#626 - Pittsburgh Pirates/Pirates Team Records (part 2)

On the Pirates checklist front we get a significant part of what would be the team’s starting line-up in ’74. Two signatures here – Ken Brett’s and Jerry Reuss’s – belong to people not on the team in ’73. There is one Hall of Famer in Willie Stargell and one cusp guy in Al Oliver. There could have been another of those latter guys in Dave Parker but he didn’t make the cut. Manny Sanguillen seems to prefer the multi-level signature. On to the pitchers we go.

Pete Mikkelsen was born in Staten Island and is reported to have remained there through high school but he graduated from a school in Alhambra, California, the same town in which Ralph Kiner went to high school. So maybe Pete moved out there late in his high school career. Wherever he was he attracted the attention of the Yankees who signed him in ’58 out of school, sending him to D ball that summer. Pete didn’t do too great, going 0-4 with a high ERA and lots of walks as a reliever that summer. He was a big kid but his fastball and curve were sort of mediocre. In ’59 he went 9-9/4.44 as a spot guy in D ball and in ’60 improved to 13-10/4.43 in C ball. In ’61 he began his Marines reserve hitch and moved up to A ball where he went only 4-10 as a spot guy again but posted by far his best ERA with a 3.49. He also pitched well that year in a couple Double A games. In ’62 he hurt his shoulder and was unable to throw his big sinker any more so he modified it by developing a palmball he threw from shoulder height. He moved to the pen in A ball that year and between his injury and military duty his innings came down but he posted a 3-5 record with a 3.18 ERA and nearly a K an inning with his new pitch. In ’63 he refined it and finally stuck in Double A, going 11-6 with a 1.47 ERA as a reliever. After a good spring in ’64 he moved up to NY and became the ace of the pen with a 7-4 record, 3.56 ERA, and twelve saves. In the Series that year he gave up a grand slam to Tim McCarver but otherwise pitched well. In ’65 he fell to 4-9 in the big tumble with just one save but he lowered his ERA to 3.28. He then went to Pittsburgh for aging pitcher Bob Friend and had a big year, going 9-8/3.07 with 14 saves. In ’67 injuries and more reserve work sort of killed his season and after going just 1-2 with two saves and a 4.31 ERA he was taken by the Cubs off waivers. Pete’s time in Chicago was not productive and early in ’68 he went to St. Louis for whom he went to Triple A. There he sandwiched a nice 16-4/1.91 season in the rotation around a few good games up top in June. At the end of the year he went to the Dodgers for Jim Ellis and for LA he did his most consistent work, the next four seasons going a combined 24-17 with a 3.27 ERA and 20 saves. ’72 was his last year – his last Topps card was in ’68 – and he finished with a record of 45-40 with a 3.38 ERA, 49 saves, and went 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in his four post-season games. He moved to a farm he’d purchased in Washington state after he finished as a player and worked the farm until he passed away in 2006 from cancer at age 67.

Vic Willis was covered on the Braves team card post.

Burleigh Grimes grew up in Wisconsin where by his early teens he was working at lumber mills and already throwing a spitter. He signed with a local D league team in 1912 when he was 18 and over the next year-plus went 10-6 at that level with a decent ERA and got purchased by the Tigers. Detroit then flipped him to an A league team for whom he went 6-7 the rest of the way. He then won 23 for a C team in ’14, and then 17 and 20 for an A team in ’15 and ’16, respectively, both years with super ERA’s. Late in ’16 he was purchased by Pittsburgh and he went 2-3 from mid-September on in the rotation. In ’17, though, he was only 3-16 with a high ERA and prior to the ’18 season he was sent to Brooklyn in a trade that brought the Pirates Casey Stengel. With the Dodgers/Robins Burleigh became a star, winning 19 games his first year while missing part of that season and nearly half of the next one for Naval duty. Ex that ’19 season he averaged 21 wins a year through ’24 wile leading the NL once in games, winning percentage, wins, and strikeouts, three times in complete games, and twice in innings pitched. In ’20 the spitter was outlawed but Burleigh was grandfathered in and allowed to continue throwing it the duration of his career. He could be pretty nasty on the mound and regularly threw at batters. After a nasty bad year in ’25 – 12-19 with a 5.04 ERA – and a not great season in ’26 he was sent to the Giants prior to the ’27 season in a three-team deal. With NY he bounced to win 19 with a better ERA. But he didn’t get along with John McGraw and in ’28 he was sent to Pittsburgh – Round 2 – for Vic Aldridge. That year Burleigh recorded his biggest season, going 25-14 with a 2.99 ERA while leading the NL in wins, starts, games, complete games, innings, and shutouts. After winning 17 in ’29 he wore out his welcome again and went to the Braves and then St. Louis for whom he won 13 in just over half a season in ’30, returning to the Series. He then won 17 for the Cards in ’31 before having an excellent Series, going 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in his two starts. But he was then on the road again, going to the Cubs – for Hack Wilson, among others – back to St. Louis, back to NY, and finally back to Pittsburgh – Round 3 – where he finished things in ’34. Burleigh went 270-212 with a 3.53 ERA, 314 complete games, 35 shutouts, and 18 saves. In the post-season he was 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA in nine games. He could hit, posting a .248 regular season average with 168 RBI’s and a .316 Series average. After playing he turned to managing various minor league franchises: for St. Louis (’35-’36 and ’45-’46); Brooklyn (’39-’40); Pittsburgh (’42-’44); the Giants (’46-’48); and the Browns (’52-’53). In ’37 he managed the Dodgers for two seasons, replacing Stengel, and going 132-171 his only seasons up top. He missed the ’41 season after being banned for reportedly spitting in an umpire’s face. From ’48 to ’52 he was a scout for the Yankees. He also scouted for Kansas City (’54-’56) and Baltimore (’60-’71), his final gig in basball, retiring at age 77. He then returned to Wisconsin. Voted into the Hall in ’64, he passed away at home in ’85 when he was 92. He has a SABR bio.

Jack Chesbro has a bio on the Yankees team post.

Murry Dickson was born in Missouri and relocated to Leavenworth, KS, as a kid. He threw American Legion – check out his SABR bio for an interesting tidbit during that time – and semi-pro ball near home before he was signed by St. Louis in ’37 when he was 20. He had a couple choppy years in the minors his first two seasons but in ’39 won 22 in A ball  before making his short debut with the Cards in September and then in ’40 won 17 in Double A. In ’41 he won 21 in Double A and then made the St. Louis roster the following year. The next two years he worked as a spot guy, going a combined 14-5 with a 3.38 ERA and a couple saves for the NL champs. He then enlisted, initially playing service ball, but by mid-’44 he was on the front lines in Europe and saw lots of action. He returned to St. Louis in ’46 to post maybe his best season, going 15-6 with a 2.88 ERA and a save in his spot role. His starts picked up a bit the next couple years though he went a combined 25-32 before being traded to Pittsburgh following the ’48 season. With the Pirates he would generally put up good ERA’s but also losing records. His first two seasons he went a combined 22-29 but in ’51 became a full-time starter while going 20-16 for a team that won only 63 games. The next two years he led the NL in losses with 21 and 19, respectively. He then went to the Phillies prior to the ’54 season, again posted a better than league average ERA, and again led the NL with his 20 losses. He won twelve in ’55 and after a crappy start to the ’56 season went back to St. Louis where he went 13-8 after the trade. Prior to the ’57 season he hurt his shoulder and only got into 14 games, going 5-3. He then went to Kansas City, the Yankees and back to KC in ’59 where he finished things out of the pen at 42. Murry put up a 172-181 record with a 3.66 ERA, 149 complete games, 27 shutouts, and 23 saves. In five post-season games he went 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA while winning two rings. He, too, could hit, putting up a .231 regular season average, and a .400 post-season one. A union carpenter in off-seasons he took that on back in Leavenworth full-time after playing and passed away there in ’89 from emphysema. He was 73. 

