Jim Beauchamp (#307)

Well, it's been eleven years (yesterday) since I started blogging here, with the 1967 set being my first blog. That set included 490 individual player cards, and for 11 years I have featured 486 of those players on one set blog or another. The 4 remaining are Bob Barton, Jim Beauchamp, Aurelio Monteagudo, and Carroll Sembera.

I’m not sure why Jim Beauchamp even has a card in this set. Since the Braves acquired him in May 1965, his major-league action consisted of 4 games in 1965, no games in 1966, and 4 games (all pinch-hitting appearances prior to May 6) in 1967. I guess somebody at Topps liked the Braves, which is why we see cards for Beauchamp, Tommie Aaron, and Dave Nicholson, despite little or no playing time. 

Beauchamp was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, and made his big-league debut in September 1963. He was traded to the Colt .45s in February 1964, and to the Braves in May 1965. 

After 3 seasons of non-use, he was traded to the Reds in October 1967 (with Mack Jones and Jay Ritchie) for Deron Johnson. Jim had more playing time with the Reds in ’68 and ’69 than he did since his days with the Colt .45s. 

He returned to Houston in December 1969, but by the following June was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher George Culver. 

In October 1971, Jim was part of an 8-player trade with the Mets.  After 2 seasons in New York, he was released during spring training 1974, and played that season with the Cardinals’ AAA team before retiring. 

Beauchamp passed away in 2007 at age 68.

Chris Zachary (#212)

Next-to-last alphabetically (and almost next-to-last on this blog) is Chris Zachary, who pitched for the Astros, Royals, Cardinals, and Tigers.

Zachary was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962, but did not play that season. In 1963, he started his pro career at the top, appearing in 22 games (7 starts) for the Colts, and fashioning a 2-2 record in 57 innings.

From 1964-67, he spent most of his time with the club’s AAA team in Oklahoma City, but also saw some action in Houston each season.

After playing all of 1968 in triple-A, he was purchased by the Royals shortly after the expansion draft. Although he played 8 games with Kansas City in 1969, he spent most of that season and all of 1970 in the minors.

In July 1970, he was traded to the Cardinals for reliever Ted Abernathy, but the Cards did not bring him up until May 1971. That year he pitched in 23 games, the first time he logged more than 10 games since his rookie 1963 season.

After the 1971 season, he was traded to the Tigers for pitcher Bill Denehy, and again had another good season, playing in 25 games (all but 1 in relief) while logging a 1.41 ERA over 38 innings.

Just before the 1973 season, he was traded to the Pirates for backup catcher Charlie Sands. He pitched in 6 games but played most of the year in triple-A (starting 25 games).

In December 1973 Chris was traded to the Phillies for catcher Pete Koegel. He started 24 games for their AAA team in Toledo before retiring at season’s end.

Zachary passed away in 2003 at age 59.

Things I Like But You Don't

I recently discovered that I’m running out of players to post on my '67 blog, so I am jumping on a recent blogging topic (better late than never)  a) to pontificate, and b) to delay having the card well run dry.


Things I Like That (many of) You Don’t 

1. 1990 Donruss 

2. 1991 Donruss 

3. 1991 Fleer

What’s a vintage-card fan like me doing liking these junk-wax sets? Simply because they are the first sets I collected with my sons. My oldest son was 3 in 1990, and whenever I went to the Wawa or other convenience stores, I always came back with several rack packs. He and I would spend hours lining up all his red '90 Donruss cards on our living room floor.

In 1991 we did it all again, except the cards were blue and yellow, and my younger son joined in too. Oh, we also collected a smaller amount of '90 Fleer and '91 Topps, but they seemed bland when compared to the splash of color in the above sets. (By 1992 they grew tired of baseball cards - preferring GI Joe cards instead.)


4. Sets with cards for every player. Yep, that's what they did back in the 60s and 70s.

5. Checklist cards – It helped that yellow was my favorite color back then. It was a great way to keep track of who you had and who you needed. That the next series' checklist was included in the previous series also gave you a preview of who was to come next.

