#367 - Norm Cash

This would be the final card of Stormin' Norman's career. Norm had already seen a serious contraction of his playing time in '73 and in '74 he was unceremoniously dumped before the season ended. It was not a terribly fitting end to a guy's career in Detroit who'd entertained fans for a long time both on and off the field. His best moment of the '73 season may have been when he came to the plate as the final out of Nolan Ryan's no-hitter carrying a table leg. He had his huge '61 season, made a bunch of All-Star teams, was an offensive star in the '68 Series, and twice won Comeback Player of the Year (although I guess that last one could be viewed as a mixed blessing). Plus Norm was a friendly guy who played hard off the field as well, happy to suck some down with fans at local bars. That last trait would get him some trouble at the end. Here he reaches for an imaginary low throw during spring training showing off a mitt that looks as old as he is. Leaning on the batting cage behind him appears to be manager Billy Martin, no slouch in the partying life himself.

Norm Cash was a big deal football star in high school in Texas. He then attended Sul Ross State in Alpine, where as a sophomore he rushed for over 1,200 yards. Signed by the White Sox that spring of '55 he hit .290 in B ball with 17 homers and 64 RBI's. He upped that the next year at the same level to .334 with 23 homers and 96 RBI's. Both years he played primarily in the outfield. He then missed all of '57 and over half of '58 pulling his military hitch. He split the latter season between Chicago, where he only got eight at bats, and Triple A, where he hit .247 in 29 games. In '59 he returned to the top where he spent most of his time backing up Earl Torgeson at first base. After the season he went to the Indians in a big trade that brought the Sox Minnie Minoso. Then before the '60 season began he moved to Detroit for Steve Demeter.

 When Cash got to the Tigers he pretty much immediately took over first base, adding a .402 OBA to some pretty good stats. In '61 he had a monster year, leading the AL in hits, average, and OBA (with a .489), but only coming in fourth in MVP votes in the year of the M and M boys in NY. It was also revealed later that he'd corked his bat that year, or at least part of it. While he was never able to match those stats again he was a better than average power guy and fielder at first for the rest of the decade, hitting more than 20 homers each season. In '62 he nearly matched his '61 homer total though his average fell over 100 points. After a couple good years in '63 and '64 he was halfway through the '65 season and was hitting .204 with seven homers and 24 RBI's. The rest of the season he hit 23 homers with 58 RBI's in 78 games, while hitting over .300 to pull his final average up over 60 points. That second half won him his first Comeback of the Year award. In '66 he made his second All-Star team with stepped up stats although that was the first season his strikeout totals exceeded his walks. He was also putting down the sauce pretty good by then and after a significant downtick in '67 experienced another slow start in the big Series year of '68. But he again hit well over .300 in the second half and then turned it on in the Series by hitting .385 with a homer and five ribbies in seven games. He continued his rally in '69 and then hit a wall in '70 when injuries led to his smallest homer output since his ChiSox days. In '71 his big bounce doubled his homer total and nearly did the same to his RBI count. It also landed him two successive All-Star selections and his second Comeback Player award. He got a bit more post-season action following the '72 season and then began his slide. By August '74 he was done. Norm finished with a .271 average with 377 homers and 1,103 RBI's. He also put up a .374 OBA. In the post-season he hit .311 with two homers and seven RBI's in 45 at bats. He ranks in the top 25 in games and assists at first base and in the top 50 in putouts.

Cash had relocated to Michigan during his time with the Tigers on a permanent basis and in the off season worked a bunch locally, including in banking. At the end of his playing career he moved into the auto parts supply business. He also had a gig broadcasting Monday Night Baseball for ABC for a few years in the mid-Seventies. Still a big drinker, he suffered a stroke in '79 when he was only 44. He would eventually recover and then do some local broadcasting in the early Eighties. In '86 he slipped off a dock in rural Michigan, fell in the water late at night, and drowned. He was 51.

Norm gets one star bullet so it of course covers his big '61. He was drafted by the Bears in the 13th round but opted for the Sox instead.

This has been a lame month of posting. The new blogger format sucks and it’s taken five attempts to post this entry. Also too much work. Let's sum up the rest of April of '73 in the music world. On April 21 a new song took over Number One in both the US and the UK. "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" was a huge hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn. On the 26th, Elton John started his own record company, Rocket Records. He was still under contract on both sides of the pond so he wouldn't be able to record for it until '76. On the 29th rising star John Denver began a weekly show on BBC television.

