Jimmy Stewart (#63)

Jimmy Stewart was a utility player for several teams (mostly the Cubs and Reds) from 1963 to 1973.

His cards almost always had him listed as "INF-OF", but his primary positions were left field, 2nd base, and shortstop. He also played some at the other outfield and corner infield spots, and even caught 2/3 of an inning in 1970.

Stewart was signed by the Cubs in June 1961 and made his major-league debut in September 1963. He played all of 1964 and 1965 with the Cubs, but split the 1966 season between the Cubs and their AAA team. His best season was 1964, when he played in 132 games and collected 33 RBI.

He was purchased by the cross-town White Sox in May 1967, but played most of that season with their triple-A team in Indianapolis. He appeared in 24 games with the Sox from mid-June to mid-July, almost always as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner.

Jimmy was in the minors for all of 1968, then was selected by the Reds in the Rule 5 draft after the season. Stewart was with Cincinnati for all of 1969-71, with most of his playing time coming in 1969, when he made 41 starts at various positions. He started less than 10 games the other 2 years.

After the 1971 season, he headed to the Astros, along with Lee May and Tommy Helms for Joe Morgan, Denis Menke, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, and Ed Armbrister. Stewart spent the last 2 years of his career as a reserve infielder for the Astros, making only 11 starts in '72 and 6 in '73.

After his playing career he worked for the Reds from 1980-91 as a minor-league manager and then a scout. He also scouted for the Phillies from 1992-2006.

Stewart passed away in 2012 at age 73.

Chico Salmon (#594)

Something I don’t often do is post images of cards that I don’t have. In the roughly 1200 cards I have posted across my baseball blogs, maybe 5 to 8 were cards I don’t have. (The 1965 cards of Jerry Fosnow and Dan Pleis come to mind. I posted internet images of them to complete my series of 1965 final cards.) 

This 1966 Chico Salmon card is another. I have Salmon's 1967-1970 cards, but in 1969 he is capless, and in 1970 he is shown as an Oriole, while I consider him mostly as an Indian. I also have many ’67 and ’68 cards remaining to post, but not so many '66 cards, so Chico has been assigned to the 1966 queue. (Besides, I noticed tonight that I also have Chico Ruiz and Chico Cardenas on this blog, so Salmon completes the trifecta.) 

Chico Salmon played every position but pitcher and catcher, although he didn’t play shortstop until 1966, with the Indians. He was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1959, and bounced around in the minors for several years - to the Giants in 1960, the Tigers in 1961, and the Braves in 1963.

After the 1963 season, the Braves traded him to the Indians for a player to be named later (Mike de la Hoz). Chico made his major-league debut with the Indians in June 1964. He started 39 games in right field over the 2nd half of the season, sharing the job with Tito Francona. He also started 2 dozen games at 2nd base.

In 1965 he played in 79 games but spent most of the season on the bench, only starting 16 games at 1st base and a handful elsewhere.

Things improved for him in 1966. He played all over the infield, mostly at shortstop where he started 57 games, including every game from 5/22 to 7/5. He also started another 47 games at 1B/2B/3B. The Tribe decided to use Larry Brown at shortstop for most of the 2nd half (and in subsequent seasons), so Chico returned to the bench for the remainder of his Indians' career, except for April/May 1968 when he was the starting 2nd baseman.

Salmon was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft, but traded to the Orioles just before the start of the 1969 season for Gene Brabender. What luck for him! He moved from the Indians (a perennial 2nd-division team) to the Pilots (yecch), to the Orioles (the AL kings for much of 1966-1971).

For the next 3 seasons Chico was the O’s top utility infielder, and played in the '69 and '70 post-season.

In 1972 rookie Bobby Grich took over the backup infield assignments, relegating Salmon to only 17 games, mostly pinch-hitting appearances. He was released in mid-August.

Salmon passed away in 2000 at age 59.

