New Acquisitions

In the past few months, I was running out of 1966 cards to feature on this blog. Sure, I had a lot of cards left, but they are either for players I already posted for another year, or capless Braves and Angels who I am tired of looking at.

But reinforcements have arrived! Last month I bought eleven 1966 cards on eBay, my first "new" baseball cards since I binge-purchased a bunch of 1965 cards in 2015. (Since then, I only bought football cards to complete my 1964 to 1966 Eagles, and some of the giant 1964 Topps cards.)

For me, the prize is the NL Batting Leaders card, with its 3 Hall of Famers.  There's a full-height crease just to the left of Willie Mays, but that's ok, I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for this one. Now I can post the 3 NL Batting/HR/RBI cards for 1966, completing the 48-card run from 1966 to 1969.


Low Numbers:

High Numbers:

Coming up in the next several posts, I will also take an in-depth look at these final cards for Chi Chi Olivo, Dick Bertell, Dave Roberts, and Bob Sadowski.

Born on the Same Day - 10/14/1940

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #18 in the series: Tommy Harper and Billy Sorrell - both born on 10/14/1940.

Tommy Harper came up with the Reds in 1962 and was a starting corner outfielder for them from 1963 to 1967 (leading the NL with 127 runs scored in 1965).

After 1 year in Cleveland, he was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft and was their starting 2B/3B in 1969. That season he led the AL in stolen bases (and also in times caught stealing).
He played 2 more seasons with the Brewers as their starting 3rd baseman (although by July 1971 he had moved back to the outfield).

Harper was a starting outfielder for the Red Sox from 1972-74, then strangely enough was traded to the Angels after the season for a utility infielder! He bounced to the Athletics and Orioles in late-75 and 1976 before retiring.


Billy Sorrell had a much shorter career. After playing in the Phillies' farm system from 1960-66, the Giants selected him in the Rule 5 draft (snaring Sorrell a spot on the 1967 Giants Rookie Stars card), but returned him to Philadelphia after a few weeks.

The Mets picked him up in 1968 for AAA depth, and he also played for the Royals' AAA team from 1969-71. Sorrell managed to see action in 57 games for the Royals in 1970, which is why this card exists. He finished up with 2 years in Japan (1972-73).

Born on the Same Day - 1/9/1936

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #7 in the series: Julio Navarro and Ralph Terry - both born on 1/9/1936.

Navarro pitched for the Angels from 1962 to 1964, and for the Tigers in '64 and '65. He also appeared in 1 game for the Tigers in 1966, and thanks to his 3 earned runs allowed in zero innings, he had an ERA of "Infinity", something I've never seen on someone's record! After 3 seasons in the minors, he resurfaced with the Braves in 1970.


Ralph Terry pitched for the Athletics and Yankees from 1956 to 1964. (Some would say that was the same organization!) Terry's best season was 1962, when he led the AL with 23 wins and 298 innings pitched. He was named the World Series MVP that season, fashioning a 2-1 record and a 1.80 ERA.

He played for the Indians in 1965 before winding up his career with the Mets from 1966-67.

Born on the Same Day - 12/13/1935

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #6 in the series: Joe Christopher and Lindy McDaniel - both born on 12/13/1935.

Christopher played for the Pirates from 1959-61, the Mets from 1962-65, and 12 games for the Red Sox in early 1966. He was the Mets' regular right fielder in 1964, and also saw a lot of playing time in '62 and '65.


McDaniel was the classic veteran reliever (like Hoyt Wilhelm and Stu Miller). He played in 987 games over 21 seasons (1955-75), and although primarily a starter in '57 and '58, he only started 15 games after 1959.

Lindy played 8 years with the Cardinals, 3 with the Cubs, 2 1/2 with the Giants, 5 1/2 with the Yankees, and finished up with 2 seasons with the Royals. All those years with St. Louis and New York, and I remember him primarily as a Giant (my first card for him).

Born on the Same Day - 5/13/1934

Another installment in a new series called "Born on the Same Day", featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #5 in the series: Don LeJohn and Leon Wagner - both born on 5/13/1934.

LeJohn played in the Dodgers' farm system for 15 seasons (1954-68). His MLB time amounted to 34 games for LA during the 2nd half of 1965.

"Daddy Wags" was much more successful, playing 12 seasons from 1958-1969 (mostly for the Angels and Indians). He was an All-Star in '62 and '63, and although hitting more than 20 homers every season from 1961 to 1966 (including 37 in '62 and 31 in '64), his numbers plummeted after '66. He was a non-factor in his final 2 seasons.

