#483 - Atlanta Braves/Braves Team Records

There’s a lot to say about this photo. First of all, it’s pretty damn blurry, which is too bad since it’s one of the few team shots taken on a sunny day away from any stadium shadows. That invites the question of where the photo was taken; my guess is in spring training since Pat Dobson (fifth from left in back row) and just-completed post subject Bob Didier (second from right in bottom row) are here. Here too are some surprises: ’65 AL Rookie of the Year Curt Blefary (second from right in last row); ’68 AL Cy Young and MVP winner Denny McLain (fifth from right in third row); and Andre – then Andy – Thornton (left of Dobson), who I never knew was part of an Atlanta roster. There’s even a guy sitting on a lawn mower or some other type of wheeled conveyance but he may have a medical issue so I’m leaving that one alone. There are some Hall of Famers: Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro, and manager Eddie Mathews are here but one potent cog from the ’73 machine is missing in Darrell Evans.

There’s not too much good to say about this team. Yeah, the infield set a record for the home runs it produced with three guys generating 40 or more. But even that stat was tainted because Hank Aaron – ascribed first base to make the record work and also voted to that position in the All-Star game – never actually played there all year. The real story was the team’s sorry pitching. Between the ineffectiveness of Pat Dobson and Ron Reed and the injury to Gary Gentry the rotation was a mess and Dobson was sent away mid-year. The bullpen was terrible and not one swing guy had a good year. Atlanta back then was a bit of a launch pad and the team’s 4.25 ERA was the NL’s worst. The Braves kicked off the season 3-10 and was never at or above .500. The team pretty much resided in fifth place the whole year. But at least Hank’s chase of the Babe was bringing them to the park. 

There aren’t a crazy lot of record holders to review but there are enough to split this post into two, so here goes:

Tommy Holmes grew up in Brooklyn and played semi-pro ball there after graduating high school. He was discovered in ’37 – when he was 20 – by a Yankee scout who showed up to watch Tommy’s team take on a team from the Negro Leagues and Tommy was signed on the spot. He tore up his B league that summer with a .320 average, 25 homers, and 111 RBI’s. Tommy generally wasn’t a home run hitter, though, and his next few seasons were more indicative of his style. In ’38 in A ball he hit .368 and the next three years he averaged well over .300 in Double A. But in ’41 NY had an All-Star outfield led by Joe Dimaggio and after that season Tommy was traded to the Boston Braves for Buddy Hassett and Gene Moore. With Boston his first couple seasons he stepped into the starting center field spot and did pretty well, especially after being tutored on pulling the ball to right – Tommy was a lefty – by Paul Waner who was finishing up his career in Boston. Tommy made good contact, had good doubles power, and rarely struck out and his first two seasons hit a bit above .270. In ’44 he failed his draft physical – he had bad sinuses – and had his first .300-plus year while only striking out eleven times. Then in ’45 came his monster year: .352 on 224 hits with 47 doubles, 28 homers, 117 RBI’s, and a .420 OBA, all on only nine K’s. He led the MLB in doubles, hits, and homers. It was also in that season that he had a 37-game hitting streak, the longest in the NL until it was broken by Pete Rose in ’78. His homer and RBI power came back to earth from then on but he still banged out lots of doubles and the next three seasons hit well over .300, including ’48 when he hit .325 to help take Boston to the NL pennant. The next year his average went south a bunch and both that season and in ’50 he was platooned in the outfield, though the latter year his average revived to .298. In ’51 he managed and played – he hit .319 – at Boston’s A franchise in Hartford until mid-season he was asked to take over the Braves after Billy Southworth resigned as manager. He went a game over .500 the rest of the way while playing sparingly and after a 13-22 start in ’52 was released. He then hooked up with the Dodgers for whom he pinch hit and then returned to the Series. That was his final work as a player up top and Tommy finished with a .302 average with 292 doubles, 88 homers, and 581 RBI’s with 122 strikeouts in just under 5,000 at bats. He hit .185 in his nine post-season games. In ’53 he returned to the minors to manage, that year in the now-Milwaukee system, and from ’54 to ’57 in the Brooklyn one. He played a bit in ’54 ending his minor days with a .326 average. He finished with a managing record of 61-69 up top and posted a winning record in the minors. In ’58 he scouted for the Dodgers before taking on his next gig as commissioner of the New York State Sandlot Baseball Alliance which he did for over 30 years. He also hooked up with the Mets in ’73 as a community relations guy which he did also for over 30 years, retiring when he was 86. He relocated to Florida where he passed away in 2008 at age 91.

Getting any information on Ray “Rabbit” Powell has been pretty tough. A little guy from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, he was still living in his hometown in his thirties. By 1908, when he was 19, he was playing independent ball in Oklahoma. A speedy outfielder, he wasn’t a great fielder, but was always near the top of his league in triples and stolen bases. Beginning in 1910 he played three seasons for A league St. Joseph, Missouri and towards the end of the ’11 season it was announced he was getting purchased by the White Sox for $5,000, although it seems dubious as to whether that ever happened. After his best season in ’12 – he hit .309 with 17 triples – he moved up to the Double A Providence Grays where he spent almost all of the next five seasons. He did get purchased for a short run for Detroit in ’13 – no at bats – and in July of ’17 got bought by the Braves for whom he immediately took over center and hit .272 as a 28-year old rookie. His average slipped to .213 the next year before he and a couple teammates joined the navy for WW I. In ’19 Ray and his mates returned and he would be an outfield fixture in Boston the next five seasons, that first season in left, but the rest of his time in center. He took a while getting on track average-wise, hitting only about .230 his first two years back. But after the ’20 season he announced he was walking home to Arkansas and he came back in ’21 to have his biggest year: .306 with all those triples, 12 homers, and 74 RBI’s, all career highs. He tied a mark with three triples in a game that year and the next two seasons his average hovered around .300. But he was losing playing time in ’23 and the next season was a back-up, partly because he wrecked his knee, which was discovered when he was traded to – and returned from – the Phillies the prior December. ’24 was his last year up top and he finished at that level with a .268 average with 67 triples and 35 homers, pretty good for a little guy back then. He then returned to the minors, first for four seasons at Houston, a St. Louis A league team, where he coached and hit well over .300 as a regular every year. In ’29 he began managing back in independent ball where he hit around .340 for two years. His last year as a regular player was in ’31 when he was 42 – he hit .300 in the minors - and he continued to coach or manage through at least ’46, including five-plus years in the Yankees system and five in Cleveland’s. By the early Sixties he had relocated to Missouri where he passed away in ’62 at age 73.

