Final Card: Bob Sadowski

This is Bob Sadowski’s final card (#523).  In March 2018 I posted his 1965 card on my ’65 blog, but that was before I had this card. (I generally limit my 1965 blog to players’ final cards.)

Sadowski was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, and played in their farm systems for 5 1/2 seasons until his trade to the Braves in mid-June 1963 (Sadowski and Gene Oliver for Lou Burdette).

Bob was immediately brought up to the Braves and pitched 19 games over the second half, including 18 starts and 5 complete games. He posted a 5-7 record and 2.62 ERA in 116 innings pitched.

(That same yellow dome is seen on Tony Conigliaro's 1967 card.)

In 1964 he started 18 games again (along with 33 relief appearances), but his ERA soared to 4.59.

He started the final home opener for the Milwaukee Braves in April 1965. He posted a similar ERA (4.54) as the previous year, but in only 34 games.

In December 1965 Bob was traded to the Red Sox (with pitcher Dan Osinski) for pitchers Jay Ritchie and Arnold Earley, and outfielder Lee Thomas.

Sadowski was used very little by the Red Sox because of arm injuries, only appearing in 11 games (33 innings) by mid-season, his final major-league game coming on July 4th. With an ERA of 7.02 he was sent to the minors, where his troubles continued - pitching only 5 innings in the 2nd half.

He played the 1967 season for the Braves’ double-A team before retiring.

His brother Ed was a catcher for the Red Sox and Angels from 1960-63, and for the Braves in 1966. His brother Ted (Ed and Ted?) pitched for the Senators/Twins from 1960-62.

Another Bob Sadowski played for the Phillies, White Sox, and Angels from 1961-63.

Sadowski passed away in 2018 at age 80.

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.

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.

Rico Petrocelli (#298)

Rico Petrocelli was selected as the Topps all-rookie shortstop for 1965.

Petrocelli was signed by the Red Sox in 1961, and played 3 seasons in the minors (1962-64) as a shortstop. His major-league debut was a 1-game cup of coffee in September 1963, but he wouldn't return until the start of the 1965 season. From there, he would play his entire 12-year career with the Red Sox.

Rico began the 1965 season as the starting shortstop, replacing the veteran Ed Bressoud, who had started 158 games at short in 1964. Petrocelli started 93 games as a rookie, to Bressoud's 69 starts.

In 1966, Petrocelli was the fulltime shortstop, although he was sidelined for the 2nd half of August. The next season, Boston was in the World Series for the first time in 20 years, and Rico hit 2 home runs against the Cardinals. He made the AL All-Star team in 1967 and 1969, and uncharacteristically hit 40 homers in 1969. (His previous high was 18 dingers.) His power surge lasted two more seasons, hitting 29 and 28 homers in '70 and '71, before he settled back in the mid-teens.

The Sox acquired Luis Aparicio in 1972, moving Rico over to 3rd base, where he would stay until the end of his career in 1976. Petrocelli wrapped up his last season as a full-time regular by hitting .308 in the 1975 World Series.

Rico began the 1976 as the starting 3rd baseman, but by the end of June, rookie Butch Hobson took over the position, starting 76 of the last 96 games at 3rd.

Petrocelli managed in the White Sox' farm system from 1986-88, and managed the Red Sox' AAA team in 1992. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997.

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.

Final Card: Chuck Schilling

Chuck Schilling (#6) had a short career with the Red Sox in the early 1960s.

Chuck was signed by the Red Sox in 1958, and made his major-league debut in April 1961. His career started off well, as he was Boston's starting 2nd baseman for 157 games, and finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. He also led the American League with 738 plate appearances.

Schilling was the regular 2nd baseman (133 starts) in 1962, but missed over 40 games due to a wrist injury that would hamper him for the rest of his career. He bounced back in 1963 (137 starts at 2nd base) but then started a downward slide.



In 1964, Schilling dropped to #3 in the pecking order at 2nd base, behind rookie infielder Dalton Jones, and journeyman Felix Mantilla. In 1965, Mantilla took over almost completely, making 120 starts at 2nd base to Schilling's 35 starts.