Final Card: Gary Kroll

For some reason, I thought Gary Kroll was a Pirates' outfielder, but I must have been thinking of Gary Kolb.

This is Kroll's final card (#548), and is one of the few 1966 cards I don't have, so swiped internet images will have to do.

Kroll was signed by the Phillies in 1959, and played in their organization until his August 1964 trade to the Mets. (That appears to be Phillies' pinstripes he's wearing on the card.)

He made his major-league debut with the Phillies in late-July 1964, but after only 2 games he was traded to the Mets for slugger Frank Thomas, as the Phillies geared-up for their pennant drive.

Gary pitched 32 games (10 starts) for the Mets in 1965, but that was his only full season in the majors. He played minor-league ball from 1966-71, with only brief stints in the majors (10 games with the Astros in '66 and 19 games with the Indians in '69, all as a reliever).

He finished up his career with triple-A assignments for the Angels (1970) and Cardinals (1971).

Dalton Jones (#317)

Here is Dalton Jones' 1966 card, where he is a third-year player still considered to be the team's "second baseman of the future". He appeared to be headed that way after his first 2 seasons, but was then derailed into utility status.

Jones was signed by the Red Sox in June 1961, and played 2 ½ seasons in their farm system. He was a shortstop in 1961-62, and a 2nd baseman in 1963.

Dalton made the Red Sox from the outset of the 1964 season, and for the next 2 years collected over 400 plate appearances each season, starting 78 games at 2nd base in '64 and 76 games at 3rd base in '65.

His career took a detour beginning in 1966. George Smith was acquired from the Tigers and started over 100 games at 2nd base for the Sox in his final season, leaving only 49 starts for Jones.

The following year, rookie Mike Andrews arrived on the scene, becoming the regular 2nd sacker. Jones started 23 games at 3rd base that year. (Dalton had averaged 114 games played every season from 1964 through 1969, except for the Sox’ Dream Season of 1967, when he only got into 89 games.) He hit a career-high .289 in 1967, and started the first 4 games of the World Series at 3^rd base.

In 1968, Jones found a new position – he started 54 games at 1st base, when George Scott was out of the lineup for much of the second half of the season. In 1969 Scott moved over to third base, with Jones becoming the primary starter at 1st base (74 starts).

After the 1969 season, Jones was traded to the Tigers for infielder Tom Matchick (hardly equitable compensation for a 74-game starter in 1969!) Jones started about half the games in his 2-year stint with the Tigers, filling in at 2B, 3B, and left field.

In May 1972 he was traded to the Rangers, and played his final MLB season as a 2B/3B backup for Texas. Released in January 1973, he played for the Expos' AAA team that year before retiring.

Jeff Torborg (#257)

Jeff Torborg was a backup catcher for the Dodgers (1964-70) and the Angels (1971-73).  He never had more than 200 at-bats in a season until his final year. That was also the only season when he played in more than 76 games (102).

Torborg was signed by the Dodgers in 1963 and played only 1 season in the minors before making his debut with LA in May 1964 at age 22. (He had played college ball at Rutgers.) That year he was the team’s #3 backstop behind John Roseboro and Doug Camilli.

After the 1964 season, Camilli was shipped off to the Senators, leaving Torborg as the Dodgers’ #2 catcher for the next 6 seasons, backing up Roseboro from ’65-’67, and Tom Haller from ’68-’70. During that time, he caught Sandy Koufax’ perfect game in 1965 and a no-hitter by Bill Singer in 1970.

Jeff made no starts behind the plate after August 1970, since 3rd baseman Bill Sudakis was converting to catcher, and made all the starts when Haller took a day off.

In March 1971 Torborg was sold to the Angels. He backed up starting catcher John Stephenson in ’71 (Say what? Stephenson was once a team’s #1 catcher? How sad must that team have been?) 

In 1972 Jeff split the starting assignments with rookie Art Kusnyer. Torborg made a career-high 93 starts in his final season, this time with Stephenson and Kusnyer as HIS backups. In May, he caught the first of Nolan Ryan’s seven no-hitters.

