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: 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.

American League Batting Leaders (#216, 218, 220)

Here are the American League batting leaders for the prior season. Tony Oliva and Willie Horton each appear twice, and there are two Red Sox players, and (surprising to me) two Indians. In addition to Horton, the Tigers are also represented by 1st baseman Norm Cash, so only 4 of the 10 AL teams are represented.


These were the only three AL players to hit .300 or better. Tony Oliva won the 2nd of his 3 AL batting crowns in 1965. Carl Yastrzemski was getting warmed up for his triple crown 1967 season. (Why did Topps take a photo of Yaz with his chin up? Did they really think he might be traded?) Vic Davalillo hit .301 in 1965. (I would never have guessed he appeared on a leaders card.)




Tony Conigliaro won the AL home run title in his 2nd season, breaking Harmon Killebrew's 3-year reign at the top. Tony's 32 homers were well off the normal league-leading pace in the upper-40s. Tiger teammates Cash and Horton rounded out the top 3.




Indians' slugger Rocky Colavito led the league with 108 RBI. This was his only RBI crown, although he collected over 100 six times, including 140 in 1961. (Some guy named Maris led the AL that year with 141.) Rocky won the home run title in 1959 with 42 dingers. Horton finished 2nd, with Oliva in 3rd place. (I always knew Oliva was a hitting guru, but never thought of him as a power guy, so I was a little surprised to see him here.)

 

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.

Floyd Weaver (#231)

Here is the 2nd of Floyd Weaver's 3 Topps cards. (He also appeared on the Indians' Rookies card in the 1965 set, and in the 1971 set as a member of the White Sox.)

Weaver was signed by the Indians in 1961. His major-league debut came in the final game of the 1962 season, when he was the Indians' starting pitcher that day. Floyd returned to the minors for the next 2 seasons (as a starter) then resurfaced for 32 games in 1965 (all but 1 in relief). It would prove to be his final time with the Indians.

After another full season with the Indians' AAA team in 1966, Weaver was traded to the Mets for infielders Ernie Bowman and Lou Klimchock.

Floyd never made it to New York, spending the entire 1967 season in the minors. He was out of baseball during the '68 season, and spent the '69 season in the Giants' and White Sox organizations.

He finally made it back to the big leagues in 1970, pitching 31 games for the White Sox and 21 games for the Brewers in 1971. He also spent time in the Cubs' minor league system in 1972 and 1973.

 Floyd Weaver passed away at age 67 in November 2008.

Orioles Rookies: Darold Knowles / Andy Etchebarren

The 2 players featured on the 1966 Orioles Rookies card (#27) got lots of playing time in 1966.

Darold Knowles was actually traded to the Phillies prior to the 1966 season (for reliever Jack Baldschun, who was flipped to Cincinnati in the Frank Robinson trade). Knowles became the go-to guy in an otherwise aging Phillies' bullpen in 1966. He led the staff with 69 appearances, and notched 13 saves (9 more than the next guy).

After the season, Darold was traded to the Senators for outfielder Don Lock. He spent 4+ seasons toiling in Washington, then was traded to the Oakland Athletics in May 1971. Knowles appeared in the post-season for the A's in '71 and '73. After the 1974 season, Darold bounced around for 5 more years (Cubs, Rangers, Expos, Cardinals) before being released by St. Louis in May 1980.



Andy Etchebarren took over the starting catcher's job as a rookie in 1966, making the all-star team and playing in the World Series against the Dodgers. He was also the regular backstop in '67 (with another all-star appearance), but for the next 7 seasons he shared the job with Elrod Hendricks ('68-'71), Johnny Oates ('72), and Earl Williams ('73-'74). He also played in the '69, '70, and '71 World Series, and the '73 and '74 ALCS.
In June 1975, he was sold to the Angels, and was their starting catcher for the last 5 weeks of the season, and for most of 1976. After the 1977 season, he was sold to the Brewers, but only played 4 games in early April 1978 before his career was over.

Final Card: Harvey Kuenn

This is the final player card for Harvey Kuenn (#372). He played 15 seasons in the majors, and was a shortstop for the first half of his career before switching to the outfield.