Elroy Face was born in Stephentown, NY, not too far from Albany, and threw American Legion ball there in high school. When he graduated he went to the Army where he continued to pitch in service ball in Guam, and when he returned home also did the same for some local teams. A little guy, he never planned to play pro ball, but was spotted in a tournament by a Phillies scout in ’49, when he was 21. Signed that year he made an immediate impact, going a combined 32-7 with a 2.88 ERA his first two years of D ball. Prior to the ’51 season he was selected by the Dodgers in the minor league draft and that season went 23-9 in A ball with a 2.78 ERA followed up by a 14-11/2.83 season in Double A in ’52. He was then selected by Pittsburgh in the Rule 5 draft which meant an automatic promotion to the top in ’53 where he had a tough season as a spot guy, going 6-8 with a 6.58 ERA. The next year it was back to Triple A, but not before he learned a new pitch in spring training from ex-Yankee reliever Joe Page, a forkball. While it wasn’t crazy successful for him right away – he went 12-11 with a high ERA in ’54 and then 5-7 /3.58 as a spot guy in ’55 back in Pittsburgh – it worked wonders when he moved into a relief role later that second season. That year he had five saves and then in ’56 went 12-13/3.52 with six saves while leading the NL with his 68 games. In ’57 he went 4-6/3.07 with ten saves while missing some games after being hit in the face by a comebacker. He set an NL record that year by pitching in nine straight games. In ’58 he was 5-2/2.89 with an NL-leading 20 saves before raising his profile huge in ’59 by going 18-1 with his record winning percentage with a 2.70 ERA and ten saves. His last two seasons he won a total of 22 consecutive games. In ’60 he helped take the Pirates to the Series with his 10-8/2.90/24 save season while again leading the NL in games. He saved three as well against the Yankees in the Series. In ’61 he again led the NL with 17 saves and in ’62 he turned that trick again with 28 while going 8-7 with a personal best 1.88 ERA. He would remain with the Pirates through most of the ’68 season, generally continuing to pitch well, though he was injured for part of ’64 and nearly all of ’66. Over that time he averaged 15 saves a season in his healthy years. Late in ’68 he was sold to Detroit for its stretch drive but missed out on the post-season. Early in the ’69 season he went to the new Expos as a free agent where he went 4-2/3.94/five saves his final year up top. In ’70 he finished things out with California in Triple A – he was 42 – and was done with a record of 104-95 with a 3.48 ERA, six complete games, and 193 saves. In his lone Series he posted a 5.23 ERA in his four games, but got those three saves. Another carpenter, in off-seasons he did cabinetry work and actually also traveled the yodeling circuit (there’s a yodeling circuit?). After playing he became the carpentry foreman at Mayview State Hospital before retiring in the early Nineties. He continues to reside in suburban PA.

Marty O’Toole was born in PA and relocated to Framingham, MA, at a young age. He grew up in a family of pitchers, two brothers having played extensive minor league ball. Marty began his pro career in ’07 when he was 18 and won 20 games for the local Brockton team, a B-level squad. According to his SABR bio, baseball-reference and other sites incorrectly have credited his brother’s stats for ’06 and ’07 to Marty. In ’08 he went 31-11 for the same team which got him purchased by Cincinnati late in the season. After a brief look he went back to Brockton – apparently he pissed off management – and in ’09 won 26 games. He was then purchased by Boston, who optioned him to the A leagues where for two teams Marty went a combined 22-8. In ’11 he was 15-11 by late July with a bunch of double-figure strikeout games and a bidding war began for his services. Eventually that was won by Pittsburgh, which paid $22,500 for Marty’s contract which was abetted by other fees that ultimately made Marty one of the most expensive pitchers of his day.  When he made it to Pittsburgh late that year he threw three straight complete-game wins before finishing his short season there 3-2 with a 2.37 ERA. In ’12 he put up a 15-17 record with a 2.71 ERA while leading the NL with six shutouts and his walk total. But Marty was already having severe arm problems due to his extreme usage in the minors which amounted to over 1,500 innings and 154 complete games in his 163 starts. Officially diagnosed with rheumatism in his throwing shoulder, he only went a combined 8-17 his next two MLB seasons and finished at that level with a record of 27-36 with a 3.21 ERA, 31 complete games, and two saves. In ’15 he returned to the minors where he went 14-15 that year in Double A and then a combined 39-26 the next three years for Omaha, a team in the A-level Western League. He finished with a record in the minors of 164-88. By the time he was pitching in Omaha he’d left his family in the wake of what was considered to be depression after being publicly derided for his physical flameout in Pittsburgh. He worked at a clothing store in Omaha and then managed an independent team there in ’19. Shortly thereafter he relocated to Oregon and then Washington, where by the late Twenties he was running a pool hall. He was a taxi cab dispatcher in the town of Aberdeen when he was found dead apparently after a fall down some stairs in ’49. He was 60.

Technically Bob Veale should have had a card in this set with Boston since he had eleven saves for the Sox in ’73. But he doesn’t so here we are. Bob grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where in high school he played first when he didn’t pitch, and was a batboy and occasional pitcher for the Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. He had a shot at getting signed by the Kansas City Monarchs but instead opted to go to Benedictine College in Kansas wher he played both hoops and baseball his four years there. Signed by Pittsburgh when he graduated in ’58 he had a tough start that year in C ball. A big guy and a hard thrower, Bob could rack up K’s but also put up big walk totals. He had a much better ’59 season in B ball, going 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA with 187 strikeouts and 126 walks in 147 innings. He then spent the next two years in Triple A, going a combined 24-20 with a 2.98 ERA while posting nearly a strikeout an inning. He began ’62 in Pittsburgh, where he went 2-2 as a spot guy before returning mid-year to Columbus to go 8-5. In ’63 he was back with the Pirates where he again did spot work, going 5-2 with three saves and a crazy good 1.04 ERA in 78 innings. The next year he joined the rotation where in ’64 he had maybe his best year, going 18-12/2.74 while leading the NL in walks and with 250 strikeouts. He would lead the NL in walks four of the next five seasons, though none of those totals was crazy high. In ’65 he had a comparable year with all those K’s and a record of 17-12/2.84. In ’66 he went 16-12 with his final season of over 200 strikeouts and in ’67 16-8 as his ERA elevated a bit and his complete games halved. In ’68 Bob went 13-14 with a 2.05 ERA, which was the lowest ERA posted by someone with a losing record in that many starts since 1914. Bob had two more seasons in the rotation before being made a reliever in ’71, when as a setup guy he went 6-0 with a hefty 6.99 ERA, one of the wiggiest stat combos I think I’ve seen in baseball. After spending a significant part of ’72 in the minors – 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA – while rehabbing from an injury, Bob was sent in September to Boston where he posted two wins and two saves while throwing shutout ball down the stretch. In ’73 he went 2-3/3.47 with those eleven saves and he finished his playing career the next year in Boston with a 120-95 record, 3.07 ERA, 78 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 21 saves. He was an All-Star twice and had a 13.50 ERA in an inning of post-season ball. He coached through at least ’84 for various organizations – not having Google news search is a killer for this stuff – and then did some scouting before retiring back to Birmingham, where he still resides.

