#62 - Bob Locker

Here is Bob Locker in full 'stache which was pretty much mandatory if you were an Oakland guy in the '70's, which Bob was. Here he is in one of the few Cubs pinstripes of this set. He looks pretty happy even though it looks like a tornado is welling up behind him. But that's cool, because whatever the weather Bob had such a good '73 - with ten relief wins, 18 saves, and his normally excellent ERA - that he should have been beaming. Plus he knew he was headed back west to rejoin two-time champs in Oakland.

Bob Locker was signed by the White Sox in 1960 out of Iowa State where he played hoops and baseball. In the latter sport, Bob's best numbers came his senior year when he went 5-3 - the team as a whole went 12-6 in what was a typically short Big Eight baseball season back then - with a 3.50 ERA and 41 K's to earn all Big Eight status. He also earned his degree in Geology on time. After a very short summer season split between C and B ball that year, he was cranking things up with 15 wins and a 2.57 ERA in '61 when he was drafted into the military for the next two years. He came back in '64 right where he left off, winning 16 with a 2.59 ERA for Indianapolis, then the Sox' Triple A club. When he came up in '65 he was already 27, but he fit seamlessly into the Sox bullpen, and established himself as a premier reliever right off the bat by putting in some nice numbers as a setup guy. In '66 he segued into the closer role with a much better ERA and twelve saves. He then posted his best season in '67: a league-leading 77 games, seven wins, 27 saves, a 2.09 ERA, and almost 125 innings, all in relief. In fact, Locker never once started a game in the majors. After a discounted '68 - ten saves on a team that was in freefall - Bob had a poor start in '69 and was traded to the Seattle Pilots, the initial name of the Brewers. He was traded for Gary Bell, a big name for any old Red Sox fans out there. He is the first former Pilot in this set.

Locker had a nice second half  for another horrible team, adding six saves to his excellent posted stats. The next year he moved with the Pilots to Milwaukee. Halfway through that season during which his usage contracted a bit, he was sold to Oakland, where his numbers again improved for his new team. There he worked a bunch as Rollie Fingers' set-up guy, maintaining an ERA well below 3.00 while over his two-plus year run he added 20 saves of his own. His performance in the '72 post-season was not great and he was soon traded to the Cubs for Bill North, a pretty good pick up for the A's. From what I have read, there was an understanding between Bob and Oakland owner Charlie O that he would be re-acquired by the A's after one season. Pretty odd, but it did happen, as evidenced by the included card. Before the '74 season, however, Bob got hurt and spent zero time on the field during the season. He was then sent back to the Cubs as part of the trade that brought Billy Williams over to DH. After a poor start, the Cubs released him and that was it. For his career, he was 57-39 with a 2.75 ERA and 95 saves. In the post season Bob posted a 9.00 ERA in his four games.

Following his baseball days, Locker put in time in the real estate industry. He has a pretty high profile on the web right now: he is the author of a website, www.thanksmarvin.com, dedicated to getting Marvin Miller into the Hall of Fame. The site has a lot of touching personal tributes to Mr. Miller and is a very dedicated and selfless endeavor by Mr. Locker. It seems like he is an awfully good guy.

So, is this the best airbrush job on the Traded card, or what? The reason it looks so good is that it is not an airbrush, merely an old photo of Locker in his Oakland uniform. I also think this is the second of what will be three shots in a row from the Coliseum (thanks for the affirmation, Jim!).

The no-hitter was a B level game; Bob was with Lincoln then. That consecutive game mark was broken by a guy coming up in a few cards. I guess he was a happy golfer also.

Look at that date on the back of the Traded card. This is almost an anniversary posting. Topps really seems set on getting that record in our heads. The headline makes it sound like Oakland is getting some equipment back.

This is an easy one:

1. Locker and Lou Aparicio '68 to '69 White Sox.

Ron Santo's obituary was in the paper today. RIP Mr. Santo.

#61 - Luis Aparicio

Look at this - two Hall of Famers in a row and they're both named Lou, more or less. Despite my propensity to mess this up - I really blew Ross Grimsley's geography - I am going to say this shot is from Oakland. If I am wrong, it will be doubly so because this almost exact setting is coming up again in two cards. This is also Aparicio's last card, so in homage I hope I am correct. Little Louie put in his final season as a player in '73 - and it was a pretty good one as his average topped his career one and he recorded double figures in stolen bases (against only one pick) for the first time since '69 - so the stats on this card are complete career ones.

