Phillies Team (#102)

Since Topps began issuing team cards in the late 1950s, most team pictures have been superimposed on a yellow background. In 1967, some team photos were superimposed on a red background, or in the case of the Atlanta Braves, the original photographed background was used. The Phillies Team card was the only one to use a blue background, because the yellow team name and the players’ red caps made the yellow and red backgrounds unusable.

There are 33 uniformed men in the picture. Manager Gene Mauch is front and center in the first row, and I assume he is flanked by two coaches on each side, which leaves 28 players pictured. In the first row, Johnny Callison appears to be on the far right, with Richie Allen next to him.



The back of the team cards always include team statistics from the previous season. Each pitcher with a decision is listed, with their record per opponent.

We can see that Jim Bunning, Chris Short, and Larry Jackson were the top 3 starting pitchers. Bob Buhl, Rick Wise, and Ray Culp all performed both as starters and relievers. Rookie Darold Knowles, (acquired from the Orioles before the season) was the top relief pitcher, appearing in 69 games and collecting 13 saves. All the other listed pitchers were bullpenners, mostly with ERAs over 5.00. John Boozer, Fergie Jenkins, Steve Ridzik, and Grant Jackson all appeared in less than 3 games each, and had no record.

In 1967, Bunning, Short, Wise, and Larry Jackson returned as starting pitchers, but the remaining staff was swept clean. Culp was traded to the Cubs for starting pitcher Dick Ellsworth, bullpen ace Knowles went to the Senators for outfielder Don Lock, Joe Verbanic was sent to the Yankees for reliever Pedro Ramos, John Morris was traded to the Orioles for reliever Dick Hall. Bo Belinsky was lost to Houston in the rule 5 draft. Roger Craig, Ray Herbert, Ed Roebuck, and Terry Fox were released during or after the 1966 season, and Gary Wagner spent the 1967 season in triple-A.

Only Bob Buhl survived the off-season purge, and he got his walking papers before the end of May.

Final Card: Earl Battey

Here is the final card for long-time Twins' catcher Earl Battey (#15). Starting in the 2nd series, Topps put a dot between the player's name and position. On this 1st series card, the player's name and position just run together.

Battey began his career in the White Sox organization in 1953. He had brief cups of coffee with the White Sox in 1955 and 1956. In 1957, Earl split the season between the Los Angeles Angels (the Brooklyn Dodgers' triple-A team), and the White Sox.

In 1958, Battey made the major leagues to stay, as the backup catcher to Sherm Lollar in 1958, and the #3 catcher behind Lollar and Johnny Romano in 1959.



Just before the 1960 season began, Battey was traded (along with rookie first baseman Don Mincher) to the Washington Senators for first baseman Roy Sievers. Earl immediately assumed the #1 catching job, a role he would keep through the 1966 season.

The three Twins catchers in 1966 and 1967 (Battey, Russ Nixon, and Jerry Zimmerman) were all the same age (31 in 1966). Battey was the starter through 1966, but in 1967 he played the least of the three, with Zimmerman taking over the #1 spot.

In 1967, Battey caught 41 games, and pinch-hit in 7 other games. His last game was in the final week of September.

1967 Topps Poster Inserts

No cards today. Here's a link to a site by Dan Austin featuring the 1967 Topps posters that were wax-pack inserts.

(I have most of these somewhere, but can't locate them.)

There are 32 posters, with each team being represented at least once.

Red Sox - Carl Yastrzemski
Yankees - Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone
Orioles - Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell
Senators - Frank Howard
Indians - Sam McDowell, Leon Wagner
Tigers - Denny McLain, Al Kaline
White Sox - Tommie Agee
Twins - Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva
Athletics - Bert Campaneris
Angels - Bobby Knoop

Mets - Cleon Jones
Phillies - Johnny Callison
Pirates - "Bob" Clemente, Matty Alou
Cubs - Ron Santo
Cardinals - Orlando Cepeda
Braves - Hank Aaron, Joe Torre, Felipe Alou
Reds - Chico Cardenas
Astros - Joe Morgan
Giants - Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal
Dodgers - Don Drysdale, Ron Hunt

I'm not sure why Ron Hunt, Joe Pepitone, Felipe Alou, Bobby Knoop, and Chico Cardenas were selected for the posters.

It seems like Pete Rose or Tony Perez would have been more obvious choices for a Reds' poster.

And Bobby Knoop? What about Jim Fregosi or Don Mincher for the Angels?

And Joe Pepitone? A featured star at the expense of Bob Gibson and Ernie Banks?

Final Card: Don Demeter

This is the last card for Don Demeter (#572). It's from the 7th series (a/k/a the "high-numbers").

Don began his career in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1953. In fact, he played in 3 games in late September 1956 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and was therefore one of the last active ex-Brooklyn Dodgers.

After serving as a backup outfielder in 1958, the regular centerfielder in 1959, and sharing centerfield in 1960 with Tommy Davis and Duke Snider, Demeter was traded to the Phillies in May 1961 along with third baseman Charley Smith for pitcher Turk Farrell and infielder Joe Koppe.



It was in Philadelphia (and later, Detroit) that Demeter had his best years. With the Phillies, he was a starting CF/LF, although in 1962 he started 95 games at third base. After the 1963 season, he was traded to the Tigers for pitcher Jim Bunning.

He continued in the same "swing" role he had with the Phillies - getting regular playing time, but spread out at different positions (usually CF and 1B). After 2 1/2 seasons in Detroit, he was traded to the Red Sox for pitcher Earl Wilson.

After taking over the regular centerfield job in 1966 (starting 50 games after his mid-June acquisition), Demeter became a spare part in 1967 with the emergence of rookie centerfielder Reggie Smith. In early June he was shipped to the Indians along with first baseman Tony Horton for pitcher Gary Bell, who helped shore up the Sox' rotation in their quest of the AL pennant in 1967.

Demeter's final game was in late August 1967.

Al Ferrara (#557)

Night Owl, I just read your 9/30/09 post that included the 1967 Dodgers team card. You said you wouldn't collect 1967 cards because the high numbers were too hard to find. Here's a high number AND a Dodger for you.


Al Ferrara was a promising young outfielder for the Dodgers in the mid-1960s. The back of this card states that since outfielder Lou Johnson broke his ankle on 4/26/67, Ferrara would likely see increased playing time.



Not so, because Len Gabrielson had to go and join the Dodgers on May 10th, making frequent starts in the Dodgers outfield. (Since Willie Davis and Ron Fairly were fixtures in CF and RF, there was only one spot left for the others.) Unfortunately for Ferrara, Lou Johnson was back in 6 weeks, and put a hammerlock on the left field job, leaving Ferrara and Gabrielson fighting for table scraps.

In 1968, Ferrara broke his leg in the second game, and was lost for the season.

Fortunately for Al, 1969 brought 2 new NL teams via expansion, and Ferrara was drafted by the San Diego Padres. He immediately became their starting left fielder, playing in 138 games in both 1969 and 1970.

In 1971, he only appeared in 17 games with the Padres before being traded to the Reds on May 13th. His last game was on September 1st, 1971.


Also check out Ferrara's 1966 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.