Al “Lefty” Leifield was born in Illinois and grew up in St. Louis where he worked and played company ball after having to leave school early when his dad died. In ’02 and ’03 he played local ball and then in ’04 signed with Des Moines, and A team for whom he went 16-17 with a low ERA. In ’05 he improved to 26-9, was signed by Pittsburgh, and was able to go 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA for the Pirates that September. In ’06 he cracked the rotation full-time, going 18-12/1.87 and posting all those shutouts. In ’07 he went 20-16/2.33, and in ’08 15-14/2.10. Al was a control pitcher and he would continue to post excellent ERA’s, going 19-8/2.37 in ’09, 15-13/2.64 in ’10, and 16-16/2.63 in ’11. He lost his only Series start in ’09 though he got a ring and in ’12 he hurt his arm, starting badly before a May trade to the Cubs, for whom he went 7-2 after the trade with a 2.42 ERA. In ’13 his arm problems returned, and instead of going to the minors for rehab he returned home to St. Louis to work in a saloon. He then joined the San Francisco PCL team, going 13-8/2.47 in half a season and then 21-19/2.22 in ’14. He then put in three years of Double A ball, going a combined 39-39 with a 2.62 ERA before returning to MLB action with the Browns in ’18, for whom he did some spot work before the season shut down due to WW I. In ’19 he continued in that role for a 6-4/2.93 season before finishing his MLB stay in a bit of work the next year. Up top Al went 124-97 with a 2.47 ERA, 138 complete games, 32 shutouts, and seven saves. He finished 115-92 in the minors with a 2.40 ERA. He then coached for the Browns, Red Sox, and Detroit before returning to the minors to manage independent ball from ’29 to ’32. He then did some more coaching before returning to St. Louis in ’36 to work for the city’s water department, which he did until retiring in ’62. He passed away in ’70 when he was 87. He, too, has a SABR bio.

Al Mamaux was born and raised in Pittsburgh and after high school attended Duquesne University there from where he was signed by the Pirates in 1913 when he was 19. That year he went 18-16 in D ball before coming up to Pittsburgh for his September debut. The next year he worked through some injuries as a spot guy and went 5-2 with a 1.71 ERA. In ’15 he went 21-8 with a 2.04 ERA. Al was a fastballer pretty strictly and didn’t always have the best control and though in ’16 he went 21-15 with a 2.53 ERA for a sixth-place club, he led the NL in walks and earned runs. Those two stats were a prelude to a horrible ’17 when he went 2-11 with a 5.25 ERA and twice as many walks as strikeouts in only 16 games. Apparently Al liked ice cream a bunch and was a bit of a late night guy and, like Burleigh Grimes above, feuded with his manager. He was sent after the season with Grimes to Brooklyn where he missed nearly the whole ’18 season because he enlisted in the Army for WW I. The next two years he went a combined 22-20/2.67 for the Dodgers as he moved from the rotation to a spot role, putting up four saves that second season, when he also saw his only Series action. The next three years he pitched out of the pen as his ERA ramped up and he finished with the Yankees in ’24 with an overall 76-67 record, 2.90 ERA, 78 complete games, 15 shutouts, and ten saves. In the post-season he put up a 4.50 ERA in three games of relief work. He hit .182 up top and didn’t strike out terribly much. In both ’23 and ’24 Al spent considerable parts of the season in Double A where he went a combined 28-16 with a 3.28 ERA. In ’25 he coached in the minors for the Yankees befre being sold to the independent Newark Bears, a Double A International League team. Again, he coached for the ’26 season before also returning to the mound in ‘27. The next three seasons he went 25-10/2.60, 15-8/3.33, and 20-13/2.91 before he scaled down his appearances the next couple years. He would finish 131-74 in the minors and in ’30 took over managing the team. He was very popular and helped improve the team significantly, winning the league title in ’32 and ’33. He left after losing the playoffs that second year and after a year off managed Albany, a Nats affiliate for two season, but didn’t do nearly as well. He would finish with a 495-480 managing record. In ’37 he became the head coach at Seton Hall where he went a combined 69-19 through ’42. That last year his Pirates were undefeated and were led by a first baseman named Chuck Connors, who would go on to be The Rifleman on TV. He left the school to do wartime work duty the next few years and by ’45 had relocated to California where for years he worked as a security guard at an amusement park in Santa Monica. He was admitted to the halls of fame of the International League, Seton Hall, and Duquesne, where he finished up his degree in the off-seasons. For years he also did a singing bit on the vaudeville circuit. He was still working as a guard when he passed away in ’63 at age 66.

Charles “Babe” Adams was born and raised in Indiana farm country until he was 16 when, according to his SABR bio, he went to live on another farm in Missouri, where he played ball in high school. He remained there after graduating, working the farm, and for the next six years pitching for the town team. In ’04, when he was 22, he picked up a curve from an opponent which would become his money pitch in pro ball. The next year he signed with a C team in Parsons, Kansas, and went 21-9 with a 2.05 ERA, which led to a purchase by the Cards. He began ’06 on the St. Louis roster, didn’t pitch too well in his only game, and in May was returned to the minors, where he finished out the year 9-10/3.01 in A ball. The next two years at that level he went 24-13/1.99 and 22-12/2.08 with excellent control, which would be his hallmark. Late that first year he got purchased by Pittsburgh for whom he put in some more lousy innings. In ’09 he made the roster in the spring and while doing spot work went 12-3 with an absurd 1.11 ERA before getting three starts in that year’s Series and winning all of them. The next year he moved into the rotation from where he would throw excellent ball the next six seasons, going a combined 99-69 with a 2.46 ERA and only 300 walks in 1,550 innings. He was hurt in ’12 and missed half the season and during that time twice led the NL in WHIP. In ’16 a shoulder injury led to a poor record and rather than return to the minors for rehab he went home. But in ’17 his arm felt better and he did report to an A team to go 20-13/1.75. In ’18 he moved up to Double A, went 14-3/1.67 in half a season, and returned to Pittsburgh that July to go 1-1/1.19 the rest of the way out of the pen. He returned to the rotation in ’19 fully-healed, and the next three seasons went a combined 48-28 with a 2.20 ERA, all three years leading the NL in WHIP, and in ’20 leading the league in shutouts while in ’21 leading it in winning percentage with his 14-5 record. In ’22 he faded a bit to go 8-11 but in ’23 he went 13-7 at age 41. He remained with the Pirates through ’26 doing spot and pen work and in ’25 returned to the Series, 16 years after his last visit (I wonder if that’s a record). Babe finished with a record of 194-140 with a 2.76 ERA, 206 complete games, 44 shutouts, 15 saves, and just 430 walks in almost 3,000 innings. In the post-season he was 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA, three complete games, and a shutout. In ’27 Babe pitched for some local C clubs, going a combined 6-1, before he retired to be a full-time farmer. Problems during the Depression also had him pick up gigs as a sports reporter for various papers. In ’58 he relocated to Maryland to be near a daughter and he passed away there in ’68 at age 86.

