1966 World Series Cards

In 1967, Topps resumed their World Series subset, which was issued every year in the 1960s except for 1966. Here are the cards for each game, and the summary (#151 - #155).



Dave McNally started game 1 but lasted only 2 1/3 innings. After 3 straight walks, he was replaced by Moe Drabowsky who pitched a 1-hitter for the remainder of the game, while striking out 11. Brooks and Frank Robinson both homered.



20-year-old Jim Palmer pitched a 4-hit shutout (besting Sandy Koufax in the process) as the Orioles go up 2-0 in the series.



Game 3 was another complete game shutout of the Dodgers, this time by Wally Bunker.



Not to be outdone by teammates Palmer and Bunker, Dave McNally pitches a complete game shutout in game 4, as the Orioles sweep the Dodgers.



Here we see Dave McNally with (I think) manager Hank Bauer wearing a shaving cream pie. (Back in the day, I thought the pie-man looked like Jack Lemmon.)

Only FOUR Orioles' pitchers saw action in the series, as 3 of the wins were complete games. Game 2 was Sandy Koufax' last appearance before retiring after the 1966 season.

Robin Roberts (1926-2010)

Robin Roberts, the greatest right-handed pitcher in Phillies' history passed away today at age 83, at his home in Florida.

Roberts pitched for the Phillies from 1948 to 1961, compiling a record of 234-199. With the Phillies, he made 472 starts and completed 272 of them. He won 20 or more games each season from 1950 to 1955, also leading all NL pitchers in games started those years.

He also pitched for the Orioles from 1962 to 1965, before finishing his major-league career in 1966 with the Astros and Cubs. In 1967, he pitched for the Phillies' double-A club in Reading, PA.

His #36 was the first number retired by the Phillies. This was done in 1962, while he was still active with another team (only the 2nd time that occurred, the 1st being Babe Ruth).

Roberts was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, and returned every summer since then for the ceremonies.

Final Card: John Orsino

John Orsino only played 1 major-league game in 1967 (September 10th), and it would be his last. Like fellow AL catchers Smoky Burgess and Charlie Lau, Orsino would spend the final seasons of his career pinch-hitting, not catching.

John was signed by the Giants in 1957. After spending 4 full seasons in the minors, he split the 1961 and 1962 seasons between San Francisco and the minor leagues.

After the 1962 season, Orsino was traded to the Orioles (along with pitchers Mike McCormick and Stu Miller) for pitchers Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft, and catcher Jimmie Coker.



Orsino's seasons with the Orioles (1963-65) were the only years he managed to stay out of the minor leagues. In fact, he was the Orioles primary catcher in 1963, starting 103 games behind the plate. For the next 2 seasons, he shared the starting job with Dick Brown.

John was on the move after the 1965 season, this time to Washington. 1966 and 1967 seem to be lost seasons for Orsino, as his games played during that time were:

1966: 14 games with Senators, 1 with AA York
1967: 1 game with Senators, 16 with AAA Hawaii

He got significant playing time from 1968-69 as a catcher and 1st baseman, but it was in the minor leagues, in the Senators system for 1968 and the Indians' and Yankees' farm teams in 1969.

Final Card: Don Dennis

Here is the final card for Don Dennis (#259). After two seasons with the Cardinals, Don was acquired for catcher Johnny Romano, but never played in the majors after 1966.

Dennis was signed by the Cardinals in 1962. After going 10-7 as a starting pitcher during his rookie season, he switched to relief, and pitched in the Cardinals' farm system until making his major-league debut in June 1965.

Don was a key member of the Cardinals' bullpen for a season and a half, appearing in 41 games in 1965 and 38 games in 1966.



After the 1966 season, he and minor-league outfielder Walt Williams were traded to the White Sox for veteran catcher Johnny Romano. Don never played in the majors again. He spent three seasons (1967-69) as a reliever with the White Sox' triple-A team (missing most of the 1968 season).

Final Card: Al Luplow

The career of Al Luplow (#433) is on its last legs here in 1967. Al was signed by the Indians in 1959, and spent one season in class-D ball, breezed through A and AA ball in 1960, and played most of 1961 in triple-A before making his major-league debut with the Indians in September 1961.

In his first full season (1962) he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, but played some games in right field. In 1963 he was first among Indians' right fielders in games played, narrowly ahead of Willie Kirkland. The following season he only played 19 games for the Indians, while spending a good portion of the season with their triple-A Portland (Oregon) club. Luplow was back with the Indians in 1965, but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter, playing only 6 games in the outfield.



After the 1965 season, Al was sold to the Mets. This immediately increased his playing time, as he became the team's primary right fielder. (Ron Swoboda played left field prior to 1967, with Cleon Jones in center.)

In 1967 the Mets acquired Tommy Davis, who put a lock on left field. This left Jones and Swoboda to play in center and right, with Luplow and rookie Don Bosch scrambling for playing time. Al managed to start a few games in right field (and later, center field) before he was sold to the Pirates on June 21st.

