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 fo…

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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…

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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, h…

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Aubrey Gatewood (#42) had a brief career in the mid-1960s with the Angels.Signed by the Tigers in 1959, he was selected by the Angels in the December 1960 expansion draft. After one season on the Angels’ farm, Aubrey was selected by the expansion Mets…

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Ron Nischwitz (#38) had a brief career in the early 1960s, mostly with the Detroit Tigers. He was signed by the Tigers in 1958, and assigned to the class-A Lancaster (PA) Red Roses. Among his teammates that first season were future California Angels B…

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Awhile back, I posted the Luman Harris card. Lum was the Astros’ manager in 1965, but was fired in December (about 2 months AFTER most teams conduct their off-season firings!) Topps issued a 2nd manager card for the Astros in 1966. They would do the …

Continue reading about Grady Hatton (#504) »

This is the last of 5 cards donated to this blog by Deans Cards a few months ago. (Dean has also contributed some 1963 and 1970 cards to the cause.)I first became aware of Al Kaline back in 1967, although at that time I thought his name was pronounced…

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Here’s an early card of the Hit King, courtesy of Dean’s Cards. How early? Let’s see: short hair, white Reds’ cap, vest-top uniform, position = 2nd base, and career hits under 1000!Rose began his career as the Reds’ regular 2nd baseman in 1963. In 19…

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Les “Buster” Narum was born in Philadelphia in 1940. He also attended high school in Clearwater, FL. That’s 2 links to the Philadelphia Phillies, although he never played for them.Buster was signed by the Orioles in 1958, and spent 6 seasons in their …

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This is the third and last card for Bob Heffner. I wonder if Bob is related to Reds’ manager Don Heffner, or maybe to man-about-town Hugh Hefner? (True, Bob’s name is spelled differently than Hugh’s, but Topps has been known to goof up spelling player…

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This is the 4th and final Topps card for Larry Bearnarth (#464).Larry was signed by the Mets in 1962, and after only one season at triple-A Syracuse (where he fashioned a 2-13 record as a starting pitcher), he made his major-league debut with the Mets …

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Two posts ago, I mentioned that all the Braves’ cards were hatless, since the Braves had just moved to Atlanta in the off-season. I just realized that Topps’ other lavender team, the Angels, are also all hatless (or with airbrushed hats), as they had a…

Continue reading about Jim Fregosi (#5) »

This is the last of John Herrnstein’s 4 Topps baseball cards (#304).John was signed by the Phillies in 1958, and began his career in 1959 with the class B Des Moines Demons in the Three I (or Three-Eye, or Illinois-Indiana-Iowa) League. He remained in …

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Today I’m posting another disaster from the 1966 set known as an Atlanta Braves card. Because the team had moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season, almost every Braves card in the 1966 set is an ugly, hatless, colorless (unless you like l…

Continue reading about Joe Torre (#130) »

Here’s the Say Hey Kid, occupying the #1 card in Topps’ set. I received this card from DeansCards.com. This is the 2nd Willie Mays card I got from Deans Cards, having purchased a replacement for my lost 1969 card a few years ago. Coincidently, Topps…

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Joel Horlen was one of the White Sox’ “Big Three” starting pitchers in the mid-1960s. (No, the Orioles didn’t invent that concept.)Horlen was signed by the White Sox in 1959, and pitched in the minors for 3 seasons before making his major-league debut …

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Recently, I received a surprise package of 1966 and 1970 cards from the folks at DeansCards.com. Thanks, Dean! Over the past few years, I have purchased many vintage cards from them (usually ‘Ex’, sometimes ‘VG’), and have always been satisfied with t…

Continue reading about Brooks Robinson (#390) »

My 1966 blog resumes with the final card of Senators’ pitcher Howie Koplitz (#46). Howie was signed by the Tigers in 1956, and pitched for 6 years (mostly as a starter) before making his major-league debut in September 1961, after compiling a 23-3 reco…

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Like Gil Blanco in my recent 1967 post, Roland Sheldon was a former Yankees pitching prospect who rode the Kansas City/New York express (but in the wrong direction).Sheldon was signed by the Yankees in 1960, and after going 15-1 with their class-D Aubu…

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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 in 157 games, and …

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Merritt Ranew (#62) first came to my attention as one of the characters in Jim Bouton’s book Ball Four. A backup catcher, Ranew began and ended his short career with expansion teams (Houston Colt .45s, Seattle Pilots).Merritt was signed by the Milwauke…

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It’s hard to figure out Topps’ logic when it came to multi-player cards in the late 1960s. In 1966, there were 5 such cards, all within the first 300 cards: AstrosGiantsPhilliesPiratesWhite SoxIn the later series, multi-player cards just disappeared.I…

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Frank Kreutzer (#211) pitched for the White Sox and Senators in the early-to-mid 1960s.He was signed by the Red Sox in 1961. After only one season in their farm system, he was drafted by the White Sox, spending the next 2 seasons in Chicago’s farm sys…

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Here’s a guy I never heard of until I got his 1966 card within the past year. Julio Navarro (#527) began his career in 1955, spending 8 seasons in the Giants’ farm system before the Angels purchased him in September 1962. He pitched 9 games in relief f…

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This card (#164) is the first of 2 White Sox Rookies cards in the 1966 set.This is not Tommie Agee’s first card, as he previously appeared on an Indians Rookies card in 1965. I don’t know who as the record for most appearances on a “rookie” card, but i…

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Here is the final card for outfielder Carl Warwick (#247). Warwick was signed by the Dodgers and played in their minor-league system for 3 seasons (1958-60) before making his major-league debut with the Dodgers on April 11, 1961. A month later, he was …

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I originally posted this on 11/15/2009, but recently I found several more players who were missing 1966 cards, so I’m bumping this to the top.Here are some players didn’t have a card in 1966, though playing in the majors for some time:Joe AdcockJoe was…

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George Banks (#488) was a utility player who played briefly for the Twins and Indians from 1962-1966. Although he played 3B-OF in the majors, in his 11-year minor league career he was almost exclusively a 3rd baseman.George began baseball life as a Yan…

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Gellman at Sports Cards Uncensored has issued a Blog Bat Around challenge (similar to the old TV shows where contestants are set loose in a store with a shopping cart, some $$$, and a few minutes on the clock).He asks “What sports cards/memorabilia wou…

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Here’s the final card for pitcher Bill Faul (#322), who looks like like a guy named Mike that I used to work with.Faul started his career with the Tigers in 1962. He spent most of the season in class-A ball, and pitched 1 game with the Tigers in late …

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Bobby Richardson (#490) was the regular 2nd baseman for the Yankees during the end of their golden era (1959-1966). After losing back-to-back World Series in 1963 and 1964, the grand old Yankees began dropping parts like a junker losing its transmissio…

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Here is the final baseball card for 19-year veteran pitcher Robin Roberts (#530). I just received this card a few days ago, filling a prominent gap near the top of my list of retiring veterans.Roberts was signed by the Phillies in 1948, and after only…

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In the past few days, the following guys have shown up in my mailbox (along with some late-80s/early-90s Phillies in tow):I have now completed these sets:1967 NFL Football1969 Baseball1969 Deckle-edge insert setAll Phillies from 1964 to 1993 (except Sc…

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