Regarding commentary on this card, I will say the photo is
nice in that every player is pretty clear. But it looks like it was taken in
the darkest and most depressing part of the stadium. And the hair invites a
comment: just about everyone has a part on the left side but look at that head
of hair on top of Ray Rippelmeyer (number 4 in the first row). What a great
advertisement for a buzz cut.
On the checklist front we get pretty good representation
position-wise. Lots of long signatures and only one – Cash – by a guy not with
the team in ’73. These guys all have style. Every signer looks like he really
paid attention in penmanship class.
Lots of bios coming so let’s get to it:
Johnny Callison was born in Oklahoma
and moved to California
as a kid. He was signed by the White Sox in ’57 out of high school. After
ripping through a season of C ball that summer he jumped to Triple A where the
damage was nearly as high. After another excellent season at that level in ’59
he came up to Chicago for good later that season and put in some time for the
AL champs in the outfield, but didn’t hit terribly well. After the season he
got sent to the Phillies for Gene Freese. Johnny had a gun for an arm and after
moving around all three outfield spots his first few seasons he settled into
right field in ’62 where he put up his first big season, hitting .300 with 23
homers, 107 runs, and 83 RBIs, as well as an NL-leading ten triples. He would
post his best overall season in the big year of ’64 where despite the big fade he hit .274 with 31
homers, 101 runs, and 104 RBI’s to finish second in MVP voting. After peaking
the next season with 16 triples and 32 homers, his power numbers shrunk
significantly the next four seasons as the best he could muster was 16 homers
and 64 RBI’s. After the ’69 season he went to the Cubs for Oscar Gamble and
Dick Selma. After a pretty good ’70 his numbers tanked the next season and he
went to the Yankees for Jack Aker. His average bounced a bunch in ’72 as he
split time in right with Ron Swoboda and Rusty Torres. Then in ’73 NY acquired
Matty Alou so Johnny’s time in the field declined significantly as did his
average. He was released that August after putting up a lifetime .264 with 226
homers and 840 RBI’s. In fielding he is 22nd all-time for right
fielders in putouts and eighth in assists. Johnny’s health declined fast from
when he was about 30 on – check out his ’73 card vs his ’70 one – and before he
was 50 he suffered from bleeding ulcers and had a heart attack. He also moved around
a bunch professionally, selling cars, real estate, and working as a bartender.
He eventually got a pacemaker and finally succumbed to lung cancer in 2006 at
age 67.
Richie Ashburn was another mid-western kid, he from Nebraska. Signed by the
Phillies in ’45 he switched from catcher to outfielder and sandwiched two
excellent seasons in A ball – combined average .342 – around a year in the
military in ’46. In ’48 he had a great rookie season and finished third in ROY voting to Al Dark and
Gene Beardon, who won 20 games. That year he set the model for what would be
his career: lots of singles, pretty high average and OBA, and excellent
defensive work. In the Whiz Kid season of ’50 he hit .303 with an MLB-leading
14 triples. He would spend twelve seasons in Philly during which he averaged
.311 with a .394 OBA and 185 hits while making four All-Star teams. He led the
NL in average twice, hits three times, walks three times, and triples twice.
After the ’59 season he got sent to the Cubs, ironically for Al Dark and a
couple other guys. In Chicago
he had another NL-leading season in walks and OBA in ’60 before his playing
time decreased a bit the following year. After that season he was sold to the
Mets and was that team’s first All-Star selection its initial year, hitting
.306. But Richie didn’t dig losing three-quarters of his games so he retired
after the season. He finished with a .308 average with 2,574 hits and a .396
OBA. He hit .176 in his four Series games. He is second all time in putouts in
center field and seventh in assists. He immediately moved into broadcasting for
the Phillies which he did from ’63 to 2007. In 1995 he was elected to the Hall
by the Veterans Committee. He had a heart attack after a game against the Mets
his last year and shortly thereafter passed away. He was 70.