Ray Kremer was born and raised in Oakland, where he played high school ball and then led his semi-pro team to an area title in 1913, when he was 20. In ’14 he got signed to a Double A team but had a messy season so in ’15 he moved down to B ball where he was 7-5/3.14 before the league threatened to fold and he went home. Prior to the ’16 season he was signed by the Giants but he’d developed rheumatism in his shoulder and again wasn’t very effective and so was cut. In ’17 he signed with the Oakland Oaks, a PCL team for whom he pitched the next seven seasons. His shoulder issues flared up from time to time and his team wasn’t so hot, so though he had a decent ERA he was a combined 42-64 his first four seasons. In ’21 he went 16-14 for his first winning season in six years and he followed that up with 20 wins in ’22 and 25 wins in ’23, finally shaking the “warm weather” pitcher tag and being signed by the Pirates at the end of that season. In ’24 he joined the Pittsburgh rotation as a 31-year old rookie, leading the NL with 41 games and four shutouts as he went 18-10 with a 3.19 ERA. In ’25 he went 17-8/3.69 before getting three starts in the Series and winning two of them. In both ’26 and ’27 he led the NL in ERA with marks of 2.61 and 2.47 while going 20-6 and 19-8 respectively. He won 15 in ’28 and 18 in ’29 before posting the rather amazing record of 20-12 – his wins led the NL – with a 5.02 ERA in ’30 as batters collected all those hits to put up an average of .322 against him. He won eleven in ’31 before slowing down considerably the next couple seasons, finishing his MLB career in ’33 when he was 40. Lifetime at that level he went 143-85 with a 3.76 ERA, 134 complete games, 14 shutouts, and ten saves. In the post-season he was 2-2 in his four starts with a 3.12 ERA and two complete games. In ’33 and ’34 Ray pitched a bit back in Oakland and finished his minor league career with an additional 115 wins. He then became a mailman for over 20 years before retiring upstate a bit in the late Fifties. He passed away from a heart ailment in ’65 when he was 71. He is yet another Pirate with a SABR bio.

Wilbur Cooper was born in West Virginia and as a young boy relocated to Ohio where he threw local ball before signing in 1911 with a D team from Marion. After going 17-11 for them late that summer he was sold to an A team in Columbus for whom he finished 3-3. In ’12 he went 16-9 with a 2.76 ERA for Columbus, now a Double A team, before a late August trade to Pittsburgh, where he finished 3-0 with a 1.66 ERA. The next year Wilbur worked out of the pen with some spot starts, going 5-3/3.29 with a save. In ’14 he moved into the rotation where he would remain the next eleven seasons as an excellent control guy. That year he went 16-15/2.13 and then fell a bit in ’15 to 5-16/3.30. Wilbur had lousy timing and managed to spend his whole career in Pittsburgh between two Series years. In ’16 he went 12-11 despite that great ERA but the next year he started posting big wins, going 17-11/2.36. From ’18 to ’24 he averaged 21 wins a season with well-above league average ERA’s. He led the NL in ’21 with 22 wins after setting a personal high the prior year with his 24-15 season. He won 20 in ’24 before being part of a big trade to Chicago that depressed the crap out of him. In ’25 he went only 12-14 before finishing his MLB career the next season in Chicago and Detroit. Wilbur went 216-178 for his career with a 2.89 ERA, 279 complete games, 35 shutouts, and 14 saves. He was a pretty good hitter, putting up a .239 average with 106 RBI’s and only 140 K’s during his career. He returned to the minors in ’26, moving to Oakland in the PCL in ’27 and winning 25 games there the next two years. He won 17 in A ball in ’29 before finishing his playing career in ’30 at that level with an 83-76 record. He then moved into real estate in the Pittsburgh area full-time outside of three seasons managing D teams from ’35 to ’37. He relocated to California in ’47 where he continued in real estate while also being involved heavily in local amateur baseball. Another pitcher with a SABR bio, he passed away in ’73 when he was 81.

Even splitting these up, that was a ton of bios. Time to see how Topps does representing this team. Offensively Milt May has a non-Traded traded card with Houston and Vic Davalillo has a regular one with Oakland with whom he finished the ’73 season. That leaves only the newly retired Gene Alley as the only guy on the team with more than four at bats without a card. Gene hit .203 with 25 runs in his 158 at bats in his final season. On the pitching side we miss: Bruce Kison, who got shut out after having a card in ’72 and ’73 and went 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA in his seven starts; John Morlan, who went 2-2/3.95 in ten games and would get his only card in the ’75 set; John Lamb, 0-1/6.07 with two saves in 20 games in his final MLB season, who was nearly killed by a line drive in ’71 and was the brother-in-law of Steve Blass; Jim McKee, 0-1/5.67 in 15 games in another last call; Tom Dettore, 0-1/5.96 in twelve games his rookie year, who would have cards with the Cubs in ’75 and ’76 and then a long run as a Pirates minor league pitching coach; and Chris Zachary, 0-1/3.00 with a save in six games in another final season, a one-time Houston phenom who made his debut in ’63. That adds up to eleven decisions and three saves missing. Overall, that combo is pretty good.

No Watergate news this time, just the hook-up:

1. Dave Cash was on the ’73 Pirates;

2. Cash and Ollie Brown ’74 to ’76 Phillies.

#363 - New York Yankees/Yankees Team Records

This happy bunch of guys is the 1973 version of the NY Yankees. My guess is this photo was shot sometime around mid-season due to the absence of outfielders Johnny Callison and Ron Swoboda who were both released after not great starts to the season. Plus Pat Dobson and Sam McDowell are both here and they weren't picked up until June. If that is the case then these guys should have been smiling. Bobby Murcer's typical All-Star season was abetted by hot starts from Ron Blomberg, who was still hitting .400 in early July, and Graig Nettles, who had an OBA of .500 in late June. The new pitchers were working out, especially Sudden Sam, who tossed two shutouts in a week, and at the break they were in first with a 59-45 record. But then things sort of fell apart. The team went 2-6 after the break, '72 surprise Steve Kline went on the DL, and pretty much everyone except Murcer and Thurman Munson stopped hitting. Eight straight losses at the end of August took them out of contention and by the end of September both Alou's were gone and manager Ralph Houk retired. The Yankees finished in fourth place with a losing record. But they'd be back in contention in '74. And Ralph would be back, but not with the Yankees.

