Tito Fuentes (#177)

This is Tito Fuentes’ first solo card. In 1967 he was the Giants’ 2nd baseman, not shortstop. (Hal Lanier’s position is similarly incorrect on his card.) I recall Fuentes as having an extremely closed batting stance.

Fuentes was signed by the Giants in 1962 and played 3 seasons in the minors as a 2nd baseman. In 1965 he switched to shortstop, playing 90 games in triple-A before making his major-league debut in August.

Tito was the team’s primary shortstop in 1966, starting 74 games there (including every game after July 21st). He also started 52 games at 2nd base, as he and Lanier flip-flopped between the 2 positions for the first half of the season. Fuentes finished 3rd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Tommy Helms and Sonny Jackson.

In 1967 he started 105 games at 2nd base, and only played 9 innings at shortstop (no starts). His batting average dropped from .261 to .209, which may explain why he spent all of 1968 in the minors (resulting in his omission from the '68 and '69 Topps sets).

Tito returned to the Giants in late-May 1969, but didn’t draw any starting assignments until early-July. With Ron Hunt now firmly entrenched at 2nd base, Fuentes' few-dozen starts all came at 3rd base and shortstop.

Fuentes split the 2nd base starting assignments with Hunt in 1970, while also spending a good deal of time at SS and 3B.

His days of utility swing-man were over in 1971. For the next 4 seasons Tito was the Giants' regular 2nd baseman. He started over 150 games each year from 1971-73, and had over 700 plate appearances in 1973.

After the 1974 season he was traded to the Padres for shortstop Derrel Thomas. He played 2 seasons with San Diego, then was granted free agency.

Tito signed on with the Tigers for 1977, and was their starting 2nd baseman for 1 season – the last before Lou Whitaker’s long tenure.

The Expos acquired him from the Tigers in January 1978, but released him during spring training. Tito was idle until mid-season, when he was picked up by the Athletics in late-June. After playing 13 games, he was released in late-July.

 Fuentes played briefly in the Inter-American league in 1979.

Casey Cox (#414)

I didn’t realize until today that Casey Cox only had one season under his belt when this card came out.

Cox was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1962 (I didn’t know that!), then was picked up by the Indians after that season in the 1st-year draft (didn’t know that either!).

In May 1963 the Senators made a waiver claim for him, and he spent the next 2 1/2 seasons on their farm before making his major-league debut in April 1966. He led the staff with 66 games as a rookie, also picking up 7 saves.

After a full season in 1966, Casey pitched most of 1967 with the Senators (except for a brief trip to the minors in late-May/early-June), but pitched almost all of the 1968 season for the Senators’ AAA team.

Cox returned to Washington in 1969, this time also mixing in some starts (having previously only pitched in relief). He posted a 12-7 record and was 3rd on the team in innings pitched (171).

In 1970 he was primarily a starter (30 of his 37 games), but slipped to an 8-12 record. (The Sens’ top 3 starters each lost 12 games that season.)

After 1970 Cox went back to a primarily-relief role. After 2 more seasons with the club, the Rangers traded him to the Yankees in late-August 1972 for pitcher Jim Roland.

Cox was rarely used in the Big Apple, only pitching 5 games in the season’s final month. After pitching 1 game in 1973 (on April 6th) he was released a week later.

Casey pitched the remainder of 1973 for the Cubs’ AAA team before retiring.

Tommie Reynolds (#487)

Tommie Reynolds was a journeyman outfielder for the Athletics, Mets, and others from 1963-72. Check out the huge gap between his first and last names. I think Topps planned to print "TOMMIE" (like they did on the card back) but changed their mind at the last minute.

It's also odd that his position is listed as "OF-1B", because he only played 2 innings at first base and that was in 1972.  (His first minor-league game at 1st base was in 1968.)

Reynolds was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, and made his major-league debut with 8 games that September. Tommie started the 1964 season with the A’s, but by early-May found himself back in the minors until a September call-up.

In 1965 he was with the team for most of the season (except for May and June) . He was the team’s #3 outfielder (behind Mike Hershberger and Jim Landis), starting 72 games in left field and another 7 games in right. Upon his return from the minors, Tommie started 68 of the final 92 games in left field.

With all that playing time during the 2nd half, it’s puzzling why he spent all of 1966 in the minors. Maybe it was his .237 batting average? Maybe his 1 home run? In any case, he was stuck in triple-A all year, until the Mets picked him up in the Rule 5 draft after the season.

Reynolds played in 101 games in ’67, but only had 136 at bats. As the Mets’ 4th outfielder he only starts 24 games. Repeating recent history, he played all of 1968 back in triple-A.

Almost 2 years from the date of his acquisition by the Mets, the Athletics “Rule-Fived” him again. He was back with the A’s (this time in Oakland) and in 1969 received the most playing time of his career (107 games, 315 at bats). He almost duplicated his playing time from the 1965 A’s, starting 71 games in left and 6 in right as the team’s #3 outfielder.

He was one-and-done in Oakland though. The Angels acquired him in May 1970 and he played parts of the next 2 seasons with California.

After 1 season with the Brewers (1972), he played for their triple-A team from 1973-77 before retiring.

Reynolds was a coach for the Athletics and Cardinals from 1989-96.