Granny Hamner was a contemporary of Richie Ashburn’s. He was
signed by the Phillies out of Virginia
and went straight to the majors at age 17. After some token at bats that summer
he returned to the minors and pretty much followed Ashburn’s path – ’45 and ’47
in A ball surrounding a year-plus in the service. He too came up in ’48 and
that year played primarily second before settling in as the starting shortstop
the next four seasons. A pretty good hitter and fielder, he had some decent
power for a middle infielder. In the ’50 Series he hit .429. In ’52 he was an
All-Star, a status he maintained the next two seasons even though he switched
to second base in ’53 (he became the first player to start at two different
positions in the game). In ’53 he put up his biggest power numbers with 21
homers and 92 RBI’s and in ’54 he topped out with a .299 average. Suffering a
back injury in ’55 his power went south pretty big that season and in ’58 he busted
up his knee which pretty much killed his career as a fielder. Early in ’59 he
was sent to Cleveland for whom he barely played the rest of the season. After
being released at the end of that year he hooked up with the Yankees and for
them he played a bunch of games at third for his home-town team Richmond, their Triple A
club. In ’61 he moved to KC where for them he played nearly the whole infield,
managed, and pitched – he began fooling around with a knuckle ball in ’56 – for
an A league team. In ’62 he continued to manage and exclusively pitched – those
two seasons he went a combined 15-8 with a 2.60 ERA in 245 innings – until he
was briefly called all the way up to throw a couple innings for the A’s. That
ended his time as a player and he finished with a .262 average with 104 homers
and 708 RBI’s, along with over 1,500 hits. As a pitcher he was 0-2 with a 5.40
ERA in 13 innings. He was excellent in the clutch with an over-.300 average
with runners in scoring position. He returned to Philly the rest of his career
where he was a scout, coach, and manager (’76-’77 and ’88) in their system. He was 240-315 as a manager. He
was attending a card show during the ’93 playoff drive in Philadelphia when he passed away from a heart
attack. He was 66.
Chuck Klein came out of Indianapolis where he pitched and played the
outfield in high school. He then went to work in a steel mill and began playing
company ball. Spotted in ’27 he signed with Evansville of the independent Triple I
(Indiana/Iowa/Illinois) League for whom he hit .327 in a few games before
breaking his ankle. He was then sold to Fort
Wayne, a B team affiliated with the Cards, and hit
.331 with 26 homers in 359 at bats. The team was then moved to the Philly
system and Chuck joined the Phillies the summer of ’28 and hit .360 in 64 games.
He then went on a five-year tear that has rarely been matched, averaging .360
with 36 homers, 131 runs, 224 hits, 46 doubles, 138 RBI’s, and a .415 OBA.
During that time he led the NL in runs three times; hits, doubles, and RBI’s twice; homers four times; and even stolen
bases once. He won an MVP award, finished second twice, and was a triple crown
winner in ’33. But he was one of the only stars on the team and after the ’33
season he was traded to the Cubs in part to raise some cash. Due to a hamstring
problem and outside the cozy confines of The Baker Bowl – the rightfield line
was only 280 feet – his numbers came in quite a bit. After averaging .297 with
19 homers and 75 RBI’s in a bit over two seasons with the Cubs he returned in
’36 to the Phillies. This time around he hit well over .300 his first couple
seasons but his power numbers continued to slide. After a short stop with Pittsburgh in ’39 he came
back to Philly for a final round, this time barely cracking .200 and stayed
there until he was done in ’44. Chuck finished with a .320 average with 300
homers, over 1,200 RBI’s, a .379 OBA, and 2,076 hits. He was also an excellent
fielder and is sixth all-time in assists from right, including a record 44 in
’30. Chuck hit .333 with two RBI’s in the ’35 Series. He coached a bit his last
couple years in Philly and then opened a bar near the stadium. His health
declined pretty quickly, mostly due to drinking, and he suffered a stroke in
’47 from which he never really recovered. He also had a central nervous system
illness and passed away in ’58 from a cerebral hemorrhage at 53. He was elected
into the Hall in 1980.
Lefty O’Doul grew up in San Francisco where he pitched and played
infield in high school. After he graduated he worked in a slaughterhouse and played
company ball. He was signed by the independent San Francisco Seals of the PCL
in 1917 and went a combined 8-6 for their A and Double A teams that summer. In
’18 he went 12-8 at the higher level and then served some time in the Navy at
the end of WW I. He was picked up by the Yankees and spent all of ’19 and ’20
in NY where he only pitched in five games over the two seasons. He was optioned
back to the Seals for ’21 and there went 25-9 with a 2.39 ERA. He then returned
to NY, again barely played, and after the season was traded to the Red Sox in a
deal that brought NY Joe Dugan. He went 1-1 with a 5.43 ERA in 23 games,
including one in which he gave up 13 earned runs. Back in the minors in ’24 and
with a hurt shoulder he decided to give up pitching and converted to the
outfield. The next four seasons in the PCL he hit about .370 with some
significant power. After the ’27 season he was drafted by the Giants and in ’28
for them hit .319 as the left fielder. In ’29 he went to the Phillies and had
two excellent seasons: .398 on a record 254 hits with 32 homers, 152 runs, and
122 RBI’s in ’29; and .383 with 22 homers and 97 RBI’s in ’30. Like Chuck Klein
he was traded to raise cash and the next two seasons hit .336 and .368 for Brooklyn. He split ’33 between the Dodgers and back with
the Giants and then hit .316 for NY before being released – he was 37 – in ’34.
