Dick Schofield (#474)

Here is Giants’ shortstop Dick Schofield. Back in the day, he went by the nickname “Ducky”. Current Washington Nationals’ outfielder Jayson Werth simply calls him “Grandpa”. (Many grandfathers try to impress kids by pulling a quarter out of someone’s ear. Schofield takes it to the next level by pulling a baseball out of his ear.)

Schofield played for 19 seasons (1953-71), mostly as a backup shortstop although he was his team’s regular SS from 1963 to 1965.

Dick was signed by the Cardinals in 1953 as a bonus baby, requiring him to stay on their roster for the entire season. He was with the Cards for all of ’53 and ’54, but seldom saw playing time. Schofield spent the bulk of the ’55 and ’56 seasons in the minors, getting the all-important “seasoning”.

He returned to the Cardinals in 1957, and finally got enough playing time to lose his rookie eligibility. Schofield was the team’s backup shortstop, behind Alvin Dark.

In June 1958 Schofield was traded to the Pirates for 3rd baseman Gene Freese and SS-P Johnny O’Brien. Dick spent the next 4 ½ seasons backing up Bill Mazeroski at 2B and Dick Groat at SS.

After the ’62 season the Pirates traded Groat, opening a full-time job at short for Schofield. Dick began a 3-year string as the starting shortstop – 2 seasons with the Pirates, and following a May 1965 trade to the Giants for infielder Jose Pagan, a 3rd season, which would be his last year as an every-day player.

Schofield began the 1966 season with the Giants, then played 4 months with the Yankees until winding up with the Dodgers for the season’s final 2 weeks. The following year he and another ex-Pirate (Gene Michael) alternated at shortstop as the Dodgers tried to find a way to replace the departed Maury Wills.

The Dodgers released him after the ’67 season, then he bounced from the Cardinals (1968) to the Red Sox (1969-70) before winding up his career in 1971 with the Cardinals and Brewers.

Besides his grandson Jayson Werth, his son Dick Schofield played shortstop for the Angels (and others) from 1983-96.

Julian Javier (#436)

When my brother and I started collecting cards in May 1967, Julian Javier was one of the few names we got wrong. As it turns out, he didn’t use the English pronunciation for his first name, nor did he pronounce his last name JAY-vee-er.

The others we missed on were Al Ka-LINE, Hank A-gwire (Aguirre), and Pete SIM-in-o. Also, until I got Tony Cloninger’s baseball card late in 1967, I thought he and Tony Conigliaro were the same person. (Until last year, I also thought Orioles’/Senators’ pitcher Frank Bertaina’s last name was Bertainia.)


Julian Javier was the 2nd baseman for the Cardinals throughout the 1960s, including the ’64, ’67, and ’68 World Series.

Javier was signed by the Pirates in 1956, and played in the minors until his May 28, 1960 trade to the Cardinals for pitcher Vinegar Bend Mizell. He was thrust into the starting lineup that day, and started the remaining 119 games at 2nd base in his rookie season.

Except for missing 65 consecutive games from mid-June to late-August in 1965, Javier had a hammerlock on the Cardinals’ 2nd base job from May 1960 until mid-June 1971, when Ted Sizemore took over the position. He never won any gold gloves, but he was an all-star in 1963 and 1968, and hit a career-high 14 homers in 1967.

After the 1971 season, Julian was traded to the Reds for pitcher Tony Cloninger. He started 17 games that season as the Reds’ backup 3rd baseman (behind Denis Menke), and had several dozen pinch-hit appearances.

Javier was released after the season, ending his 13-year career.

His son Stan (named for teammate Stan Musial) was an outfielder for 8 teams from 1984-2001, most notably with the Athletics and Giants.

Final Card: Mike Brumley

This is the last of Mike Brumley's three cards (#29). He was on the Senators Rookies card in the 1964 set (one of Lou Piniella's many rookie cards!), and also had a card in the 1965 set.

Brumley was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957, and played for 7 seasons in their farm system, before he was purchased by the Senators in October 1963. Mike was Washington's starting catcher as a rookie, catching 132 games (112 as the starter) and was named the Topps all-rookie catcher for 1964.

Unfortunately for Mike, the Senators purchased another catcher from the Dodgers after the 1964 season (Doug Camilli), and they shared the catching assignments in 1965. Veteran infielder Don Zimmer also caught a few dozen games that season.



Still another catcher (Paul Casanova) joined the team in 1966, and that was the end for Brumley. He spent most of the season at triple-A Hawaii (not a bad place to be exiled to!), and played a few games with Washington.

Mike missed the '67 and '68 seasons, and played for the Astros' triple-A Oklahoma City team in 1969 and 1970.

His son Mike Brumley Jr was an infielder for several teams in the early 1990s.

Pete Rose (#30)

Here's an early card of the Hit King, courtesy of Dean's Cards. How early? Let's see: short hair, white Reds' cap, vest-top uniform, position = 2nd base, and career hits under 1000!

Pete Rose began his career as the Reds' regular 2nd baseman in 1963. In 1965 he started all 162 games at 2nd. In 1966, he began the season as the regular 3rd baseman. (I thought he didn't move to 3rd until George Foster showed up in the 1970s.) For the first 15 games, Rose played 3rd base while rookie Tommy Helms played 2nd base. Then, after switching positions with Helms, Rose started every game at 2B for the remainder of the season, except for 4 games off between 9/23 and 9/28.