The checklist front is dominated by pitchers. This is about the smoothest bunch of signatures so far and all these guys were actually on the team in '73. And who would have picked Thurman Munson's signature to have so much flair?


Now this is a loaded card back. Love or hate the Yankees, they are the only team in the set where just a listing of their Series wins almost pushes the team record stats off the card. By now it had been ten years since they were in a Series so precious few of these guys had team records. This will be a long one so let's get it going.

Bobby Richardson was the immediate precedent at second base to the guy in this set, Horace Clarke. Bobby was a South Carolina boy signed by the Yankees out of high school in '53. The Yanks won him over ten other teams and a couple D-1 schools. He didn't waste too much time. A .412 average in D ball got him pushed to B ball before the season was over. He then hit .310 in A ball in '54 and .296 in '55 at Double A before moving to Triple A - .280 - and then for a quick look to NY. In '56 a .328 season with 102 runs got him a one-way ticket to NY where he finished out the year as a back-up. In '57 the aging out of Jerry Coleman and the trade of Billy Martin got him significant starting time at second and he was an All-Star. Then in '58 Tony Kubek's emergence pushed Gil McDougald back to second and Bobby was a reserve again. But he was too good to keep on the bench and the next few seasons he would be the primary guy at second, teaming with Kubek to form a superior middle infield. In '61 Ralph Houk took over as manager which meant no more platooning and Bobby rarely missed a game the next six seasons. Each one he was an All-Star and five of those years he won a Gold Glove. He did a nice job on offense as well, rarely striking out, and twice hitting over .300, leading the AL with 209 hits in '62. He gassed it up in the Series, especially in '60 when he had 11 hits and 12 RBI's. He was ready to retire after '65 but Kubek beat him to it so Bobby hung out a year to ease the transition, signing a five-year contract. He played in '66 then quit as a player, doing consulting work with NY per his contract. He finished with a .266 average, and hit .305 with 15 RBI's in 36 Series games. In '70 he returned to South Carolina full-time and took over as coach of the University of South Carolina baseball team. He set in motion an excellent program in his seven years there and took the team to the CWS twice. He finished there with a 221-92-1 record. In '76 he ran for the House at the urging of Gerry Ford and barely lost. He then took a gig managing highway safety for the state through '80 when he moved to do pr work for Columbia Bible College - he was and is a big Christian speaker - through '84. He then coached at Coastal Carolina ('85-'86) and Liberty University ('87-'90), going a combined 61-38. He then retired although he remains an active speaker.

Babe Ruth was put in a boy's home at a young age by his saloon-owner dad because he was deemed incorrigible. It was there he learned to play baseball and excelled at all positions so that he was signed by the Baltimore Orioles - then a minor league team - in 1914 when he was 19. He went 22-9 that year and was subsequently sold to the Red Sox. He went 2-1 the rest of the season and then a combined 65-43 the next three as the sox won the Series the first two years and Babe took the AL ERA title in '16 with a 1.75. Perhaps the most amazing thing about his career is that if he remained a pitcher he had a decent shot at the Hall as well. In '18 the Sox could no longer ignore his outstanding hitting and they switched him between pitcher, first, and the outfield and he won the homer title. In '19 he set a record with 29 homers, led both leagues with 114 RBI's, hit .322 and still won nine games. Then came the infamous sale to the Yankees. There he became an institution and despite off years in '22 - injury - and '25 - too fat - he put up amazing numbers, averaging .349, 44 homers, 132 RBI's, 131 runs, 124 walks, and a .484 OBA. During that time he led the AL in runs seven times, homers ten times, ribbies five times, walks eleven times, average once, and OBA nine times. He led NY to seven Series, winning four. When his legs got old and the Yankees got tired of his carousing and wouldn't give him a coaching gig they sold him to the Boston Braves in '35 where he put in a few games before retiring to coach. Babe hit .342 with his 714 homers, 2,174 runs, 2,213 RBI's, 2,873 hits, 2,062 walks, and an incredible .474 OBA. As a pitcher he went 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA. In the post-season he hit .326 with 15 homers and 33 RBI's in 41 games. He put up a 3-0 record with a 0.87 ERA in the Series as well. He was elected to the Hall in '36. After his short time coaching he got gigs as a public speaker but pretty much retired. In '46 he was diagnosed with cancer from which he would pass away in '48 when he was 53.

Earle Combs was Kentucky all the way and went to Eastern Kentucky University where he was a major multiple-sport star, hitting over .500 his senior year. He earned a degree in education and began teaching locally, playing ball on the side. In '22 he signed to minor league team Louisville where he played for manager Joe McCarthy, who would manage him later on the Yankees. After hitting .344 in '22 and .380 in '23 with plenty of speed, he was traded to the Yankees for Elmer Smith and some cash. He jump started his career by hitting .400 his first few weeks as a rookie but then fractured his ankle and missed the rest of the season. The next year he stepped back in as the team's regular center fielder, a position he would keep for ten seasons. During that time he recorded over 200 hits three times and over twenty triples three times, leading the AL in the latter stat each of those years. His best season was '27 when he led the AL with 231 hits and 23 triples and hit .356 while scoring 137 runs for Murderers Row. He went to the Series four times and won three. In '34 he ran into the wall at the Stadium and fractured his skull, missing a significant part of the season. He returned in '35 but broke his collarbone and decided he'd had enough. Earle finished with a .325 average with 154 triples, 1,186 runs, 1,866 hits, and a .397 OBA in 12 seasons. In the Series he hit .350 with 17 runs and nine RBI's in 16 games. Earle began coaching for the Yankees during the '35 season and remained there through '44, his pet project being his successor in center, Joe Dimaggio. He then coached for the Browns ('47), the Red Sox ('48-'52), and the Phillies ('54). He then retired back home to Kentucky where he did some work at his old college and a bunch of community work. He was elected to the Hall by the Veteran's Committee in '70. He passed away in '76 at age 77.

Wee Willie Keeler was a local kid from Brooklyn who played semi-pro ball for factory and other company teams because he made more money ball-playing than working in the actual jobs. Eventually he got smart and stuck to baseball. By 1892 he was with a semi-pro team in Binghamton, NY where he hit .373 and was then sold to the Giants for $800. He played sparingly, broke his leg, and when he returned two months later was sold to Brooklyn - then the Grooms - for $800. There he hit well enough but was a mess of a fielder at third and ended the season back in the minors. He was then traded to Baltimore with Dan Brouthers in a lopsided deal and began his hitting onslaught. He had at least 200 hits in each of the next eight seasons, moved to the outfield, and specialized in infield hits, especially bunts and the "Baltimore Chop", an intentionally hard hit ball into the ground that fielders couldn't handle until the batter was on first. He also stole a ton of bases. He stayed in Baltimore through '98 and those five seasons averaged .388 with 220 hits and 48 stolen bases. His best season was '97 when he hit .424 with 237 hits. When the Baltimore and Brooklyn teams did that weird merger thing in '99 Willie returned to his home team. Now the Superbas, for them he again averaged over 200 hits while hitting over .350. After the '03 season he jumped ship to the Yankees. He stuck with them through '09 and still posted pretty good numbers although due to declining speed, at a discount to his earlier years. After a short 1910 back with the Giants he was done up top with a .341 average 2,932 hits, 1,719 runs, 810 stolen bases, and a .388 OBA. He then put in a partial season with Toronto of the Eastern League. He then returned to Brooklyn to coach for the Surperbas ('12-13) and the Federal League Tip-Tops ('14-'15). He then made some investments that went south and by the Twenties was living in a boarding house in Brooklyn and contracted tuberculosis. He spent the early part of the decade broke and in poor health and passed away in '22 from heart disease brought on by the tuberculosis. He was 50. Willie was elected to the Hall in '39.

