Jim Perry (#283)

Jim Perry pitched for 17 years (1959-75), mostly for the Indians and Twins. His best season was 1970, when he led the league with 24 wins and won the Cy Young award.

The older brother of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry was signed by the Indians in 1956, and after 3 seasons as a starting pitcher in the low minors, he skipped double-A and triple-A ball to make his major-league debut with the Tribe in April 1959.

Although Jim’s debut on April 23rd was a starting assignment, he spent most of his rookie season in the bullpen, until joining the rotation in late-July. He made 12 more starts that year, finished up with a 12-10 record and a 2.65 ERA, and was a distant 2nd place to Bob Allison in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Perry had a monster sophomore campaign, taking over as the Indians’ ace and leading the American League in wins (18), starts (36), and shutouts (4). The following season he made his first of 3 all-star squads.

Jim was traded to the Twins straight-up for pitcher Jack Kralick in May 1963, and joined Camilo Pascual, Dick Stigman, and Jim Kaat in the starting rotation. (In a few years, almost the entire staff would be named Jim.)

With the Twins’ acquisition of ex-Indians’ teammate Jim "Mudcat" Grant in 1964, Perry spent the entire season in the bullpen. He returned to the rotation in 1965, and posted double-figure wins in both ’65 and ’66. Jim also pitched 2 games in the 1965 World Series, with no decisions.

Perry had 2 off-years, then made a comeback in 1969 by winning 20 games and finishing 3rd in the Cy Young balloting behind Mike Cuellar and Denny McLain. The following season he won a league-best 24 games, and claimed the Cy Young award. Perry pitched in the ’69 and ’70 ALCS, and made the ’70 and ’71 all-star teams.

After winning 17 games in 1971 and 13 in 1972, Perry was traded to the Tigers prior to the ’73 season. He played only 1 year in Detroit, then moved back to the Indians in March 1974 as part of a 3-team trade involving the Yankees.

Jim spiked up to 17 wins in his return to Cleveland, but it would be his last good season. He began the 1975 season with the Indians, but with his record at 1-6, he was traded to the Athletics on May 20th (with pitcher Dick Bosman) for pitcher John "Blue Moon" Odom. Perry pitched in 15 games for Oakland before he was released on August 13th.

In 17 seasons, he compiled a 215-174 record with 1576 strikeouts.

Tommy Davis (#75)

Here is Tommy Davis’ final card as a member of the Dodgers. This is the same photo that Topps used on his 1965 card. (Topps used the same capless photo of Davis on his 1967 and 1969 cards.)

Davis was signed by the Dodgers in 1956, and played in their farm system from 1956-1959, making his major-league debut with 1 game in September 1959.

Davis made the Dodgers out of spring training 1960, and by late-July, he took over the starting center field job from long-time Dodger Duke Snider. Tommy started 52 games in center to Duke’s 44 starts.

By the 2nd week of September, Tommy moved over to left field to make room for another Davis in center field: rookie September call-up Willie Davis. [Until a few years ago, I thought those 2 were brothers.] Tommy finished 5th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. (His teammate Frank Howard won.)

In 1961, Tommy began the season as the team’s 3rd baseman, playing 57 games there, mostly in the first 2 months. After that, he floated around the outfield, starting 31 games as Willie’s backup in center, as well as a few dozen games in the corners.

1962 and 1963 were Davis’ best seasons. He made the all-star team twice, and led the NL in batting twice (.346, .326). In 1962 he also led the league in hits (230) and RBI (153), and hit 27 homers. Davis started 100 to 120 games in left and about 30 games at 3rd base in both seasons.

In 1964 he was primarily the left fielder, starting 148 games there, and another 10 in center. He started the first 16 games in left field in 1965, then a broken leg caused him to miss the rest of the season, except for a pinch-hitting appearance in the season’s final game.

Davis was never the same after the leg injury. He played one last season with the Dodgers in 1966, but not as an everyday player.

After 8 seasons with the Dodgers, Davis spent his final 10 seasons playing for 10 different teams. He was traded to the Mets prior to the 1967 season for 2nd baseman Ron Hunt and outfielder Jim Hickman. A year later, it was on to the White Sox (with pitcher Jack Fisher) for center fielder Tommie Agee and infielder Al Weis.