Luis Aparicio grew up in Venezeula, the son of Luis Aparicio Ortega, probably the country's biggest baseball star. The senior Aparicio was also a shortstop who taught his son well, so that by the time the Baseball Amateur World Series was hosted in Caracas, the son was famous as well locally.After an excellent performance in that series as well as later that year in the country's first national tournament, Luis' reputation crossed borders and at the urging of both his manager, Lum Harris (whose biography will be up many cards later) and local and MLB star shortstop Chico Carrasquel, the White Sox signed him in early '54. Luis then moved pretty quickly through the Chicago system, hitting .282 in B ball that year and .273 - both very good averages back then for shortstops - in Double A in '55. Following that season The Sox sent its starting shortstop - ironically Chico Carrasquel - to Cleveland in order to make room for the team's new budding star.

Aparicio did not disappoint. His rookie season of '56 he won the AL Rookie of the Year title on the back of his .266 average and AL-leading 21 stolen bases. He also partnered right up with Nellie Fox at second base to provide excellent middle infield defense though that first year Luis had a bunch of throwing errors to the point where purportedly the home crowd was afraid to sit behind first base. But that got fixed quickly and Luis' D and speed would be the backbone of the improving Sox teams over the next few years. He led the AL in stolen bases with numbers in the upper twenties the next two years and in '58 won his first Gold Glove and received his first All-Star nod. Things peaked in '59 when Louie and Nellie together took the Go Go Sox to the '59 Series, finally breaking the NY stranglehold on the league and in which Luis performed very well. That year Luis upped the stolen base totals to 56 and he kept the number elevated the next couple years even though the Sox' fortunes faded pretty quickly. He would continue to lead the AL in that department and pick up All-Star and Gold Glove selections every year. He and Nellie played together through '62, which was an off one for Luis, partly, it was deemed, because he had put on weight. His stolen base total slid to 31 - though he still led the league - and his average 30 points. He was then traded to the Orioles for another Rookie of the Year guy, Ron Hansen, Pete Ward, and Hoyt Wilhelm.

Aparicio added his fine defensive touch to the Baltimore infield, reviving his offense a bit in '63 and much moreso in '64 when he hit .266 and stole 57 in the last year he would lead the AL in that department. In '65 the average took a hit but he reached his career high with ten triples and in '66 he helped the O's reach the World Series with one of his best offensive seasons, this time winning a ring. But '67 was another off year and following that season he was sent back to Chicago in a trade that brought Baltimore Don Buford.

While the Sox teams to which Aparicio returned were a pretty steep discount to the Go-Go guys, it was during this second round for the team that his average bloomed, popping to over .280 from under .260, including his sole .300 season, in 1970. Following that season he made his last move, going to the Red Sox for Mike Andrews and Luis Alvarado. This Luis continued garnering All-Star picks for Boston and was released during '74 spring training. He finished with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases, and a .262 average. He led the league in stolen bases nine consecutive seasons. He also appeared in ten All-Star games and won eight Gold Gloves. He led league shortstops in putouts four times, assists seven times, and fielding percentage six times. He is second all time in shortstop assists, fourth in double plays, and sixth in putouts. In the post-season he hit .286 in his ten games. He made it to the Hall on votes in '84, the first Venezeulan to do so.

After his career ended Aparicio returned to Venezuela to manage in its winter league, do some baseball commentary, and be revered as a local icon. Back in The States he has been a big baseball card show attendee.

No bullets/ stars on this card - no room! We get the parentheses back and the cartoon is nice and familial. I know Luis' dad was a big baseball guy but can find no information on the son, so I must assume that he was not.The one knock on Luis that I have read from a couple sources is that he wasn't very helpful to new or rookie infielders with whom he played during his career. Despite that, I'm a bit surprised he doesn't get an honor card in this set.

Even though we have a lifetime AL'er following a lifetime NL'er, this one is short:

1. Aparicio and Reggie Smith '71 to '73 Red Sox;
2. Smith and Lou Brock '74 to '76 Cards.

#60 - Lou Brock

There has been very good representation so far in this set of some bad trades - Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi, Mickey Lolich for Rusty Staub - and here is a representative from another one. Midway through the 1964 season Lou Brock was traded from the Cubs to the Cards for a pitcher named Ernie Broglio. Lou would then be a pivotal player on Cards teams that went to the World Series three of the following five years. He would go on to get 3,000 hits, tons of stolen bases, and into the Hall of Fame on his first shot. Here he looks like a happy camper in what appears to be the Cards' spring training site. Like a bunch of his fellow Cards, Lou would have a tough start to the '73 season and at the beginning of May his average was sub-.240 and he only had three steals. But he would crank things up pretty quickly from then on and finish with an average just shy of .300 and yet again lead the NL with 70 stolen bases. 1974 would be the year he would go on to collect a then-record 118 steals.