After the 1973 season Jeff was traded to the Cardinals, but was released in spring training 1974.

Torborg’s 2nd career was as a manager. He piloted the Indians (1977-79), White Sox (1989-91), Mets (1992-93), Expos (2001), and Marlins (2002-03). Between his Indians’ and White Sox’ jobs, he coached for the Yankees from 1979-88.

Duke Sims (#169)

Duke Sims played in the majors for 11 seasons (1964-74), the first 7 years with the Indians before moving around to other teams. Although never an every-day backstop, he got significant playing time with the Indians from 1967-70, mostly platooning with Joe Azcue. 1969 was the only season where he started more than half of his team’s games.

Sims began his pro career on the Indians' farm in 1959. After 6 seasons in the minors he made his major-league debut in September 1964, making 1 start that year on the season’s final day.

After the 1964 season, the Tribe traded starting catcher Johnny Romano to the White Sox, opening up the starting job for Azcue, who was the ’64 backup. Sims also moved up a notch, starting 33 games in his rookie season after spending the first 2 months in triple-A.

Sims was bumped down to #3 catcher in 1966, when Cleveland acquired the veteran Del Crandall (in his 16th and final season) to serve as Azcue's main caddy. The Duke still saw action in 48 games (31 starts).

With Crandall retired, Sims' fortunes improved in 1967. Not only did he return to the #2 slot, but he was on almost even footing with Azcue (77 starts to Joe’s 80 starts).

Their playing time in 1968 is misleading. Although Sims had 71 starts behind the dish to Azcue's 90, Duke began the season starting 14 straight games, and then was the starting 1st baseman for most of July (presumably Tony Horton was out of the lineup with injuries).

Azcue was dealt to the Red Sox during April 1969, meaning a promotion for Sims. He started a career-high 94 games behind the plate, with rookie Ray Fosse and journeyman Ken Suarez picking up the rest. That was to be his last season as a somewhat-regular catcher, as Fosse was primed to take over the job in 1970.

With Fosse catching 120 games in '70, Sims started a few dozen games at 1st base and a similar number in left field, while catching 38 games on Fosse’s days off.

After the 1970 season, Duke was traded to the Dodgers for pitchers Alan Foster and Ray Lamb. In LA, Sims was part of a 3-way catching carousel with Tom Haller and Joe Ferguson in 1971. The following year, he split the catching with Chris Cannizzaro (wait...Cannizzaro was a STARTING catcher for the Dodgers????), until Duke was shipped off to the Tigers in early August (joining 1971 teammate Haller, by the way).

He joined the Yankees for the last week of the 1973 season, and caught the final game at old Yankee Stadium. Sims bounced from the Yankees to the Rangers in 1974, and was released after the season.

Roger Repoz (#138)

Here is Yankees’ outfield prospect Roger Repoz. Thanks to him hitting 20 and 23 homers in the minors in 1963 and 1964 respectively, he became one of several outfielders dubbed "The Next Mickey Mantle".

Repoz was signed by the Yankees in 1960, and worked his way up the ladder for the next 5 years from Class D to C to A to AA. After making his debut in September 1964, he split the 1965 season between the Yankees and their AAA team in Toledo.

So much for "The Next Mantle". A 79-game audition in 1965 and 37 games in 1966 were enough for the Yankees to bid him farewell, shipping him to the Athletics in mid-June (with pitchers Bill Stafford and Gil Blanco) for pitcher Fred Talbot and backup catcher Bill Bryan.

Roger spent the remainder of the ’66 season as Kansas City’s 5th outfielder and 3rd-string 1st baseman.

With Rick Monday's and Reggie Jackson's arrival in 1967, the expendable Repoz was traded to the Angels in June for veteran pitcher Jack Sanford, who at age 38 was in his final season. Roger took his place among the 8 other outfielders in the Angels’ employ, starting 45 of the team’s final 81 games (all but 5 of the starts in center field).