This is the first player duo in this series where their birth dates on the card backs are both correct.

Born on the Same Day - 5/17/1932

Yesterday I started a new series called "Born on the Same Day", featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. The scope of this exercise is those players (or managers) who have cards in the 1965-1970 sets (because that's what I dooze). Ideally, I should also have their cards. 

In researching this, I found 51 pairs and 2 trios. In a few pairs both are stars, some pairs have 1 star, and other pairs are just 2 guys named Joe. In a few cases, these players were also teammates. 

I am going to post these in chronological order, and distribute them across my 1966-1970 blogs depending on which cards I have for who. The series began on my 1968 blog. 


This is post #3 in the series, and the first on the 1966 blog:
Billy Hoeft and Ozzie Virgil - both born on 5/17/1932.

Billy Hoeft played from 1952-1966, mostly with the Tigers and Orioles. In his final season, he played for the Cubs until finishing up with the Giants in the season's final month.

The back of Virgil's card shows his birth year as 1933, but Baseball-Reference.com and Wikipedia both have 1932, so I'm going with that instead of Topps' old information. Ozzie didn't have a card in the 1966 set, but John from the Cards That Never Were blog has made a custom 1966 Virgil card.

Hoeft and Virgil were teammates with the Tigers in 1958, the Orioles (during Virgil's brief call-up in April 1962), and with the Giants in September 1966.

50 Years Ago - 1966 Opening Day Lineups (AL)

Here are the American League opening day starters from half a century ago. Teams are shown in order of 1966 finish.

Orioles:

Twins:

Tigers:

White Sox:

Indians:

Angels:

                        (Jackie Warner was the right fielder)

Athletics:

Senators:

Red Sox:

       Tony Horton (the man Topps forgot) was the 1st baseman.

Yankees:

Here are the 1966 NL lineups.


Also check out the 1967 opening day starters:
Pitchers
NL batters
AL batters
.

50 Years Ago - 1966 Opening Day Lineups (NL)

This is my version of a "heritage card post" - the opening day lineups from half a century ago. Teams are shown in order of 1966 finish.

Dodgers:

Giants:

Pirates:

Phillies:

Braves:

Cardinals:

                    (The 1st baseman was George Kernek.) 

Reds:

Astros:

Mets (out of 10th place for the very first time):

Cubs:

Next time: The AL lineups.

Also check out the 1967 opening day starters:
Pitchers
NL batters
AL batters
 

Men Without Hats

WARNING: Do not view this post if you like well-designed baseball cards!


Here are the 1966 California Angels. Not a single player is shown with his team's logo. Why? Because they were the Los Angeles Angels, and are now the California Angels.

The Angels' lavender counterpart in the NL (the Braves) are also featured without caps, but the final 2 Braves' cards in the 1966 set (manager Bobby Bragan and pitcher Chi Chi Olivo) ARE photographed in the new Atlanta Braves caps.

Why no California Angels, Topps? Why?

(It looks like the Angels are cornering the market on Topps all-star rookies.)

And what's with these "side view" photos of Lou Burdette and Albie Pearson? Are we now collecting cards of players' ears? Burdette looks like he's in a lineup for the closing credits of a Dragnet episode.

Final Card: Recapping all 80

For the past few years, one of the recurring series on this blog has been a player's final card. The 1966 set includes the final card for 76 players and 5 managers. I have 72 of those 81 cards, all pictured below in order of years of service, from Robin Roberts (19 years) and Del Crandall (16 years) who both began their major-league careers in the 1940s, to a handful of 1-year wonders (Pete Charton to Bill Wakefield).

Among these 80, there are the famous (Roberts, Sandy Koufax, Bobby Richardson) the infamous (Tracy Stallard, Ernie Broglio), some who have been long forgotten, and many others in-between.

If I recall correctly, only Merritt Ranew ('69 Pilots), Lenny Green, Buster Narum, Larry Bearnarth, and Dick Stuart played after the 1966 season.

Those "absent on picture day" were:
Bob Purkey, P, Pirates, 13 seasons
Dick Bertell, C, Giants, 7
Art Mahaffey, P, Cardinals, 7
Choo Choo Coleman, C, Mets, 4
Chi-Chi Olivo, P, Braves, 4
Bob Sadowski, P, Red Sox, 4
Dave Roberts, OF, Pirates, 3
Birdie Tebbetts, Manager, Indians
6/17/2014 edit: Gary Kroll, P, Astros, 4

Also check out the 1967 and 1968 final cards.