Lou Brock grew up in Louisiana where he eventually became an HS baseball star and then won an academic scholarship to Southern University. At that school, things started tough as he lost the scholarship and hit only .150 his freshman year. But his sophomore year he led the school to an NAIA championship with his .535 average and after a junior year in which he hit .370 he was signed by the Cubs that summer of 1960 for a pretty good bonus. Picked up too late to play that year, in '61 Lou had a C ball season in which he hit .361 with 117 runs, 38 steals, and 82 RBI's from the top of the order. That was enough of an audition for Chicago and in '62 he was promoted way up to the majors.

The Cubs of the early Sixties had some good sticks in the lineup but not too much pitching. The team also employed a sort of manager-by-committee system that didn't produce very good records and almost no real guidance for young, raw players like Brock. For a guy whose primary game was speed, Lou could bang homers and during his career would sport the high strikeout numbers that came with that skill. So while his rookie numbers were pretty good, Lou had a tough time trying to figure out what kind of hitter he was supposed to be. And on defense he put up a few too many errors in center. So offensively his sophomore year was not an improvement to the prior one and with the trade of George Altman Lou was moved to right, a bad sun field at Wrigley, which made fielding even more frustrating (though with his speed Lou came in second in the NL in both putouts and assists). After a discounted beginning to the '64 season, the Cubs - still hurting for pitching - made the June swap for Broglio, a big winner in years past for the Cards (to be fair the Cubs also got other players including former MVP Bobby Shantz). Poor Ernie never got things going for the Cubs while for Lou it was a whole other story.

Brock went on a tear in his new home to finish with a .348 average for St. Louis, ably filling the functional void left by Stan Musial's retirement the prior year. His speed would be the catalyst to take the Cards to the Series where they won memorably over the Yankees. Defensively, he would take over left field. In '65 he really began ratcheting up the stolen bases with 63 and in '66 he won the first of his titles in that department with 74. '67, another Series season, would be one of his best offensive ones as Lou led the NL with 113 runs and 52 steals while setting personal bests in homers and RBI's. In '68 his doubles, triples, and 62 steals led the NL as he saw his final Series action. '69 was a disappointing year for St. Louis but not because of Lou as he kept his numbers up and led the NL with 53 steals. He gave up the title by a couple bases in '70 to Bobby Tolan but that year began a run of six of seven .300 seasons. '71 saw Lou top out with 126 runs in his final 200 hit season and a return to the All-Star game while in '72 the runs came in a bunch but nothing else did.

'74 was another big season for Brock. The Hank Aaron home run record chase ended early in the season when Hank topped the Babe. So when Lou decided to chase another record in Maury Wills' stolen base one, he had a lot of eyes on him and sort of smashed through the record. That would be his final year of leading the league. In '75 and '76 he kept the average above .300 and the stolen bases above 50 while in the next two seasons Lou showed his age. But he had a big year in '79, moving his average up over 80 points to .304 while returning to the All-Star game and recording his 3,000th hit. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year in what would be his final season. He finished with 3,023 hits, 938 stolen bases, and a .293 average. He also hit 149 homers. In the post-season Lou's numbers were pretty amazing: .391 with four homers, 13 RBI's, 16 runs, and 14 stolen bases in 21 games.Defensively the once-challenged outfielder is eighth all-time in left field putouts, 23rd in assists, and 27th in double plays.

In David Halberstam's book, "October 1964", he devotes the preface to a description of Brock's time with the Cubs. It is a significant narrative on how Brock viewed baseball and played the game: he took copious notes on his game and opposing pitchers; he was so driven to succeed that he worried his roommate, Ernie Banks; he desperately tried to make himself a better fielder since right field in Wrigley was a notorious sun field and he had never learned how to play in the sun. When he moved to the Cards it was pure freedom for Brock; he was allowed to run whenever he wanted, he was allowed to swing freely and not be restricted by typical lead-off man demands. It all paid off pretty well.

Nice numbers on the back. Those consecutive years of 50+ stolen bases would reach a total of twelve. Brock led the NL in steals every year from '66 to '74 except 1970 and was an All-Star six times. His signature is another one with a reverse lean. The cartoon is actually significant. Brock turned that flower business into a great success and source of wealth. A driven guy, indeed.