In 1968 he was the team’s primary center fielder for the first half of the season, then moved over to right field where he shared the starting assignments with a few others. Repoz continued to get significant playing time in center and right fields (and the occasional stint at 1st base) through the 1971 season.

Roger began the 1972 season in the minors, and after 3 games with the Angels in early June he was traded to the Orioles in June for infielder Jerry DaVanon. Repoz was assigned to the Orioles’ AAA team and never played in the majors again.

He played in Japan from 1973 to 1977.

Jack Aker (#287)

Nicknamed “The Chief” due to his American Indian heritage, Jack Aker was signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an outfielder in 1959, and after 1 season was converted to a pitcher.

He made his major-league debut in 1964, but played part of that season and the next in the minors before returning permanently to the bigs in July 1965. Jack pitched for 11 seasons, and pitched every one of his 495 games in relief.

In 1966 he led the AL with 32 saves, and in games finished with 57. Aker was the Top Dog in the A’s bullpen for 3 seasons (1966-68), then at age 27, was inexplicably left unprotected in the expansion draft, and was selected by the Seattle Pilots.

Jack began the 1969 season with the Pilots, but in May was traded to the Yankees for pitcher Fred Talbot. (This reunited Talbot with his old Yankees’ teammate Jim Bouton, providing fodder for Bouton’s book “Ball Four”.) 

Aker teamed up with the veteran Lindy McDaniel and others in the Yankees’ bullpen for the next 3 seasons. In May 1972, he was traded to the Cubs for outfielder Johnny Callison. After 1 ½ seasons with the Cubs, Aker split his final season (1974) between the Braves and the Mets.

He managed in the minor leagues after his retirement, and was the Indians' pitching coach in the mid-1980s. For 20 years beginning in 1988 he ran a youth baseball camp.

Sonny Siebert (#197)

Sonny Siebert was one of the top starting pitchers in the American League for a few seasons in the mid-1960s.

Siebert was signed by the Indians in 1958, and spent 6 seasons (1958-63) in their farm system. Although usually a starting pitcher, he played exclusively in the outfield (hitting 5 homers and collecting 45 RBI in 61 games) during his 1959 season with the Tribe’s class-C team in Minot, North Dakota.

In 1960 Siebert returned to the mound, and eventually made his major-league debut with the Indians in April 1964.

The 27-year-old rookie spent most of his 1st season in the Tribe’s bullpen, behind veterans Don McMahon and Ted Abernathy. Meanwhile, the starting rotation featured veterans Dick Donovan and Pedro Ramos, a young Luis Tiant, and a pair of 21-year-olds named Sam McDowell (already in his 4th season) and Tommy John. Sonny started 14 of his 41 games that season.

In 1965, John was traded to the White Sox, so Siebert joined McDowell and Tiant in giving Cleveland a solid top-3 in the starting rotation. Sonny had a great sophomore season, finishing 3rd in the AL in ERA, and missing 3rd place in strikeouts by just one K. (His teammate McDowell finished 1st in both categories.) Sonny also notched 16 wins, 5th-best in the league and one behind McDowell for the team lead.

Siebert won 16 games again in 1966, 4th-best in the league. His 2.80 ERA was also in the top 10, though well behind the 2.48 posted by teammate Steve Hargan. Sonny no-hit the Senators on June 10th, and made his first of two all-star teams in ’66.

In 1967 his record dropped to 10-12, but he also lowered his ERA to 2.38, which returned him to the #3 slot on Topps’ ERA leaders card he occupied two years earlier.

Siebert’s ERA shot up to 2.97 in 1968. That sounds respectable, but in the Year of the Pitcher, that was only 22nd-best in the AL. Too bad – if he had snared 3rd-place again, the Indians would have nailed the trifecta on Topps’ ERA leaders card that also featured Tiant and McDowell. Anyway, he reversed his won-lost record to 12-10, but that would be his last full season with the Indians.

