#46 - Pat Kelly

This is Pat Kelly, a speedy outfielder from the '70's, fresh on the heels of his All-Star season, posing somewhere near the visitor's dugout at Yankee Stadium. There were other baseball-playing Pat Kellys (Kellies?) but this guy was the most successful of the bunch, particularly his run opening the '73 season. Pat came shooting out of the box and at the end of May was leading both leagues in hitting with a .441 average. Shortly thereafter he got hit with some shoulder tendinitis that pulled down the average and affected his throwing big time, but he would still produce one of his best seasons. Pat also made everyone's best-dressed list, a pretty scary or cool - depending on your tastes - achievement back then. He is the first guy in this set who had a Hall of Fame running back for a brother and the first one related by marriage to another player who we'll see - God willing - much later in the set. Mr. Kelly brings a tidy bit of trivial baggage to this blog.

Pat Kelly was signed by the Twins in '62 out of Philadelphia where, like his brother Leroy, Pat was a big three sports star. He would then spend the next three years in A ball, even though he garnered well over a .300 average and '400 OBA. He finaly advance to Double A in '66 where he had a big season, hitting .321 with a .430 OBA and 52 stolen bases. '67 was a move up to Triple A where he missed half a season to military work but still hit .286 with 19 steals before his very short MLB debut. In '68 he bettered those numbers at that level to .306 and 38, again missing time, and again playing sparsely up top. After that season he was taken by the Royals in the expansion draft prior to their initial '69 season.

With Kansas City, Kelly moved into a starting outfield spot - predominantly right - pretty much immediately and put up some serviceable numbers. His rookie season of '69 he stole 40 while in '70 he stole 34 while his average dropped a bit due to an elevated strikeout total, though his OBA remained the same at .348. Also, prior to his first KC season, Pat began playing winter ball in Venezuela where he became a bit of a local star. Following the '70 season he and pitcher Don O'Riley went to the ChiSox for first basemen Gail Hopkins and John Matias.

Kelly had a rough start to his White Sox career. He injured his knee during training camp and then spent a bunch of time his initial season in Triple A where he hit .355 before returning midyear to hit pretty well for the big boys. In '72 he continued as the starting guy in right and stole 32. In '74 his tendinitis recurred which affected his field time a bit and his run totals came in though he matched his '73 average. It was also his first season doing serious DH work. '75 was back to nearly all outfield with a bit more power including his Chicago best nine homers. In '76 the arrival of Lamar Johnson at DH and Ralph Garr in right pulled Pat's playing time in a bit and as a precedent to his future, nearly all his starts were against right-handers. Following the season he went to the Orioles for Dave Duncan, who never played for the White Sox.

In Baltimore, Kelly moved with ease into manager Earl Weaver's revolving platoon system, normally working against righties from left field. In '77 he stole 25 while posting 49 RBI's in 360 at bats. In '78 the at bats dropped a bit but he knocked in 40 while raising his average to .274. Pat had been platooning with Andre Mora, who returned to Mexico following that season and in '79 Pat took on a reserve role so his plate time continued to decline. But in '79 he posted a .288/9/25 line in only 153 at bats and then had an excellent post-season. In '80 his average came in but in only 200 at bats he scored 38 runs and stole 16 bases. He would then depart the O's as a free agent , sign with Cleveland, where he did some pinch hit work and presumably got close to his future in-law, Andre Thornton. Pat was released late that summer and after that it was goodbye baseball. He finished with a .264 average with 76 homers, 418 RBI's, a .354 OBA, and 250 stolen bases. In the post-season he hit .333 with a homer and four RBI's in eight games.

Kelly had been a hard liver until becoming reborn in the mid-Seventies and then working hard to spread his gospel by creating prayer groups at subsequent baseball stops. After baseball he took on preaching full time which he did until he passed away of a heart attack in 2005. He was 61.

