White Sox Team (#426)

Here is the White Sox' team card for 1966. Unlike in other years, each team's previous year finish is noted on the card front. The Sox finished 1965 with a 95-67 record, but that was only good enough for 2nd place, 7 games behind the Minnesota Twins who finished with 105 wins.

In 1966 the Sox dropped to 4th place, 15 games behind the Orioles.

Offensive leaders Don Buford and Moose Skowron would both be gone in 2 years. Although an All-Star in 1965, Skowron's starts dropped from 145 in '65 to 98 in '66. By May 1967, the ex-Yankees' slugger was traded to the Angels for a minor-leaguer, and retired after the season.

Buford still had plenty of mileage left. After the '67 season he was traded to the Orioles in the Luis Aparicio deal, and had 5 productive full seasons with Baltimore, including 3 trips to the post-season.

On the pitching side, Joel Horlen, Gary Peters, and Tommy John were the top 3 starters. The White Sox got by with only 11 pitchers (having decisions) in 1965. Top reliever Eddie Fisher was traded to the Orioles (who else?) in June '66 for 2nd baseman Jerry Adair.

I'd like to compare these stats with those from 1966, but the 1967 White Sox card has the Cleveland Indians' stats on the back!

Bob Bolin (#61)

Bob Bolin was a swingman for the Giants from 1961 to 1969 (though primarily a starter in 1966). After playing for the Brewers in 1970, he finished up with 3 seasons as a reliever for the Red Sox.

Bolin was signed by the New York Giants in 1956, and played 4 seasons in the minors (1957-60) before making his major-league debut in April 1961. Bob was the youngest pitcher on staff, and was the 10th man in terms of innings pitched (48). He appeared in 37 games, all but 1 in relief.

He slowly moved up the bullpen ladder in 1962, pitching 92 innings in 41 games, while making 5 starts.

1963 was a good year for him. A 10-6 record, co-leading the team with 7 saves, and was 4th in innings pitched (behind the top 3 starters). Bolin’s 47 games included 12 starts.

In ’64 he started more games than he relieved, and was 3rd on the staff in strikeouts (behind Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry). Back to the bullpen in 1965, he improved both his record (14-6) and his ERA (2.76).

In 1966 he started 34 of his 36 games, and was the Giants’ #3 starter behind the above-mentioned pitchers. He was also 3rd in innings and strikeouts.

Those crazy Giants and their pitching staff yo-yo! After a fine performance in 1966, it was back to the bullpen in 1967. (Actually, the Giants acquired Mike McCormick from the Senators in the off-season. McCormick led the NL in wins, and was the Comeback Player of the Year in ‘67, so Bolin had to adjust.)

1968 was an even-numbered year, so (you guessed it) Bob was back in the rotation. While starting 19 of his 34 games, he fashioned a 1.99 ERA – tops among Giants’ starters. His was the 2nd-best ERA in the NL, after Bob Gibson’s 1.12.

Bucking tradition in 1969, the Giants kept the same 5 starters they had in ’68. It was Bolin’s last year in San Francisco though.

December 12, 1969 is a weird day in Giants’ history. On the same day they traded Ray Sadecki to the Mets for 2 useless bench players, they traded Bolin to the Brewers for 2 useless bench players (outfielders Dick Simpson and Steve Whitaker). Both Bolin and Sadecki still had some tread left.

Bob spent all but the final 2 weeks of 1970 with Milwaukee. After compiling a 5-11 record for a bad 2nd-year team, he was traded to the Red Sox on September 10th. He played 118 games for Boston for the next 3 years and 2 weeks – all in relief.

Yankees Rookies: Bobby Murcer / Dooley Womack

Here is Bobby Murcer's rookie card (#469). I got this last year at an outdoor flea market, cutting the remaining 1966 non-high numbers needed from 12 to 11.

Murcer also appeared on a Yankees Rookies card in 1967, before finally getting a solo card in the 1969 set. (He was omitted from the 1968 set because he had been in the Army for all of 1967 and 1968.) Please check out those 2 Murcer links, so I don't have to repeat his exploits on this page. 


This is also Dooley Womack's rookie card. I haven't posted any of his solo cards yet, so I'll say that he played 8 seasons in the Yankees' farm system before pitching out of the Yanks' bullpen from 1966-68.

Traded to the Astros in the off-season, he was swapped to the Seattle Pilots late in 1969 for Jim Bouton. Womack spent most of 1970 and all of 1971 in the minors before retiring.  He pitched 2 games with Oakland in late 1970. His final card was in the 1969 set.