Ex-players with cards

Many posts ago, I mentioned players who were active during the 1967 season who did not appear on a Topps card.

Today I'm showing the opposite, which is the 11 players who appeared on (full) cards in the 1967 set, even though their last major league appearances were in 1966, either because of retirement, injury, or a permanent minor-league demotion.



Joe Nuxhall is the dean of this group. His major-league debut was at age 15 with the Reds in 1944. He retired following the 1966 season, and went on to a long career as a Reds' broadcaster.

Felix Mantilla's career was spent primarily as a backup for the Milwaukee Braves, and a starter for the Red Sox. Traded to the Cubs prior to 1967, he was injured in spring training, then released after coming off the DL. He was recently featured on the 1965 Topps blog.

Terry Fox' last big-league action was with the Phillies in 1966. He spent the 1967 season with the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego before retiring.




After 3 seasons with the Tigers, George Smith was traded to the Sox, and was their regular 2nd baseman in 1966. Rookie Mike Andrews took over in 1967, leaving Smith without a job in or out of Boston.

Derrell Griffith spent parts of 4 seasons (1963-66) with the Dodgers. After the 1966 season, he was traded twice (to the Mets and the Astros) but never made the team. The back of his card notes that he was sent to triple-A on March 24, 1967 (never to return).

Larry Elliot had cups of coffee with the Pirates in '62 and '63, then stuck around as a backup outfielder and pinch-hitter for the Mets in 1964 and 1966. That was the extent of his major-league career.

Ron Campbell kicked around for parts of 3 seasons (1964-66) as a utility infielder for the Cubs.




Don Dennis was a reliever for the Cardinals in 1965 and 1966. He was traded to the Sox in the off-season for catcher Johnny Romano, but never played in the majors again. Chicago didn't get gypped, as Romano didn't play much in '67 (his final season) either.
A few months ago, the Dinged Corners blog had a poll for best forehead ever. I think Don Dennis will have to replace Dave "Forehead" Morehead as the clear-cut winner!

Gil Blanco spent all of 1965 with the Yankees, and the last half of 1966 with the Athletics. That is all!

Bill Hepler was a one-year wonder, compiling a 3-3 record in a full season with the Mets in 1966.

Jim Barbieri played 6 1/2 seasons in the minors before finally making it to the majors with the Dodgers for part of 1966. He played in the Little League World Series in 1954.

The 1967 White Sox

And now, the 1967 Chicago White Sox:

The White Sox had a good team in the mid 1960s, but were lost in the hype given to the 1st place clubs. The Sox finished in 2nd place in 1963 (10.5 behind the Yankees), 1964 (1 behind the Yankees), and 1965 (7 behind the Twins). They finished in 4th place in 1966 and 1967, trailing Boston by only 3 games in 1967.


Here are the starting pitchers, in order of starts and innings pitched. Gary Peters was 16-11 with 215 strikeouts, while Joel Horlen was 19-7 with a 2.06 ERA. Tommy John chipped in with 10 wins, while Bruce Howard started 17 of his 30 games, but fashioned a poor 3-10 record.


Here are the 5th starters and long relief men. Surprisingly, the opening day starter was John Buzhardt, but by the end of April, he was out of the loop, replaced by Jim O'Toole, who lasted in the rotation until the beginning of July. After that, Fred Klages and Wilbur Wood took their turns as the 5th starter. Cisco Carlos joined the rotation in late August and took a regular turn for the rest of the season.


Bob Locker appeared only in relief, and led the staff with 77 games. Wilbur Wood came over from the Pirates in the off-season and was used primarily in relief in 1967. (Wood and O'Toole were the only lefties in the bullpen.) Don McMahon was acquired from Boston on June 2nd for Jerry Adair. He pitched 91 innings in 52 games while compiling a 5-0 record. 44-year-old knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm compiled a 1.31 ERA in 89 innings of work.


Others haunting the pitching staff: Dennis Higgins made 9 relief appearances for a total of 12 innings. Rookie Roger Nelson relieved in 5 games, but spent most of the season in triple-A. Jack Lamabe made 3 relief appearances, and was shipped out to the Mets in late April. He later hooked on with the Cardinals and appeared in the World Series. Aurelio Monteagudo was signed on July 15th, made 1 start, and was promptly released on July 22nd.


The White Sox' regular lineup was a collection of mix-and-match players at multiple positions. The only players starting more than 80 games at any one position were Ron Hansen (151 at SS), Tommie Agee (124 in CF), Tom McCraw (112 at 1B), and Don Buford (94 at 3B).

Although rookie Duane Josephson started 16 fewer games at catcher than J.C. Martin, he missed a month in mid-season, so it's safe to assume that he was the #1 catcher. McCraw started most of the games at 1B, except for 2 stretches in late July and late August. Although Jerry Adair started the first 15 games at 2B, Wayne Causey soon replaced him as the regular, with occasional starts by Buford at 2B. Hansen's card designates him as "Infield", but he started 151 games in 1967 (all at shortstop) and played no other position.