That ended his time up top and in his short time as a hitter he hit .349 with
113 homers and a .413 OBA. He returned to the Seals after his release this time
as a manager and over the next 23 years for them and other teams compiled a
record of 2,094-1,970. After his final season in ’57 he retired to open a
lounge restaurant in San Francisco
which is still there. He passed away there at age 72 in 1969.
Elmer Flick played a bunch of sports while growing up in Bedford, Ohio.
He began playing for the local semi-pro team while in high school and in 1896
signed with Youngstown,
a C league team. After hitting .438 in a short season he moved to Dayton of the same league
the next year and put up super numbers. He then signed with the Phillies in ’98
where he spent four seasons in the outfield, peaking in 1900 when he hit .367
with an MLB-leading 110 RBI’s. After the ’01 season he joined Nap Lajoie in
jumping to the AL but shortly into the season they were banned from playing in
PA so they both moved on to Cleveland. By ’04 he was hitting over .300 again
and racking up triples and stolen bases, the next four seasons averaging 19 and
38 respectively. He led the AL
three times in triples, twice in stolen bases and once in average. Then in ’08
his health declined due to an unspecified ailment and his numbers tanked as he
hit about .255 in only 350 at bats the next three years. In ’11 he signed with Toledo, then a Double A
team closer to home, hit .326 his first season, .262 his second and then
retired. Up top he hit .313 with a .389 OBA, 164 triples, 756 RBI’s, and 330
stolen bases. After baseball he returned to Bedford where he farmed, raised horses, and
got involved in all aspects of real estate. He was elected to the Hall in ’63
and passed away in ’71 at age 94.
Sherry Magee came from rural Pennsylvania and was signed by the Phillies
after a year of local ball following high school. He went straight to the
majors and became an outfield fixture for the next eleven seasons and during
that time led the NL in RBI’s three times and runs, hits, doubles , and average
once each. His best season was 1910 when he led the NL in runs (110), RBI’s
(123), and a .331 average. He was a feisty guy and frequently got into fights
with umpires. After the ’14 season he was traded to the Boston Braves where his
average slumped the next two-plus years due to injuries. In mid-1917 he went to
Cincinnati
where he pulled his average up almost 65 points the rest of the year. He again
led the NL in RBI’s in ’18 with 76 and was able to stick around in a reserve
role the next season and get to his first Series (he went one for two against
the Black Sox). He then moved to the minors where he hit .326 over the next
seven seasons before retiring at 41. In the majors he hit .291 with 166
triples, 425 doubles, 83 homers, and 1,176 RBI’s. After he finished as a player
he ironically returned to baseball as an umpire which he did for two seasons in
the minors. In 1929 he caught pneumonia from which he passed away at age 44.
Jim Konstanty was from upstate NY and went to Syracuse where he played
ball and earned a degree in physical education in 1939. After graduating he
went to work near his hometown as a gym teacher and after a couple years signed
with Springfield,
an A team in the Eastern League. He went 4-19 as a starter and then late the
next year – he continued to teach – moved to Syracuse, a Double A team in the Reds chain.
There he picked up a bit during the war years of ’43-’44 – he went 16-18 with a
3.35 ERA - and made it to Cincy later that summer where he went 6-4 with a 2.80
ERA split between the rotation and the pen. In ’45 he enlisted for WW II and
when he returned in ’46 he was traded to the Braves. After a quick exit after a
couple games in Boston that season Jim was sold
to Toronto of
the International League, a team that pretty much changed affiliations on an
annual basis. Over the next three seasons Jim refined his pitches and learned a
new one – the palmball – while going 27-32 with a 3.75 ERA. By ’48 Toronto was in the Philly
system and later that season Jim returned to the top to put together two good
seasons of relief work. In ’50 it all came together as the Phillies won the
pennant and Jim was their bullpen ace, going 16-7 with a 2.66 ERA and a
then-record 22 saves, earning an All-Star nod and the NL MVP award. He then
started the first Series game against the Yankees and put up good stats – 0-1
with a 2.40 ERA in three games – as Philly was shut out. Then ’51 was a pretty
complete tunaround as he went 4-11 and saw his ERA balloon to 4.05. He remained
in the Philly pen the next two-plus seasons – except ’53 when he also started a
bunch of games – and late in ’54 went to the Yankees for the pennant drive,
putting up excellent numbers though they were beat out by Cleveland. He had
another nice year in ’55 – 7-2 with a 2.32 ERA and eleven saves – but got shut
out of any Series action. He split '56 between NY and the Cards and was then
done, going 66-48 with a 3.46 ERA, 14 complete games, two shutouts, and 74 saves. He then became a pitching coach
in the Cards chain which he did through ’68 when he left to become athletic
director at Hartwick
College in NY. He also
opened and ran a sporting goods store nearby. He did both until the early
Seventies after which he retired. He passed away in ’76 in Oneonta, NY
after a battle with cancer. He was 59.