Lou Gehrig was another local kid, he from Manhattan. After growing up very poor and graduating high school he attended Columbia University where when he was younger he helped his mom clean frat houses. At Columbia he played football but was suspended from his first year of baseball because he played a few games with Hartford of the Eastern League the prior summer. He was able to play his sophomore year, hit over .400 with seven homers in 19 games and was signed by the Yankees that spring. He would spend most of the next two seasons back in Hartford as the NY line-up was pretty stoked, hitting a combined .345 with 61 homers. In '25 he was backing up in the outfield and first when poor Wally Pipp decided to take a day off and The Iron Horse took over. Over the next 14 seasons in NY Lou would lead the AL in every major hitting category - even triples - at least once. Pretty much every one of his seasons was amazing and his best was probably his triple crown year of '34 when he hit .363 with 49 homers, 165 RBI's, a .465 OBA, and only 31 strikeouts. He won two MVP's, was an All-Star seven times, and went to seven Series, winning six. He played through early '39 when he finally had to sit due to early effects of what would later be diagnosed as ALS. He finished with a .340 average, 493 homers, 1,995 RBI's, 2,721 hits, and a .447 OBA. In Series games he hit .361 with ten homers and 35 RBI's in 34 games. He was elected to the Hall upon retirement in '39. He passed away from the disease in '41 at age 37.

Unlike the last couple guys, Roger Maris was a country kid. Born in Hibbing, Minnesota - the same town that produced Bob Dylan - he moved to North Dakota as a kid where he was a high school football and baseball star. After a brief stab at college he was signed by Cleveland in '53 and that summer hit .325 in C ball. The next year he hit .315 with 32 homers in B ball and in '55 19 homers in A ball. After a '56 in which he hit .293 with 17 homers in Triple A he was promoted to the top. In '57 he had an OK rookie year with 14 homers in 358 at bats. He was going at a similar pace the next year when he was traded early in the season to Kansas City in the deal that brought the Indians Vic Power and Woodie Held. For KC he improved his power and he finished the season with 28 homers and 80 RBI's. In '59 he hit 19 out with 72 RBI's and went to his first All-Star game. The Yankees then arranged one of those horribly lopsided trades where they got Roger and others for a bunch of aging players and he went on to have his most productive seasons. In '60, despite missing a bunch of late-season games to have his appendix taken out, he hit 39 homers, an AL-leading 112 RBI's, and .283 to win his first MVP. He also won a Gold Glove. Then came the big '61 season in which he and Mickey Mantle chased The Babe's home run record in what would be a very stressful year for Roger. He won the crown with his big 61, led both leagues with 132 runs and the AL with 141 RBI's and won his second MVP. In '62 he had his last big season with 33 homers and 100 RBI's. In '63 injuries reduced his playing time to half a season, though he hit 23 out with 52 ribbies. In '64 he put in a full season but his power was waning - 26 homers and 71 RBI's - though he did hit .281. The rest of his time in NY was injury-filled and following the '66 season he was sent to the Cards for Charley Smith. Roger's timing was pretty good as he returned to the Series both years with St. Louis as their regular right fielder, providing clutch hitting and excellent numbers in the '67 post-season. After the '68 season he retired, leaving behind a .260 average, 275 homers, and 850 RBI's, along with a .345 OBA. In the Series he hit .217 with six homers and 18 RBI's in 41 games. Upon retirement he was given a Budweiser distributorship in Florida by St. Louis owner Busch which Roger was able to turn into a thriving business. He was having a nice post-career run when in the mid-Eighties he was diagnosed with lymphoma from which he passed away in '85. He was 51.

Luis Arroyo had a long trip to the major leagues. Born in Puerto Rico, he played semi-pro ball down there after graduating high school and won a sponsored trip to Phil Rizzuto's baseball school in Florida in '47. He was then signed to the independent Greenville team and between there and a C league team in Greensboro won 14 games. The next year the latter team moved up to B status and Luis moved up for them as well, going 21-13. He then signed with the Cards and posted some fat ERA's the next couple years in Triple A. He also pitched winter ball and was hurt in '52. The Cards put him on injured reserve the next two seasons though he continued to pitch in the winter. He returned in '54 and went a combined 16-9 with a 2.40 ERA in Single and Double A. That got him promoted to St. Louis in '55 where as a 28-year old rookie he went 11-8 with a 4.19 ERA in the rotation and was an All-Star. Manager Fred Hutchinson thought he was a loafer though - he wasn't - and pushed him back to the minors to start '56 and then traded him to Pittsburgh. For the Pirates Luis would go a combined 6-14 the next two seasons with a high ERA mostly in the pen but 8-5 in the minors. In '58 he learned a screwball and that turned things around. In '58 he went 10-3 in Triple A with his new pitch and then was traded to the Reds. He began the season in Cincinnati but when new manager Hutch realized who he was he sent him back down. Back at Triple A he went 8-9 but with a 1.15 ERA as the bullpen ace. He got sold to the Yankees, went 9-7 with a 2.27 ERA for their Triple A team, and finished the season in NY, going 5-1 with a 2.88 ERA and getting seven saves. In '61 he had his big year, going 15-5 with 29 saves and a 2.19 ERA as he made his second All-Star game and got some MVP votes. He was probably pretty happy beating the Reds in the Series. After that his arm went south fast and he was out of baseball by 'mid-season of '63. Luis finished with a record of 40-32 with a 3.93 ERA, 44 saves, and ten complete games up top. In the minors he went 95-67 with a 3.30 ERA. In the Series he went 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three games. He was also a .227 hitter. After he finished playing he managed a few years and scouted for the Yankees into the early Eighties. He has since retired and still resides in Puerto Rico.