This is the last card in a three-card AL run so let's get Norm and Larry together:

1. Cash and Jim Perry '73 Tigers;
2. Perry and Rod Carew '67 to '72 Twins;
3. Carew and Larry Hisle '73 to '77 Twins.

#146 - Ron Fairly

Now Ron Fairly gets to pose in that weird compound that Ken Singleton was in many posts ago. Ron is smack in the middle of a genuine part of the field however. And he looks calm enough despite what appear to be a bunch of paratroopers milling around in the background. I guess he'd seen it all by then. Ron was about to embark on a pretty good season in '73, posting one of his best averages while putting up a .422 OBA and grabbing his first All-Star nod.

Ron Fairly was a Georgia kid who played at USC where in '58 he was one of the Trojan leaders of the CWS champs. He was signed that year by the Dodgers and put in some brief stops at Single and Triple A levels before getting some outfield time in LA at the end of the season. He stayed up for all of '59 getting enough at bats as a mostly defensive replacement to make the Topps Rookie All-Star team that year. In '60 the outfield was pretty crowded and Ron spent the season at Triple A Spokane where he hit .303 with 27 homers and 100 RBIs, as well as a .418 OBA. In '61 Duke Snider got hurt, allowing Ron to get back in the outfield. Also, due to Gil Hodges aging out, first base was made ready for big Frank Howard. But Ron stole the position by hitting .322 with 48 RBIs in about half a season. He would serve at first the next couple seasons as the transition guy between Hodges and Wes Parker. He was a very good fielder, particularly at covering bunts, and was adept at getting on base. He also knew the rules and during the pennant drive of '63 he saved a win by getting a Joe Adcock homer called back. In '65 Parker came up and Ron moved to the outfield, replacing Tommy Davis. His best position was right field since although he had a good arm, he was notoriously slow. He would be a consistent hitter and in '65 would have a great Series, tagging Twins pitchers for a .379 average with a couple homers and six RBIs. In '67 and '68 Ron's numbers came in as LA sunk fast and after a month-plus in '69 he and Paul Popovich were traded to Montreal for Maury Wills and Manny Mota.

For the Expos, Fairly would have a bit of a resurgence, playing primarily first base again through '71, and his full-season numbers would match his best during his Dodgers days. After Mike Jorgensen arrived in '72 Ron would also play a bunch in the outfield. In '73 Ron moved to the top of the order so his RBI numbers came in a bit. In '74 his numbers and playing time decreased and in '75 he went to the Cards for a couple minor leaguers. For St. Louis he again did the transitional thing as he was helpful in easing Keith Hernandez into the first baseman spot and Ron put up really nice numbers: a .301 average with 13 doubles, seven homers, and 37 RBIs in only 229 at bats. He also had an OBA of .421. In '76 He got less time as Keith established himself and late in the season he was sold to Oakland where he got some time at first and as a pinch hitter. For '77 he was basically sold to the new Toronto Blue Jays and there he set his high with 19 homers while playing first and the outfield along with DH-ing. He also made it into his second All-Star team. He is the only player to be an All-Star from both Canadian teams. For '78 he went to the Angels for Pat Kelly (NOT the one from this blog) where he did his first and DH thing, getting ten homers and 40 RBIs in under half a season. That was it for Ron as his dream to play in four decades didn't pan out. For his career he was a .264 hitter with 215 homers - he is the only player with over 200 homers lifetime without hitting 20 in a single season - and 1,044 RBIs. His OBA was .360 and he was a .300 hitter in the post-season.

Following his playing career Fairly jumped into broadcasting for the Angels ('79 to '86), San Francisco ('87 to '92), and the Mariners ('93 to 2006). He is also doing some color work this season for Seattle as part of a rotating group.


Ron's middle name is Ray but that looks like an L to me in his signature. Those two homers were actually hit in '65 (Ron went o-fer in '59). And his shovel throw was part of his bunt coverage at which he excelled. He also teamed well at Montreal with Rusty Staub defensively which is interesting because they were probably the two slowest guys in the league. When Ron played for the Blue Jays his manager was Roy Hartsfield, who was also his first manager in the minors.

Ron just misses connecting to Alston, for whom he played a bunch of years. Here, though, we hook him up to Dock Ellis. They missed each other by a year.