Luplow finished his career with the Pirates in 1967, as a pinch-hitter and 5th outfielder behind regulars Willie Stargell, Matty Alou and Roberto Clemente, and also Manny Mota.

The 1967 Cardinals

July 2013 edit: Added team card at top, to appear in the sidebar thumbnails (like all the later team reviews)

I liked how my Phillies' post from early last week turned out, so I'm going to post some other teams in this format too. Today it's time for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals clinched the NL pennant in mid-September, in spite of Bob Gibson missing 7 weeks with a broken leg.


Starting pitchers: Back in the day (and for all these years), I thought the Cardinals' rotation in 1967 was Gibson-Briles-Carlton-Washburn. Well, that's about what it was by the end of the season, but it started out as Gibson-Washburn-Jaster-Jackson, with Steve Carlton as the 5th starter. In early May, it was adjusted to Gibson-Washburn-Carlton-Hughes-Jackson, and in June, Larry Jaster had replaced Al Jackson as the 5th starter.

It appears that Ray Washburn missed 4 starts while on the DL in June/July, and Jim Cosman was called up take Washburn's starts.

In the July 15th game against the Pirates, a line drive off the bat of Roberto Clemente broke Bob Gibson's leg, and he didn't return until September 7th, missing 10 starts. The following day, Washburn returned to action, and the Cardinals also acquired relief pitcher Jack Lamabe from the Mets.

Nelson Briles was also moved from the bullpen (where he had been since the start of the season - making 35 appearances) to the starting rotation, replacing Gibson. When Gibson returned in September, Jaster was bumped from the rotation. So we end up with Gibson-Briles-Carlton-Hughes-Washburn.


Relievers: Southpaw Joe Hoerner was the team's closer, and along with Ron Willis and Hal Woodeshick, were strictly relievers. Al Jackson spent all of June to September in the bullpen, and Larry Jaster pitched in relief during most of May and September. Jack Lamabe was acquired from the Mets the day after Gibson's injury, and appeared in 23 games - all but 1 in relief.


Regulars: Except for Curt Flood missing 20 consecutive games in July, this starting 8 pretty much went wire-to-wire. I wonder if Mike Shannon was in the National Guard, because he missed several blocks of games in April, May, and August. (Shannon had been the team's right fielder prior to 1967, but switched to 3rd base upon the arrival of Roger Maris.) Tim McCarver and Roger Maris also got frequent days off, but Orlando Cepeda, Dal Maxvill, and Lou Brock all played over 150 games.


Primary subs: Phil Gagliano was the primary backup at 2B and 3B. It appears that Ed Spiezio was used mainly for pinch-hitting, and rarely entered a game as a defensive replacement. His few starts at 3B came mostly when Shannon was either out of the lineup or playing outfield in Flood's absence.

Bob Tolan was primarily used as the backup CF/1B, and for pinch-hitting, but played corner outfield occasionally. Alex Johnson was Maris' backup in right field, and was used as a pinch-hitter as well. He rarely played left or center field.


Other subs: Johnny Romano was the backup catcher early on, but even though he was on the team all season, he rarely played after the first week in June.

Dave Ricketts appears to have been with the team the entire season, but went 22 days without an appearance in late July, so maybe he was "DL-ed" to make room for an extra pitcher. He was strictly used as a pinch-hitter until late June, when he began getting time behind the plate.

Ed Bressoud was acquired from the Mets just before the start of the season, and was the backup shortstop, while getting the occasional start.

This late-series card shows Ted Savage as a Cub, but he began 1967 with the Cardinals, then was sold to the Cubs on May 14th. Before that, he had made 9 pinch-hitting appearances, but did not play in the field.

After examining the Cardinals' roster day-by-day, there doesn't appear to be any way to fit these 26 players (everyone above except Cosman and Lamabe) on the roster at the same time, but the records in Baseball-reference.com and Retrosheet.com imply that all 26 were active prior to Savage's exit.


Others: Mike Torrez pitched in a few games in September. (2B Steve Huntz and SS Jimy Williams also played a game or 2 in September.) It seems like "Al" Schoendienst has managed/coached/mascotted the Cardinals since time began! Brock and Flood were top-notch outfielders. Pat Corrales did not play for the team in 1967. (Who needs a 4th catcher?)


Team and rookie cards: (Ignore Jim Shellenback.) Also check out the 1968 Cardinals Team card, which includes 1967 stats.


Post-season:
The Cardinals finished the season with 26 postseason-eligible players (all but the demoted Jim Cosman and the traded Ted Savage). Who was the odd man out? It's hard to say, because 10 pitchers and only 13 position players saw action in the World Series. Al Jackson, Alex Johnson, and Johnny Romano did not play in the series, but 2 of them must have been on the roster. We can probably assume Johnson was on the team as the 5th outfielder, but did the Cardinals go with 11 pitchers, or 3 catchers? I'm guessing 11 pitchers, based on Romano having only played 2 games after July 23rd.


Do you have a favorite team you'd like me to post next? I know there are Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, and Orioles fans out there. I'll take requests, otherwise I think the Red Sox (as AL champs) will be next.
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