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.

Johnny Podres (#468)

“Hey! What gives? Your 'on-deck' sidebar said that Dean Chance was next in the rotation!” 

Yes that’s true, but I got wind that the "$30 a Week Habit" blog was going to link here tomorrow for his ’59 vs. ’66 card set faceoff, so I wanted to put my best foot forward, in a shameless attempt to curry favor with the voters. (Sorry, Commish!)

Dean Chance was a good pitcher, but the capless/airbrushed 1966 Angels cards are atrocious to look at, so I’m trotting out Pods to save the day. Even though I have already featured his 1967 and 1969 cards on my other blogs, I’ll justify this post by mentioning that this is his final card as a Dodger.

This is my favorite of my 3 Johnny Podres cards, maybe because his sad-dog look is more evident than on his ’67 and ’69 cards, or maybe just because he is pictured as a Dodger. (Podres retired after the 1967 season, and wasn’t in the 1968 set.)

Al Kaline (#410)

This is the last of 5 cards donated to this blog by Deans Cards a few months ago. (Dean has also contributed some 1963 and 1970 cards to the cause.)

I first became aware of Al Kaline back in 1967, although at that time I thought his name was pronounced Al Ka-LINE (like the battery). I also knew back then that he never played in the minor leagues. Since I've started blogging here, I've learned that Sandy Koufax, Dick Groat, and Billy O'Dell also never played in the minors. (Has anyone EVER included Sandy Koufax and Billy O'Dell in the same sentence?)

One thing I DID learn recently about Kaline (while researching teammate Charlie Maxwell) is that Al spent several seasons as the Tigers' center fielder.



Kaline was signed as a bonus baby by the Tigers in 1953, and spent his entire 22-year career (1953-74) with Detroit. He appeared in 30 games as a rookie, making his debut on June 23rd. Al only started 4 games that season, and none until September 16th.

Starting in 1954, Kaline became a fixture in the Tigers' outfield, and finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting that season. He also won a gold glove 10 times between 1957 and 1967, and was an all star every season from 1955 to 1967, and again in 1971 and 1974.

As I mentioned above, I always thought Kaline played only right field during his prime. He was the team's regular in right field from 1954-58, 61-64, and 67. In 1959 and 1960, he started most of the games as the center fielder. From 1965-66, he split his time almost evenly between center and right. From 1968-70, Al played mostly right field but also started many games at 1st base. He wrapped up his career in 1974 as the Tigers' full-time designated hitter, playing 144 games there and none in the field.

Kaline played in the 1968 World Series against the Cardinals, batting .379. He finished with a .297 lifetime batting average, and led the American League in batting in 1955, finished 2nd in 1959, 1961, and 1963, and finished 3rd in 1966 and 1967.

Al was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

Final Card: Ed Bailey

Ed Bailey (#246) was a starting catcher from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds.

Isn't this just what you would expect a catcher to look like?


Ed started in the minor leagues in 1950 with class-C Ogden (UT) Reds. After 2 years in the military, Bailey returned to the minors with the class-AA Tulsa Oilers. He made his major-league debut in the last week of the 1953 season.

After spending much of 1955 in the minors, Bailey took over as the Reds' #1 catcher in 1956, making 102 starts (compared to 53 starts for Smoky Burgess, the regular catcher in 1955).

A pair of rookie catchers (Jerry Zimmerman, Johnny Edwards) took over the Reds catching duties in 1961, so in late April, Bailey was traded to the Giants.

After starting in 1961 and time-sharing with Tom Haller in 1962 and 1963, Ed was traded to the Milwaukee Braves after the season with Felipe Alou, Billy Hoeft, and Ernie Bowman for Del Crandall, Bob Hendley and Bob Shaw. Before spring training in 1965, he was traded back to the Giants for Billy O'Dell. Four months later, he was traded to the Cubs (this time with Bob Hendley).

Although this card says "Cubs", Ed was sold in January 1966 to the Angels, who released him in early May after appearing in only 5 games - all as a pinch-hitter. This brought an end to Bailey's 14-year career.

Final Card: Joey Jay

Joey Jay (#406) arrived in the majors in 1953 with the Milwaukee Braves. He pitched for them through the 1960 season (the last two as a regular starter).

After the 1960 season, he was traded to the Reds for shortstop Roy McMillan. Jay won 21 games in each of his first 2 years with Cincinnati (leading the league in 1961), and was a mainstay in the Reds rotation through 1965. Midway through the 1966 season, he was traded to Atlanta. The Braves released him after the season, ending his major-league career.


In most record books, this is the end of Joey Jay's story.


As I said in my 1960s blog, my introduction to major-league baseball was attending a Phillies game in early 1967. At that game, I bought a Phillies yearbook (and over the rest of that season, probably memorized it!) I was sure that I recalled a Joey Jay page in that book.

Only in the last few months have I found the baseball-reference.com minor-league statistics pages. There (and elsewhere) I learned that Joey Jay did indeed get a non-roster tryout with the Phillies in the 1967 pre-season, but didn't make the team. He spent the year with the Phillies single-A club in Tidewater, VA before retiring after the season.