1964 was nice season for Pat. Outside of leading the league in doubles, he hit .357 with 16 homers, 70 RBI's, and 72 walks in only 387 at-bats. In '68 he only got caught stealing four times. Being Philly's best athlete was probably a neat trick. I do not see that his older brother Leroy pulled that off and he went on to be a three-time 1,000 yarder for the Browns. There is a funny bit about Pat while he was in Baltimore. Pulling his preacher thing, he was constantly chasing manager Weaver to "walk with God." Earl's reply was "I'd rather see you walk with the bases loaded."

The Baltimore angle is hard to pass up for these two guys:

1. Kelly and Jim Palmer '77 to '80 Orioles;
2. Palmer and Dave Johnson ' 66 to '72 Orioles.

Hall of Famers all over the place.

#45 - Dave Johnson

Here we have yet another action shot - which is nice - with the featured player in a compromised position - which is not so nice. After two pop-up shots, we have Davey Johnson swinging and missing big at Shea Stadium. Since the card is a featured one (ending in a "5") wouldn't it be nice to have a more complimentary shot? Maybe the boys at Topps though a little humility was in order.

1973 was Johnson's biggest offensive year by far; a season in which he was one of three Braves to hit 40 home runs which was a first. Ironically, Atlanta did not have a winning record that year. A big reason for that can be seen by checking Davey's defensive stats. In an admittedly abbreviated season in '72 in Baltimore, he had six errors and during his time there averaged about twelve per season. In '73 he had 30. Atlanta was just the place defenses went to die.

Davey Johnson's dad was in the Army and as a kid Davey moved around a bunch, a status that would be emblematic of his later career as well. He settled in San Antonio for high school and then went to Texas A&M where for two years he played both hoops (point guard) and baseball (shortstop). Signed by Baltimore in '62, he kicked things off in his old position in C ball and had such an excellent season that in '63 he jumped all the way to Double A. That year he began playing second a bit, kept up his very good offensive numbers - between those two levels, he'd hit about .315 with 23 homers and 105 RBI's in what amounted to about a full season - and by season's end was in Triple A. At that level in '64 he lost some points off his average but continued to show good power with 14 triples, 19 homers, and 73 RBI's. And his defense all along had been very good. So he made the cut out of spring training in '65, played and hit very little, and returned to Triple A, where for about a third of a season he hit .301 whie playing shortstop exclusively. By the end of the season he was back in Baltimore.

When Johnson came up to Baltimore the team was pretty set in the middle infield with excellent defenders Jerry Adair at second and Luis Aparicio at shortstop. But Davey's stats to date were tough to ignore and the notion of his added pop in the line-up got him the starting second base gig over Adair in '66. Adair objected - he was later traded to Chicago - but Davey argued his choice pretty well, coming in third place in AL Rookie of the Year balloting, making that year's Topps team, and playing on a Series winner. He boosted his power a bit in '67 and then like just about everyone else his offense declined in '68 - though not by much - and he garnered his first All-Star selection.In the Series years of '69 to '71 Davey boosted his average to just north of .280, got a couple more All-Star nods, and won his three Gold Gloves. By then recurring back pain was becoming an issue for him and in '72 - also a year in which he had a shoulder injury - he missed some serious time and his offense stats tumbled significantly. By then Bobby Grich was ready to ascend into a full-time position and after that season Davey went to the Braves with Pat Dobson for Earl Williams.

Following his big year Johnson split the '74 season between second and - to relieve his back - first base. His numbers much more resembled his Baltimore ones that his '73 ones though he did get his error totals down to those levels as well. Then, after one at bat in '75 - I have never been able to figure that out - Davey was released. Shortly thereafter he went to Japan where he had a terrible '75 season while playing third but a pretty good bounce in '76 with a line .275/26/74 back at second base. Overall, it was a  very interesting time with the Giants. After two years overseas he came back as a part-timer with first Philly - for whom he had a real nice '77 with a line of .321/8/36 in only 153 at bats - and the Cubs. His playing career was done after the '78 season. Davey finished with a .261 average with 136 homers and 609 RBI's. He hit .225 with a couple homers and twelve RBI's in 31 post-season games. And defensively at second he is in the top 75 in both putouts and double plays.