In mid-April 1969, Sonny was traded to the Red Sox (with catcher Joe Azcue and pitcher Vicente Romo) for veteran pitchers Dick Ellsworth and Juan Pizarro, and outfielder Ken Harrelson. Siebert spent the next 4 seasons in the Sox’ rotation, and made his final all-star team in 1971.

After 4 seasons in Boston, Sonny was on the move again. In May 1973 he was traded to the Rangers, then moved on to the Cardinals for the 1974 season. His final season (1975) was split between the Padres and Athletics. Although he bounced around a lot in those last 3 seasons, he remained a starting pitcher until the end.

Chico Ruiz (#159)

Here is Cincinnati Reds' backup shortstop Chico Ruiz, not to be confused with Reds' STARTING shortstop Chico Cardenas shown below. (In 1966, Cardenas started all 160 of the Reds' games that season, while Ruiz played 10 innings in late-inning situations.)

Ruiz was with the Reds from 1964-69, and saw most of his playing time as a backup 2nd baseman, although he played some at shortstop in '67 and '69. He is probably best-remembered for stealing home in a September 1964 game against the Phillies, precipitating the Phillies' late-season collapse.

Hiraldo "Chico" Ruiz was signed by the Reds in 1958, and played in their minor leagues as a shortstop (1959-62), then split time between 3B and SS in 1963.

Ruiz made his major-league debut with the Reds in April 1964. He started the first 20 games at 3rd base for the Reds, but was sent back to the minors in mid-May, where he remained until late July. While in triple-A, he played mostly 3rd base, and a little shortstop. Chico returned to the Reds in late July, and soon found himself starting 23 straight games at 2nd base (presumably Pete Rose was injured). When Rose returned, Ruiz started 21 of the Reds' final 23 games at 3rd base.

With rookies Tony Perez (1965) and Tommy Helms (1966) joining the Reds, Ruiz was relegated to utility infielder status for the rest of his time in Cincinnati. He got the most playing time in 1967, when he started many games at 2nd base while various other infielders were on the DL. Ruiz was good-natured about his utilityman status, and after his extended playing time in 1967, he told his manager to "bench me or trade me".

After the 1969 season, Ruiz was traded to the Angels (with outfielder Alex Johnson) for pitchers Pedro Borbon, Jim McGlothlin, and Vern Geishert. Chico played 2 seasons with the Angels as a utility infielder, but was released after the 1971 season.

Shortly after he was signed by the Kansas City Royals, he was killed in a car crash in February 1972 in San Diego.

Paul Schaal (#376)

Here is the 2nd of 3 Angels in the All-Rookie subset - 3rd baseman Paul Schaal.

Schaal was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 1962, and played 3 seasons in their minor-league system, mostly as a 3rd baseman, but played over half his games at 2nd base in 1964. He made his big-league debut in September 1964, playing 17 games for the Angels (starting 7 games at 3rd base).

Paul opened the 1965 season as the Angels' starting 3rd baseman, and started 150 games at the hot corner. He hit 9 homers and collected 45 RBI in his rookie season, but only had a .224 batting average.

Schaal's playing time and production dropped in 1966, as the Halos acquired 11-year veteran third-sacker Frank Malzone from Boston to help out. Schaal started 110 games to Malzone's 32, with C-3B Tom Satriano starting the rest.

With Malzone's retirement, Schaal was back in the driver's seat to start the 1967 season, but by mid-July he was relegated to the bench for the remainder of the season. The team patched together a mix of Woodie Held, John Werhas, and Satriano at 3rd base for the next 6 weeks, then called up rookie Aurelio Rodriguez on September 1st. Rodriguez started 29 of the final 30 games at 3rd.

Paul was back as the starter in April 1968, but was beaned by Boston's Jose Santiago in mid-June [payback for Tony Conigliaro's 1967 beaning?], costing him the rest of the season. Rodriguez was called up to replace him, which marked the end of Schaal's tenure as the Angels' 3rd baseman.

