew cut! Oh well, here's a compensatory pick:

Classic Crew Cuts (part 3)

More Classic Crew Cuts (LA Dodgers edition):

First up is Dick Egan (#539), who has spent most of his 10 years so far in the minor leagues, with brief appearances for the Tigers and Angels.

Because of the absence of much recent major league service time, and the fact that this is a high-number card, I think Egan was a last-minute addition to the 1967 series by Topps, based on his early-1967 performance. After 1967, he was back in the minors for 2 more years, before retiring.


(After Tom Egan and Dick Egan on consecutive nights, we are now fresh out of Egans.)


Next is Dick Schofield (#381). It looks like you could make a chip shot off his crew cut. Dick's longest stint was with the Pirates in the early 1960s. (We see him still in his Pirates uniform here, even after 2 1/2 years.) Dick's son (Dick Schofield) played shortstop for the Angels, and the Phillies' rightfielder Jayson Werth is his grandson.




Here we have Bob Lee (#313). After 8 years in the minors, and 3 with the Angels, Bob is now coming across town to the Dodgers. He looks more like a cast member of The Bowery Boys than a ball player.




Elsewhere in Los Angeles in 1967, another crew cut was making appearances:

Classic Crew Cuts (part 2)

Here's another installment of "Classic Crew Cuts":

Tito Francona has a flattop to die for, but in this pose, he's letting it go to waste. Francona was a last-minute addition to the Phillies team, having been acquired a day or 2 before the start of the season, after Bill White's off-season paddleball-induced injury didn't heal quickly enough, and spring-training invitee Jim Gentile didn't pan out. Although Topps changed the team name on the front and back of the card, the text still talks about how important Tito is to the Cardinals. ... Best to keep the hat-less photo handy, as the Phillies sent him on to Atlanta by mid-June! (Tito was signed by the St. Louis Browns in 1952.)




Bob Bruce was an original member of the Houston Colt .45s in 1962. After consecutive 9-18 and 3-13 seasons, he was traded from Houston to Atlanta for Eddie Mathews. (This doesn't speak well for Mathews!) The Braves and Astros seemed to make a lot of deals that year (Ed Mathews, Bob Bruce, Dave Nicholson, Denver Lemaster, Claude Raymond, Sonny Jackson, Wade Blasingame).

This is the only card where I've seen a "Wilkes-Barre" team on the back (now relegated to a partnership with Scranton, PA).




Here we have Ted Abernathy, the first submariner pitcher I ever saw. Ted's on his 4th team in 4 years. Still, I remember him as the Reds' go-to guy in 1967. Abernathy started way back in 1952, and spent many years bouncing around the minors. Notice how, since this is a "high-number" card, Topps was able to put some current-season commentary on the card.




And today's wildcard crew cut:

Lt. Col. Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, one of the original 7 Mercury astronauts. Deke came down with medical issues, and never flew in space during the 1960s. Instead, he became the "den mother" for the astronauts, until he was finally cleared to fly in the joint US/USSR Apollo-Soyuz mission, after all the moon landings were completed.

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: