#588 - Hal Lanier

It has happened a couple times in this set where Topps goes from a guy just beginning his career to one just ending it. In the latest rendition of that segue the guy on the back end is Hal Lanier, shown in the on-deck circle at Yankee Stadium. Hal was really done in that the stats on the back of his card would be his final ones up top and by the time this card came out he wasn’t a Yankee any more but the property of the Cardinals. In ’73 Hal backed up Gene Michael at shortstop during one of Gene’s busier seasons so Hal didn’t get too much work. He’d backed up third base the prior year as one of several guys to man the position between Jerry Kenney and Graig Nettles. So his time in NY was all reserve stuff and he was basically in wind-down mode for a while. But it wouldn’t be too long before he raised his profile again

Hal Lanier was born in North Carolina in 1942, smack dab in the middle of his dad’s MLB career. Max Lanier was a pitcher for the Cardinals and by the time his career ended he had relocated first to California and then to Florida where Max attended high school. A pitcher and infielder at that level, he took his school to the state finals and then was signed by the Giants that June of 1961 for a $50,000 (or $75,000) bonus. He had also passed on a full ride to play hoops at the University of Florida. He would hit at a nice clip in the minors, beginning in D ball in ’61, when he batted .315 while playing shortstop. He moved to second base the next few years as he moved up the ladder: In C ball in ’62 he hit .312; in Double A in ’63 it was .282 as he led his league in hits; and in ’64 when he hit .327 before being called up to San Francisco. In one of the odder stat items I have seen Hal had only six walks that year in 270 plate appearances. He may have hit well in the minors but he was no Joe Morgan at getting on base.

In 1964 the Giants had Jim Davenport and Chuck Hiller splitting time at second base during the first half of the year. Neither of the two was hitting very well so San Francisco called up the hot-hitting Lanier to add some offense in the middle. To a degree Hal delivered and his .274 average was good enough to get him named to that year’s Topps Rookie Team. But other stats – especially the walk total of five in his 400 plate appearances – were more telling of his future offensive behavior. That would become evident in ’65 when Hal’s average dropped nearly 50 points though he continued to build his reputation as a very good defender. That year he also suffered a pretty nasty beaning. In ’66 Tito Fuentes came up and since he was a more natural second baseman, Hal put in some time at shortstop and by ’67 it was his full-time position. That year he topped out in RBI’s with 42 though his average continued to slide. He remained the starter through ’70 when he had his best offensive season since his rookie year. In ’71 new kid Chris Speier took over the position and Hal spent most of the year at third base. Just prior to the ’72 season he was sold to the Yankees for whom he proved to be a helpful stopgap that year since the anticipated starter at third base, Rich McKinney, sort of crashed and burned. Hal was released following the ’73 season and before ’74 opened hooked up with the Cardinals. For them that year he played every infield spot in Triple A while hitting .269 and the next year had a gig as a player coach for the same team. That pretty much wrapped up his playing career and along with the stats on the back he had one post-season at bat without a hit and hit .295 in the minors.  

Following the ’75 season Hal was given his release by the Cards and found a job selling cars back in San Jose, California, where he continued to live after he left the Giants. That December the Cards came back to him, though, and offered him a job managing in the team’s system on which Hal pounced. ’76 wasn’t too hot but the next four years Hal won his league’s title twice and in ’81 was pulled up to coach in St. Louis. He did that through ’85 when he was hired away to manage the Astros. Installing a Cards-type running game in Houston he won 96 games and the division his first year as well as NL Manager of the Year. But the next two years weren’t as successful and Hal, sort of an old school guy, had some tension brewing between him and some of his players. He was dismissed after the ’88 season after having gone 254-232 in his three years. After a year off he coached for the Phillies for ’90 and ’91. He interviewed for the Yankees manager job and a couple others in ’92 but didn’t get back in baseball until ’96. Since then Hal has been managing in the independent leagues, a bunch of that time in Canada. Through 2011 he took his team to the playoffs nine of his 16 seasons and during that time he went 1,020-857. After a year of in 2012 he was named manager of the independent Yuma Desert Rats but that team later pulled out of the new league – the American West Baseball League – of which it was to be a part so as far as I can tell Hal continues to be retired.

Hal is in the top 100 all-time in fielding percentage for shortstops. His dad, Max, had a pretty good run as a pitcher, mostly with the Cards during the WW II years. He was 108-82 with a 3.01 ERA and in ‘43 had probably his best season, going 15-7 with an NL-leading ERA of 1.90. He got in three straight Series with St. Louis, winning two, and went 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his seven games.

Hal and Larry get helped out big by an ex-Giant:

1. Lanier and Bobby Bonds ’68 to ’71 Giants;

2. Bonds and Garry Maddox ’72 to ’74 Giants;

3. Maddox and Larry Christenson ’75 to ’83 Phillies.

#190 - Tony Oliva

Tony Oliva shows his swing in Oakland. This park had sort of a nasty association for Tony since it was there in '71 that he tore up his knee fielding a grounder in the outfield. That injury destroyed all his cartilage in the knee and forced him to basically miss the '72 season to do rehab. It was thought that his career was over but the card title gives a hint to its revival. After Orlando Cepeda, Tony is the second guy exclusively depicted as a DH in the set. And like Orlando, Tony had a big revival year in '73, putting up a nice average and posting power stats that compared nicely to those before his injury. That new DH rule really was a life-saver to some bad kneed former All-Stars.

Tony Oliva is a Cuban who grew up on his dad's plantation with four brothers and five sisters. His birth name is actually Pedro but he assumed the name Tony when he borrowed his brother's passport to come to the States in '61 to play ball. Signed by the Twins that spring he went to camp in Florida and hit well but was cut because anyone non-white couldn't play for the Florida development team. Having nowhere to go - Cuba had just been ruled off-limits for travel - he found some friends in Charlotte and went up there. It was another Twins franchise and the owner of it, Phil Howser, liked what he saw in Tony, convinced the Twins to re-sign him, and then sent him to Wytheville, another D team. All Tony did was hit .410 for him there. In '62 Tony moved to Howser's team, a Single A one, and hit .350. That was followed in '63 by a .304 season in Triple A. All three years he showed pretty good power as well and his fielding improved tremendously over that time. In his two brief call-ups those last two seasons he hit well over .400.

In 1964 Oliva would have one of the best rookie years ever, becoming the first rookie to lead a league in hitting and generating considerable power. He led the AL as well in doubles, hits, runs, and total bases. His stats would get him Rookie of the Year and a place on the Topps team. But by mid-year '65 he was hitting only .250 with torn up knees and a bad knuckle on his hitting hand. One result of that was his propensity to let the bat fly on some big swings since he couldn't hold onto it properly and in his games lots of players on the bench would wear batting helmets. Another result was that everyone thought the dreaded sophomore jinx had struck. But that was laid to rest as he pulled his average up to .321 and had a comparable season to his rookie one. '66 would be another .300 season but '67 to '68, while good, were off for Tony due to his problem knees. He revived big the next three seasons, getting over 100 RBIs the first two years and winning the batting title in '71 despite barely being able to walk the second half of the season.

In '72 the injury hit hard and while Tony was rehabbing himself and re-generating his magic at the plate, he couldn't field at his former level by a long shot. The DH rule saved his career and '73 was a nice comeback year. He would continue to DH for the Twins through '76 though the big power days were behind him and retired after that last season with a .304 average, 220 homers, and 947 RBIs in 15 seasons. He made eight All-Star teams and won a Gold Glove. In the post-season he hit .314 with three homers and five RBI's in his 13 games.

Oliva began coaching for Minnesota his last playing year, which he did through '78 up top. He then pulled the same role in the minors from '79 to '84, returning to Minnesota from '85 to '91 (he was hitting coach for both Series winners). Since then he has been a minor league hitting coach for the team.

Tony has some excellent star bullets. He would not better any of those numbers during the remainder of his career.

These guys faced each other in the '65 Series. We hook them up with a great nickname:

1. Oliva and Jim "Mudcat" Grant '64 to '67 Twins;
2. Grant and Jim Brewer '68 Dodgers.

Mudcat Grant threw for Cleveland a few years before coming to the Twins in '64, just in time to help lead the team to the Series the next year. His 21-7 record was by far his best and though injuries would derail his career a bit, he put together another nice season in '70 as Oakland's bullpen ace. His last years he also threw for LA, Montreal, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh, finishing in '71.

#155 - Bert Campaneris

This is a pretty prosaic card after all the great A's action shots but I guess we were due. Before I get into Campy here I have to give props to some of the recent commentators, particularly Clay, who has educated me on the Expos' spring training sites and carlsonjok on photography. With this card we are back to the A's following or leading the Mets by a card or two. Bert had a pretty typical season for him in '73. After missing the first week for a suspension - see below - he worked his way out of an early slump to get another All-Star nod based on his mid-season .300 average. That cooled off a bit over the balance of the season but more good defense numbers preceded his best offensive post-season that all contributed to his second straight ring.

