Rene Lachemann (#157)

This is Rene Lachemann’s first solo card. It’s one of a handful of 1966 cards that appear to have been painted, rather than photographed. It’s also the same picture Topps used on the 4-player Athletics Rookies card in the 1965 set.

I much prefer his 1967 card (below), but this 1966 blog was short on Athletics, so here he is.

Wow, I am REALLY surprised to see how little major-league playing time Lachemann had! 92 games in 1965, only 7 games in 1966, NO games in 1967, and 19 games in 1968. Even having 4 new expansion teams in 1969 couldn’t keep him in the majors.

After working as the Dodgers' batboy from 1959-63, Rene was signed by the Athletics in 1964, and played in the minors every season from 1964-72. Early on, he was mostly a catcher, but during his 1969-72 stint with Oakland’s AAA club in Iowa, he was primarily a 1st baseman while also playing 3B, outfield, and a few games behind the plate.

He started 54 games as a rookie in 1965 (playing behind Bill Bryan), but it was all downhill after that. Was it his .227 batting average? His 57 strikeouts in 216 at-bats? Still, he hit 9 homers and collected 29 RBI – not bad for a part-time rookie catcher.

Lachemann began his managing career in 1973. After stints in the minors with the Athletics and Mariners from 1973-80, he managed the Mariners from 1981-83, the Brewers in 1984, and the Marlins from 1993-96. He also managed the Cubs for 1 game in 2002. His final skipper’s job was with the Rockies’ AAA team in 2009.

Lachemann’s brother Marcel was a pitcher for the Athletics from 1969-71, and managed the Angels from 1994-96.

Art Shamsky (#119)

Here is young Art Shamsky, with all of 96 major-league at-bats under his belt.

Shamsky was signed by the Reds in 1959, and played in the minors from 1960-64 until making his major-league debut in April 1965.

As a rookie, he was the Reds' 4th outfielder, but when the first 3 are named Vada Pinson (159 starts), Tommy Harper (156), and Frank Robinson (154), there's not much for you to do. 46 of his 64 games were as a pinch-hitter only.

With the trade of Robinson to the Orioles, Art saw his playing time increase somewhat in 1966. Not too much, as Deron Johnson took most of the outfield time left behind by Robby, with Shamsky making 63 starts.

By 1967, Pete Rose and even Lee May were in the outfield mix, so Art found less playing time than in '66. That November, the Reds traded him to the Mets for utility infielder Bob Johnson.

Shamsky jumped onboard the Mets' train 1 year before the Miracle 1969 season. He played in over 100 games in each of the next 3 seasons. Sure, the Mets had Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, and Ron Swoboda, but in 1968 Shamsky started 64 games in left field, and another dozen each in right field and first base.

In 1969 he split right field with Swoboda, starting 61 times to Swoboda's 70. Art also filled in at 1B and LF occasionally. He hit .538 (7 for 13) in the NLCS, but was 0-for-6 in the World Series.

In 1970 he started 55 games at first base in relief of Donn Clendenon (Ed Kranepool having been sent to the minors), along with another 49 starts in right field.

Art's career began to fade in 1971, as he was demoted to 6th outfielder, playing only half the games he did in '70. He was traded to the Cardinals in October 1971, but released just before the '72 season.

He soon hooked on with the Cubs, but after 15 games in 2 months he was sold to the Athletics at the end of June 1972. He was released 3 weeks later, having only made 8 pinch-hitting appearances

After his playing career, Shamsky was (among other things) a Mets broadcaster and a New York sports radio host.

In the TV show "Everybody Loves Raymond", Ray Barone's brother Robert has a dog named Shamsky. Art even even made an appearance on the show.

Ken Henderson (#39)

Ken Henderson played outfield for 16 seasons from 1965-1980. His first 8 seasons were with the Giants, then he spent the last half of his career with 6 teams, most notably the White Sox.

I will always remember him as a Giants' spare outfielder, because that was his status when I started collecting cards, but he finally won a full-time job with the Giants from 1970-72, and the White Sox and Braves from 1974-76.

Henderson was signed by the Giants in June 1964, and made his major-league debut at age 18 in April 1965. Ken spent all of 1965 as the Giants' 5th outfielder, but played most of 1966-68 back in the minors.

After starting outfielders Ollie Brown and Jesus Alou were lost in the expansion draft, Henderson stuck with the Giants for good at the start of 1969. Although he was the team's #2 outfielder in terms of total innings played that season, he was a corner-outfield swing man, backing up Bobby Bonds in right field and splitting the left field starts with Dave Marshall.

Marshall was traded to the Mets after the 1969 season, enabling Henderson to be the team's primary left fielder for the next 3 seasons.

After the 1972 season, he was traded to the White Sox. Ken was a backup outfielder in 1973, but became the every-day center fielder for the next 2 years, starting 159 games there in '74 and 136 games in '75. (This is news to me!) 

After that it was on to the Braves, where he spent 1 season as their right fielder, having been exchanged for Ralph Garr.

The rest of Henderson’s career was a series of whistle stops as a bench player: 1977 with the Rangers, 1978 with the Mets and Reds, 1979 with the Reds and Cubs, and then wrapping up his career in 1980 with the Cubs, until getting his release in July.

I'm really surprised that Henderson played any seasons as a regular. 1974 was his career year with 602 at bats, 76 runs, 176 hits, 35 doubles, 5 triples, 20 home runs, 95 RBI, 66 walks, and a .292 batting average in 162 games.

Jim Merritt (#97)

Jim Merritt pitched for 11 seasons – 4 with the Twins, 4 with the Reds, and (I didn’t know this until today) 3 with the Rangers. I always think of him as a Twin because that’s where he was when I started collecting cards, but he had his greatest success with the Reds.

Merritt was signed by the Dodgers (the 2nd thing I learned about him today!) in 1961. He went 19-8 for the Dodgers’ class-D team in Erie, PA, but apparently that wasn’t enough to protect him from the minor-league draft. He was selected by the Twins after the ’61 season.

Jim spent the next 3 seasons in the Twins’ farm system, making his major-league debut in August 1965. He made 2 relief appearances in the ’65 World Series vs. the Dodgers.

Merritt was a key member of the Twins’ starting rotation from 1966-68, and was one of 6 pitchers named Jim on their staff in ’66 and ’67.

In November 1968, he was traded to the Reds for shortstop Chico Cardenas. Jim won a career-high (at the time) 17 games in 1969, and topped it the following season with 20 wins. He also made his only All-Star team in 1970, and finished 4th in the NL Cy Young voting. That year he also pitched 2 games in the post-season.

As seems to be the custom with Reds’ pitchers in those days (Gary Nolan, Wayne Simpson, Wayne Granger, Jim Maloney, Sammy Ellis, etc, etc.) Merritt came down with arm troubles (in his case, an elbow injury), and compiled a horrendous 1-11 record in 1971. He was moved to the bullpen after an 0-8 start, and won his lone game in August.

Jim followed that up with a 1-0 record in only 4 games in 1972, while spending most of that season with AAA Indianapolis.

After the 1972 season he was traded to the Rangers for backup catcher Hal King. Merritt pitched 2 full seasons with Texas (5-13 in 35 games in ’73, 0-0 in 26 games in ’74) and was released in July 1975 after only 5 appearances.

Ray Oyler (#81)

Here is good-field/no-hit Ray Oyler's first solo card. (And when I say "no-hit", I mean NOOOOO-hit.) Before there was the "Mendoza Line", there was the "Oyler Line" (although no one was clever enough to come up with that at the time, to my knowledge).

Ray joined the Tigers in 1965 and hit .186, which turned out to be his 2nd-highest season average. Except for an aberration where he hit .207 in 1967, he never broke the .175 barrier again (much less .200).

That was all well and good in '65 and '66 when Ray was the team's backup middle infielder, but by 1967 veteran 2nd baseman Jerry Lumpe's career was running out of gas, and he was only used as a pinch-hitter for most of his final season. Incumbent shortstop Dick McAuliffe moved over to replace him, which thrust Oyler into the starting lineup for 125 games. On the plus side, Ray boosted his average 36 points over the .171 in 1966.

With Lumpe retired, Oyler started 44 of the first 50 games at short in 1968, but by early June, manager Mayo Smith had seen enough, and switched to a tandem of veteran utility man Dick Tracewski and rookie Tom Matchick. This continued until the season’s final week, when Smith decided to fix the shortstop position by moving center fielder Mickey Stanley in there (for the first time in his career). After a 6-game warmup at his new position, Stanley played there during the '68 World Series, which essentially replaced Oyler’s bat with Al Kaline’s bat!

Oyler did get into 4 World Series games (1 plate appearance), but was exposed to the expansion draft after the season.

Ray was selected by the Seattle Pilots, and started 93 games for them in 1969, mostly in the first 4 months until younger players started getting tryouts. While in Seattle, Oyler had an unusual fan club.

After the season, Oyler and pitcher Diego Segui were traded to the Athletics for infielder Ted Kubiak and pitcher George Lauzerique. Ray's final card is in the 1970 set as an Athletic, but he didn't get a chance to play for them. He was sold to the Angels in mid-April, and finished out his final season playing only 24 games for California, while batting a career-low .083.

Ray was a player-coach in the minors during the '71 and '72 seasons, then retired.

He died in 1981 from a heart attack at age 42.

Jim Lonborg (#93)

Here is future Red Sox’ ace Jim Lonborg, fresh off his rookie 1965 season where he went a disappointing 9-17 in 31 starts. No matter, after a 10-10 season in ’66, Jim had his career year in 1967.

He posted a 22-9 record (leading the AL in wins), also led the league with 246 strikeouts (interrupting Sam McDowell’s 5-year dominance in that department), won the Cy Young Award, and led the Sox to the World Series. Against the Cardinals in the Series, Lonborg was 2-1 in 3 starts with 1 shutout.

Lonborg tore knee ligaments while skiing in the off-season, and was never the same with Boston. After the 1971 season he was traded to the Brewers (with 1st baseman George Scott, pitcher Ken Brett, catcher Don Pavletich, and outfielders Billy Conigliaro and Joe Lahoud) for Tommy Harper and pitchers Lew Krausse and Marty Pattin.

After only 1 season with the Brew Crew, he and Brett were forwarded to the Phillies in exchange for 3rd basemen Don Money and John Vukovich, and pitcher Billy Champion.

After the Phillies’ shambles of a 1972 season (where Steve Carlton had 27 of the team’s 59 wins), the Phillies began assembling a REAL pitching staff to help Carlton, adding Lonborg and Brett in ’73, Tug McGraw in ’75, and Jim Kaat and Ron Reed in ’76.

Jim pitched for the Phillies from 1973 to 1979, highlighted by winning 17 games in 1974 and 18 in 1976.

I recall Lonnie running out of gas in his later seasons with the Phillies and was released in June 1979, ending his 15-year career.

After baseball, Lonborg became a dentist.

Bob Locker (#374)

Bob Locker pitched in 576 games over a 10 year period (1965-73, 75), all in relief. The first half of his career was with the White Sox.

Locker was signed by the Sox in 1960, and pitched 2 seasons in the minors before missing the ’62 and ’63 seasons while in military service. He returned to the minors for the 1964 season. Although he was a starting pitcher in ’61 and ’64, he would never start again after 1964.

Bob made his major-league debut with the White Sox in April 1965. He was the #3 man in the bullpen during his rookie season, behind Eddie Fisher and Hoyt Wilhelm. It appears that the ChiSox mostly used just 8 pitchers that year. (Besides the 3 primary relievers, starters Tommy John and Bruce Howard made occasional relief appearances.)

Fisher was traded to the Orioles midway through the 1966 season, so Locker became the team’s closer, leading the team with 12 saves while compiling a 9-8 record and 2.46 ERA.

