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.

Dissecting the 1966 Set

Continuing the series I started with the 1967, 1968, and 1969 sets, here is similar information about the 1966 set. 

The 1966 Topps set had 598 cards, and curiously does not include any World Series cards. There are 20 manager cards (none for the Cubs but 2 for the Astros), 19 team cards (no Astros), 46 rookie stars cards, 12 league leaders, 5 multi-player cards, and 7 checklists. There are also 489 cards of individual players.

Here is the position breakdown of the 489 player cards. Only a few cards have the position abbreviated (mostly 2nd basemen).  The only pitcher abbreviated to "P" is Aurelio Monteagudo (naturally!). 

205 cards for Pitcher
52 cards for Catcher
21 cards for 1st Base
22 cards for 2nd Base
23 cards for Shortstop
20 cards for 3rd Base
18 cards for Infield
106 cards for Outfield

That's a total of 467 cards. The remaining 22 cards featured players at more than 1 position (the least amount for any year from 1966-69). Below is a sample of each position:

As we've seen with the other sets so far, no combination of positions is more prevalent than 1B-OF, this time with 4 players: Bob Johnson, Orlando Cepeda, Wes Parker, and Tito Francona. (I was going to use Cepeda's card, but we are already Giant-heavy.)

The opposite combo of OF-1B usually has the 2nd-most players, as it does here with three (Walt Bond, Bob Chance, and the Phillies' John Herrnstein).

Jim Ray Hart is the only player at 3B-OF, while Joe Nossek and the Indians' George Banks check in at OF-3B.

Felix Mantilla (whose card I don't have) is all alone at 2B-OF, and there are none at OF-2B.  Cookie Rojas and (of course) Jim Stewart are the two INF-OF representatives.

There are only two players in the set with positions of C-1B, and they are teammates Joe Torre and Gene Oliver. Since John Boccabella doesn't have his own card yet, there are no 1B-C cards (heh heh).

Harmon Killebrew is the only player at 3B-1B, with none at the opposite position.

Al Weis and the Senators' Ken Hamlin both have a position of 2B-SS, while Roberto Pena is the only SS-2B (and wouldn't you know it - I don't have his card.) The scarcity of players at these two positions continues to amaze me.

These are the only 2 players at these positions, and there are none with the reverse combo.

This position combo is even stranger than Mel Queen's "P-OF" found in the 1967 set. "1B-INF"? Shouldn't that be "INFIELD"?


There are so many quirks in this set that I don't know where to begin:

1. Dick Ellsworth's card has a photo of Ken Hubbs, his Cubs' teammate who died 2 years earlier in a plane crash.

2. There is no card for a Cubs' manager (Leo Durocher).

3. There are 2 manager cards for the Astros. Lum Harris was fired in December 1965, and replaced by Grady Hatton. (Who fires a manager in DECEMBER?)

4. No cards for veterans Maury Wills, Chris Short, Joe Adcock, Dick Hall, Bob Lillis, Frank Bolling, Don Blasingame, Jim Gilliam, Lou Clinton, Ed Roebuck, or Wes Stock. (Here are some custom 1966 cards to fill the gap.)

5. 14 pitchers for the Astros, while most teams had 9 to 11.

6. FOUR catchers and SEVEN outfielders for the Angels, and EIGHT outfielders for the Orioles. (The Angels also have 4 catchers in 1967, and 8 outfielders in 1967 AND 1968 !)

7. No cards for Dodgers' SS, Astros' SS, Braves' 2B, or Senators' 2B (see above comments about Wills, Lillis, Bolling, and Blasingame).