6. Team cards – Loved those photos super-imposed on bright yellow backgrounds! Plus, you got the rundown of the whole pitching staff on the back (albeit last year's pitchers).

7. Manager cards – They had either tales of these old-timers' playing careers, or funny cartoons on the back.

8. 1970 Topps – No one seems to like the gray borders. I wasn't crazy about them either at first, but there’s a lot of good new photos – a refreshing change from 1969.

9. Multi-player cards. These seemed to peak in the 1967 set.

10. All-Star cards (separate from their base cards).



Things I Don’t Like That (many of) You Do

1. Cards after 1972 (except the first 3 sets mentioned above, and 1981 Topps). 1972 was the last set I chased pack-by-pack as a kid. In recent decades I have collected all the Phillies cards up through 1993 (and again from 2008-2012). I also have factory sets from 1981 and 1987-92, but I have little interest in those cards (and the players shown on them) now. I can’t see myself ever chasing another set from 1973 onward.

The rest of these are pretty much covered by what I just said above, but I’ll continue anyway.

2. Chrome/gold/black/refractors/parallels/relics/blah-blah-blah. It's all just marketing nonsense. (And how do you know your relic actually came from a game-worn jersey? Because the card company said so?)

3. Intentionally omitting half a team's roster, just so they can have multiple cards of stars.

4. Short prints to create scarcity. 

5. Putting non-baseball subjects on baseball cards. 

6. Intentionally including retired players in current sets. I loved Mickey Mantle, but he shouldn't be in a current-player set after 1969.

7. Unlicensed, logo-less cards. Why do they bother?

8. The obsession with inserts. 

9. The obsession over “official” rookie cards. If it's the player's first card, it's his rookie card! For decades, no one needed MLB sanctioning things with their "RC" stamp of approval.

10. Graded cards.

Orlando Martinez (#504)

I just realized today when looking at the back of this card that Orlando Martinez hadn't played in the major leagues since 1962, when he saw action in 37 games (mostly as a pinch-runner). I have to ask then, "Why does he have a card?" Also, my recollection was that his position on this card was "C-INF".

And what is it with Topps and Atlanta Braves' scrubs? Tommie Aaron had a card in the 1968 set despite not playing regularly since 1963, and with only 8 games in early-1965 since then. Jim Beauchamp (who we will see on this blog 2 posts from now) had a card in the 1967 set although didn't play in the majors in 1966. Ex-Braves' outfielder Dave Nicholson had a card in the 1969 set, yet his only time in the majors since 1966 was a 10-game stint in September 1967. 

Orlando "Marty" Martinez was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1960, and played seven seasons for the Senators/Twins in the minors. He was primarily a shortstop, but he also saw considerable playing time at 3B, 2B, and catcher, both in the minors and the majors. He also pitched 21 games in the minors, and 1 inning with the 1969 Astros.

After the 1966 season the Braves selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He played in 44 games in his rookie season, including 17 starts at shortstop.

In 1968 his playing time almost tripled, as he started 49 games at shortstop, 31 at 3B, 13 at 2B, and 6 behind the plate. He was truly valuable to the team that season. Too bad he only hit .230.

Martinez was traded to the Astros in December 1968 for 3rd baseman Bob Aspromonte. He continued in his role as backup infielder for the next 2 seasons, although playing much less than he did in 1968.

In '69 he mostly filled in at shortstop and left field, but also a few games at 3B and behind the plate. In 1970 he was mostly at SS and 3B.

In 1971 his playing time decreased even further. The Astros replaced shortstop Denis Menke with rookie Roger Metzger, who needed less time off than Menke did for the past 2 seasons.

After the '71 season, Marty was on his way to the Cardinals. He only played 7 games for St. Louis in 1972, and in late May was traded to the Athletics for outfielder Brant Alyea.

Two months later he was flipped to the Rangers (with 2B Vic Harris) for 1st baseman Don Mincher and infielder Ted Kubiak. 1972 was his last season in the majors.

He played for the Rangers' AAA and AA teams from 1973-80.