Johnson then went right into managing, first in the Inter-American League and then for various stops in the Mets' chain before arriving at the top in '84. He led the Mets to the Series win in '86 and had by far the best winning percentage of any of their managers so he was of course let go by them in 1990. In '93 he was hired by the Reds and in the two strike-shortened seasons that followed took them to first place; he was then fired again. The same thing happened in Baltimore and then LA: he made winners out of losers. After leaving LA in 2000 he took on a succession of national team gigs and is now a part-time advisor to the Nationals. As a manager he has gone 1,372-1,071 up top and in the minors 190-155. I am one of the people who thinks his managerial successes warrants a Hall of Fame entry.

The back of the card is all about his '73 season which makes complete sense. Topps gets points for the cartoon as it is finally a real tidbit. It would have been nice if he could have used his piloting skills to barrel roll some of the owners for whom he managed - Marge Schott and Peter Angelos - out of the plane. He is a pretty accomplished guy: he finished his degree in Mathematics at Trinity College; he is a master scuba diver and has taught classes in that; and he took grad classes at Johns Hopkins.

Let's use the AL to link these two guys:

1. Johnson and Curt Blefary '65 to '68 Orioles;
2. Blefary and Mel Stottlemyre '70 Yankees.

#44 - Mel Stottlemyre

1973 was Mel Stottlemyre's last productive year as a Yankee starter. During '74 he would develop rotator cuff problems that would end his pitching career. But his '73 was pretty good. Mel posted a way better than league average ERA and his ninth straight season of over 250 MLB innings, both which deserved a better than .500 record. But such was life with the Yankees back then. I find this card interesting for a couple reasons. First is that it appears to be a spring training shot as I believe Mel is right outside the left field foul line and there are no stands in the background. Two is the guy in the background has a red helmet on, so where is this shot? Maybe it's the spring home of the White Sox? Philly? The Reds? Lastly, the knee stain is interesting. I would say it is from sliding drills but since '73 was the first DH year, there would be no reason for Mel to be doing that. Maybe it's a photo from a prior season. See all the thought tangents? Who says baseball cards are superficial.

Mel Stottlemyre was a career Yankee. He was signed in '61 after he finished his degree at Yakima Community College in Washington. That year he went 9-4 as a starter in D ball with well over a strikeout an inning. That last stat was a bit of a surprise because Mel was a sinker specialist and didn't normally put up a lot of K's. In '62 he advanced to B ball, where he went 17-9 with a 2.50 ERA. The following year in Triple A Mel was made a swing guy which really wasn't his best role, evidenced by his going 7-7 with a high ERA. He remained at that level in the same role to start off the '64 season. GM Ralph Houk got wind of that, ordered Mel's return to the rotation, and by mid-summer he was 13-3 with a 1.42 ERA. By early August he was a Yankee.

Stottlemyre reported to a Yankee team that was typically smack in the middle of a pennant race but was toting some hurting mound arms, hence at least part of the reason for his summons. All Mel did was post his 9-3, 2.06 stretch run without which NY probably would not have made the Series. Then to make things even more stressful for the new guy, in each of his three Series appearances that fall, Bob Gibson was on the other side. But the new guy threw pretty well which was good since it was the last playoff action he'd see as a player. Unfortunately Mel's NY time coincided almost perfectly with a big post-season drought for the Yankees. But that occurrence sure wasn't his fault. In '65 Mel won 20 for the first time while leading the AL in innings and with 18 complete games. That year he was an All-Star as he was in '66 though with the moving on of middle infielder's Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson, that part of the diamond - and elsewhere - got a bit porous and Mel's ERA popped as he led the AL in losses. A much-improved '67 was enabled by some infield solidity and like a bunch of pitchers, Mel posted probably his best line in '68 while returning to the All-Star game, as he would the following two seasons. In '69 he again led the AL in complete games, this time with 24. He continued to roll until '72 when a very challenged offense contributed to another season of AL-leading losses. After his tortured '74 Mel was released during spring training of '75 (though George Steinbrebnner had just told him he'd be a Yankee for life) which ended Mel's playing career. He finished 164-139 with a 2.97 ERA, 152 complete games, 40 shutouts, and a save. In that '64 post-season he went 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in his three games. At times a pretty good hitter, for his career Mel was a .160 batter with seven homers and 57 RBI's.