Bert Campaneris was yet another player born and raised in Cuba. There Bert was primarily a catcher and after he was signed by Kansas City in '61 it was the position at which he first played in the minor leagues. In a '62 season split between D and Single A ball he also played the outfield, shortstop, and first base. He even pitched a couple games and in one he did so ambidextrously. His offense at both levels was quite good as his combined numbers included a .300 average with a .390 OBA. In '63 he graduated to Double A for a short season - perhaps he was injured - and he stayed there for the bulk of '64, both seasons hitting above .300 while concentrating primarily on shortstop. He came up to KC later that second season and in his first game hit two homers off Jim Kaat. While Bert was not without power, that game was not indicative of the type of player he would be. What he would be was a slightly above average hitter for a shortstop at the time with a not too great OBA, but who could steal bases, run intelligently, provide very good range defensively, and have a great attitude. From late '64 through '76 Bert would be the regular A's shortstop, accumulating five All-Star nods during that time. In '65 he showed his versatility by playing an inning at each position. That experiment ended badly when he was steamrolled at the plate by Angel Ed Kirkpatrick and then missed a couple games with a dislocated shoulder. In '66 he showed his base-running skill by scoring four times in a win without the benefit of another player's RBI. From '65 to '68 he took over from Luis Aparicio and led the AL in stolen bases each year, which he would do again in '70 and '72. During the '68 season he also led the AL in hits. In '70 he became a power hitter for a season, knocking 22 homers with 64 RBIs, both personal bests by wide margins. In '71 the solid play began paying off as Oakland won its first of five straight division titles. In '72 Campy only played a couple playoff games against Detroit; he was suspended for the rest of them because he threw his bat at Tiger reliever Lerrin LaGrow after the pitcher threw at him. He was suspended ten games for that, but Bowie Kuhn allowed him to play in the Series and the remaining suspension was pushed forward to the '73 season.

In both '74 and '75 Campaneris would again be an All-Star and have two of his best offensive seasons. The first year he topped out in average and OBA, with a .290 and .347, respectively. Then in '76 he put up his last big stolen base total of 54 - the most he'd had in seven seasons - as the A's set a team record. Following that season he was part of the big exodus and signed with the Rangers as a free agent. While on paper his offensive and defensive numbers held and he was again an All-Star, at 35 his range was being compromised. In '78 his numbers tumbled hard and early in the '79 season he was traded to the Angels for Dave Chalk. For California he was a part-timer for the balance of '79 through '81. The Angels did not re-sign him after that last season and the following year he played in Mexico. In '83 he came back to play some games for the Yankees and hit .322. He also played some minor league ball for those guys and after the season left as a free agent. That was it for Campy and his totals would include a .259 average with nearly 1,200 runs, 313 doubles, 86 triples, and 79 homers. He also stole 649 bases and is currently 14th all-time in that category. He does lead lifetime in playing in the most no-hit games at eleven. In the post-season he hit .243 with eleven RBI's and ten steals in 37 games. He is still the A's leader in games played.

When done playing Campy settled in Arizona. He did some coaching in spring training for a couple clubs and coached in Japan from '88 to '89, but while there had two of his World Series rings stolen. He played in the Senior Baseball League in the late '80s and holds local baseball camps around AZ. He is also a regular at lots of MLB fund raising events.

Most of this stuff I covered up top. In the early '90s Bert had a young daughter and it turned out that one of her classmates in Scottsdale was the daughter of Lerrin LaGrow, the pitcher at whom he'd thrown the bat in the '72 playoffs.

I'm going to opt for some power guys on the hookup:

1. Campaneris and Reggie Jackson '68 to '75 A's;
2. Jackson and Lee May '76 Orioles;
3. May was on the '73 Astros.

#70 - Dick Allen

Dick Allen,as far as I was concerned, was The Man. He was my favorite player. From the batting helmet to the tape measure line drive homers to the fu manchu to the ball-busting way he dealt with all those inequalities in Philly, he was like Marlon Brando and James Dean and Joe Namath and Jim Brown rolled into one: a rebel who delivered. He must have been a pain in the butt to the front office guys, but why would a kid care about that? He was 5'11" and could touch the backboard over a foot above the rim (which means he had a vertical leap of about 42 inches), he could sing (he had a group that performed at Sixers games), he had a talk show, and he was just published on Night Owl's blog. His SI cover - the one where he juggles baseballs while smoking - was just named as that magazine's 29th best. He's still The Man. And this is the first card we get to see his face since his '71 Dodger card ('73 was an action shot away from the camera and '72 was taken around 1937). Dick appears to be on the bench here which was unfortunately a place he spent a considerable part of the season after getting run over by Mike Epstein. That injury killed what was shaping up as a pretty good follow-up to his MVP '72 year and pretty much derailed any hopes the Sox had of contending for the AL West title.