1. Fairly and Mike Jorgensen '72 to '74 Expos;
2. Jorgensen and Dock Ellis '77 A's and '78 to '79 Rangers.

#61 - Luis Aparicio

Look at this - two Hall of Famers in a row and they're both named Lou, more or less. Despite my propensity to mess this up - I really blew Ross Grimsley's geography - I am going to say this shot is from Oakland. If I am wrong, it will be doubly so because this almost exact setting is coming up again in two cards. This is also Aparicio's last card, so in homage I hope I am correct. Little Louie put in his final season as a player in '73 - and it was a pretty good one as his average topped his career one and he recorded double figures in stolen bases (against only one pick) for the first time since '69 - so the stats on this card are complete career ones.

Luis Aparicio grew up in Venezeula, the son of Luis Aparicio Ortega, probably the country's biggest baseball star. The senior Aparicio was also a shortstop who taught his son well, so that by the time the Baseball Amateur World Series was hosted in Caracas, the son was famous as well locally.After an excellent performance in that series as well as later that year in the country's first national tournament, Luis' reputation crossed borders and at the urging of both his manager, Lum Harris (whose biography will be up many cards later) and local and MLB star shortstop Chico Carrasquel, the White Sox signed him in early '54. Luis then moved pretty quickly through the Chicago system, hitting .282 in B ball that year and .273 - both very good averages back then for shortstops - in Double A in '55. Following that season The Sox sent its starting shortstop - ironically Chico Carrasquel - to Cleveland in order to make room for the team's new budding star.

Aparicio did not disappoint. His rookie season of '56 he won the AL Rookie of the Year title on the back of his .266 average and AL-leading 21 stolen bases. He also partnered right up with Nellie Fox at second base to provide excellent middle infield defense though that first year Luis had a bunch of throwing errors to the point where purportedly the home crowd was afraid to sit behind first base. But that got fixed quickly and Luis' D and speed would be the backbone of the improving Sox teams over the next few years. He led the AL in stolen bases with numbers in the upper twenties the next two years and in '58 won his first Gold Glove and received his first All-Star nod. Things peaked in '59 when Louie and Nellie together took the Go Go Sox to the '59 Series, finally breaking the NY stranglehold on the league and in which Luis performed very well. That year Luis upped the stolen base totals to 56 and he kept the number elevated the next couple years even though the Sox' fortunes faded pretty quickly. He would continue to lead the AL in that department and pick up All-Star and Gold Glove selections every year. He and Nellie played together through '62, which was an off one for Luis, partly, it was deemed, because he had put on weight. His stolen base total slid to 31 - though he still led the league - and his average 30 points. He was then traded to the Orioles for another Rookie of the Year guy, Ron Hansen, Pete Ward, and Hoyt Wilhelm.

Aparicio added his fine defensive touch to the Baltimore infield, reviving his offense a bit in '63 and much moreso in '64 when he hit .266 and stole 57 in the last year he would lead the AL in that department. In '65 the average took a hit but he reached his career high with ten triples and in '66 he helped the O's reach the World Series with one of his best offensive seasons, this time winning a ring. But '67 was another off year and following that season he was sent back to Chicago in a trade that brought Baltimore Don Buford.

While the Sox teams to which Aparicio returned were a pretty steep discount to the Go-Go guys, it was during this second round for the team that his average bloomed, popping to over .280 from under .260, including his sole .300 season, in 1970. Following that season he made his last move, going to the Red Sox for Mike Andrews and Luis Alvarado. This Luis continued garnering All-Star picks for Boston and was released during '74 spring training. He finished with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases, and a .262 average. He led the league in stolen bases nine consecutive seasons. He also appeared in ten All-Star games and won eight Gold Gloves. He led league shortstops in putouts four times, assists seven times, and fielding percentage six times. He is second all time in shortstop assists, fourth in double plays, and sixth in putouts. In the post-season he hit .286 in his ten games. He made it to the Hall on votes in '84, the first Venezeulan to do so.

After his career ended Aparicio returned to Venezuela to manage in its winter league, do some baseball commentary, and be revered as a local icon. Back in The States he has been a big baseball card show attendee.

No bullets/ stars on this card - no room! We get the parentheses back and the cartoon is nice and familial. I know Luis' dad was a big baseball guy but can find no information on the son, so I must assume that he was not.The one knock on Luis that I have read from a couple sources is that he wasn't very helpful to new or rookie infielders with whom he played during his career. Despite that, I'm a bit surprised he doesn't get an honor card in this set.

Even though we have a lifetime AL'er following a lifetime NL'er, this one is short:

1. Aparicio and Reggie Smith '71 to '73 Red Sox;
2. Smith and Lou Brock '74 to '76 Cards.