Shortly after his playing career ended he took up a new one as a pitching coach, first for Seattle as a roving guy ('77-'82), then up top for the Mets ('84-'93), Astros ('94-'95), and Yankees ('96-2005) for whom he had great success. He left that last gig after getting in an argument with - who else? - George Steinbrenner. In 2008 Mel took a one-year gig as the pitching coach for Seattle. He has had myeloma for some time now and since then has had to devote almost all his time to its treatment. He also had two sons pitch in the majors.

The first star on the back mentions his '64 season in the minors. Given his sons' eventual careers, there must have been an awful lot of pitching on those home movies. Mel's other son tragically passed away when he was only eleven from leukemia. Mel would spend a bunch of time working with the subject of the next post in NY.

Let's drag out another dynastic Yankee for the separation exercise:

1. Stottlemyre and Joe Pepitone ' 64-'69 Yankees;
2. Pepitone and Jimmy Wynn '70 Astros.

#43 - Jim Wynn

This is the second great action shot in a row. The only downside is that like the earlier George Scott photo, in this one it looks like Mr. Wynn is popping out. Plus this is the third Astro already and only one Dodger? I guess that gets rectified a little by The Trade.

I capitalize that last bit because Jimmy Wynn's move to LA was probably the most important off-season transaction prior to the '74 season. The only comparable one was the other big pre-season Dodger trade, but we will get to that one later. All Jimmy would do was hit 32 homers, drive in 108 runs, play a pretty mean center field, and lead LA to its first pennant since '66. Yes, I know they had Garvey and the rest come into prominence that year, but Jimmy was definitely the missing offensive piece. That year, Jimmy won Comeback Player of the Year. As for '73, the season from which he had to come back, it was one of his toughest. Along with missing some time to an injured shoulder Jimmy was moved to the top of the Houston order to take advantage of his normally uncanny ability to get on base, and because no other Houston hitter was doing the job there. So his power numbers tanked pretty hard and so did his average as he was very uncomfortable in that spot. But that experience probably made his '74 one all the sweeter.

Jimmy Wynn grew up in the Cincinnati area, played ball at Central State University in Ohio for two years and was signed by the Reds in '62. He had a big first season that summer in D ball, hitting .290 with 14 homers, 81 RBI's, and a .448 OBA. A shortstop in high school and college, he played primarily third and second that year. Despite those numbers he was left unprotected and then taken by the Colt .45's in that year's expansion draft. For Houston, Jimmy jumped to Double A in '63, resumed playing shortstop, and put up a .288/16/49 line with eleven triples in about a half season, though his walk totals came way down. He came all the way up mid-season and the rest of the way put in OK rookie numbers at short and in the outfield. He began the '64 season in Houston but after a tough time at the plate, went down to Triple A where he put up better numbers while playing nearly exclusively in the outfield. He made it back up top in September to stay and brought his new position with him.

Wynn moved into the Houston starting center field role that last month of '64 and the next year he would show some good power, some big K totals, and steal an uncharacteristic 43 bases. He also walked at a good clip and put up his first good OBA at .371; that stat would be a hallmark of his career. In '66 though his average came in a bit, he pulled his strikeouts much lower and in general his offense was running at a premium to the prior year's when he crashed into a wall chasing a Dick Allen fly, pretty much shattering his left arm and ending that season. But '67 was a big comeback season as he put up big power numbers (and led the NL with his 137 K's), scored over 100 runs, and made his first All-Star game. '68 was tougher: on top of it being the year of the offensive swoon, it was also the year Houston got a new manager in Harry Walker. Walker was a big hitting guru and Jimmy chafed under Walker's criticism of his free-swinging batting style (apparently all the walks were just random occurrences). But despite the generally lower numbers Jimmy upped his OBA and then did that huge in a much better '69 when he put up a .436 while leading the NL with 148 walks. After another good year in '70, Jimmy went through an ugly divorce in '71 that killed his season that year. That year Jimmy also moved to right field as new guy Cesar Cedeno took over center. Another big bounce followed in '72 before the problematic '73 and the trade shown here.