Schaal was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft, and spent the next 5 seasons with the Royals. After backing up Joe Foy in 1969, he was the team's primary 3rd baseman for the next 4 years, and started every game there in 1971.

Schaal's last season in KC was 1974. He started 12 of the 19 games in April at 3rd base, then rookie George Brett was called up, and made his first start on May 4th. The rest is either "history", or "bad-news-for-Paul-Schaal", depending on your point of view.

Paul was traded back to the Angels on April 30th for outfielder Richie Scheinblum. He shared the 3rd base duties for the next 2 1/2 months with Bob Oliver and Dave Chalk. Schaal's final major-league game was on July 19th. He finished the season in the minors, and was released in October.

Tony Perez (#72)

Tony Perez was the Topps All-Rookie 3rd baseman in 1965, just another in a long line of Cincinnati Reds:

1963 - Pete Rose 2B, Tommy Harper OF
1964 - Bill McCool P
1965 - Tony Perez 1B
1966 - Tommy Helms 3B
1967 - Lee May 1B
1968 - Johnny Bench C
(When Lee May came along 2 years later, Perez simply moved over to 3rd base.)

Perez was signed by the Reds in 1960, and played 5 seasons (1960-64) in the minors. He was a 3rd baseman until his final minor-league season, when he divided his time between 1st and 3rd.

Tony made his major-league debut in 1964, playing in 11 games from late-July to late-August, and one final game on Sept. 30th. He made the Reds for good on opening day 1965, and platooned at 1st base with veteran Gordy Coleman. Perez started 66 games, mostly against left-handers.

Tony's playing time decreased slightly in 1966. He played in 99 games, but only 62 starts at 1st base. (Coleman started 63 games, while rookie call-up Lee May started most of the games for the last 3 weeks of the season.)

1967 was the beginning of Perez' prime-time. He played 150+ games in 7 of the next 8 seasons, and became an RBI machine. In the '67 All-Star game, he hit the game-winning home run in the 15th inning.

From 1967-71, he was the regular 3rd baseman, before moving back to 1st base in 1972 after Lee May's trade to Houston. Tony was an all-star for the Reds 7 times between 1967 and 1976, and played in the post-season in '70, '72, '73, '75, and '76, including a 10-for-28 showing against Oakland in the 1972 World Series.

After the 1976 season, he was traded to the Expos. His all-star days were over, but he was the team's regular 1st baseman for 3 seasons.

Free agency landed him in Boston after the 1979 season, where he was the regular 1st-sacker for a year, then slipped into a part-time role in 1981-82.

In 1983, he joined ex-Reds' teammates Pete Rose and Joe Morgan in Philadelphia, as the "Wheeze Kids" made a run to the World Series.

After the season, he was sold to the Reds, and spent his final 3 seasons as the backup 1st baseman behind Dan Driessen, then Pete Rose.

After his playing career, Tony coached for the Reds, then managed the team during the first 2 months of 1993. He was also the interim manager for the Florida Marlins for the last 144 games in 2001.

Perez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Also check out his 1967 card.

Pat Corrales (#137)

Pat Corrales was the Topps All-Rookie catcher 1n 1965, although he accomplished that as a member of the Phillies.

Pat was signed by the Phillies in 1959, and played 6 and a half seasons in the minors before getting his big break. Although Corrales played 2 games with the Phillies near the end of the 1964 season, and one in early May 1965, it was mid-June when things began to take off.

The Phillies began the 1965 season with a strict platoon of veterans Clay Dalrymple and Gus Triandos behind the plate. On June 14th, Triandos was sold to the Astros, and Pat was called up to the Phillies. He started most of the games for the next month, then settled back into a platoon with the lefthanded Dalrymple. Clay continued to start only against righthanders, while Corrales started against all southpaws, and some righties.