This was the end of the line for Chuck. In April 1966, he was traded to the Twins, but his 1966 season went like this (from Wikipedia):

Coming out of spring training, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins with catcher Russ Nixon for left-handed pitcher Dick Stigman. Schilling began the season on the Twins' 28-man roster, but he never appeared in any games and retired before the rosters were cut to 25 men on May 15.

After baseball, Schilling became a high school math teacher, and also played competitive softball until the age of 69.

Final Card: Billy Herman

Billy Herman (#37) was a 2nd baseman for the Cubs in the 1930s, and the Dodgers in the early 1940s, before finishing up his playing career in 1946 and 1947 with the Braves and Pirates.

He was a player-manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates for one season (1947). After many years as a coach for the Dodgers, Braves, and Red Sox, Billy got his 2nd and final shot as a major-league manager with the Red Sox.



After taking over the team with 2 games remaining in 1964, Billy was at the controls for all of 1965 and most of 1966, until he was fired with 16 games remaining. The Red Sox finished in 9th place in both of Herman's seasons.

It turned out to be a good move, as Boston went on to play in the World Series the following season with Dick Williams as a rookie manager!

Herman coached briefly with the Angels and Padres in the 1960s and 1970s.

Final Card: Dick Stigman

Dick Stigman (#512) spent 6 season in the Cleveland Indians' farm system before making his major-league debut On April 22, 1960. He made 41 appearances for the Indians that season, mostly in relief.

The following season, his playing time tapered off to 22 games. He was the 9th man on a 10-man staff. Just before the 1962 season, Stigman and Vic Power were traded to the Twins for pitcher Pedro Ramos.

Dick had more success in Minnesota. In 1962, he started 15 games and relieved in 25 others. His 142 innings pitched were 4th-most on the team. With a record of 12-5, his .706 winning percentage was tops in the American League.



In 1963, Stigman's wins (15) and innings pitched (241) were more than all other starters except Camilo Pascual (who went 21-9). 1964 was an off-year for Dick (6-15), as he was passed by Jim Kaat and Jim Grant in the Twins' rotation.

In 1965, Stigman found himself occupying the Twins' bullpen. One week before the start of the 1966 season, he was traded to the Red Sox for catcher Russ Nixon and 2nd baseman Chuck Schilling.

Stigman appeared in 34 games for the Red Sox, mostly in relief. His final major-league game was on September 10, 1966. After the season, he was sent to the Cincinnati Reds to complete an earlier trade. He spent the 1967 season with the Reds' and Phillies' triple-A teams.

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.

Final Card: Lenny Green

Here's a card I've been meaning to post since my note about players without 1967 cards, but I got sidetracked - first by the World Series, and then by some cards of long-time veterans. Now, heeerrreeee's Lenny!

Lenny Green (#502) began his pro career in the Orioles organization. His major-league debut with Baltimore came on August 25, 1957. Throughout his career, he was strictly an outfielder, primarily playing in centerfield, with some time in leftfield and a few rare appearances in rightfield.

In early 1959, he was traded to the Senators (who became the Twins) for outfielder Albie Pearson. Lenny was the Twins regular centerfielder in 1961 and 1962, playing alongside rightfielder Bob Allison and leftfielders Harmon Killebrew ('61) and Jim Lemon ('62). In 1963, he began to play less and less as he lost his starting job to rookie Jimmie Hall.



In mid-1964, the Twins traded Green to the Angels in a deal that also involved the Indians, and players Vic Power, Jerry Kindall, Billy Moran, and Frank Kostro. In early September, he was re-acquired by the Orioles, and finished the 1964 season with them.

In March 1965, the Red Sox bought Lenny's contract and put him in a centerfield job-share with Jim Gosger. In 1966, with Boston's acquisition of Don Demeter, centerfield playing time was hard to come by, so Green was used primarily as a pinch-hitter, although he got some playing time at his old position. With Reggie Smith slated to join the Red Sox in 1967, Boston cleaned house of some excess outfielders, giving Green his release in October 1966.

The Tigers signed him before the 1967 season, and used him mainly as Willie Horton's backup in leftfield, and as a pinch-hitter. In both 1967 and 1968, Green also had significant playing time with the Tigers' triple-A team in Toledo. In 1968, he only appeared in 6 games for Detroit before being released in early July, ending his 12-year career just 3 months before the Tigers' World Series appearance.