Eddie Mathews I’ll do on his manager card and Rogers Hornsby’s been covered already. On to a pitcher or two:

Vic Willis grew up in Delaware and briefly attended the University of Delaware before he left to play B league independent ball in 1895 when he was 19. He only went 10-15 that year and in ’96 was sick pretty much the whole season. But in ’97 he got healthy and pitched for Syracuse, an A level team, and went 21-17 with a 1.16 ERA. At the end of the season he was traded for some cash and Fred Lake to the Boston Beaneaters. Back then Boston was a powerhouse and Vic stepped right into the rotation to go 25-13 his rookie year as his team won the pennant. In ’99 he went 27-8 with an NL-leading 2.50 ERA and five shutouts. After an off 1900 he won 20 in ’01 and then had his biggest year, at least in terms of league-leading stats: he was 27-20 in 46 starts of which he completed 45, with three saves and 225 strikeouts in 410 innings. All those stats but the record were NL-leading. By that year, though, Boston was heading south fast and his records the next three seasons were 12-18, 18-25, and 12-29 despite league-average ERA’s. That last loss total is a record since 1900. But following the ’05 season Pittsburgh took a flyer on Vic and traded three guys for him. Pittsburgh won that trade as the next four years Vic averaged  a record of 22-11 with excellent ERA’s, his best being a 1.73 ERA in ’06. In ’09 he helped the Pirates take the pennant and then won a Series ring though he didn’t pitch terribly well. By then it was rumored he and manager Fred Clarke didn’t get along too well and after a mediocre ’10 season Vic was done. He finished 249-205 with a 2.63 ERA, 388 complete games, 50 shutouts, and eleven saves. He hit .166 with 84 RBI’s and in the post-season went 0-1 with a 4.63 ERA in a couple games. He returned to Delaware after he retired where he bought and ran the Washington House Hotel until he passed away in 1947 at age 71. He was voted into the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 1995.

Charles “Togie” Pittinger was born in Greencastle, PA and played local ball for a while after school. When he first hooked up with a semi-pro league in 1895 he was 23. By then he’d been married and had a couple kids, one of whom passed away. He was apparently sick often and his first recorded stats are from ’96 when he went 5-7 for an independent team. He was then signed by Boston and played the next two seasons for their B team, going a combined 20-4 with an ERA below 1.00. Of the 72 runs he gave up those two years, only 25 were earned: I guess that was pitching back then. In ’99 and 1900 he moved up to A ball and went a combined 22-10 until his mid-season promotion to Boston. The rest of 1900 he went 2-9 up top with an ERA over 5.00. He settled down a bit to go 13-16 with a 3.01 ERA in ’01 and then had his big ’02 in which he went 27-16 with a 2.52 ERA and led the NL in walks, which he’d also do the next two seasons. In ’03 and ’04 his record mirrored that of Willis’ as he went a combined 33-43 though his ERA was just south of league average. After the ’04 season he was part of one of baseball’s first big trades ever when he went to the Phillies for pitcher Chick Fraser and third baseman Harry Wolverton. For Philly, Togie had a one-year renaissance as in ’05 he went 23-14. He then went 17-15 over the next two seasons before he finished with a record of 115-113 with a 3.10 ERA, 187 complete games, 23 shutouts, and three saves. He returned to Greencastle after he was done playing where he passed away only two years later from Bright’s Disease, a kidney ailment. He was only 37.

I’ll pick these up on the next post.

#211 - Chicago Cubs/ Cubs Team Records

Ah, another floating heads Cubs team card. I don't know why the Cubbies almost always did this. I would have thought that the ivy wall would have made a great backdrop for a photo. In '75 the Cubs actually had a real team photo; just to keep things aligned with the universe the White Sox went with the unattached heads.

So what kind of season did the Cubs have in '73. Not one terribly different from other recent seasons. Whitey Lockman had replaced Leo Durocher a little past halfway through the '72 season and the team's reaction was not terribly dissimilar to that of the '78 Yankees when Bob Lemon replaced Billy Martin. Lockman's laid back style helped revive the team to go 13 games over .500 and second place in the division. In '73 the Cubs were looking to build on that momentum and they got off to a pretty good start. The veterans were hitting, notably Billy Williams who continued his '72 surge; Ron Santo who kicked the year off with a .349 average; and Glenn Beckert who did so with a .325 average and a 26-game hitting streak. They got help from young pitchers Rick Reuschel and Burt Hooton, who both started the year well. At the end of June, after spending virtually the whole season in first, they were up by seven games. But things cooled off after the All-Star break as they went into a 6-17 swoon, the vets aged fast, first base became a shambles, and the pitching sputtered (even Fergie Jenkins had a losing season). The Cubbies finished with a 77-84 record, dismantled their storied infield, and would not compete again until '77.

On the checklist front there are a lot of pitchers, mostly young guys since Fergie had been traded. Reuschel back then signed his name Ricky, which seems comically youthful given his later longevity. Almost all the veteran starters are represented except Beckert who went to San Diego. '74 would be a transitional year for Chicago and while the outfield would be more-or-less preserved, outside of Kessinger the infield and catcher would be completely different.

A lot of these guys are old-timers so let's go:

Billy Herman was a Hall of Fame second baseman. Out of Indiana, he was playing in a local league when he was signed to a minor league contract in '28 by Louisville owner William Neal. After a couple seasons in the lower minors he moved up to Double A Louisville by the end of '29 and played there the next two seasons. He was then signed by the Cubs in '31 and pulled up right away to spell Rogers Hornsby at second. By the end of that season he was the team's starter and he would go on to fill that role for the Cubs the next nine seasons. '35 was his best offensive season for Chicago as he led the league in hits with 227, doubles, and sacrifice hits with 24. While with the Cubs he was a seven-time All-Star and a defensive leader as well as an excellent hit-and-run guy. Early in '41 he was traded to the Dodgers for whom he was an All-Star for three more seasons. In '43 he got his only 100-RBI season (on just two homers). In '44 and '45 he enlisted and played service ball in the Pacific. He returned to the Dodgers in '46, was traded to the Braves halfway through the season, and finished things up with Pittsburgh in '47. In all he hit .304 with a .367 OBA, 2,345 hits, and 839 RBIs. He hit .242 in 18 post-season games and still has the record for putouts in a season at second. While with the Pirates he began his managing and coaching career which also saw him in the Giants organization, with the Dodgers, the Red Sox, the Angels and the Padres, his last gig in the late '70s before retiring. Billy went 189-274 as an MLB manager and 129-126 in the minors. He was elected to the Hall in '75 and passed away in '92 at age 83.