He was the bullpen ace again in 1967 (picking up 20 saves), as he and Wilhelm were joined by newly-acquired relievers Wilbur Wood and Don McMahon.

Wood became the team’s closer in 1968, but Locker and Wilhelm each pitched in 70 games, and all 3 reached double figures in saves.

Bob pitched in 22 innings over 17 games for the White Sox in early 1969, then in mid-June was traded to the Seattle Pilots for pitcher Gary Bell. Bob pitched in 51 games for Seattle that season.

In June 1970 the Brewers sold him to the Oakland Athletics. Bob pitched for Oakland through the end of the 1972 season as the #2 reliever behind Rollie Fingers. He appeared in the post-season in ’71 and ’72.

Locker was traded to the Cubs before the 1973 season and had a good year as the Cubs’ closer, picking up 18 saves and 10 wins. He was traded back to Oakland after the season, but missed all of 1974 after surgery for bone chips.

Bob returned to the Cubs for 1975, in exchange for outfielder Billy Williams. He pitched in 22 games and retired after the season.

Nelson Briles (#243)

This is the first solo card for Nelson Briles (he also appeared on a Cardinals Rookies card in 1965). He pitched for 14 seasons – the first 6 with the Cardinals. I knew Briles had moved on to the Pirates, but until today did not know that he also played for 3 other teams.

After only one season in the minors, Briles made his debut with the Cardinals in April 1965. He was primarily a reliever during his rookie season, then became a spot starter the next year.

He began the 1967 season as a reliever, then moved into the rotation when Bob Gibson broke his leg in July. Nelson remained in the rotation upon Gibby’s return, fashioning a 14-5 record and leading the NL in winning percentage (.737). He also pitched a complete game in game #3 in the World Series – the only Cardinals’ pitcher not named Bob Gibson to do so.

Briles followed that up by winning 19 games in 1968, and was the team’s #2 starter behind Gibson, who won 22. Nelson won 15 games the following season, with Steve Carlton moving ahead of him in the rotation.

After a 6-7 season in 1970, Briles and outfielder Vic Davalillo were traded to the Pirates for outfielder Matty Alou and pitcher George Brunet. (Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t blogged somewhere already about the well-traveled Brunet! I’ll have to get on that.) Nelson was mostly a reliever for his first year in Pittsburgh, but won 14 games each in ’72 and ’73 as a starter. He also pitched in the post-season in ’71 and ’72.

After the 1973 season he was traded to the Royals, and 2 years later to the Rangers, but he never repeated the success he had with the Cardinals and Pirates. In late-September 1977 the Orioles purchased his contract, and he finished out the season and 1 more year with Baltimore, then was released in January 1979.

Briles passed away in 2005 at age 61.

Ron Swoboda (#35)

Wrapping up the 10-man squad of Topps 1965 All-Star Rookies is outfielder Ron Swoboda.

Ron was signed by the Mets in September 1963, and after one season (1964) in the minors, he debuted with the Mets in April 1965, at age 20. During his first 2 seasons, he was the primary left fielder, playing 135 games as a rookie while sharing the starting job with Joe Christopher. In 1966 he appeared in 112 games, starting 80 games in left.

With the Mets' acquisition of Tommy Davis from the Dodgers, Ron moved over to right field in 1967, and was the regular for the next 4 seasons, including his famous defensive exploits in the 1969 World Series.

During spring training 1971, Swoboda was traded to the Expos for outfielder Don Hahn. By mid-season, he went to the Yankees in exchange for outfielder Ron Woods. Ron played 2 more seasons ('72-'73) as an outfield sub with the Yankees, and spent part of 1973 with triple-A Syracuse.

The Yankees released him in December 1973, but he was picked up by the Braves a few weeks later, only to be released in spring training.

Curt Blefary (#460)

Curt Blefary was one of the three outfielders on the Topps 1965 All-Rookie team.