Chick Fraser was born in Chicago in 1873 and played local ball after
finishing high school there. In 1894 he went 12-18 with a high ERA for a couple
Western League Class A teams and the next year went 26-23 at the same level
with a much lower ERA. That season got him sold to Louisville, the old NL team, where for the
next three seasons he pitched in the rotation. But he was pretty wild, twice leading
the NL in wild pitches, and went a combined 34-63 with a high ERA before being
traded to the Cleveland Spiders late in the season. After not improving there
too much he was sold to the Phillies before the ’99 season and went on his best
run, going 21-12 and 15-9 with an ERA of 3.28 the next two years. In ’01 he
jumped to the A’s and went 22-16 but returned to the Phillies the following
year. This time – despite throwing a no-hitter in ’03 – his record wasn’t as
good, as he went a combined 38-54 the next three years. In ’05 he went to Boston where he lost 21 and in ’06 to Cincinnati where he lost 20, both despite
better than league average ERA’s. In ’07 he went to the Cubs where as a spot
starter the next two seasons he went 19-14 with a 2.28 ERA and won a Series
ring the second year. He was released early in the ’09 season, finishing up top
with a record of 175-212 with a 3.67 ERA, 342 complete games, 22 shutouts, and
six saves. He hit 219 batters, threw 146 wild pitches, and walked a bunch more
guys than he struck out. In ’09 he returned to his farm in Iowa
to grow alfalfa and then in ’11 returned to play some minor league ball, first
for New Orleans, and the next season for Decatur of the Three I
League where he also managed. In ’13 he managed Pittsfield
in the Pittsburgh
system and then became a scout and sometime coach for the Pirates through 1930.
He managed one more season in ’31 and then became a scout for the Dodgers and
the Yankees. He was still at it in the late Thirties when he lost a leg to diabetes.
He then became sick again with the disease and passed away in 1940 at age 66.
Robin Roberts was another kid from Illinois who would be a star on the Whiz
Kids. Robin went to Michigan
State on a hoops
scholarship after he took a year off at the tail end of WWII. He too got a
degree in physical education and excelled in basketball and eventually got
pretty good in baseball as well after he moved to pitcher from the outfield. He
also played summer ball in Vermont
and was spotted there and signed with the Phillies in ’48. After a quick
run-through in the minors – 9-1 with a 2.06 ERA in ten Class B games – he moved
up to Philadelphia
where he went 7-9 the rest of the summer in the rotation. After winning 15 in
’49 he took off the next year and through ’55 he won at least 20 every season,
going a combined 138-78 during that time with an ERA around 3.00. He led the NL
in starts every year, innings five times, complete games four times, and was an
All-Star every season. His best year was ’52 when he went 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA
and finished second in MVP voting. In ’56 he was again an All-Star and went
19-18 with an inflated ERA to lead the NL in losses. He did that again the next
year when he went 10-22. He came back a bit the next three seasons, winning as
much as 17, but then bottomed out in Philly in ’61 when he went 1-10. He was
then sold to the Yankees who released him early in ’62 after never using him.
By then Robin had been a player rep and was instrumental in bringing in Marvin
Miller to advocate for the union so his releases may have been about more than
just his pitching. He caught on with the Orioles and for them over three-plus
seasons went 42-36 in the rotation with a 3.09 ERA. In mid-’65 he went to Houston where he went 5-2
with a 1.89 ERA the rest of the way. But ’66 wasn’t too hot and after going to
the Cubs mid-year he was released. Robin finished with a record of 286-245 with
a 3.41 ERA, 305 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 25 saves. He was a control
specialist and only walked 900 batters in nearly 4,700 innings. After playing
he worked in investment banking for a bunch of years and briefly did some radio
work at a Philly station. In ’76, the year he was elected to the Hall, he
became baseball coach at the University
of South Florida, which
he did through ’86. After that he pretty much retired to Florida where he played golf and attended
card shows. He passed away there in 2010 at age 83.