Pedro Ramos was a farm kid from Cuba who was signed by the Senators in '53. After a lame first season in D ball he went a combined 19-6 in C and B ball in '54 and made it to DC in '55. For the Nats his rookie year he went 5-11 with 5 saves and a 3.88 ERA. The next year he went 12-11 but the ERA popped. The next five years he was in the rotation and went a combined 61-91 and led the AL in losses four consecutive seasons as well as in homers given up twice. He was an All-Star once - in '59 - and around then took on the image of a cowboy, frequently wearing a loaded gun to the park. Right before the '62 season he was traded to Cleveland for Vic Power and Dick Stigman. For the Indians he went a relatively respectable 26-30 the next two-plus seasons though he kept giving up a bunch of gopher balls. Late in '64 he went to NY for Ralph Terry and some cash. The Yankees threw him in the pen and he had a nice stretch run but was ineligible for the Series. He had his big season in '65, going 5-5 with a 2.92 ERA and 19 saves. After an OK '66 - 3-9 with 13 saves - he was sent to the Phillies for whom he went almost immediately to the minors. He moved around to a bunch of teams the next six seasons and was done in the majors by '70. He finished up top with a record of 117-160 with a 4.08 ERA, 73 complete games, and 55 saves. He was a decent batter and hit 15 homers himself during his career. After being done in the States he continued to play a bit in Mexico and Latin America. He settled into the Miami area and in the Seventies and early Eighties was involved in the drug trade and served a bunch of time. He also hung out a lot in Nicaragua where he started his own cigar company where he apparently liked to brag about all the people he shot. He sounds like a winner.

Dooley Womack grew up in South Carolina and was signed by the Yankees after high school in 1958. He spent a while moving up the chain while posting middling seasons as a reliever. In '64 he won ten in Double A and in '65 the same amount in Triple A, both years with excellent ERA's. He had a nice rookie year for a pretty bad team in '66, going 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA and four saves. In '67 he ramped things up with a 5-6, 2.41 ERA, and 18 saves. In '68 he lost his closer role to Steve Hamilton and Lindy McDaniel and the next year he was traded to Houston for Dick Simpson. He was having a pretty good year as a setup guy when he was sent to the Pilots for Jim Bouton mid-year (he gets a couple mentions in "Ball Four"). He did pretty well for them as well but in a limited role. He then went back to Houston, was quickly flipped to Cincinnati, and for the Reds had a nice year in Triple A. At the end of the season he was traded to Oakland for whom he made his final appearances up top. In '71 he was having a decent year for the A's in Triple A when he went down with a torn rotator cuff that ended his career. Dooley went 19-18 with a 2.95 ERA and 24 saves in the majors and 65-55 with a 3.18 ERA in the minors. After he played he returned to South Carolina where he worked a bit selling men's suits. He then moved into the carpet business and spent a bunch of years in the flooring business before he retired.

Jack Chesbro was born in Massachusetts and played semi-pro and pro ball there and in New York after high school. In 1895 he hooked up late in the year with independent Springfield. The next two years he pitched B ball and had an excellent ERA despite a losing record. In '98 he went 23-15 at the same level and was signed by the Orioles but then dropped during its crazy merger with Brooklyn. He went 17-4 to start the year in the minors and was sold to Pittsburgh mid-season. For the Pirates he had a not great finish to the season but then over the next three years he would become the staff ace, in '02 leading the NL with 28 wins and eight shutouts. In '03 he was basically assigned to the Highlanders and he did well enough his first year, going 21-15. Then prior to the '04 season he learned the spitter and then went an amazing 41-12 with a 1.82 ERA in 454 innings. In '05 he won 19 and in '06 23, both with better than league-average ERA's. He would continue to post good ERA's but the next couple years his arm ran out of gas and he went 14-20 in '08. After that season his arm was toast and he was out of the majors by the end of the '09 season. He finished 198-132 with a 2.68 ERA, 35 shutouts, and 260 complete games. He would play semi-pro ball on and off until his early fifties, coached UMass a couple years, and spent most of his time working his farm back home in Massachusetts. He passed away there in '31 of a heart attack when he was 57. He was inducted into the Hall in '46.

Al Orth graduated from DePauw University after growing up in Indiana. He hooked up with independent Lynchburg and went 24-7 with a 2.41 ERA in 1895 and was sold to the Phillies before the season was over for $1,000. For seven seasons in Philly he had a nice run, going 100-72 with a 3.49 ERA. He was a good hitter as well and during that time hit .294 and put in a few games as a position guy. He then moved to the Senators where he won 19 his first year but went 10-22 his second. Both seasons he had relatively high ERA's. Al was a control pitcher whose nickname was The Curveless Wonder and whose pitches were generally off-speed versions of a fastball. While he could place them very well, the humid DC air weighed them down too much and made them easier to hit. Midway through his third year with the Nats he was traded to the Highlanders and for them he had an immediate turnaround, winning 11 the rest of the way in '04 and 18 in '05. He had his best season in '06 when he went 27-17 with a 2.34 ERA and led the AL in wins and complete games, with 36. In '07 he again had a nice ERA - 2.61 - but went 14-21. After a 2-13 '08 he returned to Lynchburg where he had bought the team and renamed it the Shoemakers in honor of his dad. He spent the rest of '08 and '09 there playing for and managing the team. After a brief comeback attempt in '09 for NY he was done. Al went 204-189 with a 3.37 ERA, 324 complete games, and 31 shutouts. He only averaged less than two walks per nine innings. He hit .273 with 12 homers and 184 RBI's. He settled back in Lynchburg where he ran his team for a bunch of years and where he passed away at age 76 in '48.

Joe Lake was an excellent all-around baseball player out of Brooklyn. For a bunch of years after high school he played semi-pro ball for the Loughlin Lyceum, a Catholic League team for whom he played the outfield and pitched through 1904. In '05 he played for a professional team in Peekskill, NY and then he moved to independent Newburgh in '06 for whom he exclusively played the field and hit .321. In '07 he moved to Jersey City, an A league team and switched gears, pitching his way to a 25-14 record. That got him purchased by the Highlanders and in '08 Joe went 9-22 - which would actually give him sole title to the loss record - with a 3.17 ERA. He improved to 14-11 with an excellent 1.88 ERA in '09 and was then traded to the Browns. In St. Louis Joe went 22-39 but with a 2.88 ERA the next two-plus years and midway through '12 he was sold to Detroit where he went 17-18 through '13. That ended things up top where Joe went a combined 62-90 with a 2.85 ERA and 95 complete games. He moved to the minors the second half of the '13 season and then went 16-13 in '14 while also hitting above .330 while getting some position time as well. He was released in '15 ending his baseball career. There is no further info out there on Joe. He passed away in Brooklyn in 1950 at age 69.

Russ Ford was born in Manitoba, Canada and moved to Minnesota as a kid. He played local ball and was in B ball by 1905 where he won 16 for Cedar Rapids when he was 22. The next year he won 22 for the same team and the next three seasons averaged 15 wins a year in A ball. At the end of '09 he was signed by the Highlanders. Over that winter he picked up what would be his money pitch, an emory ball, which he discovered by accident. In his rookie year of 1910 he went 26-6 with a 1.65 ERA with his new pitch. In '11 he won 22, but in '12 he went 13-21 as batters began figuring out his pitch. After a 12-18 season in '13 - but with a 2.66 ERA - he moved to the Federal League. In '14 he won 21 for Buffalo with a 1.82 ERA. The next season, though, the league outlawed his pitch and he fell to 5-7 with a high ERA, ending his time in the majors. Russ finished going 99-71 with a 2.59 ERA and 126 complete games. He pitched a couple more seasons in the minors, winning 16 in '16. He then settled in and around New York and in Rockingham, North Carolina where he was involved in banking, shipping, and hotel management. He passed away at age 76 in 1960.