Kuenn was signed by the Tigers in 1952, and spent just one season in the minors before making his major-league debut on September 6, 1952. Harvey took over as Detroit's starting shortstop that day, and remained there until the end of the 1957 season. As a rookie, Kuenn led the AL with 209 hits, batted .308, and won the Rookie of the Year award. He also made his first of 8 consecutive all-star appearances.

Harvey also led the AL in hits for the '54, '56, and '59 seasons, and in doubles for the '55, '58, and '59 seasons.



At the start of the 1958 season, Kuenn switched to center field, making 138 starts there. (His previous major-league outfield experience consisted of 1 inning.) After one more season in Detroit (as the regular right fielder), Kuenn was traded to the Indians on April 17, 1960 for outfielder Rocky Colavito.

Kuenn spent just one season in Cleveland. It would be his last season in the American League, and his last as an all-star. In December he was traded to the Giants for pitcher Johnny Antonelli and outfielder Willie Kirkland.

In 1961, Harvey shared the left field duties with Orlando Cepeda (with Cepeda also alternating at 1B with Willie McCovey). Kuenn also started a few dozen games in right field.

Kuenn spent 3 more full seasons with the Giants, mostly as the 3rd/4th outfielder (depending on whether McCovey was playing 1st base or the outfield), and also started about 50 games at 3rd base during 1963. His playing time was gradually decreasing over those 3 seasons, and by 1965 he was hardly playing at all.

At the end of May 1965, Kuenn was traded to the Cubs (with pitcher Bob Hendley and catcher Ed Bailey) for catcher Dick Bertell and outfielder Len Gabrielsen. He played 54 games for the Cubs that season, mostly as a pinch-hitter, but also as a 6th outfielder.

In April 1966, Kuenn was sold to the Phillies, and wrapped up his career that season as a pinch-hitter.

Kuenn would later manage the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982 (where he won the AL pennant) and 1983.

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.

Final Card: Tony Martinez

This is Tony Martinez' last baseball card (#581). He also appeared on a 1963 Rookies card, and as an Indian in the 1964 set. Tony was primarily a shortstop, playing less than 5% of his major and minor league games at 2nd base.

Martinez was signed by the Indians in 1960, and played shortstop for various teams in their farm system from 1960 to 1965. He also played 43 games with Cleveland in 1963, and fewer than a dozen games in each of 1964 and 1965. Also in '65, he played for the Cardinals' triple-A team in Jacksonville, although it appears that he was still property of the Indians.



Tony made the Indians team at the start of 1966, but only played in 17 games, the last on June 14th. Two days later, he was sold to the Cardinals, who assigned him to triple-A Tulsa for the remainder of the season. He would never return to the big leagues.

On April 1, 1967, Tony was bundled with pitcher Art Mahaffey and 2nd baseman Jerry Buchek, and shipped off to the Mets for veteran shortstop Ed Bressoud and outfielder Dan Napolean. Martinez spent 1967 and 1968 in the minors, although he only played in 24 games combined for those last 2 seasons.

Final Card: Jim Dickson

This is Jim Dickson's final card (#201). He previously appeared on the 1964 Reds Rookies and 1965 Athletics Rookies cards.

Jim was signed by the Pirates in 1958, and spent 4 seasons in the low minors as a starter and reliever. After the 1961 season, he was selected by the expansion Houston Colt .45s in the minor-league draft. Dickson pitched all of 1962 and the first half on 1963 with the Colt 45s' triple-A team in Oklahoma City. He made his major-league debut with Houston on July 2nd, and appeared in 13 games for the Colt 45s, all as a reliever.



Prior to the 1964 season, Jim was traded to the Reds for shortstop (and future Red Sox' manager) Eddie Kasko. Dickson only got into 4 games for the Reds that year, spending most of the season with the Reds' AAA San Diego team.

In November 1964, he was selected by the Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. This required him to stay on the major-league roster for the entire season. (1965 would be his only full season in the majors.) He pitched 85 innings in 68 games, both high points of his short career.

The 1966 season would be his last in the big leagues. He made his final appearance for the Athletics on July 24th, and spent the remainder of the 1966 season, as well as the 1967-70 seasons in the minors.