He made more starts (131) in the O's outfield than any other player, as he split his time between left and right. Curt also hit 22 home runs, and was named AL Rookie of the Year in 1965.

The following season the Orioles acquired Frank Robinson to play right field, and Boog Powell became the regular first baseman, so Blefary moved to left field full-time. (He also started 11 games at 1st base.)

Blefary was signed by the Yankees prior to the 1962 season. In late April 1963 he was drafted by the Orioles, and spent 2 seasons in their farm system. His 31 homers in 1964 earned him a spot with the Orioles in 1965.

Curt spent 4 seasons in Baltimore, hitting 22, 23, 22, and 15 homers per season. He was the O's regular left fielder in the 1966 World Series, although he only got 1 hit in 15 at-bats.

In 1967, Blefary split his playing time between left field (84 starts) and 1st base (48 starts), as the Orioles tried several ways to keep his bat in the lineup, despite his defensive shortcomings. (Frank Robinson dubbed him "Clank".)

During Curt's last season in Baltimore, he started 38 games behind the plate and 40 in right field during the first half of the season. He returned to left field for the 2nd half of the season.

After the '68 season, Blefary was traded to the Astros for pitcher Mike Cuellar and shortstop Enzo Hernandez. Exactly one year later, he went to the Yankees for Joe Pepitone.

Curt split 1971 between the Yankees and Athletics, and 1972 between Oakland and San Diego. After his release by the Padres, he was signed by the Braves in 1973, but played for their triple-A team before retiring.

Blefary passed away in 2001 at age 57, with his ashes scattered over the Memorial Stadium demolition site in Baltimore.

Final Card: Frank Carpin

There's always a straggler....

This is the only card for pitcher Frank Carpin (#71). Carpin was signed by the Yankees in 1959, and was (mostly) a starting pitcher in their organization for six years. After the 1964 season, the Pirates selected him in the minor league draft.

Frank split the 1965 season between the Pirates and their AAA team in Columbus. His major-league debut came on May 25th, and he made 39 appearances (all in relief). He pitched a total of 39.2 innings, so maybe he was their situational lefty.

That November, the Astros picked him up in the Rule 5 draft. Carpin made 6 relief appearances by May 6th, then was sent down to triple-A Oklahoma city, where he pitched 44 games in relief. (I guess the Pirates refused to take him back, per Rule 5 rules.) Frank returned to the Astros in August, and pitched in 4 more games - the last on September 3rd.

His career was cut short due to bone chips in his elbow.


Here's another blogger's story of Frank Carpin, from Notre Dame to the major leagues to the business world.

Final Card: Dan Napoleon

Dan Napoleon (#87) is the final "final card" for the 1966 set. There were quite a few Mets in this subset - were they cleaning house? Possibly, because I seem to recall that there are more Mets in the '67 set than any other team.

Napoleon was signed by the Mets in 1964, and had an 8-year minor-league career (1964-71).

Dan appeared in 68 games with the Mets in 1965, as he was with the team for the entire season except for the month of August. Mostly used as a pinch-hitter, he played the field in 15 games, 8th among Mets' outfielders that season.

The next season he played 12 games with the Mets during his September call-up, frequently starting in left field.

Just days before the 1967 season began, Dan was traded to the Cardinals (along with veteran shortstop Ed Bressoud) for pitcher Art Mahaffey and infielders Jerry Buchek and Tony Martinez. Dan would never make it back to the majors, playing the next 5 seasons  in the minors for the Cardinals, White Sox, and Twins.

Napoleon passed away on 4/26/2003 in Trenton, NJ at age 61.


This is the last of my "final card" posts for the 1966 set. Next time, I'll post a recap of all the cards, as I did with the 1967 set.
 

Final Card: Don Le John

Presenting the one and only card for Don Le John (#41). Le John was one of the seemingly never-ending stream of rookie 3rd basemen showing up at Chavez Ravine in the 1960s. But unlike John Werhas, Derrell Griffith, Bill Sudakis, Billy Grabarkiewitz, Steve Garvey, and Bobby Valentine, Le John's major-league career lasted only 34 games (all in 1965).