Sad Sam Jones was born in Woodsfield, Ohio and pretty much stayed there his whole life. He worked in a grocery store and played some semi-pro ball after high school until he hooked up with the B league Zanesville team in 1913. In '14 he went a combined 15-6 in the D and Double A leagues which got him sold to Cleveland late that year. After another uneventful season for the Indians he was sent to the Red Sox in the trade that brought Cleveland Tris Speaker. For Boston he'd only get in 21 games the next two seasons due to the Sox' excellent staff, including Babe Ruth. Then in '18 he got in the rotation and led the AL in winning percentage with a 16-5 mark. He remained in the rotation the next three years, losing 20 in '19 and winning 23 in '21. That earned him a trade to NY where that pattern repeated itself: he won 21 in '23 and lost 21 in '25. He pitched for NY one more year, for the Browns for a season, the Nats for three, and the White Sox for four. When Chicago released him after the '35 season he was 42. He finished with a record of 229-217, a 3.84 ERA, 36 shutouts, 250 complete games, and 31 saves. In the post-season he went 0-2 but with a 2.05 ERA in six games. A homebody, he coached and managed a bit - and even played - in the minors a couple years but spent most of his time back in Woosdsfield where he coached local ball and was the chairman of the board for many years at a bank. He passed away there in '66 at age 73. He was one of the players interviewed in the early Sixties for the book "The Glory of Their Times."

Whitey Ford - no relation to Russ - was another local kid, he from Queens. Signed by the Yankees out of high school, he went 13-4 in B ball in '47. He won 16 each of the next two seasons as he moved up the ladder and at Triple A Kansas City in '50 was 6-3 with a 3.22 ERA when he was promoted to NY. He then had a great run to start his career, winning his first nine games before going 9-1 to come in second in AL ROY voting. He then spent '51 and '52 in the Army and returned in '53 to resume a career in which he would have one of the best ever winning percentages. In his 16 seasons in NY he lost ten or more games only twice. He led the AL in wins three times, winning percentage three times, ERA twice, complete games once, and shutouts twice. He was an All-Star eight seasons and won a Cy in '61 when he went 25-4. He ran out of gas due to a bad shoulder that led him to retire early in the '67 season. He went 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA, 156 complete games, and 45 shutouts. In the Series he went 10-8 with a 2,71 ERA that included his record 33-plus innings of consecutive shutout ball. He was voted to the Hall in '74. He has done some regular season coaching and lots of spring training work but professionally spent most of his time in public appearances and earning money from his investments, including restaurants.

Tommy Byrne grew up in Baltimore and then went to Wake Forest where he played outfield and pitched. When he graduated he was signed by the Yankees in 1940 and he had a rough start the next two years at Double A Newark when he walked a guy at least every other inning. There in '42 he went 17-4 with a 3.10 ERA to win league MVP. He went up to NY in '43 where he was 2-1 but with a 6.54 ERA and 35 walks in 31 innings. He was called into the Navy during the season and served on a destroyer in the Mediterranean the next three years. He returned to NY at the end of the '46 season but was still crazy wild and he spent nearly all of '47 back in the minors, going 12-6 for Triple A Kansas City. In '48 he finally got some starting time and in '49 and '50 he won 15 each year in the rotation while leading the AL in walks. He was an All-Star in '50. He led the league again in walks in '51 and was traded early in the season to the Browns. He would stay in St. Louis through '52, pitch for the White Sox and the Senators - for neither team very successfully - and be back in the minors to open the '54 season. That year he bounced at Triple A with a 20-10 record for independent Seattle. The Yankees bought him back before the season ended. In '55 he went 16-5 in his best season up top, winning Comeback Player, and leading the AL in winning percentage. He stuck in NY two more seasons, mostly out of the pen, and was done. He finished 85-69 with a 4.11 ERA. Earning his Wild Man nickname he recorded 1,037 walks, 766 strikeouts and hit 85 batters. He was also a very good hitter and hit .238 up top with 14 homers and 98 RBI's in 601 at bats. Among his hits were 80 pinch hits. In the post-season he went 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in six games and hit .300 with two ribbies in ten at bats. In the minors he went 62-38 and hit .290. After his playing career Tommy returned to Wake Forest where he coached his college team a couple years and moved into the oil, real estate, and retail industries. He was mayor of the town of Wake Forest from '73 to '87 when he more-or-less retired. He passed away there in 2007 at the age of 87.

Spud Chandler was born in Georgia and went to the University of Georgia where he played football - as a halfback - and baseball on his way to a degree in agriculture. He was signed by the Yankees upon graduating in '31. The next year he had a nice start by going 12-1 in B and A ball. He spent the next three years going a combined 20-25 in Double A with a high ERA. After a '36 in which he went 14-13 with a 3.33 ERA he was promoted the next season to NY where he went 7-4 with a 2.68 ERA as a spot starter. His next season he went 14-5 and then posted pretty good records the next couple seasons though he was hurt a bunch. He won ten in '41 and 16 in '42 before he had his MVP year in '43, going 20-4 with a 1.64 ERA and five shutouts. After a start in '44 he enlisted in WW II - at 36 - and returned at the end of the '45 season. In '46 he picked up where he left off, going 20-8 with a 2.10 ERA. In '47 he went 9-5 with a 2.46 ERA as he had to rest his arm a bunch because of injuries. That would be his last season and he finished with a 109-43 record with a 2.84 ERA, 109 complete games, and 26 shutouts. He has the highest winning percentage ever of any pitcher who won 100 or more games. In the Series he went 2-2 with a 1.62 ERA in six games. After playing he coached a few years in the minors, managed in '54 and '55 in the Cleveland system - he went 150-107 - and coached for Kansas City from '57 to '58. He then became a scout for many teams, including the Yankees, through his retirement in '84. He passed away in Florida in '90 when he was 82.

That's a lot of posting.


Finally we get to the card back. The most prominent missing position guy was mentioned above: Johnny Callison hit .176 in 136 at bats but he was released during the season. Swoboda was also, but he only had 43 at bats. Bernie Allen, who backed up at second, was traded late in the season to Montreal and had 57 NY at bats. That's it for the position guys as the Alou brothers had cards with other teams in this set: Matty with the Padres and Felipe with the Expos (in the team card Matty is third from the right in the first row and Felipe is immediately behind him). On the pitching side Tom Buskey and Jim Magnuson get shut out. They each went 0-1 and Buskey is on the team card, third from the right in the last row. Mike Kekich had a card with Cleveland. So we get 160 out of 162 decisions and all but 236 at bats. That's pretty good.

Too tired to do any music news so I'll catch up on a future post.

We have to get a journeyman catcher hooked up with this team. Let's do this:

1. Mel Stottlemeyre was on the '73 Yankees;
2. Stottlemyre and Clete Boyer '64 to '66 Yankees;
3. Boyer and Hal King '70 to '71 Braves.