Switch-hitting Don Buford started 94 games at third base, and another 39 at 2nd base. Although Pete Ward was the Sox' regular 3rd baseman from 1963-65, he spent 1967 as the primary left fielder (71 starts) and backup 1st baseman. In 1966, Agee was the AL rookie of the year, an all-star, and won a gold glove. He followed that up with another all-star appearance in 1967, but was traded to the Mets following the season. Ken Berry started 125 games in the outfield, primarily in right field.


The White Sox carried 4 catchers, although Smoky Burgess was only used as a pinch-hitter. J.C. Martin caught in 96 games, but only 69 as the starter. Jerry McNertney saw a lot of action as the 3rd string catcher. Ken Boyer was acquired from the Mets on July 22nd, and started 32 games at 3B as well as seeing action at 1B.


Walt Williams played in more games (104) than any of the other non-regulars. He was primarily used as a backup left fielder and pinch-hitter. Ed Stroud began the season with the Sox, then was traded to the Senators on June 15th for Jim King. King was sent to the Indians on July 29th for Rocky Colavito.


Other assorted subs: Jerry Adair began the season as the starting 2B, but was traded to the Red Sox for Don McMahon. Dick Kenworthy was a backup 3rd baseman for the White Sox in 1967 and 1968, and according to Baseball-Reference.com, was never in the Mets' organization. Al Weis played less than in any of his previous 4 full seasons with the White Sox, and was traded to the Mets in the off-season.

Bill Voss and Buddy Bradford each appeared in less than 25 games. They shared a rookie card in the 1968 Topps set. Utility man Jimmy Stewart was purchased from the Cubs on May 22nd. (The next day, they returned the favor by selling Lee Elia to the Cubs.) Sandy Alomar joined the Sox on August 15th, as part of the earlier trade for Ken Boyer. SS Rich Morales played in 8 games, but wouldn't become a contributor until 1969.


William "Moose" Skowron Jr was shipped out to the Angels on May 6th, after just 8 pinch-hitting appearances. Future starting catcher Ed Herrmann made his debut on September 1st. Ward and Buford were the team's power hitters (a relative term in Chicago). Eddie Stanky was in the middle of his 3-year stint as the Sox' manager. (He also managed the Cardinals from 1952-55.)


Don Dennis and Jim Hicks spent 1967 at triple-A Indianapolis (as did Elia, until he was sold to the Cubs on May 23rd, who assigned him to AAA Tacoma.)


Finally, the rookie cards. Marv Staehle spent most of 1967 in AAA but appeared in 32 games for the White Sox as a backup 2B-SS. Lou Piniella was never on the White Sox, but in the late 1960s if you had 3 rookie cards in your hand, chances are one of them had Piniella on it!



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

10/12/66 - Traded pitcher Juan Pizarro to Pittsburgh for Wilbur Wood.

12/14/66 - Traded catcher John Romano to St. Louis for Don Dennis and Walt Williams.

12/15/66 - Traded OF Floyd Robinson to Cincinnati for Jim O'Toole.

4/26/67 - Sold Jack Lamabe to the Mets.

5/06/67 - Traded Moose Skowron to California for Cotton Nash.

5/22/67 - Purchased Jimmy Stewart from the Cubs.

5/23/67 - Sold Lee Elia to the Cubs.

6/02/67 - Traded Jerry Adair to Boston for Don McMahon.

6/15/67 - Traded Ed Stroud to Washington for Jim King.

7/15/67 - Signed Aurelio Monteagudo as a free agent.

7/22/67 - Released Aurelio Monteagudo.

7/22/67 - Acquired Ken Boyer and a player to be named from the Mets for a player to be named.

7/29/67 - Traded Jim King and a player to be named to Cleveland for Rocky Colavito.

8/11/67 - Sold John Buzhardt to Baltimore.

8/15/67 - Acquired Sandy Alomar from the Mets as part of the Ken Boyer trade.

10/13/67 - Sold Jim Hicks to St. Louis.

10/16/67 - Released Smoky Burgess.

10/26/67 - Sent Marv Staehle to Cleveland to complete the Rocky Colavito trade.

11/27/67 - Sent J. C. Martin to the Mets to complete the Ken Boyer trade.

11/29/67 - Traded Don Buford, Bruce Howard, and Roger Nelson to Baltimore for SS Luis Aparicio and OF Russ Snyder.

12/15/67 - Traded Tommie Agee and Al Weis to the Mets for OF Tommy Davis and P Jack Fisher.


Next team review: Los Angeles Dodgers
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Here a poll, there a poll...