Rogers Hornsby was another HOF second baseman and has an excellent and informative Wiki page linked to here. He played minor league ball for two seasons before being purchased by the Cards in '15. Initially a shortstop he put up excellent offensive numbers for the rest of the teens and then exploded in the '20's. During that decade Hornsby would average .382 with 208 hits, 120 runs, 40 doubles, 12 triples, 25 homers and 115 RBIs, along with an amazing .444 OBA. During that time he won two MVPs, had two triple crown seasons, hit above .400 three times, and won seven batting titles, including six consecutively. He stayed with the Cards through '26, went to the Giants after a contract dispute for '27, to the Braves for '28, and the Cubs in '29. Along with the stats on the card he had 47 doubles, 39 homers, and 149 RBIs that season, his final great one. He would injure his ankle in '30, recover to post a nice '31, and then move around a bit the next six seasons as a player/manager which he'd also done as early as '25. He finished things up with the Browns in '37 and had a lifetime .358 average with 301 homers, 2,930 hits, and 1,535 RBIs, along with a .434 OBA. He was elected to the Hall in '42. Hornsby would manage and coach most seasons over the next 24 years in Mexico, the minors - both franchised and independent - and the majors where his record was 701-812 including a Series winner with the '26 Cards. In the minors he was 465-401 as a manager. He was with the Mets when he passed away of a heart attack in '63 at age 66.

Earl "Sparky" Adams was yet another - primarily - second baseman who began his career in the minors in 1919 when he was already 24 and spent the next three seasons there as a great offensive shortstop, the last for the Cubs' Single A Wichita Falls club. He was a little guy - most "Sparky's" are - going only 5'5". In '23 in Chicago he moved between shortstop and the outfield and in '24 between short and second before he settled in as the Cubs' regular second baseman the next three seasons, all of which he led the league in at bats. Following the '27 season he became the Jim Fregosi of his time by being sent to the Pirates for Kiki Cuyler, who would go on to have a bunch of wonderful years for Chicago. After a decent '28 in which he moved around the infield, Sparky was a utility guy in '29 and was then sold to the Cards. For St. Louis he experienced a revival at age 35, moving to third, and hitting a career-best .314. The next season he led the league in doubles with 46. Both seasons he played in the Series, winning it in '31. After being hurt in '32 he again became a utility guy and early in the '33 season he was sent to the Reds for, among others, Leo Durocher. He finished out his career starting a year-plus at third base for Cincinnati. After a comeback attempt in the minors in '35 - he was 40 - he was done in baseball. For his career he hit .286 with almost 1,600 hits and an OBA of .343. He then returned to PA where he owned and ran a service station until he retired. He passed away at age 94 in 1989.

Frank Schulte was an upstate NY kid who played in the local minor leagues until discovered by the Cubs and signed in 1904. He would then be an outfield starter for the Cubs from '05 midway through the '16 season. He led the league in triples, with 13, in '06, and homers, with 10 in 1910. His biggest season by far was in 1911, when he also had 21 homers, 30 doubles, 105 runs, 107 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases, along with a .300 average to win NL MVP. He was the first player in the 20-20-20-20 club (20 doubles, triples, homers, and stolen bases). He had also by that time participated in four World Series for the Cubs, winning two, and posting a .321 average in 21 games. In '16 he was traded to the Pirates. He moved to Philly in '17 and finished things up with Washington in '18. Lifetime he hit .270 with 92 homers, 792 RBIs, and 124 triples. He then put in some more time for upstate minor league teams, finishing at Oakland in the PCL in '22 when he was 39. He apparently became paralyzed in 1930 and passed away in '49 at age 67. There is a bio of him by the SABR guys here.

Vic Saier came from the local leagues of Michigan, where he grew up, to the Cubs in 1911. In one season of D ball at Lansing in 1910 he had hit .339. He was the club's first regular first baseman after Frank Chance, who was initially Saier's manager. He was building a great early career and his best season was '13 when he also had 14 homers, 92 RBIs, and hit .289. After an off year in '14, in '15 he was coasting when he injured his leg sliding home. That injury pretty much killed his career as his stats fell pretty hard the rest of the season and into '16. Early in the '17 season he broke his leg, missing the rest of the year. In '18 he didn't play to fulfill wartime commitments. Prior to the '19 season he was sold to the Pirates for whom he played a partial season before quitting. He finished with a .263 average with 55 homers and 61 triples in 865 games. After his career ended he returned to Michigan where he managed some local independent clubs. He also has a detailed SABR bio linked to here. He passed away in '67 at age 76.

Hack Wilson came out of the coal mining towns of PA and started playing ball shortly after he dropped out of sixth grade to work. By '21 he was playing D ball in West Virginia, and he would rip the ball with pretty good power as he worked his way to B Ball in '23. There he was scouted by the Giants who bought him that September and threw him in a couple games where he had to wear manager John McGraw's uniform because of his size - only 5'6" but 190 pounds. After a season of being a semi-regular in the outfield in '24 in which he hit .295, Hack had a not-great Series and in '25 slumped pretty hard, spending time in both NY and the minors. He was also establishing himself as a hard partyer and was left unprotected on the roster; the Cubs snapped him up. In the next five seasons Hack would crank it in Chicago. He led the league in homers four times, RBIs twice, and walks twice as the Cubs' regular center fielder. In '29 he returned to the post-season and hit .471 but also made two big errors leading to ten runs by the A's and a loss in the Series. He came back with his huge '30 season in which he also hit .356 with a .454 OBA. In '31 Hornsby was named manager and he and Hack didn't hit it off which, combined with a sharp reduction in stats, led to Wilson being sent to the Cards who almost immediately flipped him to the Dodgers. He put up a nice '32 season - .297 with 23 homers and 123 RBIs - but then continued his spiral downward in '33. In mid '34 he was traded to the Phillies and finished out his career there. He hit .307 lifetime with 244 homers, 1,063 ribbies, and a .395 OBA in 12 seasons. He made a series of bad investments after ball, managed a basketball team, and had a series of jobs before falling in his home in '48. He passed away from complications from the fall at only 48. He, too, has a very informative Wiki page.

This is a huge post. Here are the pitchers.

Ted Abernathy was a big - 6'4" and 215 lbs - reliever out of North Carolina. He was signed by the old Senators in '52 and won 20 with a 1.69 ERA that season in D ball. After a nice start in AA the next season he went to the military for the remainder of the year and all of '54. When he returned in '55 he went to DC where he would spend significant time over the next three seasons as a starter and reliever without very good numbers (8-22 with an ERA above 6.00). He returned to AA ball for a poor '58 and then after a crappy start in '59 hurt his shoulder and required surgery. Due to scarring he then adopted a submarine-style delivery to compensate which completely revived his career, now strictly in relief. Over the next three-plus seasons he did the rehab route at various levels in the minors and put up excellent stats: 17-11 with a 2.52 ERA. By then he had also traveled to Cleveland with whom he came back up in '63 and had a nice season. After a step back in '64, Ted was sold to the Cubs. For them in '65 he became the first reliever to post over 30 saves and he led the NL in games and saves. After a poor start in '66 he went to the Braves and following that season to the Reds in the Rule 5 draft. For Cincy he had two excellent seasons, both years leading the NL in games and once in saves. In '69 he returned to the Cubs, then went to the Cards, and finally in '70 to KC where he settled the rest of his career. He finished up there in '72 recording a lifetime record of 63-69 with a 3.46 ERA, seven complete games, two shutouts, and 148 saves. He twice won Fireman of the Year. After playing he returned to NC where he worked in building management and landscaping. He passed away in 2004 at age 71 from complications of Alzheimer's.