After the season, he was traded to the Cardinals (with outfielder Alex Johnson and pitcher Art Mahaffey) for 1st baseman Bill White, shortstop Dick Groat, and catcher Bob Uecker.

Corrales was with the Cardinals for all of 1966, but only started 24 games, with Tim McCarver starting 138 games. Pat was in the minors for all of 1967, then was traded to the Reds the following spring for catcher Johnny Edwards.

Corrales began the 1968 season in the minors, but was called up in mid-July, and spent the next 3 1/2 years backing up Johnny Bench (which is to say, he didn't play much).

Pat was back in the minors to start the 1972 season, and in mid-July, he was traded to the Padres for catcher Bob Barton. Corrales split the catching duties with Fred Kendall for the rest of the season, then was Kendall's backup for all of 1973, until getting his release in late September.

After his playing career, Corrales became a manager, beginning in the minors in 1975. He managed the Rangers (1978-80), Phillies (1982-83), Indians (1983-87). He is the only manager ever to be fired while his team was in first place (1983 Phillies).

After his stints as manager, Pat was a bench coach for many years with the Braves and Nationals.

Final Card: Bill Wakefield

Here's Bill Wakefield's final card (#443). He also appeared in the 1965 set, and on a Mets Rookies card in 1964 set, which used a photo very similar to this one.

Wakefield was signed by the Cardinals in 1961, and pitched in their system from 1961-63, working his way up from class-A Lancaster (PA), through AA Tulsa, and AAA Atlanta. After the '63 season, Bill was traded to the Mets with outfielder George Altman for pitcher Roger Craig.

Bill spent the entire 1964 season with the Mets, appearing in 62 games (all but 4 in relief). It would be his only major-league experience, as he spent the 1965 season in triple-A and all of 1966 in double-A before hanging 'em up.

Final Card: Gordon Richardson

This is the first and last card for Mets' pitcher Gordon Richardson (#51). Here, Gordie is sporting the New York World's Fair patch on his left shoulder. (Back in the day, I think only the Mets and Twins had shoulder patches on their uniforms.)

Gordie was signed by the Cardinals in 1957, and spent 7 1/2 seasons pitching in their farm system. He was stuck in double-A for 4 seasons (1960-63) despite winning in double figures for 3 of those seasons.

Richardson made his major-league debut on July 26, 1964, pitching a 6-1 complete game victory over the Phillies. He remained with the Cardinals for the rest of the season, fashioning a 4-2 record in 19 games.

After the season he was traded to the Mets (with outfielder Johnny Lewis) for pitcher Tracy Stallard and minor-league infielder Elio Chacon.

Gordie split the '65 and '66 seasons between the Mets and their triple-A team. In 1965, he appeared in 35 games for the Mets (all in relief). After 15 appearances in 1966 (the last on June 5th) he returned to the minors for the rest of the season. It would be his last.

Final Card: Pete Charton

This is the final card for Pete Charton (#329) who pitched one season in the majors (1964). He also appeared on the Red Sox Rookies card in the 1964 set.

There seems to be an unusually large number of players in the 1966 set with their own card, while having only 1 season of prior major-league experience. Why Charton has a card in the 1966 set is puzzling, as he spent the entire '65 season in the minors, after pitching 25 games with the Sox in 1964.

On top of all that inactivity, Pete missed the entire 1966 season, then pitched 13 games in double-A ball in 1967 before his career was over.

Why Topps, why?

 Here is an interview with Pete Charton on another blog.

Alex Johnson (#104)

Yikes! I realized a few days ago that I had posted Harvey Kuenn's final card here twice, and with two different sets of copy. (That's an hour of my life I'll never get back.) Anyway, it's been 3 months since we've seen a Phillies' player, so:


This is Alex Johnson's last card as a Phillie, as he was traded in the previous off-season to the Cardinals. A few months later, the Phillies would let go of another of their young outfielders.

