Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Final Card: Jack Cullen

This is the last of 2 Topps cards for Jack Cullen (#31). Cullen's rookie card was in the 1963 set, a 4-player Rookie Stars card that also featured future NBA star Dave DeBusschere.

Jack was signed by the Yankees in 1959, and pitched 8 seasons (1959-66) as a starter in their farm system. Cullen won in double figures for his first 4 seasons in the minors, and had a 2-game cup of coffee with the Yanks in September 1962.

After two off-years (1963-64), he bounced back in '65 with a 14-5 record, which earned him a 2-month stay with New York at the end of the '65 season. He made 9 starts and 3 relief appearances with the Yankees that season.


Cullen made 5 relief appearances for the Yankees in April and early May 1966, but spent the remainder of that year back in triple-A. After the season, he was traded to the Dodgers for 3rd baseman John Kennedy.

Jack never made it back to the majors. Although always a starter in the Yankees' farm system, the Dodgers converted him to a reliever, and he spent 2 seasons with their triple-A club in Spokane before wrapping up his career with 2 seasons (1969-70) as a member of the Braves' triple-A team in Richmond, VA.

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