Wynn's big season in LA in '74 earned him his second All-Star get as he returned to his familiar spot in center. In '75 he was cruising at about the same pace and by the end of June Jimmy was hitting .280 with 13 homers, 43 RBI's, and a .430 OBA. But LA got hit bad with injuries that year and partly to compensate Jimmy was moved all over the line-up. The rest of the way he would hit only .200 with five homers and 15 RBI's, though he did get his final All-Star nod. After that season he was traded to Atlanta with Tom Paciorek, Lee Lacy, and Jerry Royster for Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson. With the Braves in '76 Jimmy would split time between left and center and lead the NL with his 127 walks. But he was aging fast, hit only .207, and his other stats resembled his '75 ones. After the season he was sold to the Yankees. There he would DH and play right field. But after a very hot first couple weeks, he tailed off considerably and was released. Picked up by Milwaukee to fill the same role, his numbers never improved in what would be his last season. For his career Jimmy hit 250 with 291 homers and 964 RBI's, 225 stolen bases, and a .366 OBA. In his lone post-season he hit .192 - but with a .450 OBA - with a homer and four RBI's in his nine games. Defensively he is 30th all time in double plays from center and is in the top 75 in assists and putouts.

Wynn remained in the LA area and immediately after playing got a gig as a marketing rep for a beverage company. An attempt at a comeback in the Mexican Leagues in '79 went nowhere fast and by '85 he had relocated back to Houston. There he became a bartender, went through some tough financial times, and needed help from the Baseball Assistance Team. But another big comeback ensued and in the late Eighties he got a community rep gig with the Astros and for a while has been announcing for the team as well.

I cannot conclude the front card commentary without a couple notes. The regular card is from Candlestick and I would assume the Giant in the background is the shortstop, but the guy looks too meaty to be Chris Speier. Maybe Mike Phillips? Secondly, the Traded card is just butt-ugly. Since Wynn was quite photogenic - see his other cards - Topps gets the blame for that one. He looks like he just woke up. In a trash can.

The thing that most jumps out at me on the back of the regular card is Wynn's vital statistics, particularly his height. I know that same data is on baseball-reference, but I could swear the guy was closer to 5'8". Jimmy would average over 100 walks a season from '67 to '76. The cartoon is a little disappointing; I am sure with a little work Topps could have dragged out a more interesting tidbit. I guess when the notes are upside down it's jazz.

Jimmy Wynn had one of the greatest all-time nicknames and Topps gets to it on this card. The trade wasn't exactly even up as the Astros also got a minor leaguer named Dave Culpepper. I am pretty sure this will be that guy's only mention on this blog.

Since they were only a year apart in LA, this exercise is pretty easy:

1. Wynn and Steve Garvey, Don Sutton, Ron Cey, etc. '74 to '75 Dodgers;
2. Claude Osteen and all those guys '73 Dodgers (or longer).

#42 - Claude Osteen

This is a great action shot of Claude Osteen. To view different pitching styles in action, it makes a nice comparison to the Palmer and Nolan Ryan shots from a few cards back. Osteen's money pitch was his curve, Palmer's his breaking ball, and Ryan his fastball. Each photo represents that pitch's delivery quite well. Claude's curveball was a big across the body motion so when he released the ball he was perfectly perpendicular to the plate which we see the initiation of here.

