#659 - Joe Lis

This mutton-chopped guy finally gets his first solo card, nearly ten years after being signed in ’64. Joe Lis had rookie cards in both the ’70 and ’71 set and then switched teams before reappearing on a sunny day in Oakland during batting practice. He got his first serious chunk of playing time in ’73 partly as a result of Harmon Killebrew’s injury, and put up some decent numbers while filling in at first base. Joe could hit, as some of the numbers on his card back attest, but up top he’d suffer from too little field time and way too many strikeouts and shortly after this card’s appearance he’d be on the move again. But he loved baseball and while it didn’t always love him back, he would parlay that love into a long career in a different venue.

Joe Lis was a big three sports star in New Jersey in the early Sixties and would end his high school baseball career with a .521 average and a total of 17 homers his junior and senior years before being signed by the Phillies in June of ’64. That summer and the next in A ball were a bit tough at the plate but the latter season he was one of his league’s best-fielding third basemen and in ’66 around some military time he got back his power stroke with 16 homers and 62 RBI’s in just 332 at bats. He remained at that level in ’67 and really cranked the power that season. Despite his improved numbers he remained in A ball in ’68, added 40 points to his average, and began putting in some serious outfield time. He made the big jump to Triple A in ’69, just in time for his first significant loss of time to injury via some hamstring and wrist problems, but still put up OK numbers. By then he was pretty much exclusively an outfielder and his ’70 season would be far better than OK as he seriously crushed the ball in Triple A and made his MLB debut in September with a few games in left field. In ’71 the Phillies didn’t have much of a team – they’d record 95 losses that season – but they had a bunch of young outfielders coming off excellent ’70 minor league seasons in Willie Montanez, Greg Luzinski, Roger Freed, Mike Anderson, and Joe. That competition was escalated by the presence of incumbent Larry Hisle, who was only 24, and the move of Don Money to the outfield. So despite making the Phillies out of camp and getting some early season starts in left, when Joe went into a bit of a slump marred by pretty high K totals, there was no shortage of guys to step in and his at bats declined as the season aged. He began the ’72 season back in Triple A where his monster stats included a .473 OBA and prompted his return to Philly in June. Now moved to first base, he improved his offensive numbers significantly, reducing his K totals and moving his OBA up to .380. But with Willie Montanez scheduled to take over first full-time, Joe and pitchers Ken Sanders and Ken Reynolds went to Minnesota for everyman Cesar Tovar.

Lis began the ’74 season on the Twins roster, but moved to third in the depth chart at first base behind The Killer and new kid Craig Kusick. Hitting .195 with zero power during his little plate time didn’t help things and early in June he was sold to Cleveland where he got some initial work subbing at third base for the injured Buddy Bell, but again played primarily at first. He added some RBI numbers but his offense overall wasn’t so hot as he posted a ’74 line of .200/6/19 in his 150 at bats. He then spent most of ’75 and ’76 in Triple A for the Tribe where he averaged lines of .290/24/86 with an OBA of .424 while playing  mostly first. He brought some of that magic to Cleveland as during that time he posted a .312 average with 15 RBI’s and a .420 OBA in his 64 at bats. That winter he was selected by Seattle in the expansion draft and for the Mariners he put in some early time at DH before he returned to Cleveland and Triple A and hit .267 with a .388 OBA for a couple teams. In ’78 he went to Japan – a common theme for recent post subjects – where he posted a disappointing .206/6/30 line in 262 at bats as a first baseman/DH. Then it was back to The States and one final shot for Detroit's Triple A club for whom he posted a ’79 line of .292/16/80/.384 in his final season. Joe closed things out with an MLB line of .233/32/92/.332 in his 709 at bats and a minor league line of .277/238/614/.382.  

Lis remained with the Detroit organization a couple additional years as a minor league coach, leaving pro ball following the ’81 season. He had begun doing the guest speaker route while in Cleveland which he continued after playing. He also set up a hitting school in his garage back in Indiana which eventually morphed into a business. His son Joe Jr. would be drafted by the Blue Jays and reach Triple A in the mid-Nineties before helping out at his dad’s school. This Joe continued to operate his hitting school until he was laid low by prostate cancer, from which he passed away in 2010. He was 64.

Joe’s card back shows off most of his better minor league work and showcases his slugging and defense in ’67. He had much better season as a slugger though, topping his .522 slugging average that year in ’70 (.616) and ’72 (.775). That second year he seemed an even money bet to break Tony Lazzeri’s PCL record home run total of 60 when he was called back to Philly. Joe had 26 homers with about two-thirds of the season still left. He has a pretty good SABR bio.

The colors are almost the same but the leagues aren’t so let’s see how we get these guys together:

1. Lis and Bill Robinson ’72 Phillies;

2. Robinson and Lee Lacy ’79 to ’82 Pirates.

#639 - Joe Lovitto

This appears to be a spring training shot of Joe Lovitto at home, which I believe would back then make it Pompano Beach. If I am correct in the time then Joe here should have a more hopeful countenance than he shows since he had a good enough spring to be named the Rangers starting third baseman. Granted that status didn’t last too long and after hitting .152 in that role in April Joe suffered a back injury that took him out of the line-up a couple weeks and then after a month or so of back-up work contributed to a return to Triple A where he spent time at both third and center, hence his card designation. Joe was the first in what would ultimately be six guys who had significant third base time for the Rangers in ’73, just another one of a list of elements that would lead to another horrible finish in Whitey Herzog’s only (partial) year of managing the club. Whitey was an optimist, which was hard to be for this team back then and it looks like Joe agrees with that assessment.

Joe Lovitto was a San Pedro, California kid who attended a couple high schools and was a football and baseball star at both of them. He was good enough in the latter sport to get drafted as a first rounder by the Senators in ’69 and that summer got off to a bit of a slow start in A ball, though he did steal 22 bases while splitting time between the outfield and catcher. He picked up his average significantly at that level the following year when he moved to second base supplemented with a bit of outfield time. In ’71 he lost time to his reserve military hitch but when around did well in Double A and even better at Triple A Denver, where he put up an OBA of .414 while again playing second and center. In ’72 he came up in time for the team’s move to Texas and to be managed by Ted Williams in his last season. Joe won the starting gig in center but had a tough time cracking Mendoza levels the first half of the season and would give up some at bats to Elliott Maddox. But Joe put up a .254 average with twelve stolen bases in the second half which looked real good next to that team average of .217 and he seemed to be on the way to some good stuff until ’73 stepped in. In ’74 he returned to the regular spot in center but nagging shoulder and back injuries kept his average low and reduced his playing time just when the team was making a real run for the division title. He would pretty much split time in center that year with the rejuvenated Cesar Tovar and the next year give way to Lenny Randle and David Moates when the low average and a summer missed to injury really crimped his playing time. In December he was traded to the Mets for Gene Clines but his injuries were pretty debilitating by then and he was released before spring training was over. Joe finished with a .216 MLB average and hit .266 in the minors.

I am not clear at all as to what Joe Lovitto did after playing but it appears that whatever it was he did it in the Arlington area. I want to say it was something related to sports fishing because I have seen photos of him in that activity. Unfortunately one activity that took up a large chunk of Joe’s time in the Nineties was his battles against various cancers. Initially nailed by testicular cancer in ’91 Joe spent the better part of that decade fighting that and successive diseases, battles he ultimately lost when in 2001 he passed away at age 50.

Joe is another seemingly warm weather guy who liked to hit the slopes. He seems to have received a bit of face time in a book called “Seasons in Hell” by Mike Shropshire which may be excerpted in a few sites on the web. The book appears to be pretty hilarious and in one instance during his ’72 rookie season Joe is told by manager Ted Williams that he could be a great hitter if he worked harder. Joe politely responded to Ted to “F___ off” and slammed the door on him. He certainly had guts.

Watergate goings on were happening miles from Arlington, but they were happening:

7/24/74 – The Supreme Court finally handed down its decision in United States v Nixon and ordered the President to turn over all the requested White House tapes. “The Court held that neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified, presidential privilege. While there was a limited executive privilege in areas of military or diplomatic affairs, preference must be given to the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of justice. The President must obey the subpoena and produce the tapes and documents.” Nixon reluctantly complied.

7/27/74 – Partly emboldened by the Supreme Court decision, over the next three days the House Judiciary Committee adopted three Articles of Impeachment against President Nixon. The three were: obstructing the Watergate investigation; misuse of power and violating the oath of office; and failure to comply with House subpoenas. The Committee’s vote this day was televised and the call was actually quite stirring, particularly that of Committee Chairman Peter Rodino who looked close to tears when voicing a quavering “Aye.”

Sanders didn’t have any Texas time but he was an AL guy, which helps here:

1. Lovitto and Clyde Wright ’75 Rangers;

2. Wright and Dave May ’74 Brewers;

3. May and Ken Sanders ’70 to ’72 Brewers.

#631 - Steve Barber

This final card thing just keeps going and we’re not done yet. Here Steve Barber shows his game face on a field of which I am shamefully unaware (those blue girders look right for The Met but I don’t believe that stadium had an overhang. County Stadium?). Steve is air-brushed into his Brewers cap. He was one of the many guys on the other side of the Ollie Brown trade from a few posts back, and like Ollie, Steve never played an inning for his new team. After a decent year out of the pen for California in which he added four saves to his stats, Steve went – sort of – back to Milwaukee in that huge trade from which just about every other participant also has a non-Traded traded card in this set. But he got released during spring training and would later in the year hook-up with San Francisco in his last MLB run. Steve was an original Pilot – hence the sort of above – which means he got some print in “Ball Four” which I will get to below. Here he looks awfully non-commital or maybe sedated. All that moving around late in his career probably made him feel that way.

Steve Barber grew up in Maryland, not terribly far from the freshly-relocated St. Louis Browns, who would sign him as one of the first new Orioles in ’57. Steve had just finished high school during which he twice led his team to a bi-county championship and didn’t lose at all his senior year. He had a big fastball but was pretty wild and that whole one-pitch thing didn’t work too well in the minors. While he averaged a strikeout an inning he also averaged nearly a walk an inning and his first two seasons he went a combined 15-21 with an ERA over 5.00 as he couldn’t get above C ball. But he also gradually picked up a curve and in ’59 calmed down – a bit – in D ball when he went 7-11 with a 3.85 ERA and 172 K’s with 143 walks in his 159 innings. His curveball improved considerably that year and in ’60 it would help him make the improbable jump all the way to Baltimore.

Barber had a bang-up spring in ’60 and made the Orioles staff out of training camp. He started in the pen where he got a couple saves and then moved into the rotation where he had a real nice rookie year where he came in sixth in the AL with his ERA. Control was still an issue as he led the AL in walks (113) and wild pitches (10). He also officially joined the Orioles’ “Kiddie Corps”, a group of four young pitchers that also included Chuck Estrada, Jack Fisher, and Milt Pappas. Those guys would go on to various degrees of success but their first year together they went a combined 55-40 at an average age of 21 and seemed primed to lead the O’s out of the horrid history the team inherited from its Browns days. In ‘61 Steve did his part in cementing the Corps’ legacy by winning 18 and leading the AL with eight shutouts (the Corps overall went 56-43) as Baltimore made a big run for the pennant with its 95 wins. Things got pretty frustrating for everyone in ’62 when Steve had to do his Army hitch and could only pitch on weekend leaves the first half of the season and then missed a month-plus with a trip to the DL. His record literally halved though he pitched quite well, the Corps dropped big to 37-42, and Baltimore had a losing record. But he followed that up with a big ’63 in which he became Baltimore’s first 20-game winner, again finshed in the top ten in AL ERA, and made his first All-Star team. By then the Kiddie Corps was blown up as Fisher had been traded and Estrada had only a partial season in Baltimore, though the remnant had its best record of 39-24. In ’64 his first significant tendinitis struck and Steve missed a month through early June and never really got into a good groove in his first sub-par season. ’65 began as only a partial improvement and by the end of June Steve was 5-6 with a 3.72 ERA. But the rest of the way he went 10-4 with a 2.24 ERA in the best run of his career to salvage another nice year. Then in ’66 he was on another good run when the tendinitis nailed him again and he missed all but five games in the second half. He couldn’t even pitch in the All-Star game to which he was selected and he got shut out of any Series action. By ’67 the elbow pain was pretty devastating and after a not great start that year Steve went to the Yankees in July for infielder Ray Barker, a couple minor leaguers (one with the great name of Chet Trail), and cash. Steve pretty much matched his early season numbers with his new team as combined he recorded his worst MLB season. In ’68 he posted pretty good numbers in a spot role after some Triple A time before going to the new Seattle Pilots that winter in the expansion draft.

With Seattle Barber was sort of a legacy guy because of his big seasons with the Birds so he was going to get a real shot at the rotation. But his arm was a mess and he had a couple stints on the DL and some more in the pen in what was a pretty nasty season. He was released the following spring and hooked up with the Cubs. He threw real well in four Triple A starts – 1-1 with a 1.55 ERA – but poorly up top and by May was on the road again, this time to Atlanta. For the Braves, Steve turned the same trick, going 7-1 with a 3.36 ERA in ten Triple A starts while being below average in his MLB work. In ’71 his ERA remained high though he stayed in Atlanta the whole year and recorded a couple saves in his pen work. After an abortive beginning to ’72 he was cut and signed with California as a free agent. Back in the AL Steve recorded a good little season with an excellent ERA and another couple saves. After the trade here he was cut again by the Brewers in camp and then signed with the Giants. After some iffy Triple A work he came up to throw a few innings that summer in his final MLB work. He then pitched in Triple A for the Cardinals that August and was done. He finished 121-106 with a 3.36 ERA with 59 complete games, 21 shutouts, and 13 saves.

After playing Steve remained in Arizona where he established a business installing stereos in cars and trucks. In ’78 he relocated to Nevada where he became a fleet manager for a company that rehabilitated cars which he did through ’91. He then became a bus driver for a local school that worked with handicapped kids. He was still doing that when he passed away in 2007. He was 68.

Steve’s signature differs a bit from his given name. I guess his hobby led pretty naturally to what he did after playing. In ’67 Steve threw all but one out of a no-hitter that he lost 2-1. In the game he gave up ten walks and hit two guys. In “Ball Four” Steve comes across as nearly a tragic figure. Jim Bouton said that all those years of throwing a curve permanently disfigured Steve’s left arm and that it was noticeably shorter than his right one. In nearly every scene in which Steve participates he is in a whirlpool bath or the diathermy machine. His price in the draft was pretty steep at $175,000 and at some point he earns Bouton’s resentment because he was asked to go to the minors while doing rehab and refused, which theoretically disallowed another pitcher coming up and may have contributed to Bouton’s stay in the minors that season.

By this point Watergate was all about the tapes, the tapes, the tapes...

10/10/73 – Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President as part of a plea deal with the Justice Department. As it was becoming evident that Agnew would be found guilty of accepting bribes – unrelated to Watergate – he was offered a deal that he could plead guilty only to under-reporting his income by $29,500 in ’67 if he also stepped down as Vice President, which he accepted. In the wake of that departure President Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald Ford to replace Agnew.

10/19/73 – After months of haggling over the tapes made by the system installed by President Nixon in the White House, Nixon and the Senate Committee reached an apparent agreement. Senator John Stennis, a democrat from Mississippi would be allowed to review requested tapes and then prepare summaries of those tapes to the Committee and the Special Prosecutor. It was unclear whether Nixon would or would not have final say over the selected tapes. While the Committee agreed to the deal, Special Prosecutor Cox did not and issued a statement that afternoon that he still demanded the tapes.

This hook-up gets done through the AL:

1. Barber and Jerry Adair ’60 to ’65 Orioles;

2. Adair and Tommie Agee ’66 to ’67 White Sox.

#630 - Tommie Agee

Back to the final cards, and in this case the plural works two ways. For the record of the last eight non-team cards in this set, six have been the final ones issued during those players’ careers. And Tommie Agee gets to go out with a double, just like Felipe Alou did a bunch of posts back. These aren’t great cards – Tommie looks pretty unhappy as a Cardinal and that look up on his Traded card could be years old. But he did have some great ones. In ’71 he slides into second as Joe Morgan and (I think) Dennis Menke try to get a ball that appears trapped in Tommie’s underarm while the umpire – in a uniform out of 1920 – looks like he’s about to signal an out, which would make no sense. I think that one gets topped in ’73 when Tommie is making a catch in center with Rusty Staub – our last post subject – jogging over from right and (again, I believe) Ken Boswell doing a crossover in back of another ump in a photo in which all three guys – a record? – had to be air-brushed because Tommie went to Houston before that season. He’d been having a rough time since about mid-’71 when extensive knee pain took away lots of his power and a year later his speed. And though he spent less than half his career in a Mets uniform, it is odd to see him out of it. His last year really was his last year – no more stats after the ones on this card – and after the trade mentioned above sort of fell flat. Despite hitting well in a couple early starts in left field for Houston, the dereliction of his knees contributed to most of his time being spent in reserve work where it was difficult to maintain a consistent average and the strikeouts- Tommie always had a problem with those – were a bit high for the decreased power production. By mid-August he was the team’s fifth outfielder and was soon after traded to St. Louis for infielder Dave Campbell. With the Cards Tommie got some starts in center – he was acquired because regular guys Jose Cruz and Luis Melendez were hurt and stopped hitting, repectively – but the average continued to taper. After the season the Dodgers got super busy in early December with trades. Their long-time starter in center, Willie Davis, was sent to Montreal for big-inning reliever Mike Marshall and Tommie was acquired in this trade to fill the gap. But the next day his former teammate Jimmy Wynn was picked up by LA for pitcher Claude Osteen. Jimmy would have a monster season in helping LA to the Series while Tommie wouldn’t get out of spring training. So he returned to NY, just not as a baseball player.

Tommie Agee grew up in and around Mobile, Alabama, where in high school he was a star in the big three sports plus track. In football while he was a three-year starter his team lost only one game. He was an end while future Mets teammate Cleon Jones was a halfback. In baseball he was an outfielder/pitcher and his senior year of ’60 he hit .390. He then went to Grambling on a baseball scholarship where he added first base to the above positions and hit .533 his one season before being signed by Cleveland for a big bonus. In D ball the rest of the summer he hit .261 with 15 homers and 40 RBI’s in under half a season. Tommie almost always hit from the top of the line-up and was super fast. In ’62 he moved up to B ball where he put up a .258/7/55 line with ten triples and 25 stolen bases before a couple games in Triple A and then his first look in Cleveland. In ’63 he moved to Double A where he experienced his first lost time from his knee, had a line of .274/5/36 in just under 300 at bats, stole 19, and recorded his best OBA of .354. He also returned to Cleveland at the end of the season for look number two. Then in ’64 it was off to Triple A Portland where he became a slugger with his .272/20/62 line with 35 steals but 144 K’s. After his third late crack at the Cleveland outfield he, young pitcher Tommy John, and John Romano went to the White Sox as part of a three-team deal in which Cam Carreon went to Cleveland (from Chicago); Mike Hershberger, Jim Landis, and Fred Talbot went to KC (from Chicago); and Rocky Colavito returned to Cleveland (from KC).

Initially, Chicago smelled a lot like Cleveland for Agee. He began the season in Triple A, where his .226/8/33 line was a significant discount to his prior season and his September call-up worked about as well as his previous ones did. But in ’66 Tommie had a real good camp and in the wake of Danny Cater’s trade to KC, incumbent center fielder Ken Berry moved to Cater’s spot in left opening up center for Tommie, who made the most of his opportunity. Still a rookie, he led the Sox in runs (98), hits, doubles, triples, homers, RBI’s, average, and stolen bases (44). He made the All-Star team, won a Gold Glove, and finally was named AL Rookie of the Year. ’67 would be a mixed year though. While Tommie hit OK during the season’s first half and again was an All-Star, he had a nasty slump in the second half which was pretty lousy timing since the Sox went to the wire on the pennant. After the season he was on the move again, this time to the Mets with infielder Al Weiss for Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, and a couple minor leaguers.

While Agee’s first year in a new town was better than the last time he tried that trick, it wasn’t by much. Acquired to finally fill a defensive hole in center that had been there since pretty much the Mets themselves had, and to add some pop to the top of the line-up, Tommie did pretty well in the former department but pretty badly in the latter. Off to a pretty good start at the plate he ran into an early wall in that monster 24-inning game against Houston in which he went 0 for 10 to begin a season-long slump that didn’t allow him to break .200 until the last couple weeks. He went from being the everyday center fielder to missing starts and his RBI total was pretty horrendous as he came in with north of 100 strikeouts. But ’69 was a whole new year and Tommie put up his best stats since his ROY season. While he was still toting a high K total – 137 that year – he delivered in the role for which he was acquired while scoring 97 runs. Then came his headline-worthy post-season in which he hit .357 with two homers against Atlanta and then had those two circus catches against Baltimore that saved a game in the Series. As another reward Tommie was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year. ’70 was better for Tommie personally as he improved in runs (107), hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases (31 vs. 12), and average and won his second Gold Glove. By the end of the year, though, his knees were causing him some serious pain and in ’71 Tommie missed a combined six weeks to injury. He kept his average up there and stole 28 bases but his power subsided quite a bit. In ’72 he missed time to both injury and the return of Willie Mays as that year the average and the stolen base total (8) fell prey to his knees. Following the season he was sent to Houston for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris. After the ’73 season he was done, finishing with the stats on the back of this card and 167 stolen bases. In the post-season he hit .250 with three homers, five RBI’s, and three steals in his eight games.

Agee had while still a Met purchased an interest in The Outfield Lounge, a bar pretty close to Shea Stadium in Queens. After he was done playing he pretty much took it over as a full-time pursuit. He was also heavily involved in local PR events for the Mets and other NYC youth programs. He then became associated with a company called Stewart Title Insurance with whom he was working while attending a meeting in NYC in 2001. It was there he was stricken with a heart attack that would prove fatal. Tommie was only 58. A year later he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. He has a SABR bio.

Tommie gets a big number and a big star bullet on his card back. Those catches robbed Andy Etchebarren and Paul Blair (who just recently passed away) of multi-base hits that would have likely driven in five runs. When he was traded to the Sox it was part of an arranged deal. The Tribe wanted Rocky Colavito back and he was in the hands of the A’s. Chicago wanted catcher John Romano because he hit with some power although his defense was very suspect. Cleveland told Chicago they could get Romano if they picked up Colavito which they were able to do principally because he’d had a big ’64 and wanted a raise and KC owner Charlie O Finley didn’t want to pay. So Cleveland got Rocky, Chicago got Romano, and the two throw-ins to the deal from the Cleveland side were Tommie – whose stats are all above – and a guy who won 286 more games.

Tommie had a one-day run as LA’s newest center fielder. Ah well.

By mid-August of ’73 most of the big names had already testified before the Senate Committee, which was still pursuing some of the tapes from the White House:

8/15/73 – President Nixon delivers a televised address for the first time in three months. In it he indicated it was time to stop using Watergate as a diversion and/or an obstacle to getting real work done, notably dealing with inflation and Viet Nam. He opined that “it (was) clear that both the hearings themselves and some of the commentaries on them have become increasingly absorbed in an effort to implicate the President personally in the illegal activities that took place” in another clear indication of his belief of myriad conspiracies against him. He reminded people that he already accepted responsibility for abuses that occurred during his administration but then also reminded everyone that he was innocent of all activities related to the scandal. He reiterated that he would not turn in any tapes on the basis of national security. The presentation didn’t go terribly well; the next day a poll revealed that 31% of the populace were in favor of the President’s job performance, a 20-year low in that poll.

As that ’73 card of Tommie’s illustrated, this is an easy hook-up:

1. Agee and Rusty Staub ’72 Mets.

#628 - Ivan Murrell

Just to shake things up, Topps offers us another final card, this one in the form of an action shot of Ivan Murrell at first base in what appears to be Jack Murphy Stadium (thanks Paul). He certainly could have had a card for ’75 since he put in a decent amount of time for Atlanta in ’74. Action cards are always a good way to go out and the ’73 season was as representative as any for Ivan’s career. Most of his early work was pinch hitting but he wasn’t cracking .200 in that role; he did that for a bit in some starts at first in early June while Nate Colbert was down. But then he faded again and was still around .180 when he got a bunch of starts in center in September and hit .304 for the month. His big problem offensively is reflected in his walk and strikeout totals for the season – two and 52, respectively - in his 210 at bats. Ivan was a big guy and therefore had a big strike zone but those numbers would make even Dave Kingman turn red. This photo is probably from a game during his September run so he gets to be memorialized from a happy time in his career. And that Padres yellow actually looks pretty good in profile.

Ivan Murrell was born in Panama and grew up in Costa Rica but would return to his home country from time to time. He must have been huge compared to the other kids in Costa Rica, which is probably why he picked up the nickname “Bull.” His dad was a big deal cricket player in Panama and Ivan returned there for high school where he played soccer, basketball, volleyball, and finally baseball his senior year. An amateur boxer and excellent soccer player, he was training for a career in either when he was spotted by a Houston scout and signed in ’63. He had a tough time that summer in A ball, hitting .221, but still made his Colt .45’s debut that September in one of those all-rookie games the team did to raise its profile. He didn’t hit much better his second A level stop in ’64 but he did add some power, posting a .220/10/51 line. In ’65 he hurt his knee during spring training, required surgery, and missed the whole season. He returned in ’66 to post his best A stats with a .253/12/63 line and finally seemed to be on a good roll when he followed that with a Triple A line in ’67 of .289/14/82 with eight triples and twelve stolen bases before returning to Houston where he hit well in his few games. In the minors that year he led all league outfielders in putouts. In ’68 he channeled his ’65 spring training experience by injuring his heel but made the Astros Opening Day roster anyway. That injury really impaired his stroke and that .102 average wasn’t getting him anywhere and so in early July after scant usage he was returned to Triple A where his numbers didn’t improve too much. At the end of the year he was selected by San Diego in the expansion draft.

In his initial year with the Padres Murrell settled into a fourth outfielder role, putting in most of his time in center behind Cito Gaston. While his D was spotty and his 65 strikeouts were pretty high, he was one of the team’s most consistent hitters. In ’70 he upped his at bats a bit by moving primarily to left as incumbent Al Ferrara was in phase-out mode and topped out in homers with twelve. But it was the same story with too many errors and too many K’s. So in ’71 when Ferrara was pretty much gone and Gaston went into his big swoon, instead of Ivan getting more plate time, he was leap-frogged on the depth chart by Larry Stahl and new guy Leron Lee. Again, Ivan put in most of his time in left and his fielding improved a bunch but in ’72 with Jerry Morales ready to be a regular and Johnny Jeter brought in as savior – that didn’t work – Ivan got returned to Triple A where he had a bang-up season, posting a .335/14/62 line while fielding well. After his return in ’73 he was taken off waivers by Atlanta right at the end of training camp in ’74 for whom he did first base and outfield work while hitting .248 with twelve RBI’s in 133 at bats. He finished his MLB time with a .236 average with 33 homers and 123 RBI’s. In his 1,372 plate appearances he walked only 44 times while striking out 342 times.

In ’75 Murrell put in nearly a full season of Triple A ball for Atlanta while playing nearly exclusively in the outfield and posting a line of .266/12/26 in just over 300 at bats. He then spent ’76 in the Mexican Leagues where he appears to have learned some plate discipline because when he returned to the San Diego system in ’77 he put up a .342/24/98 line with just 68 K’s in his 448 at bats. But those numbers weren’t enough to get him back so he returned to Mexico where he played for various teams through ’83. He then got into coaching and scouting, which he did for the San Diego, Oakland, Cleveland, and Mets organizations by the time he did a season of Senior League ball in ’89. He then relocated to St. Lucie full time to continue coaching for the Mets and then do so for some local high schools and colleges. He also was an ESL instructor at the schools and then got into individual coaching. Late in 2006 he was found to have stomach cancer from which he passed away two days after its discovery. He was 63.

That three-game run from the first star bullet was named specifically on Ivan's '72 card and occurred from May 30 to June 1 of '71. His big minor league stats from '72 make the second star bullet. Regarding the cartoon, he was supposedly selected for the Pan Am games of '63 for Panama's entry but opted to sign with Houston instead. As an amateur boxer he was also reportedly undefeated.

The big Watergate theme now is the White House taping system revealed in Alexander Butterfield’s testimony:

7/18/73 – Around this time it is believed that President Nixon ordered the taping system in his office be turned off, a couple days after Butterfield’s testimony. Both the Senate Committee and Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox requested samples of the recorded tapes but both were rebuffed.

7/23/73 – President Nixon sends the Senate Committee, in care of its chairman, Senator Sam Ervin, a letter in which he refuses to hand over any tapes requested by the committee. Both Ervin and vice-chairman Howard Baker express remorse at this decision, Ervin calling Watergate “the biggest tragedy ever suffered by this country.” Nixon indicated in his letter that the basis for his refusal was both the potential misinterpretation of statements made on the tapes regarding Watergate and its tangential activities and other sensitive topics of discussion not related to the scandal. At the same time a White House aide, Charles Alan Wright, sent Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox a letter denying him access to the tapes as well. Cox responded immediately with a subpoena seeking eight specific tapes. The matter was now in the hands of the Supreme Court.

7/24/73 – John Erlichman takes the stand in front of the Senate Committee for the first time. He defends his role in the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist – a memo released earlier in June already established his involvement so he was past denying it – as necessary to protect national security. He also disputes many specifics of John Dean’s testimony the prior month. At this point though, at least publicly, pretty much every one of Dean’s assertions that has been able to be proven or disproven – particularly the existence of the taping system – has fallen under the prior category so Erlichman’s testimony is widely believed to be suspect.

The best way to get these two final card guys together is through the NL so here goes:

1. Murrell and Leron Lee ’71 to ’73 Padres;

2. Lee and Carl Taylor ’70 Cardinals.

#624 - Bob Miller

There is a lot to say about this card. First of all it is the third card in a row that represents the subject's final Topps card as a player. Bob Miller had at this point had a pretty long run that began in the Fifties and, especially recently, had covered a whole bunch of teams. Secondly, this is a damn ugly card, which we have happily been without for a long time. Nothing against Mr. Miller, who in younger years was a good looking guy, but he is all of 33 years old at the oldest (see below) in this photo and he looks 20 years older. Plus this must be about the nastiest air-brush job in the set, with Bob’s Pirates uniform being compromised into a Mets one. The neck line is horrific and the hat looks like a pile of atomic waste. Third, the newest this card is is from ’72 and it may even be much earlier because the background is very Forbes Field-ish and that park closed in ’70. So it’s probably a spring training shot. Lastly, and best-ly (I know that’s not even a hyphenated word but you get the drift) it has Roberto Clemente in the background, which is awfully nice and pulls the card back to respectability. Don Leppert appears to be there also over Bob’s right shoulder, but I’m no good with the rest of those guys. ’73 was an all too-typical year for Bob in the Seventies: lots of traveling conjoined with some pretty good pitching. He actually went through nearly all of spring training with Pittsburgh, only to get released right at the end of it. Immediately picked up by the Padres he got off to a pretty good start in relief until some messy outings in May pushed up his ERA. Unfortunately, too, in not one of the San Diego games in which he pitched did the team record a win. So after 18 games he was placed on waivers from which he was again snatched pretty quickly, this time by Detroit. Bob won two of his first three games with the Tigers, threw generally good ball, and added a save through late September. He was then sold to NY for a very short stretch drive, especially for him since he only threw one inning. So Topps really didn’t get much of an opportunity to not airbrush Bob. But it would be nice if they did a better job.

Bob Miller grew up in St. Louis where at Beaumont High School he went 22-1 during his career and 12-0 as a senior. He also led his team to the American Legion national championship and in ’57 was signed as a bonus baby by St. Louis out of high school. Like most players signed under that umbrella Bob rarely played his first year and after the rule associated with those kinds of signings was changed in ’58 he went to the minors. After beginning the year in Triple A with a bit of a fat ERA he moved to Double A where he went 8-11 with a 3.54 ERA in the rotation. The next year he pretty much matched those numbers in Triple A – 8-12 with a 3.50 ERA – before he returned to St. Louis that August, winning his first game in his first start. He threw well the rest of the way but then had an injury-filled ’60 during which he missed most of the middle part of the season and did some Double A rehab time. In ’61 he moved to a reserve role and saw a spike in his ERA – but everybody did that year – and recorded his first three saves. After that season he was one of the early round picks by the new Mets in the expansion draft.

Miller spent most of the ’62 season in the NY rotation but probably wished he didn’t. He lost his first 12 games and didn’t put up his first win of the season until late September. Mercifully he was traded after the season to LA for Larry Burright and Tim Harkness, two infielders. Bob’s timing was pretty good and his first year he worked as a swing guy for the Series winners, getting a save in his relief work. After being shut out of any post-season work he was pretty much strictly a reliever the next few seasons. In ’64 he led the NL with his 74 appearances and recorded nine saves. He hit that save total again in ’65 and then put up five in ’66. Both those years he threw shutout ball in the Series. In ’67 the Dodgers did a fast fade and Bob went right with them as both his record and his ERA deteriorated and he was shut out in the saves department. In ’68 he went to Minnesota in a big trade with Johnny Roseboro and Ron Perranoski for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles. With the Twins Bob basically did set-up work for Perranoski and over the next two years garnered five saves for himself. In ’69 he added some spot starts which bumped up his innings and returned to the post-season. Then with the beginning of the Seventies came the real onset of his travels. Three years during that decade he played for three teams, beginning in ’70 when prior to the start of the season he was involved in another big trade, going to Cleveland with Dean Chance, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. It wasn’t a great year for Bob: as a swing guy for The Tribe, a starter for the White Sox (he went there in June for Buddy Bradford), and a reliever for the Cubs (a sale in September), his work was below par and his ERA escalated quite a bit. But in ’71 after a lousy start for the Cubbies he went to San Diego after being released in May and did some excellent work in the pen, recording seven saves with his miniscule ERA. He continued that after an August trade to Pittsburgh for Ed Acosta and Johnny Jeter. After posting three saves for the Pirates he again got some post-season work, winning another ring. In ’72 he stayed put for a change, adding another three saves, before he did the three team thing again in ’73. In ’74 he finished his MLB time with pen work for the Mets, going 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA and a couple saves in 58 games. Bob finished with a record of 69-81 with a 3.37 ERA, seven complete games, and 51 saves. In his post-season work he was 0-2 with a 3.07 ERA in nine games.

In ’75 Miller returned to the Padres as a player/coach for the team’s Triple A Hawaii franchise. He went 0-1 with three saves in his 15 games and the following year got a straight-up manager gig, going 81-54 for the team’s Double A franchise. In ’77 he was named pitching coach of the new Toronto Blue Jays – so he got a card that year – and retained that role through the ’79 season. After a year off in ’80 he joined the Giants as a minor league pitching instructor from ’81 to ’84 and then returned to The Show with an ’85 stint in San Francisco. After the whole staff was canned following a disappointing season Bob became a scout for the club. He was still doing that when he was killed in a car accident outside San Diego in August of ’93. He was 54.

Bob has zero room for star bullets, mostly because of his travels in the Seventies. Sixteen different managers, huh? Dare I name them? Why not:

Fred Hutchinson (’57 Cards);                                Don Gutteridge (’70 White Sox);

Solly Hemus (’59 -’61 Cards);                               Leo Durocher (’70 –’71 Cubs);

Johnny Keane (’61 Cards);                                    Preston Gomez (’71 Padres);

Casey Stengel (’62 Mets);                                     Danny Murtaugh (’71 Pirates);

Walt Alston (’63 -’67 Dodgers);                            Bill Virdon (’72 Pirates);

Cal Ermer (’68 Twins);                                          Don Zimmer (’73 Padres);

Billy Martin (’69 Twins and ’73 Tigers);               Joe Schultz (’73 Tigers);

Al Dark (’70 Indians);                                           Yogi Berra (’73 –’74 Mets).

Bob also famously roomed with another Bob Miller on the ’62 Mets which was memorialized by a Topps card.

Bob played with everybody apparently except this guy:

1. Miller and Lindy McDaniel ’57 and ’59 to ’61 Cardinals;

2. McDaniel and Celerino Sanchez ’72 to ’73 Yankees.

#623 - Celerino Sanchez

Back at Yankee Stadium we get a clear shot of the 50^th anniversary patch worn by its home team in ’73 on the arm of Celerino Sanchez, back-up third baseman. Ironically the Stadium would be out of operation the next couple seasons while a refurbishing was being undertaken, just as would be Celerino’s MLB career as this card was his final one. That’s too bad because he was a pretty exciting third baseman who was often mentioned in the same breath as his countryman Aurelio Rodriguez. But Celerino’s timing wasn’t too great and his sophomore season with NY happened to be the same one during which an eventual icon in the form of Graig Nettles was beginning his long reign at the hot corner. By the time this card came out Celerino was back in Mexico playing ball and his significant contributions to a late ’72 division run were a distant memory. Nettles was an iron man at third and that coupled with Celerino’s fat DL time in ’73 probably both contributed equally to his departure. But he looks good here, showing his stance while some infield practice takes place behind him.

Celerino Sanchez had played school and semi-pro ball in Veracruz, Mexico, and was 20 when he began his professional career there in ’64. He spent the next three years ripping the cover off the ball in Mexico’s minor leagues – he topped out at .448 in ’66 – and seemed to do the same for the Mexico City Tigers during his short looks but could never crack the line-up. In ’67 after a not great start for the Tigers he came to The States in a sale and spent the summer playing for Asheville, then a Single A franchise for the Astros. He moved over to Greensboro, another Houston A franchise, and seemed to be hitting at a nice clip when he moved back to Mexico City, where his average increased each of the next four years and his power started picking up. It later turned out that the reason he returned to Mexico was that his grandmother had passed away to whom Celerino was very close. When the Houston organization wouldn’t give him any time to return home for the service, he returned on his own, permanently. After the ’71 season Celerino was traded to the Yankees for Ossie Chavarria, a one-time reserve infielder for Kansas City/Oakland in the late Sixties.

For the Yankees Sanchez had a super spring training in ’72 and the plan was to keep him on the Opening Day roster. After Clete Boyer left for Atlanta in ’67 third base in NY was a bit ugly. Bobby Cox – yeah, that Bobby Cox – and Jerry Kenney had about a good season and a half between them and Celerino was looking like a pretty good upgrade. But then NY traded for Bernie Allen and Rich McKinney so Celerino was sent to Triple A where he was putting up some pretty good numbers. But Allen and McKinney were really converted second baseman and neither made a very graceful transition so Celerino came up in June and pretty much took over the position the rest of the way. He made a lot of fans when he won a couple games in August in a series against Detroit that pulled NY into second place and he provided exciting fielding at third while his offense was an uptick to Kenney’s in ’71. But then came the annual robbing of the Cleveland roster before the ’73 season and Celerino was on the bench. Back in Mexico Celerino put in three good seasons, averaging .288 with about a .365 OBA and some decent power.  He hit .273 in ’77 as his walk totals declined, didn’t play in ’78, and finished things off with a .264 in ’79. His MLB stats were the ones on the card back and he hit just over .300 in the Mexican Leagues with a .375 OBA.

Sanchez did some coaching and apparently some scouting back in Mexico after he played. He died in a car crash there in ’92. He was 48.

Celerino’s silver bat was the result of his having the highest average in organized baseball in ’66. He was apparently hitting over .500 in the fourth spot when he was moved to the top spot to get enough at bats to try for his league’s batting title. He was pitched around a ton in that spot and rarely saw any good pitches so chased the bad ones, dropping his average. But he got enough plate appearances to qualify and had a sick OBA, estimated to be nearly .600. Luis Tiant was the best man at Celerino’s wedding. They must have met in winter ball.

This hook-up will really bring up some ghosts:

1. Sanchez and Mel Stottlemyre ‘72 to ’73 Yankees;

2. Stottlemyre and Roger Maris ’64 to ’66 Yankees;

3. Maris and Phil Gagliano ’67 to ’68 Cardinals.

#580 - Jim Spencer

On this card we get a first-time All Star in what is his most frequently-used card pose. Jim Spencer hit nearly .300 the first few months after his trade to Texas from California and provided his usual excellent defense at first to get the All-Star nod in ’73. Other than that it wasn’t a crazy memorable season for him as he’d hit better in the past, especially power-wise. He’d come over from Anaheim in a pretty big deal involving pitchers and first baseman: he and Lloyd Allen for Mike Epstein, Rich Hand, and Rick Stelmaszek (who was actually a catcher). Once Jim arrived he more-or-less took over first base for the Rangers, sharing some starting time with fun guy Bill Sudakis. Jim would also put in some time at DH during his stay with the Rangers since in another year he would be joined by Rookie of the Year Mike Hargrove at the position. Jim wasn’t a big fan of being platooned – who was? – but he generally did good work in that role and wouldn’t stop with the Rangers. But for now he is residing in Texas – the photo appears to have been shot in Oakland – and on a Topps honor card which was not a bad place to be.

Jim Spencer was born in Pennsylvania and by the time he hit high school was residing not too far from Annapolis, Maryland. At Andover High he was named All-American in basketball and baseball, being both a pitcher and first baseman in the latter sport and tapping the ball at a .407 clip during his high school career. A first round draft choice by the Angels upon graduating in ’65 he hit a light .223 in A ball that summer. In ’66 he moved up to Double A where his stat lines improved pretty markedly over the next three seasons: .264/16/53 in ’66; .279/19/72 in ’67; and .292/28/96 in ’68 when he won his league’s mvp and made his debut for California in September. He moved to Triple A Hawaii to open the ’69 season and hit .262 in 47 games before being pulled up to Anaheim for good.

In ’69 the Angels brought old Dr. Strangeglove, Dick Stuart, back from Japan to play first base but that didn’t go so well as the Doctor couldn’t break .200 his first month of at bats. So California brought up Spencer to take over the position and while his numbers weren’t super great, they were a significant improvement over Stuart, both offensively and defensively. In ’70 Jim took over the position for real, providing some good offense and winning his first Gold Glove as he led AL first baseman in putouts, double plays, and fielding percentage. He would lead the league in that last category four years in a row. In ’71 he also topped the AL in putouts and assists, topped his previous highs in doubles and homers, and saw his average fade a bit as the other offensive threats in the lineup pretty much disappeared. In ’72 Jim kicked off the season with a low average and shortly into it the Angels picked up Bob Oliver who vied with Jim for starting time at first and then pretty much won the position outright. So Jim’s at bats declined and he finished the season as a left fielder.

In ’74 new kid Mike Hargrove arrived to press Spencer for time at first and while Jim would put up nearly the same exact offensive numbers as he did in ’73 for Texas – a few more homers, a few less walks – he did it partly from a different place, DH. It was the first year in the last five he didn’t lead the AL in fielding percentage but that was just because he didn’t get enough chances. In ’75 Texas had a sort of messy time replicating the team's ’74 success and a dearth of outfield offense got Hargrove moved out there for a significant part of the season. That meant that Jim got to do nearly all his time at first that year and his .266/11/47 season wasn’t terribly dissimilar to his prior ones. After the season he went back to California for pitcher Bill Singer and the next day was flipped to the White Sox with outfielder Morris Nettles for pitcher Steve Dunning and infielder Bill Melton. With the Sox Jim amped up his power a bit, the next two years averaging 16 homers and 70 RBI’s while getting the lion’s share of first base time that otherwise went to Lamar Johnson. In ’77 he won his second Gold Glove even though he was injured nearly a month, mostly from a foot ailment. After that season Jim went to the Yankees in a trade that was otherwise populated by minor leaguers.

 Spencer arrived in NY in a good year for drama. It was the season of the big comeback from 15 behind but Jim saw a significant part of it from the bench. Chris Chambliss was the first baseman and he rarely sat so nearly all of Jim’s appearances were as a DH and it wasn’t a terribly productive season as he hit .227 in 150 at bats, his lowest amount of plate time since ’68. But his RBI total of 24 was pretty good for him and he did get some action in that year’s Series. Then in ’79 as most of the team was having an offensive meltdown, Jim put up probably his best season in the same roles, with a line of .288/23/53 in only 295 at bats. The next season Chambliss left for Atlanta and while Jim’s at bats – and his offense - came in a bit he got to enjoy most of them at his normal position, where he split time with Bob Watson. After putting up a .236/13/43 season in 259 at bats and complained about his being platooned, just before the ’81 season began Jim and a bucket of cash was sent to Pittsburgh for Jason Thompson, a power-hitting younger first baseman. But the deal was nixed by the commissioner’s office – too much cash – and Jim again put in some games at first before he was traded in May to Oakland. There he spent the next season-plus as a back-up first baseman, again seeing some post-season action that first year. It would be his final stop as a player and he would retire following the ’82 season with a .250 average with 146 homers and 599 RBI’s. In the post-season he hit .150 in eight games. Defensively his .995 fielding average at first is in the top 25 all-time and he is in the top 100 in assists at that position.