Jack Taylor was an excellent turn-of the 20th century pitcher who grew up in Ohio and was covered on the Card's team post. In '02 he pitched 34 complete games with a 1.29 ERA for the Cubs so those numbers should be represented for the two stats on the back of this card.

Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the game's best all-time pitchers. He grew up in Nebraska and was pitching in the minors by his late teens. Twice during his minor league career he was beaned, at least one of which either caused or worsened his epilepsy. He recovered by 1909 when he won 15 and the next year was drafted by the Phillies after winning 29. In '11 he came up and won 28 to lead the NL. He also led in complete games and shutouts. He would stay with the Phillies through '17 and during that time would have as good a run as any pitcher: 190-88 with a 2.49 ERA, leading the NL in wins, shutouts, and strikeouts five times, ERA twice, and twice winning the pitching Triple Crown. He led the team to the '15 Series, in which he pitched excellently, although they lost to Boston. He was also a big drinker and due to his seizures his drinking was viewed as more affecting than it may have been. He was traded to the Cubs before the '18 season and missed most of it for WW I duty in Europe. There he got hit with both mustard gas and shrapnel, injuring his hearing and worsening his epilepsy. He returned to lead the NL in ERA and shutouts in '19 and then won 27 as part of another Triple Crown in '20. While he would post another 20-win year for the Cubs his best days were behind him. In '26 he went to the Cards in a mid-year deal - he was 39 - and both started and relieved down the stretch. He then delivered an amazing Series, shutting down the Yankees in two starts and perhaps the best Series relief effort ever in the seventh game. He would win 21 in '27 and then play out his career for the Cards and back in Philadelphia. He finished with a record of 373-208 with an ERA of 2.56, 436 complete games, 90 shutouts, and 32 saves and in the post-season was 3-2 with a 3.56 ERA, four complete games, and a save in his seven games. He also hit .209 with eleven homers and 163 RBI's. He was elected to the Hall in '38. After his career he played with the House of David team for eight seasons, constantly getting in trouble due to his drinking. He took on menial jobs as his health declined to the point where he fully lost his right ear. By 1950 he was back in Nebraska advising a local American Legion league when he passed away at age 63.

Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown lost his index finger in a farm accident in Indiana when he was a kid. He used it to his advantage in creating a very efficient sinking curveball. After doing some mining work he was an immediate hit in the minors, winning 25 in D ball and 27 in A ball. The latter year, 1902, he was signed by the Cubs although he was already 26. He had a losing year in '03 - but with a 2.60 ERA - and then took off. The next eight seasons he went a combined 181-77 with a killer ERA well below 2.00. He won 20 or more six straight seasons and led the NL once in wins and ERA, twice in games, complete games, and shutouts, and four times in saves (he seems to have been multi-purposed). He was the top pitcher on four Cubs pennant winners and for the two Series winners he threw shutout ball. After a knee injury led to a relatively poor '12 he was traded to the Reds where he had a lackluster season. He then jumped to the Federal League for its two seasons, managing as well in one of them, going 50-63. In '16 he returned to the Cubs for a partial season, his last in the majors. He finished with a 239-130 record with a 2.06 ERA, 271 complete games, 55 shutouts, and 49 saves. In '06 he led the NL with an ERA of 1.04 so that should trump both Alexander and Taylor on the record card. In the post-season Mordecai went 5-4 with five complete games, three shutouts, and a 2.97 ERA in nine games and as a hitter hit .206 for his career. After his career ended he played and managed in the minors for a few seasons and owned and operated a service station back in Indiana. He was inducted to the Hall in '49, a year after passing away at age 71.

Long Tom Hughes was a Chicago kid who was signed by the Cubs late in 1900 out of Omaha. In '01, his true rookie season, he went 10-23, so the number on the card is wrong, although he had a better than average ERA. Baltimore then grabbed him and he pitched there until later in the '02 season when he was distributed to the Red Sox. In '03 he won 20 for Boston's Series winners but after a poor start in the Series was traded to the Yankees. He lasted half a season in NY and was then sent to the Nats for whom he was probably the best - though losing - pitcher until the arrival of Walter Johnson. In '08 he won 18 with a 2.21 ERA. He was then hurt in '09 and was sold to an A ball team in '10 for whom he won 31. Washington then bought him back and he had a decent revival by 1912. After a poor '13 season he was released, ending his time in the majors. He went 132-173 with a 3.09 ERA, 227 complete games, 25 shutouts, and 15 saves. Another good hitter, he put up a .198 average with 79 RBI's. He then continued to play in the minors, winning 24 in '14 and 19 in '15 which he followed up with years of semi-pro ball. He returned to Chicago to live and there worked in a tavern and also did some groundskeeping for the city. He passed away in '56 at age 77. He also has a very detailed SABR page.

Leonard "King" Cole was another early-20th century pitcher. Out of Detroit, he was another late-starter whose first season in the minors was in '09 when he was 23. He won 21 that year and was purchased by the Cubs for whom he threw a couple games. In 1910 he had an excellent rookie year, going 20-4 with a league-leading 1.80 ERA. He won 18 in '11 but then had a crappy start to his '12 season and was traded to the Pirates for whom he wasn't much better. In '13 he was demoted to Double A Columbus where he won 23 and was subsequently sold to the Yankees. For NY he won ten in '14 and then a couple in '15 when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. That ended his season and killed him early in '16 when he was only 29. He went 54-27 with a 3.12 ERA, 47 complete games, nine shutouts, and two saves in his career.