Earl Moore went 22-11 for Dayton, a B league team in 1900 with whom he signed after playing local ball in and around
Columbus, Ohio,
where he grew up. Those numbers got him signed by Cleveland of the new American League in 1901.
Earl was one of the team’s best pitchers the next couple years as he put up
better than average ERA’s even though he walked more guys than he struck out
with his bizarre sidearm delivery. In ’03 he had an excellent year, going 20-8
with an AL-best 1.74 ERA and more than twice as many K’s as walks. In ’04 and
’05 he was a roughly .500 pitcher with still excellent ERA’s but that stopped
fast when early the next season he was nailed by a shot back to the mound, injuring
his foot. Over the next two seasons he only went 4-8 in 20 games as the rehab
was long and painful. Along the way he got traded to the Highlanders. Late in
the ’07 season NY sold him to Jersey
City, an A league team where he was able to revive
things. He put up a 2.19 ERA the rest of that season and went 13-12 with a 2.46
ERA in ’08 before he was sold to the Phillies. For them late that summer Earl
went 2-1 in three starts without giving up a run – since he started all his
games I don’t know how he got the loss – and then put up two of his best
seasons: 18-12 with a 2.10 ERA in ’09 and 22-15 with a 2.58 ERA and an
NL-leading six shutouts and 185 strikeouts in ’10. In ’11 and ’12 his record
deteriorated a bit though his ERA was still quite good and in ’13 he only got
into a few games split between the Phillies and the Cubs. In ’14 he jumped to Buffalo of the Federal
League where he went 11-15 his final season. In all Earl went 163-154 with a
2.78 ERA, 230 complete games, and 34 shutouts. He returned to Ohio after playing where he sold oil and
real estate and passed away at age 84 in 1961.
Claude Passeau was one of a million kids born to a family in
Mississippi.
He attended local Millsaps
College where he lettered
all four years in football, basketball, baseball, and track. During college he
also played summer ball in the States and in Mexico under assumed names. He
could hum the ball pretty well and was signed by Detroit upon graduating in ’31. The next year
he went 10-9 with a 1.92 ERA in a season split between D and B ball. In '33 his ERA popped a bit as he moved up a couple levels but he fixed that the
next couple seasons as he went 12-11 with a 2.96 ERA and then 20-11 in A ball
in ’35. But Detroit then released him and Pittsburgh picked him up
and moved him to the top at the tail end of the season and then traded him to
the Phillies. For them Claude would have a tough time in their tiny Baker Bowl
and while he put up an NL-average ERA of 4.15 and led the NL in starts,
innings, and strikeouts once each, he only went 38-55 during his time there.
Early in the ’39 season he went to the Cubs for three guys and it was there
Claude blossomed. He perfected his new slider pitch, won 20 his first full
season, made four All-Star teams, and went a combined 124-94 over nine seasons
with a 2.96 ERA. His crowning moment was a one-hit shutout he threw against Detroit in the ’45
Series. He played with the Cubs through ’47, did a season back in the minors
the next year and was done. He finished with a record of 162-150 with a 3.32
ERA, 188 complete games, 26 shutouts, and 21 saves. He went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA
in three Series games. After he finished playing he moved back to Mississippi where he had
a business selling farm equipment. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 94.
So on the offensive side Topps does a very good job representing
this team. Jose Pagan, the former Pirates infielder who finished things up with
this team in ’73 is the only guy with more than a couple at bats without a
card. Jose had 80 at bats backing up rookie Schmidt and is in the team photo, number
16 in the first row. Deron Johnson got some at bats before he left for Oakland, with whom he has
a card. Deron is in the fourth row,
third from the right. On the pitching side, twelve decisions are missing, which
is pretty good also. Ken Brett has a card with the Pirates. Those missing cards
are: Bucky Brandon went 2-4 with a couple saves his last season (he would later
teach Orel Hershiser how to pitch); Bill Wilson went 1-3 with four saves in
what was also his final season; Dick Selma went 1-1 in only eight innings. All
three are in the team photo: Brandon and Wilson are the third and fourth guys
in the fourth row; Selma
is the fifth guy in the second row.
Finally we get to the hookup. Let’s use the traded guy on
the checklist card:
1. Greg Luzinski was on the ’73 Phillies;
2. Luzinski and Dave Cash ’74 to ’76 Phillies;
3. Cash and Bob Moose ’71 to ’73 Pirates.
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