Johnson was signed by the Phillies in 1961, and began his pro career in 1962 with the Miami Marlins, the Phillies' class-D team in the Florida State League.

Alex made his major-league debut with the Phillies in late July 1964. He made 33 starts in left field for the remainder of that season, platooning with veteran Wes Covington. That arrangement continued in 1965, except that Tony Gonzalez also made 40 starts in left, which along with Covington's 60 starts, left Johnson with just 56 starts.

In October 1965, Johnson was packed up with pitcher Art Mahaffey and rookie catcher Pat Corrales, and shipped to the Cardinals for 1st baseman Bill White, shortstop Dick Groat, and catcher Bob Uecker, as the Phillies went about acquiring veterans to get them over the hump.

Alex played most of 1966 in the minors, but was with the Cardinals for all of 1967. It was the right season to be there, as the Cards won the World Series, with Johnson serving as Roger Maris' backup in right field. Somewhere along the way, Johnson picked up the label of troublemaker/malcontent, and was shipped out to the Reds for outfielder Dick Simpson.

Johnson finally became a regular in his first season with Cincinnati. He hit .312 and .315 in his 2 seasons there and was the everyday left fielder, before (in what was becoming an every-2-year pattern) he was traded to the Angels after the 1969 season with infielder Chico Ruiz for pitchers Pedro Borbon and Jim McGlothlin.

Alex led the AL in batting with a .329 average in his first season with the Angels, and also made his only all-star appearance. True to form, after 2 years with the Angels, he was off again - this time a one-year stay in Cleveland (1972), followed by 2 seasons with the Rangers, one with the Yankees (where he was a little-used spare part), before wrapping up his career as the Tigers' everyday leftfielder in 1976.

Adolfo Phillips (#32)

This is Adolfo Phillips' rookie card. It's also his only card as a Phillie. He was signed by Philadelphia in September 1960, and played the 1961-64 seasons in their farm system. Phillips made his major-league debut in September 1964, and split the 1965 season between Philadelphia and their AAA team in Little Rock, Arkansas.



The Phillies' farm system was cranking out young outfielders during this time: Johnny Briggs made the team in 1964; Alex Johnson (1965's addition) was shipped off to the Cardinals as part of the deal that brought Bill White and Dick Groat to Philly after the '65 season. Early in the 1966 season, Phillips was traded to the Cubs in the Fergie Jenkins deal. For the next 3 seasons ('66-'68) he was Chicago's regular center fielder.

In June 1969, Phillips was traded to the Expos (with pitcher Jack Lamabe) for infielder Paul Popovich. He immediately assumed the starting centerfield job in Montreal, but after 6 weeks was replaced by journeyman Ty Cline (among others).

In 1970, Adolfo alternated in center field with Boots Day and Jim Fairey, then spent all of 1971 in the minors. After the season, he was sold to the Indians. In 1972 he only played 12 games for Cleveland, while spending most of his final season with triple-A Portland, Oregon.

Phillips' final card was in the 1971 set. He was left out of the 1970 set.

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.

75 New Cards (including John Stephenson)

On Saturday, I received 75 1966 cards that I recently bought from DeansCards.com, all from the first 2 series. Just by coincidence, they include at least 3 cards from each team (7 from the White Sox!), except only 1 each from the Cardinals (Curt Flood) and Athletics (Rene Lachemann), and none from the Phillies (I already have them all). Also included were 6 league leaders cards.

I had to laugh when I read the back of John Stephenson's card, where Topps proclaims "Johnny is a left-handed batter with good power to all fields." In 3 minor-league seasons, he has hit 8, 9, and 5 home runs! That's "good power"?

John Stephenson (#17) was the Mets' backup catcher. Apparently, Topps can't decide whether to call him John or Johnny, as we have 4 "John", 1 "Johnny", and 1 "Johnnny" on this card.



Rather than repeat myself, you can find more pertinent facts about John Stephenson on my 1967 blog.