I always thought he moved to the outfield during the 1966 season, since that was the first season without Frank Robinson, and because Rose's 1967 card shows him at 2B-OF. Not so. Pete moved to the outfield to start the 1967 season, starting 140 games in left field, and 1 in center. His only action at 2B that year was during a stretch of games from 7/2 to 8/4, while shortstop Chico Cardenas was on the DL. Regular 2nd baseman Helms moved over to short, Lee May went from 1st to left, and Deron Johnson was plugged in at 1st base.

Rose was a main cog in the Big Red Machine of the 1970s, and was the player that everyone (outside of Cincinnati) loved to hate. Guess what? Once he became a Phillie, that all magically changed! Once in Philly, Rose became a 1st baseman - the 5th position he would play in an all-star game.

After 2 trips to the World Series with the Phillies, Pete was on the move again, and came full circle back to Cincinnati.

Final Card: Camilo Carreon

41 posts since I started this 1966 blog on 10/16/2009, but none for any Orioles, Giants, or Twins. Let's fix that:


Camilo Carreon (#513) was a promising young catcher with the White Sox until injuries derailed his career. He was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1956, and played 5 seasons (1956-60) in their farm system, although appearing in a few games for the Sox in '59 and '60.

In 1961, the 23-year-old rookie started 63 games behind the plate, giving the veteran Sherm Lollar (93 starts) a break. The following year Carreon took over as the #1 catcher, making 85 starts to Lollar's 59. Chicago carried a 3rd-string catcher (Bob Roselli) all season, who caught most of the the remaining games.

In 1963, Carreon split the catching duties with J.C. Martin. Martin had been the White Sox' backup first baseman in 1961, and spent almost all of 1962 in the minors.



Carreon would probably like to forget his 1964 season. Early on, he had lost the starting job to rookie Jerry McNertney, and had made only 14 starts through the end of June. In early July, he was put on the disabled list, and didn't return until mid-August. He played sparingly on his return, but started 13 of the last 20 games. (Maybe the Sox were showcasing him?)

In January 1965, Carreon was was part of a 3-team, 8-player trade with the Athletics and Indians:

Rocky Colavito - Athletics to Indians
Cam Carreon - White Sox to Indians

Tommie Agee - Indians to White Sox
Tommy John - Indians to White Sox
Johnny Romano - Indians to White Sox

Mike Hershberger - White Sox to Athletics
Jim Landis - White Sox to Athletics
Fred Talbot - White Sox to Athletics

Carreon only appeared in 19 games for the Indians in 1965, but appeared in 45 games for their triple-A Portland team. On March 10, 1966, he was traded to the Orioles for minor-league outfielder Lou Pinella.

Carreon's career was essentially over, as he only played in 4 games for the Orioles, the last on June 8th. He spent most of the 1966 season, and all of 1967 in triple-A. After being out of baseball in 1968, he played the 1969 season for the White Sox' triple-A team in Tucson.

Camilo's son Mark was an outfielder in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily for the Mets and Giants.

Final Card: Bob Skinner

This is the final player card for Bob Skinner (#471). Bob began his career in the Pirates' system in 1951. After 2 years in the military, Skinner made his major-league debut in April 1954. As a rookie, he was the Pirates' regular first baseman, starting 116 games there.

The following season, he was back in the minor leagues. I wonder if this was injury/rehab related, because he only played 98 games, it was in double-A, and the next season (1956) he was back in Pittsburgh.

In 1956, Bob was used primarily as a pinch-hitter, but also saw some action at first base and corner outfield. The following season, he became the Pirates' primary left fielder, starting about half the games, with Frank Thomas and several others getting the remaining starts.


Bob took over as the everyday left fielder in 1958, starting 141 games there, while making only 3 pinch-hitting appearances. Coincidently, he also started 141 games in 1959, while starting 140 in 1960. With the exception of one game at first base in 1959, after 1957 he played exclusively in left field for the Pirates.

In 1961, Bob's playing time dropped off, as he only started 96 games, while making about 20 pinch-hitting appearances. He came back in 1962 to play almost 140 games in left, which by now was a standard season for him.

In May 1963, Skinner was traded to the Reds for outfielder Jerry Lynch, a former Pirate. A year later, he moved on to the Cardinals, where he played until being released after the 1966 season.



Bob went on to manage the Phillies' triple-A team in San Diego during the 1967 and 1968 seasons. This put him in position to assume the Phillies' managerial job for the last 100 games in 1968, following Gene Mauch's firing. He also managed them for the first 100 games in 1969, before he was also fired. Here is his 1969 card:



I found this on Skinner's Wikipedia page, regarding who was to blame for the Phillies' poor showing in 1969:

"Nonetheless, Skinner's personal responsibility for the Phillies' pathetic performance is much in doubt, as the alleged baseball club sank to even greater depths under Myatt, Frank Lucchesi, Paul Owens and Danny Ozark in the 4 years after his departure, with rosters made up of also-rans whose only competition was between indifference of attitude and inability to hit at even AA levels of proficiency."