Martinez was also the interim manager for the Seattle Mariners for one game in 1986.

In the 1980s he was a coach and a scout for the Mariners, signing Edgar Martinez and Omar Vizquel, among others.

He passed away in 2007 at age 65.

Sandy Alomar (#561)

It's time for a high-numbered card.

Sandy Alomar was a second baseman who played for 15 seasons (1964-78) for the Braves, Mets, White Sox, Angels, Yankees, and Rangers.  This is his only card as a Met, the team he played the least amount of time for.

Alomar was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1960, and was a shortstop until switching over to 2nd base during the 1965 season. His major-league debut came in September 1964 with the Braves.

Sandy split the 1965 season between Milwaukee and their AAA team in Atlanta.

The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, but by early-June Alomar had moved on to Richmond, the new home of their triple-A team.

1967 was an unusual year for Alomar:
 - 2/25: sent to the Astros to complete an earlier deal (Eddie Mathews to Houston for Bob Bruce and Dave Nicholson).
 - 3/24: Traded to the Mets for Derrell Griffith.
 - 8/15: sent to the White Sox to complete an earlier deal (Ken Boyer to Chicago for J.C. Martin).

Sandy was always a bench player until the 2nd half of 1968, when he took over the Sox' 2nd base job.

Following his May 1969 trade to the Angels for Bobby Knoop, Alomar was the Halos' regular 2nd baseman for the next 4 ½ years, that string coming to an end in the closing weeks of 1973. While an Angel, he started 134, 152, 134, 150, and 103 games from 1969-73. He also made the 1970 All-Star team.

The Angels acquired 2nd baseman Denny Doyle from the Phillies in the 73/74 off-season, so Alomar rode the bench in 1974 until his contract was purchased by the Yankees in July. Sandy regained a starting job in the Big Apple for the rest of 1974 and all of 1975.

It was deja-vu all over again for him in 1976. The Yankees traded for Willie Randolph in the 75/76 off-season, so Alomar was back on the bench, although he did start a handful of games in July and Auguist.

Sandy was traded to the Rangers before the 1977 season, and spent his last two years as a bench player. He backed up 2B Bump Wills in '77 but rarely played the field in '78 and was used mostly as a pinch-runner (at age 34!). Alomar was released after the 1978 season.

Later, he was a coach for the Padres (1986-90), Cubs (2000-02), Rockies (2003-04), and Mets (2005-09).

His sons Sandy Jr and Roberto made their major-league debuts with the Padres while he was a coach there.

Collecting the 1967 Phillies

Wow, it's been 2 1/2 months since I've posted any baseball cards. I needed something to bounce me out of my post-season doldrums, and it came to me today.

There were about 25 player cards per team (one per player on the roster - imagine that!), plus a team card, manager, 1 to 3 rookie stars cards, and a multi-player card for 11 (?!?) of the teams.

With 20 teams, the set started off featuring a card for each team every 20 cards or so. That started to vary once you got to the World Series and League Leaders cards. Also, any trades that occurred after Topps finished their set layout (but before finalizing the photos) caused that player to be shown on his new team.

The Phillies had 31 cards in the 1967 set: 27 player cards, team, manager, multi-player, and 1 rookie card. There was also a Phillie featured on a 7th series National League Rookies card. This worked out to 4 cards per series, except for series 1 and 5.

I collected most of my 1967 cards in that season. (Only the 7th series cards eluded me until the 1980s.) So here is how the Phillies' players unfolded for me during the summer of 1967:


1st Series:

I'm not sure why there are 6 Phillies cards in this series.  All the players were on the team in 1966, so it wasn't a case of last-minute team-switching.

2nd Series:

3rd Series:

4th Series:

5th Series:

I think Gomez was a last-minute addition to the Topps set.  He was signed by the Phillies over the winter, not having played MLB for several seasons.  Francona was acquired in early-April, so was probably originally planned to be a Cardinals' card.

6th Series:

7th Series:

I didn't get my first cards for these 4 Phillies until the 1968 set. (By then, Bunning was a Pirate.)