The upstart Seattle Pilots selected him in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season. He played there until late August, when he was traded to the Astros. Davis played for THREE teams in 1970 (Astros / Athletics / Cubs), then made return trips to the A’s (all of 1971) and Cubs (part of 1972).

His longest stint with any one team (post-Dodgers) was with the Orioles from August 1972 to February 1976. His 3 full seasons as Baltimore’s DH (1973-75) was his most playing time since 1969.

After his release by the Orioles, Davis was signed by the Yankees prior to spring training 1976, but they released him 2 days before the season started. In early June, he was signed by the Angels, who passed him on to the Royals with 2 weeks remaining in the season. A January 1977 release ended his 18-year career.

Davis appeared in the ’63 and ’66 World Series with the Dodgers, the 1971 ALCS with the A’s, and the ’73 and ‘74 ALCS with the Orioles.

Jim Kaat (#445)

Jim Kaat pitched for 25 seasons (1959-83), as a starting pitcher through the 1978 season, before converting to a reliever. His first 15 seasons were with the Minnesota Twins and their predecessor, the original Washington Senators. He was the last active player from the “old” Senators.

Kaat was signed by the Washington Senators in 1957, and pitched in the minors for the next 4 seasons. Jim also played for the Senators in 1959 (3 games) and 1960 (13 games).

When the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, Kaat became a full-time major-leaguer. He struggled at first, leading the AL in hit batters and wild pitches in his first 2 seasons.

Kaat hit his stride in 1962, winning in double figures for the next 15 seasons. He was also a great-fielding pitcher, winning 16 consecutive Gold Glove awards (1962-77).

In the early-to-mid 1960s, Kaat was part of a formidable starting rotation that included Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry, and Jim Grant. By 1967, Pascual was out, replaced by Dean Chance.

The Twins were competive every season from 1962-67 (except for a slump in 1964). They won the AL Pennant in 1965, with Kaat tallying 18 wins (along with Grant’s 21). In 1966 Kaat led the AL with 25 wins (his only 20-win season with the Twins).

In August 1973, Kaat was claimed off waivers by the White Sox. He won 21 and 20 games in his 2 full seasons with Chicago. Surprisingly, after winning 20 games in 1975, he was traded to the Phillies for so-so pitcher Dick Ruthven (coming off a 2-2 season) and SS/OF prospect Alan Bannister. [One of you White Sox fans need to investigate how the Sox allowed this trade to happen!]

As a Phillies fan, I thought this trade was great. From 1972 to 1976, the Phillies methodically replaced “pitchers” Billy Champion, Lowell Palmer, Barry Lersch, Billy Wilson, and Ken Reynolds with Steve Carlton (’72), Jim Lonborg (’73), Ken Brett (’73), Tug McGraw (’75), Jim Kaat (’76), and Ron Reed (’76)!

Kaat was a starter for the Philles from 1976-78. In 1979 he was replaced by ex-Met Nino Espinosa, and was sold to the Yankees in May. From mid-May 1979 to late-April 1980, Jim appeared in 44 games (1 start) for the Yankees.

Kaat was purchased by the Cardinals on April 30, 1980, and played with St. Louis until getting his release in July 1983. He was a starter and reliever in ’80, but pitched mostly out of the ‘pen in his last 3 seasons.

Kaat LEGITIMATELY played in 4 decades, unlike those gimmicky frauds Tim McCarver and Minnie Minoso.

After retirement, Kaat was the Reds’ pitching coach from 1984-85, then broadcast Yankees and Twins games for 22 seasons. Since 2009, he has broadcast games for the MLB Network.

Tim McCarver (#275)

Yay!  The airwaves are now McCarver-free.

Zoilo Versalles (#400)

So far, I've only posted one card with a number ending in '00'. Sandy Koufax (#100) was the first card posted to this blog. Today I have another of the five "hero cards" in this set.

Zoilo Versalles was the AL MVP in 1965, which explains why Topps assigned a "00" card number to a non-(future)-hall-of-famer. I didn't follow baseball in 1965, but in looking at Zoilo's stats, he led the AL with 122 strikeouts, despite hitting only 19 homers. He DID lead the AL in runs (126), doubles (45), triples (12), plate appearances (728), and at-bats (666), but only hit .273, and fell short of the magic 200 hits barrier with 182. It helped that his Twins were in the World Series that year.