Sadly, the thing I remember most about Osteen's career at this point was his frustrating chase of 200 wins. He was only 34 and had already won 180, so it seemed a no-brainer. Unfortunately that was not the case. But this really short-changes him as a pitcher. And '73 was very representative of Claude's career: 10-4 at the All-Star break, he made the team as he continued to be one of LA's best starters for a team that was just a couple wins and a year away from returning to the post-season. At the end of August he was 16-6 with a 2.79 ERA. But a winless September followed and may have been part of what instigated the trade. Still, it was another very good season for a guy who shone for the Dodgers.So let's fix that now.

Claude Osteen moved around a bit as a kid, settled in the Cincinnati area in high school and there had a huge career. His senior year he was 16-0 with a minute 0.13 ERA and 221 strikeouts in only 103 innings. No wonder the Reds were so quick to jump on him that spring of '57. Claude went straight to Crosley and was actually only 17 when he debuted for Cincinnati that year. He threw very little but did pretty well before spending some inconclusive time in Double A. But the next year he won 19 with nearly a strikeout an inning in a season split between B and Triple A. '59 was nearly all Triple A and though he posted good numbers at that level - 8-12 but with a 2.98 ERA - he couldn't crack the lineup and Claude spent all of '60 sitting on the Cincy bench since the club was out of options for him. In '61 he got some early relief time up top before returning to Triple A for a very good season: 15-11 with a 3.53 ERA. But Claude was now unprotected and in September he was traded to Washington for Dave Sisler, son of George (that must have been tough).

Osteen moved right into the DC rotation after the trade, grabbing three starts the rest of the way. The Senators were a pretty crappy team in the first few years of the franchise's life and though Claude would throw pretty good ball for the team - a few too many hits in '63 though - and record an ERA during that time well better than league norm, all he got out of that was a 17-27 record.Then in '64 his team caught up with him a bit and Claude was able to finally post his first winning MLB record. It sure got him noticed by the guys on the left coast and after that season Claude went to LA with John Kennedy and a bunch of cash for Frank Howard, Ken McMullen, Dick Nen, Phil Ortega, and Pete Richert.

The LA team Osteen joined in '65 had some decent defense and not too much offense. But it had excellent pitching and Claude was brought in as a third starter behind Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. The next two seasons he continued to put up premium ERA's but was only three games over .500 during that time. But both years LA went to the Series and Claude put up a sick ERA in his post-season work, winning one ring. But the Dodgers crashed upon Koufax's retirement and the defense got porous pretty quickly so in '67 and '68 - even though he was an All-Star the former year - Claude's ERA was uncharacteristically a discount to the NL average and that latter year he led the league in losses. In '69 he had a very nice bounce, winning 20 for the first time and putting up a career-best seven shutouts. '70 was another All-Star season. In '72 Claude again won 20 with another great ERA; ironically he was not an All-Star in either 20-win season. After this trade he was on the move again.

While the guy for whom Osteen was traded would have a big '74, Claude's experience in Houston was a bit of a discount to that. He pitched serviceably, going 9-9 in 21 starts with a 3.80 ERA and then for the stretch run was sent to St. Louis for Dan Larson, who would throw in a couple years for Houston. The Cards put Claude in the pen where his numbers weren't too great and then released him at the end of spring training the following year. Claude was a big control guy and his walk totals in '74 exceeded his strikeout ones. The White Sox took a flyer on him in '75 and while he did workhorse duty, that 7-16 record was further evidence that his arm was done. That would be his final season and Claude finished 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA, 140 complete games, 40 shutouts, and a save. His post-season numbers were a 1-2 record but with a 0.86 ERA and a shutout in his three games. He had some good moments at the plate and for his career hit .188 with eight homers and 76 RBI's.

As for that "Traded" card, I think it's pretty good. It is a very benign air-brush job and the background looks completely bucolic, like the photo was taken on a farm somewhere.

I had always though that Claude was related to Joel Osteen, one of those huge mega-church preachers who gets tons of airtime. According to an interview Joel gave to Larry King, the two are not related, but boy they sure do look alike. Check out Joel's Wikipedia page.