Allen was signed by the Phillies in '60 for $70,000, a huge sum back then and at the time the highest ever given a black player. He came from Wampum, PA and a family of nine kids and no dad. He had two brothers that also put in some big league time - Hank and Ron - but neither as successfully. When Dick was a kid, a spring flew off a screen door and hit him in his left eye, hence the glasses and his early nickname, Droopy. In the minors he progressed smoothly and in four seasons averaged .300 with a bunch of speed - 40 triples - and improving power. He also played everywhere: shortstop, second base, and the outfield. Being a northern kid, he did not get his first taste of southern hospitality until he played at Little Rock in '63 and wasn't allowed to get into the airport to get his own bag from the carousel. But he ended up winning over the fans there by hitting a ton and then got a short look at the end of that year and came up for good the following season. The Phillies were more-or-less set in the outfield, so they put Richie - as he was called then, over his objections - at third base. He responded with his super ROY season. He led the league in runs, triples, total bases, and strikeouts. He also led third basemen in errors by a pretty fat margin. Those last two stats were considered by his detractors to be pretty big chinks in the armor. But Dick, while aware of his K totals, was also comfortable with them as he later said it allowed him to figure out the pitchers; his seven seasons of .300-plus averages would seem to justify that. And his E totals were always accompanied by assists and putout totals near the top of the league. He also moved around position-wise a lot. For instance, just when settling in at third base - he knocked his E totals from 41 to 26 to about 15 in his first three seasons - the Phillies moved him to the outfield. But his offensive numbers stayed awfully good during his time in Philly: in '66 he missed twenty games and still had 40 homers and 110 RBIs; in '68 he had 33 homers and 90 RBIs during The Year of the Pitcher. But times were rough for Dick: the Thomas fight in '65, the hand through the headlight that severed nerves in '67, the racist taunts by the fans and the showering with objects that led to the full-time wearing of the batting helmet. Playing in Philly was tough back then for a black guy. Just ask...well, Dick Allen, since no other black guy at that point had lasted more than a couple seasons. All prompted Allen to seek an exit from Philly and he often expressed those requests by writing them in the sand around third and then first base.

In 1970, Allen got his wish, and he was sent to the Cards in the trade made famous by Curt Flood's refusal to report to the Phillies (they later got Willie Montanez). After a fine season there (he didn't like not being able to go to the track; they didn't like him stopping off at bars before games), he went to LA for Ted Sizemore. While his last years in Philly he had settled into the outfield, when he became itinerant, he also started moving around the diamond again. This was most true in LA where he split time pretty evenly between third, first, and the outfield. There was also a report that Walt Alston refused to manage Mr. Allen, so that all contributed to another short stay, although he led the team in homers and RBIs, both by wide margins. At the end of the year he went to the White Sox for Tommy John.

In Chicago, Allen had a homey manager from back in PA, Chuck Tanner, who let him be, and Allen responded with his MVP season in which he led the league in homers, walks, slugging, and RBI's. Ten more points on his average and he would have won the triple crown. '73 was a tough one for Dick: despite putting up some nice numbers, he went down in late June after a harsh collision with Mike Epstein. He finished that game and then found out he had a broken leg. He tried to come back in August but after a game in which he went 3 for 5, he had to sit out the rest of the season. In '74 he again led the league with 32 homers and hit .301 with 88 RBI's, despite "retiring" in early September to attend to his race horses. The trouble that time was that he and Ron Santo were at odds; Santo and maybe Wilbur Wood were probably the only Chisox guys that could mobilize fans successfully against Allen, but I cannot find any more info on that. After that season Dick went to the Braves for Jim Essian and $5,000 and then to the Phillies, again for Jim Essian and $150,000 (nice trade). This time there were no troubles off the field (at least not initially), but the magic was more or less gone and after two years in Philly during which he averaged a .248/14/55 line in 357 at bats - and his only post-season appearance - and a half season in Oakland in '77, he was all done. 351 homers, 1,100 RBIs, a .292 average, a .378 OBA, and seven All-Star appearances were his highlights. In the post-season Dick hit .222 with a .417 OBA in his three games.

Allen had a rough time of it after baseball, losing his horses to a fire and most of his baseball pension to his ex. Things began to come together in the mid-Eighties, though. He coached a year with Texas, began showing up at card shows, and published a well-received autobiography at the end of the decade. In the mid- Nineties he began doing some community work for the Phillies and has since been added to the team's hall of fame. He looked pretty good during an interview with Bob Costas last year on MLB Network, so I guess he's doing OK.

I already covered just about all the star bullets in my above homage. He says he signed his name Rich or Richard because nobody knew who Dick was. There's Wampum again, which was the name he used on his A's uniform. He had quadraphonic sound - remember that? - in his apartment in '73 so I guess he did like music.

So these two guys had the same colors on their cards and almost played together:

1. Allen and Dave Cash '75 to '76 Phillies;
2. Cash and Del Unser '74 Phillies.