Versalles was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1958, and played 3 seasons in the minors, while also playing a dozen or so games with the Senators in '59 and '60.

When the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, Zoilo became the starting shortstop from opening day, and started 126 games there as a rookie, backed up by José Valdivielso with 35 starts. (Hah! You probably thought "Zoilo Versalles" was going to be the most unusual name in this post!) Versalles remained the Twins' regular shortstop through the 1967 season, though he never duplicated his 1965 production.

In November 1967, he was traded to the Dodgers (with starting pitcher Jim Grant) for relievers Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller, and catcher John Roseboro. It looked like a win-win trade. Minnesota needed a catcher to replace the retired Earl Battey, and the Dodgers needed a shortstop to replace Maury Wills, who was traded away a year earlier.

After a poor season in LA (batting .196), Versalles was exposed to the expansion draft, and was selected by the Padres. To add further embarrassment, six weeks later the Padres traded Zoilo to the Indians for minor-league first baseman Bill Davis, he of FIVE Rookie Stars baseball cards in the 1960s.

After only 72 games with the Indians (where he was a part-time 2nd baseman and occasional 3rd baseman), the Tribe sold Versalles to the (new) Washington Senators, thereby making him one of only 8 players to have played for both the old and new Washington Senators. Zoilo finished out the year with the Senators, then was released the following April.

He played ball in Mexico from 1970 to 1974, although also appearing in 66 games for the Braves for the last 4 months of the 1971 season.

Versalles passed away on 6/9/1995 in Bloomington, MN at age 55.

Final Card: Ernie Broglio

Here is the final card for Ernie Broglio (#423). Broglio began his minor-league career in 1953 with the independent Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. During the 1954 season, he was sent to the Cincinnati Reds organization.

In 1955, Ernie was sent back to play for independent teams in California (Stockton, Oakland), until he was acquired by the Giants prior to the 1956 season. After the 1958 season, the Giants traded him to the Cardinals, where he made his big-league debut in April 1959.

From 1959 to 1963, Broglio was a regular in the Cardinals rotation, along with Curt Simmons, Larry Jackson, Ray Sadecki, and later, Bob Gibson. Ernie led the NL with 21 wins in 1960.



Broglio's last start for the Cardinals was on June 12, 1964, against Sandy Koufax. Ernie took the loss, making his record 3-5. Three days later, he was traded to the Cubs. In deference to Cubs' fans everywhere, I'll dispense with the remaining details (you can read the back of the card).

His final major-league game was on July 2, 1966. He spent the remainder of 1966 with the Cubs' triple-A team in Tacoma, and all of 1967 with the Reds' triple-A team in Buffalo.

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: Joe Christopher

Joe Christopher (#343) was signed by the Pirates in 1955, and played in the minors from 1955 to 1959. During part of 1957, he also played in the Mexican League.

Joe made his major-league debut in late May 1959, and played 15 games for the Pirates, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

In 1960 he was used mainly as a pinch-hitter, but also as a 5th outfielder. The Pirates' starting outfield was Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon, and Roberto Clemente. Whatever playing time was leftover was usually scooped up by 4th outfielder Gino Cimoli.

In 1961 Joe saw more action, starting about 25% of the games in left field, as Bob Skinner's playing time was reduced. After the season Christopher was drafted by the Mets in the expansion draft.



In 1962, Joe, Richie Ashburn, and Jim Hickman were the primary starters in center and right field. Ashburn had seen enough losing, and retired after the season. However, in 1963 Duke Snider, Jim Piersall, and rookie Ed Kranepool would join the team and clutter the outfield picture, taking playing time away from Christopher.

Things would be different after that, as Joe's ship finally came in. In 1964 he was the #1 right fielder, starting 127 games there. The following season he started 110 games in the outfield, although his starts were split between left and right.

After the 1965 season he was traded to the Red Sox for shortstop Ed Bressoud. He didn't stay in Boston long. His last major-league game was on June 9th 1966. A week later he was traded (along with pitcher Earl Wilson) to Detroit for outfielder Don Demeter and pitcher Julio Navarro. Joe finished the season in the minor leagues.

He would play 2 more seasons in the minors before retiring after the 1968 season.