The All-Star game won by Claude was the one in which Pete Rose bowled over Ray Fosse. Yes, Claude's nickname was Gomer. So who was Gomer? For the kids among you, Gomer Pyle was this guy, a sitcom character played by Jim Nabors who was originally a supporting character on "The Andy Griffith Show" and then moved on to be the star of his own eponymous series in which he was an Marine private.

This trade was huge for the Dodgers, but let's get to that on the next post. For now, I must say that the designation of Claude as "stylish" is pretty amusing. The trade ended up sucking for Claude since the Dodgers went to the Series in '74. After his playing career, Claude became a successful and sought-after pitching coach with various teams, beginning in the Phillies system in '76. Next came up top for St. Louis ('77-'80), back to the Phillies ('82-'88), the LA system ('89-'92), Texas ('93-'94), and the Dodgers ('99-2000). In between those last two gigs and from 2001 to 2009, when he retired, he worked as a scout.

Now, let's take advantage of the trade:

1. Osteen and Tommy Helms (or Lee May) '74 Astros;
2. Helms and Hal McRae '70 to '71 Reds;
3. McRae and Bobby Floyd '73 Royals.

An alternative route would have been through Dick Dietz and Fran Healy. By the way, this was the first Dodgers card of the set. LA is the last team with a card at 42 in. Not so nice.

#41 - Bobby Floyd

Bobby Floyd was a career backup infielder, first for Baltimore and then Kansas City. His '73 season in a few ways represented the zenith of his career. While his plate time was cut in half - mostly due to the arrival of Frank White - Bobby put up his best MLB average in a season split pretty evenly between shortstop and second. It was also only the second season - '69 was the first - in which his baseball time would be spent exclusively upstairs. Unfortunately it would also be his last MLB season of more than token at bats. This is his final card: a shot from Oakland in which a bunch of A's in the background appear to be mid-fire drill.

Bobby Floyd grew up a big three sports guy in California before going to UCLA for a couple years out of where he was signed by the Orioles in '64. A shortstop in school, that would also initially be his main position professionally and that summer after a misfired start in Double A he hit .269 with nine triples in A ball. At that level in '65 he put up his best pro line - .275 with seven homers and 70 RBI's - and then in '66 returned to Double A where he put up a .248/2/50 line as his league's best defensive shortstop. Bobby pretty much retained those stats when he went to triple A in '67 and was again on top of his league in all fielding stats. In '68 he upped his numbers at that level - a line of .287/6/52 in 359 at bats - before making his late debut for Baltimore. In both '67 and '68 he missed time for military work. He then spent all of '69 with the O's where he filled in at second, third, and short but was shut out of any post-season action.

Floyd began the '70 season back in Triple A where he was having a nice run and hitting .290 before he was recalled to Baltimore to take the roster spot of Paul Blair, who'd been beaned. But it was a short return and in June he was sent to Kansas City for Moe Drabowski. For the Royals Bobby would stay up the rest of the way, switch between short and third, and though he didn't see much plate action, maxed out that time with a fat average. He would then split '71 and '72 between Triple A - where he hit .266 and .300 - and KC, where he didn't. He had his busiest MLB season in '72, probably helped by the aging out of Bobby Knoop. He appeared in a few games for the Royals in '74, which ended his  MLB career, before more Triple A time in '74 and '75 finished his playing days. Bobby finished with a .219 average up top and hit .267 in the minors.

Floyd was a player-coach in '75 which would set the pace for the rest of his professional career. After a year off in '76, Bobby became a manager in the new Seattle chain ('77-'85) before moving to the Mets one ('86-'88). He then bcame the NY minor league coordinator ('89-2000). Remaining with the Mets, he coached in NY (2001, 2004), managed in the minors (2002-'03, '06), and since then has done various admin work.

Bobby obviously did not stick around because of his bat, so he gets some props on his card back for his defense. Or maybe he just hypnotized his managers into keeping him on the roster.

This is the third AL guy in a row and he played for the O's, so:

1. Floyd and Jim Palmer '69 Orioles.

But I bet Bobby Floyd didn't do any underwear ads.

