Final Card: Don Mossi

Small children...avert your eyes!

Don Mossi (#74) was a relief pitcher, primarily for the Indians and Tigers.

Topps failed to include his minor-league stats, which tell us that he began playing in 1949. After playing for Indians' minor-league teams for 4 seasons, he inexplicably played for a Cincinnati Reds' farm team in 1953, before making his major-league debut in April 1954 with Cleveland.

Mossi spent 5 seasons with the Indians, primarily as a reliever. He pitched in the 1957 all-star game (the only season with Cleveland where he made more than 5 starts).



After the 1958 season, Don was traded to the Tigers for second baseman Billy Martin. With the Tigers, he was mostly a starting pitcher. Mossi, Jim Bunning, and Frank Lary all won 17 games in 1957. Those 3 would form the nucleus of the Tigers' rotation for the next 5 years, as others such as Phil Regan, Hank Aguirre, and Mickey Lolich would also join the rotation.

After the 1963 season, Bunning and Mossi would leave the Tigers. In his final 2 seasons (1964 and 1965), Don was strictly a relief pitcher. Mossi was sold to the White Sox in March 1964, but was released after the season.

After being out of baseball for a few months, the Athletics picked him up at the end of May 1965, and he made 51 relief appearances for Kansas City, with his final game coming on October 1, 1965.