I never heard of Don until I got this card a few years ago. The best part of this card (for me) is the bleachers and scoreboard at Connie Mack Stadium seen in the background.

Le John was signed in 1954 by the BROOKLYN Dodgers. He played 3rd base and 2nd base in the Dodgers' chain for the next 15 seasons, finally retiring in 1968 at age 34. From that standpoint, he's more like long-time Dodgers' organizational fodder Bart Shirley, John Werhas, and Derrell Griffith than the other big names listed above.

His only big-league action came in 34 games during the last 3 months of the 1965 season. After his playing career, he managed in the Dodgers' minor-league system for many years.

Le John passed away on 2/25/2005 at age 70.


Only one more "final card" to post - a Mets' outfielder.  Any guesses?

Final Card: Greg Bollo

This is the 2nd and final card for White Sox' pitcher Greg Bollo (#301). He also appeared in the 1965 set on a White Sox rookies card with Bob Locker.

Bollo was signed by Chicago in 1964, and was a starting pitcher for 2 different class-A teams in the Sox' organization, before jumping all the way to the majors in 1965. He was with the White Sox for the entire '65 season, pitching 22 innings across 15 games, but finishing with a 0-0 record.

Greg was busted all the way back to class A in 1966, compiling an 11-11 record in 25 starts, before being recalled in September. His game action with Chicago consisted of 2 relief appearances in late September, as well as starting the last game of the season, a 2-0 loss to the Yankees where he lasted 4 innings. That was to be his last major-league appearance.

Bollo pitched the next 4 seasons for the White Sox' AAA and AA clubs, mostly as a starter, then hung up his spikes after the 1970 season.  


We're getting near the end of the "Final Card" series. I don't have the (final) 1966 cards for Bob Purkey, Dick Bertell, Art Mahaffey, Choo Choo Coleman, Chi Chi Olivo, Bob Sadowski, Dave Roberts, or Frank Carpin Birdie Tebbetts. That leaves only 3 more to go for this 1966 set: 2 Mets and a Dodger.
 

Final Card: Hector Valle

This is the final card for Dodgers' backup catcher Hector Valle (#314). Valle's only other card was a late-series Dodgers Rookies card in the 1965 set, which he shared with Jim Lefebvre and Mike Kekich.

Valle was signed by the Dodgers in 1960, and caught in their farm system for over 5 seasons before making it to the majors. Only during the 1962 and 1964 seasons did he play full-time.

Valle's major-league career consisted of 9 games for the Dodgers during the 1965 season. He played in 6 games in June (2 starts), and 3 later in the season, including starting the final game of the season. With John Roseboro and Jeff Torborg combining for 159 starts in 1965, there just wasn't much need for a 3rd-string catcher.

Hector played in the Dodgers' system through 1967, then after one season in the Mets' chain, he caught for the Tigers' AAA Toledo team for 2 1/2 seasons, and finished up the 1971 season with the AAA Omaha Royals.

Valle played in the Mexican League off and on from 1973 to 1981.

Final Card: Chris Krug

Chris Krug (#166) played 10 seasons in the minors, but spent very little time in the Show. His 60 games with the Cubs in 1965 enabled him to score a card in Topps' 1966 set.

Krug was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, and caught in their minor-league system for 7 seasons. In all that time, he only played 10 games at the triple-A level. After the '64 season, the Cubs selected him in the minor-league draft.

He split the '65 season between the Cubs and their double-A team in Dallas-Ft Worth. Making his major-league debut on May 30th, Chris alternated at catcher with Vic Roznovsky and Ed Bailey.

That was his only significant playing time in the majors, as he was back in the minors for all but 10 games in 1966. In November he was traded to the Angels, who assigned him to their triple-A Seattle team until releasing him in June 1967.

Krug was out of baseball in 1968, but resurfaced for 8 games with the expansion San Diego Padres in April and May 1969, before getting his final release.