#40 - Jim Palmer

Whoa! Jim Palmer. When I was a kid in the 70's there were three things that were assured every summer: I was going to work like a dog to pay for everything I did during the year; I wasn't going to get any action; and Palmer was going to win 20. They all generally came true.

Jim Palmer won 20 games eight times in his career. If he didn't get hurt early in his career he probably would have won that many at least two other seasons. Maybe three since he completely missed '68 - The Year of the Pitcher. So Jim's '73, while excellent, was pretty mundane for him back then: all he did was win 22 games, lead the AL with his 2.40 ERA, and win his first Cy Young Award. In this shot he shows off his nearly aqueous delivery in Baltimore.

Palmer moved around a bit as a kid - see card back - and by the time he got to high school, settled in Arizona. There he played football, hoops, and baseball and in that last sport played center as well as pitched. After his senior year of '63 he played in the Basin League for a team with a loose affiliation with the Orioles and was signed later that summer. He missed any pro ball that year and then the next went 11-3 in the rotation in A ball and then pretty much preserved those numbers in fall IL ball. Baltimore had seen enough and the next year he joined the O's out of the gate as a set-up guy. He then moved into the rotation, and was one of the team's top starters on the '66 Series winner. He hurt his arm early in '67 and the next two seasons were a wash as he went only a combined 1-3 in the minors in '67-'68. Jim's prognosis was so bad, in fact, that he was left unprotected for the expansion draft and nobody took him! (though that seems a bit absurd). Bad miss by those four teams if so.

After his extensive recovery, Palmer came back strong in '69, leading the AL in win percentage while posting a tiny ERA. That year, not too coincidentally, Baltimore returned to the Series. Then came the '70's which outside of '74 - another hurt arm - he dominated. In '70 Jim put up his first 20 victory year. In '71 he was one of four Baltimore starters to win 20. In '72 he posted both his best ERA and strikeout ratio as a starter. All three years he was an All-Star, a status that eluded him somehow in '73. After the injury year of '74 - he missed two months - he picked up where he left off the following year, going 23-11 with a 2.09 ERA and ten shutouts - all those stats led the AL - to win Cy number two. Cy number three came in '76 when he went 22-13/2.51/six. Jim won 20 in '77 - he led the Al in wins those three years - and 21 in '78 before more arm pain threw him on the DL in '79 and contributed to a 10-6 season, though his team did get back to the Series that year.

The Eighties were a bit less successful for Palmer who was 34 when they began. He rallied to win 16 in '80 but his ERA spiked up a bit and remained there in the strike year of '81 when he went 7-8. His last great season was '82 when his 15-5/3.13 line enabled him to finish second in AL Cy voting. He did some spot work in '83 before running out of gas early in the '84 season. He retired with a 268-152 record with a 2.86 ERA, 211 complete games, 53 shutouts, and four saves. He also got those three Cy Young's, made six All-Star appearances, and won four Gold Gloves. He went 8-3 in the post-season with a 2.61 ERA and two shutouts in 17 games. He is the only pitcher to win a World Series game in three decades. He was voted into the Hall in 1990.

Palmer had an incredibly smooth delivery, demonstrated in part in this photo. It really was something to see. I tried to find a clip on YouTube but no luck. Surprisingly, the only guy I remember who had a motion that even approached Palmer's was Sparky Lyle. I am pretty sure that personality-wise those two guys could not have been more different.

Jim was born in NYC? That's pretty ironic since I think he was no Yankee fan. He was also adopted - twice! When he played in the Basin League his team was populated with future MLB guys - Merv Rettenmund, Jim Lonborg, Curt Motton, and Bobby Floyd, who is coming up next. What I like about Jim's stats is that the years that stand out are the ones he DIDN'T win 20. So what was the stinky sock season? It was 1969 and Mike Kekich broke the streak.

We have two AL guys in a row so I hope it helps:

1. Palmer and Elliott Maddox '77 Orioles;
2. Maddox and Ken Suarez '73 Rangers.

Lots of ex-Yankees coming up in these.