Toothpick Sam Jones began his career as a catcher in the Negro Leagues in the mid-'40s. By '47, with the help of Satchel Paige, he had become a pitcher for the Cleveland Buckeyes for whom he played through '49. In '50 he was signed by Cleveland who put him in A ball. He would pitch the next five seasons in the minors at various levels, going a combined 62-41 as a curveballing starter. He made a couple appearances for the Tribe during that time but couldn't break into its high powered rotation. After the '54 season he was traded to the Cubs for Ralph Kiner, among others. In two seasons for Chicago he went 23-34 with a 4.00 ERA and led the NL both seasons in both walks and strikeouts. After the '56 season he went to the Cards in a big trade and there turned his stats around pretty well, in two seasons going a combined 26-22 with a 3.30 ERA, again pulling off the double leader thing in '58. In '59 he went to the Giants for Bill White and had his best season, going 21-15 with a 2.83 ERA and four shutouts, finishing second in Cy voting (there was still only one award back then). He won 18 in '60 and then was injured in '61 and saw his stats come in pretty hard. He was selected by the Colt .45's in the expansion draft and then traded to Detroit for whom his pretty good season was impinged by a diagnosis of neck cancer. He would then return to the Cards for a bit before finishing up with Baltimore in '64. He finished 102-101 with a 3.59 ERA, 76 complete games, 17 shutouts, ten saves, and 1,376 strikeouts. He pitched in two All-Star games and threw a no-hitter. He would continue throwing in the minors until '67 for Columbus, Pittsburgh's Triple A club and posted a lifetime record at that level of 101-66. He also played winter ball in Latin America. His cancer recurred by '71 and he passed away from it that year. He was 47.

Orval Overall was yet another of the Chicago pitching stars of the early 1900's. He came out of Cali and was drafted by the Reds in the '04 Rule 5 draft out of Tacoma, for whom he had 57 decisions, going 32-25 that year. His late start was due to attending the University of California for whom he played football and baseball. Up with the Reds in '05 he went 18-23 but with a 2.86 ERA. After another losing start to the '06 season he was sent to the Cubs for Bob Wicker and finished 12-3. In '07 he won 23 and led the league in shutouts which he also did in '09 when he won 20. He was on four pennant winners and threw very well in the Series, going a combined 3-1 with a 1.58 ERA. He slowed down a bit 1n 1910, winning just 12 and then retired. After a brief comeback in '13 he was done. He finished with a record of 108-71 and a 2.23 ERA, 133 complete games, 33 shutouts, and twelve saves. He was very successful after baseball, working in a brewery, for a family business, and then as a banking executive. He passed away in '47 at age 66.

Big Bill Lee came out of Louisiana and by 1930 was playing on area minor league teams. In '31 he won 22 in C ball and made it to Columbus later that season. The next year Columbus became a St. Louis franchise and Bill would win 20 each of the next two seasons there before being traded to the Cubs following the '33 season. He had a nice rookie season for the Cubs in '34 and then won 20 for the '35 pennant winners. In '38 he had his best season with 22 wins and a 2.66 ERA, both of which led the league, as did his shutout total. He came in second in NL MVP voting that season and again made it to the Series. After winning 19 in '39 his record fell substantially and by mid-'43 he was traded to the Phillies. He had an OK '44 then moved around a bunch before finishing things back up in Chicago in '47. He went a combined 169-157 with a 3.54 ERA, 182 complete games, 29 shutouts, and 13 saves and in the post-season was 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA and a save in four games. After his career ended he returned to Louisiana to work in the insurance business. He passed away there in '77 at age 67.

Whew!


So how do the Cubbies do representing the '73 team? Catching is good and Glenn Beckert has a card with the Padres, so second is good too, as is shortstop and third. In the outfield we're missing Rico Carty who came over late in '73 from Texas, but he only had 70 at bats. This is pretty good but apparently the club had no first basemen. While Fanzone, Marquez, and Williams each put in over 100 innings there, the top three guys are missing. Pat Bourque had been traded to Oakland and has a card there. Jim Hickman was the number one guy and he was sent to the Cards before the '74 season. Joe Pepitone was banished to Atlanta but neither of these guys has a '74 card. On the floating heads shot Jim is the fourth guy in the second row and Joe may be the last guy in row three, but I can't really tell. On the pitching side, Jenkins had a Rangers card and Juan Pizarro went 0-1 in his final season. That means we have 160 of 161 decisions represented in the set. That almost makes up for the no first baseman thing.

Here at last is the hookup:

1. Fergie Jenkins on the '73 Cubs;
3. Jenkins and Bill Singer on the '76 Rangers.

#36 - Cards Team Records

This is the second team card of the set and as I did with the Orioles team card I have also included the team checklist. This team card is much more representative of the norm than the Baltimore one was in that it is blurry enough that a lot of the players' identities need to be guessed. This card is also a bit amusing because I am pretty sure that the guys in civilian clothes at the ends of the last row are just fans. 1973 was a bit streaky for the Cards and the season kicked off with a bad one as the team came out of the gate 2-15 as problems abounded. Offense and the bullpen were pretty much non-existent, Bob Gibson would be hurt all year, and shortstop was a bit messy since it turned out new phenom Ray Busse had stage fright. But a good run in May and June got them close to first by the All-Star break and the starters did well enough that one of them, Rick Wise, started that game. But while the offense came around and rookie Mike Tyson finally solved the shortstop dilemma, the bullpen never did and like the rest of the division the Cards couldn't get too far away from .500 ball. In the end they finished at exactly that in second place and only two games back.

Not too much to say about the front of the checklist. The formality of the Brock and Gibson signatures stands out. Joe Torre's would too except that's how you signed your name if you were a Catholic kid from Brooklyn.

I hadn't realized until I studied this back how much success the Cards had during the war years - three straight pennants. So who were these record holders?

Bill White was born in the deep south, grew up in Ohio, and then attended that state's Hiram College on an academic scholarship (pre-med) where  he played ball. A big strong guy he was given a tryout by the Giants - at Forbes Field - and signed on the spot in '53. He moved pretty quickly through the minors, posting some big power years and after a hot Triple A start in '56 came to NY as a first baseman at 22, posting that many homers his rookie year. He then lost nearly all of the next two years to military time and by the time he got back late in '58 had lost his spot to Orlando Cepeda. Just prior to the '59 season Bill was traded to St. Louis where he would immediately take over first base. While it would take him a couple years to re-establish his power, Bill would off the bat put up good averages and start reaping awards. From '61 to '64 he would annually garner at least 20 homers and 90 RBI's. His best season was '63 when he would post a .304/27/109 line and during his initial seven year run with the Cards Bill was a five-time All-Star and won six Gold Gloves. After a discounted '65 he went to the Phillies in a big trade and had a big '66 season. In that off-season he tore his Achilles and then had two very reduced seasons for Philly before he closed his career back with the Cards in '69. Bill finished with a .286 average with 202 homers and 870 RBI's and hit .111 with two RBI's in his seven post season games. He then had - for guys of my age and geography - a more high-profile career as a Yankees announcer for nearly 20 years before becoming in '89 the NL president, from which he retired in '94.