Spencer returned to the Yankees as a scout after he played which he sandwiched around a few years as a coach for The Naval Academy which began in ’86. He was still doing some work for NY when he passed away from a heart attack in 2002 at only 54. There’s been a bit of a streak going recently of former players passing away at relatively young ages. I sure hope that ends soon.

Jim has some nice penmanship and Topps gives him props for his big ’68 season and some defensive work in a year he didn’t win a Gold Glove. His grandfather, Ben Spencer, was an outfielder on the 1913 Senators.

Two former Yankees are years apart in their time with the team, but that should help anyway:

1. Spencer and Lou Piniella ’78 to ’81 Yankees;

2. Piniella and Cecil Upshaw ’74 Yankees.

#579 - Cecil Upshaw

Back to the action shots we get a great follow-through of a sidearm delivery by Cecil Upshaw at Candlestick. At 6’6” Cecil was a tall guy with a big wingspan so that delivery must have looked like it was coming from third base. It was effective for a while, too, until a couple injuries to his pitching hand really compromised his pitching. That downfall began in earnest in ’73 when after an ineffective start to the season, Cecil was sent to Houston by the Braves for outfielder Norm Miller. Things didn’t get much better in Houston where a fat ERA and not much use only led to one save. And as the Traded card illustrates, it was a very short stay with the Astros. It would be an even shorter stay with the Tribe and though he pitched not too shabbily, Cecil would be out of ball in a couple years. That’s too bad since he was generally regarded as one of the nicer guys playing. His Traded card is my guess an airbrush Atlanta cap, possibly during spring training. It’s not a terrible art job but with Cecil looking like he just woke up and facing the sun it is reviving a seldom-used category in this set, the ugly card.

Cecil Upshaw grew up in Louisiana and after graduating high school he went to Centenary College in his home state. There he played hoops and baseball, setting a couple scoring records in the former sport and going 12-4 his two varsity seasons with 156 strikeouts – another school record – in 126 innings. He was signed by the Braves in early ’64, missing his senior year, for a bonus of about $30,000. Apparently, though, the team let him finish both his basketball season and his degree, which at least partly explains his pitching in only two A ball games that summer, going 1-0 with a 1.12 ERA. After a couple early relief jobs at that level in ’65 he moved to Double A where he went 3-8 with a 3.18 ERA as a swing guy. In ’66 he was a starter at that level the first half of the year, going 4-5 with a 2.77 ERA, before spending the second half in Triple A where his numbers were awfully close: 5-5 with a 2.87 ERA again as a swing guy. Later that season he made his debut in Milwaukee. Cecil then began the ’67 season in Triple A where he posted a 2-2 record with a 2.16 ERA in 25 games, all but one in relief. His position now better defined, he returned to Milwaukee that summer for good.

For the balance of the ’67 season Upshaw continued his good work, showing excellent control, and recording eight saves. In ’68 he took over as Atlanta’s closer, putting up 13 saves in his 52 games, while pitching more than two innings per appearance. In ’69 the Braves did a better job setting up Cecil as his innings per appearance fell but his saves total more than doubled to 27. He continued his good work in the playoffs, getting into all three games and recording a 2.84 ERA, though he was unable to prevent his team from going down in a straight set. Then during spring training of ’70 he was out with some friends for dinner and while strolling home he decided to show off some of his hoops moves. Bad move since he was ironically wearing his college ring on his pitching hand and when showing his dunk move he got the ring stuck on either an awning of a sign and nearly severed the finger. The resulting surgery caused him to miss all that season and for part of that time he busied himself with writing a sports column in a local paper. He returned in ’71, promptly hurt the same finger again in one of his first appearances, and put together a pretty good comeback season, adding 17 saves to his career-high eleven wins. But amidst those numbers there were some indication he was not the pitcher he had been: his control was sliding a bit and his pitches weren’t as overpowering and the increased number of hits he was giving up popped his ERA by over half a run. In ’72 he added 13 saves as his workload dropped by about a third. Frankly, both seasons were pretty good, especially given the dimensions of Atlanta’s home park, and I think the ’73 trade was about the potential for more injury – he’d missed a month in ’72 with a sore arm – and that Cecil was the Atlanta player rep which was never a positive thing for one’s career. So first he went to Houton and then, with this trade, to Cleveland. With the Tribe he put up a pretty good ERA in his first few games before being included in another April trade, this one a tad bigger: he, Dick Tidrow, and Chris Chambliss went to the Yankees for Fred Beene, Tom Buskey, Steve Kline, and Fritz Peterson. It was a very unpopular trade in NY and Cecil pretty much helped fill the setup and occasional closer gap, going 1-5 but with six saves and an ERA just over 3.00. After the season he was sent to the White Sox for infielder Eddie Leon and though he did more passable work -1-1 with a save and a 3.23 ERA in 29 games – he was released at the end of the season. That finished things for Cecil as he walked away with a 34-36 record with 86 saves and a 3.13 ERA.

After playing Upshaw remained in the southeast where he worked in several businesses, none of which has been specified. He was pretty low profile media-wise and pops up generally in three instances: as some background for his son Lee, who was a minor league pitcher for the Braves in the late Eighties; as the name bequeathed more than a few times to Toronto outfielder/first baseman Willie Upshaw; and in 1995 when he passed away from a heart attack in Georgia. He was only 52.

Cecil gets a star bullet for his college stats, and it appears to have been a pretty good final year for him, though he did not play his senior year as noted above (so I guess Topps means his junior year). He didn’t bring that hitting prowess to his pro time though for a reliever his .160 average wasn’t too bad. A ping pong paddle would actually work in his right hand on the card front. Cecil gets a mention in “The Bronx Zoo” by Sparky Lyle that is actually quite funny, but it’s pretty gross so I won’t mention it here.

The guy for whom Cecil was traded, Jerry Johnson, had a season sort of similar to Cecil’s. He went 5-6 with six saves and a 6.18 ERA. He doesn’t have a card in this set for some reason, though he did every other year from ’69 to ’76.

Another double hook-up, Cecil missed pitching for The Major by less than a season. For Houk as a manager:

1. Sparky Lyle and Cecil Upshaw ’74 Yankees;

2. Lyle was managed by Ralph Houk form ’72 to ’73.

Now for The Major as a player. Pretty much the same as last time:

1. Upshaw and Roy White ’74 Yankees;

2. White and Mickey Mantle ’65 to ’68 Yankees;

3. Mantle and Ralph Houk ’51 to ’54 Yankees.