I've caught the poll bug after reading and voting for White Sox Cards' Hall of Fame. I've added polls to several of my baseball and football card blogs. You can use this post to comment on the selections, or to offer up other choices.


Coming later tonight: The 1967 White Sox review.

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Ron Santo (#70)

WILL THIS GUY EVER MAKE IT INTO THE HALL OF FAME?

Many months ago, I had a discussion with Wrigley Wax, where I said that I (like many others, I suspect) overlooked the impact of Cubs' outfielder Billy Williams. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Ron Santo. Why? Probably a number of reasons, including playing in Ernie Banks' shadow, the Cubs having bad teams in the 1960s, the presence of so many headline-grabbing power hitters back in the day (Mays, Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, McCovey, Killebrew, Yastrzemski, etc, etc).

A few months ago, the MLB Network ran a Prime 9 episode on the greatest player at each position in the 1960s. Before watching it, I assumed that several players would be slam-dunks (Sandy Koufax, Brooks Robinson, etc..). I was shocked to learn that neither of those 2 were selected. RON SANTO was selected by MLB Network as the greatest 3rd baseman of the 1960s! On closer review, it's not that surprising. Santo was a notch below Robinson defensively, but although always edged out of the home run crown by Mays, Aaron, or McCovey, Santo was an RBI machine for most of his career.



Ron Santo was signed by the Cubs in 1959, and spent the year playing double-A ball. After 71 games with the Cubs' triple-A Houston team in 1960, Santo made his major-league debut on June 26th. He took over the 3rd base job from Don Zimmer, starting 94 of the final 96 games there in 1960.

Santo was a workhorse for the Cubs. He played 160 or more games in 7 of the 8 seasons from 1962 to 1969. His most productive seasons were from 1963 to 1970, when he tallied 98 or more RBI 7 times, cracked 30+ home runs 4 times, and led the league in walks 4 times. During that time, he made 6 all-star appearances and collected 5 gold gloves.

Although his numbers began to slip from "Santo standards" beginning in 1971, he still made the all-star team 3 more times as a Cub. Santo moved across town to the White Sox for his final season in 1974. With the Sox, he played 47 games as the DH, 39 games at 2nd base, and 28 games at 3rd base.

Following his playing career, Santo was a broadcaster for the Cubs for the past 20 years. He passed away in early December 2010.

Final Card: Bill Hepler

This is the final baseball card for Bill Hepler (#144). His only other card came in 1966, when he appeared on a 7th-series Mets Rookies card.

Until today, I never gave a 2nd thought to Hepler. Sure, I had seen his short career listed on the back of this card, and I knew he didn't have a card after this one, but here's what I learned today: Bill was signed by the Washington Senators in 1965, and spent one season at class-A Geneva, NY where he compiled a 13-10 record in 28 starts.

Based on only one class-A season, two things happened:
1) The Mets selected him in the Rule 5 draft
2) Topps gave him a slot on a 1966 Mets Rookies card

Were the Mets (and Topps) so smart to give him such attention? If he was a phenom, why did the Senators leave him unprotected?



Bill jumped all the way to the majors in 1966 (well he'd have to, being a Rule 5 draft pick), and appeared in 37 games (3 starts) for a total of 69 innings. He also walked twice as many batters as he struck out. This may well explain his one-year major-league career.

After 1966, he spent the next 3 years pitching for A and AA teams in the Mets' system, before wrapping up his career in 1970 with 5 games for the Senators' single-A team in the Carolina League.

Maybe a veteran Mets' fan can shed some light on the fast rise and faster fall of Bill Hepler's career.

American League Batting Leaders (#239, 241, 243)

Here are the 1967 cards showing the previous season's American League leaders in batting average, RBI, and home runs. The Orioles are well-represented among the league leaders. They won their first World Series in 1966, and their newly-acquired right fielder Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown. Orioles' first baseman Boog Powell chipped in with a 3rd-place showing in both home runs and RBI. The Twins had a lock on 2nd place in each category.


As mentioned above, Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown in 1966. The Twins' Tony Oliva finished 2nd, followed by the Tigers' Al Kaline. (All three are right fielders!). Oliva won the batting title in '64, '65, and '71, finished 2nd in '66, and 3rd three times: in '68 (by 1 point), '69 (by less than 1 point), and '70. Kaline was no slouch either, having won the title in '55, finishing 2nd in '59, '61, and '63, and 3rd in '66 and '67.




The same 3 players appear on both the RBI and home run leaders. 1966 was the only season that Robinson led in either RBI or home runs. Harmon Killebrew led the league in RBI 3 times ('62, '69, '71). Boog Powell never led the league in either RBI or home runs, having the misfortune of playing during the peak production years of Killebrew, Robinson, and the Senators' Frank Howard.




Harmon Killebrew led the league in home runs 6 times ('59, '62, '63, '64, '67, '69).