Ken Boyer was one of three brothers who played in the Major Leagues. A Missouri kid, he was signed by St. Louis in '49 with the initial intent of being a pitcher. Though he threw well enough in D ball his first two seasons, Ken's bat was impossible to ignore, and by midway through his second year he was playing third base. After a big season in '51 in A ball, Ken missed the next two years to wartime military duty and returned to put up another excellent season in '54, this time in Double A. In '55 he made the cut and he would spend the next eleven years - '55 to '65 - as the St. Louis third baseman, a position at which he was a seven-time All-Star and won five Gold Gloves. An excellent fielder and a very good hitter, he would average a .293/23/91 line with Cards and won the NL MVP in '64, a season in which he led St. Louis to the Series title with a .295/24/119 line. Like Bill White, Ken had a discounted '65 season - for Ken the culprit was a bad back - and was traded after it, he to the Mets. After a season as the regular guy at third for NY in '66, he shared corner infield time the next two seasons for the Mets, White Sox, and the Dodgers with whom his career ended early in the '69 season. Ken finished with a .287 average, with 282 homers, and 1,141 RBI's and hit .222 with two homers and six RBI's in seven Series games. Defensively he is currently 30th all-time in putouts at third base, 20th in assists, and twelfth in double plays. He then turned to managing right away and in '70 and from '73 to '77 went 373-361 in the minors for the St. Louis and Baltimore chains. From '71-'72 he coached up top for the Cards and early in the '78 season took over managing the team. He went 166-190 before being let go early in the '80 season. He then scouted for St. Louis until he passed away in '82 at age 51 from lung cancer.

Rogers Hornsby is the Hall of Fame second baseman who also spent a bunch of years managing. Raised in Texas, he was playing semi-pro ball by age ten and began his pro career after trying out for a D team in 1914. He was a skinny kid who initially didn't hit very well but his cocky attitude got him acquired from that level by the Cards in '15. During that off-season he ate like crazy and the next year posted his first .300-plus season while playing shortstop, a position at which he was error-prone. His initial time with the Cards encompassed the '14-'26 seasons and by midway through the '19 season he got moved to second, at which he did much better defensively. He then exploded offensively in the Twenties and for the next six years had about the best run as a hitter in baseball history, with an average line of  .397/26/115 with 42 doubles, 14 triples, and 216 hits. During that time he hit .400 three times, won two Triple Crowns, and one MVP. In '25 he took over as manager of the team and the next year, though injuries pulled down his stats a bit, led the Cards to a Series title. But in his managerial role, Rogers pissed off both his players and owners and he would then become a bit itinerant. In '27 he went to the Giants where he revived his stats a bunch but pissed off John McGraw. In '28 he went to the Boston Braves, where he won his last batting title with a .387 and in '29 to the Cubs, where he won his second MVP with a .380/39/149 line. He remained in Chicago through '32 but only had one more season as a regular. In '33 he returned to St. Louis, first for the Cards, and then for the Browns, for whom he continued to play and manage through '37, his final year as a player. Rogers finished that role with a .358 average with 301 homers, 1,584 RBI's, 541 doubles, 169 triples, and a sick .434 OBA. He led the NL in hits, doubles, and RBI's four times, average seven times, and homers twice. In the post-season he hit .245 with five RBI's in twelve games. After playing he would manage in the minors through '42 and again from '50 to '51. He then managed the Browns for part of the '52 season and in Cincinnati from '52 to '53, burning bridges everywhere. For that gap in the Forties he ran a baseball rec league in Chicago and from '54 on took on various coaching assignments. As an MLB manager Rogers went 701-812. He was elected into the Hall in '42. He passed away in '63 while coaching for the Mets at age 66.

Jesse Burkett is another Hall of Famer, who like Rogers Hornsby, could hit the crap out of the ball and manage to piss everyone off at the same time. His nickname was "Crab." Born in West VA, Jesse worked and played ball well before he finished high school, and signed with a B level team in 1888, when he was 18. Initially a pitcher, the following year at the same level, he went 30-4 and the next year his contract was picked up by the Giants. In '90 Jesse only went 3-10 with a very high ERA, but he hit well enough that by season's end he was also playing in the outfield. Following that season Jesse was traded to the NL's Cleveland Spiders where in '91 he had a tough time hitting up top but both hit and pitched well in the minors. After that it was all Cleveland from '92 to '98, a time during which Jesse averaged over .360 and hit over .400 twice. The Spiders ran out of bucks after that last season and the players were distributed elsewhere in the NL, Jesse going to the Cardinals. There from '99-1901 he averaged .378 and his last season won the batting title with a .376. He then moved to the Browns for three seasons before finishing in '05 with the Red Sox. Jesse finished with a .338 average, 2,850 hits, 182 triples, 75 homers, 952 RBI's, a .415 OBA, three batting titles, and 399 stolen bases. He'd done a good job saving money and prior to the '06 season established a minor league team in Worcester, MA, for which he both played (through '13) and managed (through '15), leading the team to four pennants before he sold the team prior to the '16 season. He then managed that year for some other local teams, took over as the baseball coach at Holy Cross ('17-'20), coached for the Giants ('21-'22), managed some more in the minors ('23-'24, '28-'29, '33) while also working for the Massachusetts Highway Department. He was admitted to the Hall in '46 and passed away in '53 at age 84.

Joe "Ducky" Medwick was a Gashouse Gang member, another Hall of Fame outfielder, who grew up in NJ as a big sports star and was wooed by Knute Rockne to play football at Notre Dame. Instead he opted for baseball and in '30 signed with a C team for which he hit .419. That got the Cards interested so they signed Joe and after nearly two seasons of over .300 in A ball he came up in September of '32 and hit .349 for a month. He would then be an offensive force for St Louis the next seven years, during that time averaging a .337/20/123 line with 49 doubles. In '34 he led the NL with 18 triples and in '36 along with that doubles record, he led the NL with 223 hits and 138 RBI's. He was MVP in '37 by virtue of winning the Triple Crown with his .374/31/154 season as well as leading the league in about every offensive category. But Joe, like the two above guys, wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy, and after two more good seasons he was traded to Brooklyn shortly into the '40 season. Then, in one of his first games against his old team, he was beaned and knocked unconscious. While he would return to post decent numbers the rest of the way and would post some more .300 seasons, he was no longer the hitter he was and he would move around a bit, going from Brooklyn ('40-'43), the Giants ('43-'45), the Braves ('45), back to Brooklyn ('46), and back to St. Louis ('47-'48), making pretty much no friends along the way. He hit .324 for his career with 2,471 hits, 540 doubles, 205 homers, and 1,383 RBI's. In the post-season he hit .326 with a homer and five RBI's in twelve games and was a ten-time All-Star. From '49 to '52 he coached and played in the minors. He then coached for various teams in the minors before becoming a St. Louis roving hitting coach in '66 which he did until he passed in '75 from a heart attack at age 63. He was elected into the Hall in '68.

Tom Long had a very brief career as an outfielder, playing with the Cards from 1915-'17. He was from Alabama and presumably played some college or other organized ball because his first professional experience was late in the 1911 season with the Senators. That was followed by three seasons close to home of A ball during which Tommy averaged about .300. He was signed by St. Louis prior to the '15 season and his rookie year cruised to the league triples crown by a fat margin. He then  had a decent '16, declined in '17,  and was then was a minor leaguer through '24. Up top he hit .269 with 49 triples and in the minors about .290. He appears to have not wandered terribly far from his birthplace and passed away in Mobile in '72 at age 82.

Johnny "The Big Cat" Mize is the next HOF guy, an outfielder/first baseman whose career was neatly divided into three sections. Born in Georgia, he was playing college ball in high school and was signed by the Cards in 1930. Then, despite some excellent offense the next few years at levels ranging from C to Double A, he was still in the minors when he got a nasty bone spur on his pelvis in '34 and thought he was done with baseball. But a successful surgery and a nice recovery year in '35 got him up top in '36. Johnny immediately started hitting and by now was playing exclusively first base. A big power guy who didn't strike out very much, Johnny would stay in St. Louis through '41 and during that time put up an average line of .336/26/109 with 36 doubles, eleven triples, and a .419 OBA. He came in second in MVP voting twice and was then traded to the Giants at the insistence of NY manager Mel Ott. There, Johnny had another big '42 before missing the next three seasons to military service. He got back for a partial season in '46 and picked up his power routine. In '47 he famously hit 51 homers while striking out fewer than 50 times, the only player to do that. He led the NL that year and with 40 in '48 and then during the '49 season as his legs were giving out - he was 36 - Johnny went to the Yankees for the stretch run. He would remain in NY as a part-timer from '49 to '53 which was pretty good timing since he got to win five consecutive Series. He retired after that last season with a .312 average, 359 homers and 1,337 RBI's, and played in ten All-Star games, including his last season which must have been a sentimental honor. In the post-season he hit .286 with three homers and nine RBI's in 18 games. After playing Johnny relocated to Florida where he was involved in real estate, orange groves, and ran a liquor store. In the mid-Seventies he moved back to his hometown where he retired and passed away in '93 at the age of 80. He made it in the Hall in '81.

Ron Willis was originally an outfielder and was signed by the Cards in '61 out of hi St. Louis high school. After hitting about .232 in a season-plus of D ball, though, by the middle of '62 he did a reverse Rick Ankiel and was moved to the mound and that year went a combined 9-6 as a swing guy in D and C ball. In '63 he joined the A level rotation and went 13-7 with a high ERA. He fixed that in '64 with a 9-1 season and a 2.31 ERA around some military time and some late Double A ball. In '65 he went 7-4 at the higher level before a great Fall IL season during which he went 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA. In '66 he switched gears, moving to the Triple A pen and winning ten games before a late look up top that included a save. In '67 he had a nice rookie year, forming a righty (him)/lefty closing tandem with Joe Hoerner while winning six and saving ten with a 2.67 ERA. In '68 he moved to a setup role and won two while saving four. After a slow start in '69 he did some Triple A time and was traded to Houston, where he didn't throw too much. After that season he was returned to the Cards and threw nice ball in Triple A - 2-4 with a 1.67 ERA and 13 saves in 26 games - before another mid-season trade, this time to San Diego. For the Padres, Ron went 2-2 while saving four in his final season. For his MLB career Ron went 11-12 with a 3.32 ERA and 19 saves. In the minors he was 53-36 with a 3.72 ERA. He had a tougher time in the Series, posting an 11.81 ERA in his six games. He would stay close to baseball on and off and in '77 was a scout for the Cards when he passed away from bone cancer. He was only 34..

Jack Taylor set the Cards complete game record in 1904, not 1967. Born in Ohio in 1874, he played local semi-pro ball until 1897 when he was signed to Connie Mack's Milwaukee A level team after beating them the prior year in an exhibition game. He threw well that first year but got hurt and then in '98 won 28 games before being traded to the Chicago Orphans late that summer and going 5-0 the rest of the way. He remained in the Chicago rotation and the next three years put up a way better than average ERA but for poor teams went only a combined 41-57. Then in '02 he would have his first big season, going 23-11 with a 1.29 ERA and eight shutouts, leading the NL with both latter stats. That year he also began a run of completing every one of his starts that lasted partway through the '06 season. He won 21 for the re-christened Cubs in '03 before a big trade - the Cubs got Mordecai Brown - took him to St. Louis. His complete games led the NL in '04 as he won 20 and after a losing season in '05 he returned to the Cubs midway through the '06 season when he went a combined 20-12 with a 1.99 ERA. But all those complete games took a toll on Jack's arm and the next year he threw well enough in a spot role but was done just before the Cubbies had their big Series run.He then returned to the minor leagues where he pitched through '11. Jack finished with an MLB record of 152-139 with a 2.65 ERA, 279 complete games (in 287 starts!), 20 shutouts, and five saves. A pretty good hitter as well, he would sometimes play other positions and hit .222 with 88 RBI's for his career. By 1913 he had returned to his hometown where he would become a coal miner until he passed away from lung disease at age 64 in 1938.

Ulysses Simpson Grant "Stoney" McGlynn was a pretty colorful guy and player. Born in PA in 1872 he pitched local company and semi-pro ball for years while working in the mining and building industries. He reportedly won 70 games one year out of a 126 game season. In '04 he signed with York of the Tri-State independent league. Though he told the team he was 21, he was actually 32 and for the next two seasons he won 30 and 28 games, respectively, quite a few of them both ends of double headers. His nickname was understandably "Iron Man." In '06 he topped both those seasons by winning 36 by late July before he was sold to a D team in Ohio for which he went 5-1 with a 0.71 ERA in a month. That was followed by a sale to St. Louis and in the final two weeks of that season Stoney threw six complete games while going 2-2 with a 2.44 ERA. Then, for a horrible team in '07 - the Cards went 52-101 that year - Stoney had by far his biggest MLB season, going 14-25 with a 2.91 ERA. His losses, 39 starts, and 33 complete games led the NL. In one game he went 16 innings against Orvall Overall of the Cubs who also went 16 and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. In another game he came in relief against Pittsburgh with the bases loaded and three balls on the batter, no outs. He then picked off each of the base runners and retired the side without throwing a pitch. He then held out prior to the '08 season, had a not great early run in a spot role, and by midyear was back in the minors. For his MLB time Stoney was 17-33 with a 2.95 ERA, 43 complete games, three shutouts, and two saves. He would then play with Milwaukee, an A team, for three-plus seasons, peaking in '09 when he won 27 and threw 426 innings, again many of them both games in double headers. He would throw in the minors until 1915 and at that level won a total of 177 games. By 1912 he'd relocated to Wisconsin full time and was initially a lifeguard as well as an athletics coach. He was a coach at the University of Illinois for a few years as well but spent most of his professional time after baseball at the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company in Manitowac where he worked in shipping and as a watchman while coaching the company baseball team. He also continued lifeguarding through at least his early sixties. He passed away in Manitowac in '41 when he was 69.
 
Dizzy Dean's Hall of Fame career was basically built on 5 1/2 seasons, all with the Cards. Born in Arkansas, Diz grew up in a sharecropper household, went to work at an early age, and joined the Army when he was 17. There he picked up some of his baseball skills as well as his nickname. Signed by St. Louis prior to the '30 season, Diz won 25 in A ball that year before throwing a complete game win for the Cards in September. In '31 it was back to A ball and a 26-10/1.57 season before coming up for good the next year. He won 18 his rookie year and from '32 to the All-Star game in '37 he ran at about a 24-win pace. His biggest season was '34, the year he led the Gashouse Gang to the Series and won the MVP for his 30-7/2.66 year. He is the last NL guy to win 30 and he led the NL that year in wins, shutouts (seven), and strikeouts (195). But like some of the St. Louis hitters discussed above, Diz used to piss off guys, more because of his cocky attitude than because of a pugnacious one. So when after putting up two more big years in '35 (an NL-leading 28 wins) and '36 (24), when in the '37 All-Star game he broke his foot, there wasn't too much sympathy and his power-pitching days were over. After starting that year 12-7, he went 1-3 the second half and after the season was sent to the Cubs. With Chicago, Diz occupied a spot role and the next three seasons went a combined 16-8. Early in the '41 season he was offered a coaching gig with the team and a few months later a broadcasting one. He would broadcast fore the Cards a few seasons, then move across town to the Browns and while there throw four scoreless innings for the Browns in '47. As a pitcher he finished his MLB run with a record of 150-83 with a 3.02 ERA, 154 complete games, 26 shutouts, and 31 saves. He made four All-Star teams and in the post-season was 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA and a shutout in five games. He was also a pretty good hitter, posting a .225 average with eight homers and 76 RBI's. After his Browns stint, he would broadcast elsewhere, including for the Yankees, before moving to a national TV gig. He was admitted to the Hall in '53 and passed away in '74 at age 64 from a heart attack.

Arthur "Bugs" Raymond was a sad case who came out of Chicago where he worked operating a printing press and then started playing company ball. In 1904 he signed with A D team and went 19-7 before being purchased by Detroit late that year. He threw pretty well in a few late games for the Tigers, but not well enough to let anyone overlook what was a pretty considerable drinking problem. So after the season Detroit sold Bugs to an A team for which Bugs showed up late, went 10-6, and continued to drink. In '06 he moved down to C ball, learned a spitter, and won 18. At that level in '07 he went 35-11 before a late summer sale returned him to the MLB level, this time for the Cards. For St. Louis the rest of the way Bugs went 2-4 in six complete game starts, but with a 1.67 ERA. He remained in the Cards rotation in '08, the year he tied the club record for losses. Despite his 15-25 record, he had an ERA that year just above 2.00 and threw five shutouts. Following that season he went to the Giants in a big trade and won 18 games in '09. But though John McGraw tried to corral him Bugs continued to hit the sauce and in '10 his record fell to 4-11. He had a bit of a bounce in '11 on the mound but was missing games, throwing drunk at others, and was eventually cut loose and missed the Series that year. He got work back in Chicago where he passed away in 1912 at 30 years old, apparently as a result of an onfield beating with a baseball bat by either a fan or an opponent. Bugs was 45-57 for his MLB work with a 2.49 ERA, 57 complete games, nine shutouts, and two saves. In the minor leagues he was 87-32.

"Hickory Bob" Harmon was born in Missouri and shortly thereafter lost both his parents so he was adopted by his mom's sister. His adopted family were farmers and Bob worked the farm while playing some local ball. In 1909 he signed with a C team for which he threw well enough to get signed by the Cards later that spring. Bob was primarily a fastball guy with some control issues and his first two seasons went a combined 19-26 with high ERA's. But then in '11 he had his best year, during which he led the league in starts and walks and went 23-16. He won 18 in '12, faded to 8-21 the following year, and was traded to Pittsburgh. With the Pirates Bob went a combined 39-47 the next three years but finally got his ball/strike ratio on the right side and posted better than league average ERA's. He also during that time bought some farmland in Louisiana and in '17 quit ball to set up and manage the cotton farm to which he converted his property. He returned to Pittsburgh in '18 but then retired mid-season when oil was struck om his farm. Bob finished with a record of 107-133 with a 3.33 ERA, 143 complete games, 15 shutouts, and twelve saves. He parlayed the oil strike into some petrochemical property and also expanded his farming empire to include dairy and grew quite wealthy. He passed away in '61 at age 74.

Cy Young pitched for the Cards? Yup, from 1899-1900. The thing is, though, that he actually gave up more hits in the former year, 368, than the latter. Either Topps made a mistake or they just counted 20th century records. Cy will have a much more detailed bio on the Boston team post.

So who's missing from the checklist. Bernie Carbo and Rick Wise have Boston cards since they were traded there before the '74 season (but I guess too late to get "Traded" cards). On the position player side, a few reserve infielders and an outfielder get shut out: Busse hit .143 with a couple homers in 70 at bats; Mick Kelleher - Busse's first reliever - hit .184 in 38 at bats; Ed Crosby .128 in 39 at bats; and Bill Stein .218 in his 55 first year at bats. All those guys except Busse would have cards down the road. Jim Dwyer hit .193 in 57 at bats as the reserve outfielder. On the pitching side Wayne Granger had a card with the Yankees and Jim Bibby with the Rangers so three wins and four losses are not represented in this set.Those were represented by: Eddie Fisher who went 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA in his last season; John Andrews went 1-1/4.42 in his only look up top; and Mike Nagy, former big deal rookie for Boston, was 0-2/4.20 in his penultimate MLB season. Some of these guys do make the cut on the team card though. Andrews is the first guy in the first row; Kelleher the sixth from the right in the second row; Nagy is the first player (next to the all white trainer) in the third row; Busse is the big guy in the middle of that row and Stein is to his immediate left; and Crosby is third from the right in the back row. For any completeness freaks, the Cruz brothers are fully represented in the second row by Hector, Cirilio, and Jose (after Luis Melendez) to the immediate right of Kelleher. So with lots of bodies but not terribly much field time the Cards are the second team in a row with excellent representation.

Finally, we get the '73 Cards to Mr. Perry thusly:

1. Joe Torre on the '73 Cards;
2. Torre and Felipe Alou '68 Braves;
3. Alou and Gaylord Perry '63 Giants.

I will expect to see a bunch more of the Alou brothers in this exercise.