Ed Brinkman (#311)

Ed Brinkman was a light-hitting shortstop for the Senators in the 1960s and Tigers in the early-1970s. Together with Tigers’ shortstop Ray Oyler, they set the lowest of bars for hitting prowess, in the days before Mario Mendoza established the “Mendoza Line”.  (Fittingly, Brinkman eventually replaced Oyler in Detroit.)

Brinkman was signed by the Senators in 1961, and made his major-league debut with 4 games in September of that year. After splitting the 1962 season between the Senators and their class-B team, he made the big club at the start of the 1963 season.

Despite his weak bat, he was Washington’s starting shortstop from 1963-1970, except for missing 85 games in 1968.

Well, he came from the same high school as Pete Rose, so he's got THAT going for him! 


Notice the spike in his batting average in 1969 and 1970? Those are the 2 seasons when Teddy Ballgame was his manager. After he moved on to the Tigers in 1971, he reverted to his old batting ways.

Ed was traded to the Tigers in October 1970 (with pitchers Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan, and 3rd baseman Aurelio Rodriguez) for pitcher Denny McLain, 3rd baseman Don Wert, and outfielder Elliott Maddox.

Always a good glove man, he won a Gold Glove award in 1972 and surprisingly, made the All-Star team in 1973.

After the 1974 season, Ed was one of 3 players traded to the Padres for 1st baseman Nate Colbert. On the same day, San Diego flipped him to the Cardinals for pitchers Sonny Siebert, Alan Foster, and Rich Folkers. (What a haul!)

In June 1975 he moved on to the Rangers in exchange for outfielder Willie Davis, then was purchased by the Yankees a week later. The Yankees released him the following Spring.

After his playing career, Brinkman was a minor-league manager for the Tigers, and later a coach and scout for the White Sox.

He passed away in 2008 at age 66.

His brother Chuck Brinkman was a catcher for the White Sox in the early-1970s.

Dick Selma (#386)

Dick Selma had a 10-year career (9+, if you factor in his 1st season was just a few games in a September call-up). He was primarily a reliever, but started quite a few games for the Mets in 1968 and the Cubs in 1969.

Selma was signed by the Mets in May 1963, and played 3 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut in September 1965. In both 1966 and 1967, he split his time between the Mets and their AAA team.

In 1968 he started 23 of his 33 games, and was the team's #4 starter behind Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and the veteran Don Cardwell.

With Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry, and Jim McAndrew around to fill starting slots, Selma was left unprotected in the expansion draft, and was selected by the Padres with the 5th pick.

He was their Opening-Day starter in 1969, but by late-April was traded to the Cubs for pitchers Joe Niekro and Gary Ross. Dick posted a 10-8 record as the Cubs' #4 starter in his only season there. (The 1969 Cubs had a tight starting rotation. Only 4 pitchers started more than 5 games!) 

After the 1969 season, Selma was shipped off to the Phillies (along with outfield prospect Oscar Gamble) for outfielder Johnny Callison. Dick played for the Phillies for 4 seasons.

In 1970 he pitched 73 games (all in relief) and led the team with 22 saves, while posting a 2.75 ERA. He only pitched 24 innings over 17 games in 1971.

Dick returned in '72 to pitch 98 innings over 46 games, but had a bad year, going 2-9 with a 5.56 ERA. (That’s ok, all 12 Phillies' pitchers not named Steve Carlton had a bad year in 1972!) 

Selma began the 1973 season with the Philllies, but was released in early May. Two weeks later he was signed by the Cardinals and assigned to their AAA team. He was sold to the Angels in the season's final week but did not see any action.

Dick pitched 18 games for the Angels by mid-June 1974, then was sent to the minors. He was sold to the Brewers in late-July, but after a 2-game stint in August left him with a 19.29 ERA, the Brew Crew said "no thanks" and returned him to the Angels.

He also pitched for the Dodgers' triple-A Albuquerque team in 1975-76 before retiring.

Selma died in 2001 at age 57.

Dave Boswell (#575)

Twins’ pitcher Dave Boswell was included in the rare 7th series in the 1967 set. Although I collected the first 6 series in 1967, I didn’t get any 7th-series cards until the 1980s.

Boswell pitched for 8 seasons, the first 7 with Minnesota. Although he was a 20-game winner in 1969, he may be more well-known as the guy whose manager (Billy Martin, naturally) punched him out in a bar fight.

Dave was signed by the Twins in 1963, and made his major-league debut in September 1964 at age 19, pitching in 4 games.

In 1965 he pitched 27 games, but only made 12 starts. The next season he became a full-time starter, and won 12, 14, 10, and 20 games over the next 4 seasons. His 12-5 record in 1966 provided a league-leading .706 winning percentage.

Dave pitched in the 1965 World Series and the 1969 ALCS. An arm injury suffered during that ALCS caused him to miss much of 1970 and eventually shortened his career.

Dave only pitched in 18 games during 1970, and was released in April 1971. The same day, he was picked up by the Tigers, who were now managed by his 1969 Twins manager Martin. Boswell lasted with the Tigers until the end of May, and was released again.

The Orioles signed him on the same day, and he appeared in 24 innings over 15 games in the next 4 months. His last appearance came on September 17th, as Baltimore released him just before the start of the 1972 season.

 Boswell passed away in 2012 at age 67.