I am going to re-use another guy also mentioned above:

1. Brock and Bobby Tolan '65 to '68 Cards;
2. Tolan and Ross Grimsley '71 to '73 Reds.

#59 - Ross Grimsley

Here is another action shot of a member of the playoff-bound Reds. Here Ross Grimsley appears to be letting loose a curve at Riverfront (thanks Anthony and Jim). He had a nice '73 run through the All-Star break, going 10-5 with a 2.59 ERA. He should have had an even better record but the Cincy bats were strangely silent behind him. But he got them back by cooling off a bit at the end of the year and then had a not great playoff start against NY. Plus, Ross and manager Sparky Anderson did not get along: Ross was a bit too free-spirited for his manager and everyone else running the organization. He wouldn't keep his hair short, he got lucky amulets from witches, he wouldn't bathe when on winning streaks. I guess it was all a bit much for the guys in Cincinnati.

Ross Grimsley was drafted out of high school by Detroit but didn't sign. Instead he went to the brand new Jackson State Community College where he led his team to the first conference championship. He was then drafted by the Reds in the secondary draft of early '69 and this time he signed. A big starter who threw heat, Ross moved quickly through the minors. He went 9-4 with a 3.32 ERA that first summer and in '70 jumped to Triple A where he went 11-8 with a 2.73. By then he began adding an assortment of sinkers to his pitching resume and after a 6-0 start with another sub-3.00 ERA to kick off the '71 season Ross got promoted.

Grimsley debuted with the Reds in May and put together a pretty good rookie season, earning a spot on the Topps Rookie team. He followed that with a better '72 and then had a great post-season, beating Pittsburgh once and Oakland twice. His poor showing in the '73 playoffs probably didn't help his standing in the front office, hence the trade to Baltimore.

For the Orioles Grimsley grew a 'stache, a big afro, and was accused by Billy Martin, among others, of throwing a greaseball using stuff secreted in the mop on his head. In '74 he won 18 games with four shutouts, a 3.07 ERA, and by far his personal best in strikeouts. On top of that he resumed his excellent post-season work. But in '75 the ERA got elevated by a run and he posted his first losing season, and in '76 things got messy as arm woes caused some missed starts, though he did get his ERA below 4.00 and posted a winning record. After winning 14 in '77 he left via free agency for the Expos.

It all came together for Grimsley that first year in Montreal: his only 20-win season, his only All-Star appearance, and some Cy Young votes. He remains the only Montreal pitcher to win 20 games. From there, though, it was all downhill. His walk and hit totals went up, his ERA would stay well north of 5.00 and he was essentially done after the '80 season. A brief comeback attempt with Baltimore in '82 didn't last and he was done at age 32. His career stats were 124-99 with a 3.81 ERA, 79 complete games, 15 shutouts, and three saves. In the post-season Ross went 3-2 with a 3.24 ERA in nine games and hit .333 with an RBI.

Surprisingly Grimsley became a pitching coach almost immediately after his playing career ended with a bunch of organizations, primarily San Francisco's since '99 and where I believe he currently resides employment-wise.

This is another Traded card that I don't think is too bad. That bird must have been tough to airbrush and the setting is recognizable. I believe it is again Shea, evidenced by the Schaeffer billboard in the background. Nice sideburns too.

Lots of info about the '72 season, in this case a wise choice by Topps. Regarding the cartoon, Grimsley had/has - dare I say it - beautiful green eyes. A bunch of times he would accentuate the color by wearing turquoise-colored contact lenses. Definitely an odd bird.


The back of the traded card is pretty prosaic. There were also a few minor leaguers involved in the trade, one being Junior Kennedy, who would go on to do some backup infielding for the Reds and Cubs. Ross' dad put in years in the minors and came up at age 29. He had a decent season but I guess was too weathered to keep on the major roster. He did pitch in the minors through '61 and won 129 games there.

We have an AL hookup this time:

1. Grimsley and Rick Manning and Duane Kuiper '80 Indians;
2. Kuiper, Manning, and Charlie Spikes '75 to '77 Indians.

#58 - Charlie Spikes

This is Charlie Spikes in his first solo card - he had a rookie card in the '73 set - at Yankee stadium. It is kind of an ironic shot because Spikes was traded the previous off-season from the Yankees as part of the deal that brought them Graig Nettles. Charlie was a big guy and prior to the '73 season there was much anticipation about the type of slugger into which he would develop. According to the Cleveland brass he was the piece that made the Nettles trade tolerable. And Charlie gave the Tribe a pretty good rookie season, leading the team in homers and RBI's. His average was a tad low - but so was just about everybody's on that team - and the strikeouts a tad high, but overall he seemed like a shot to deliver on his promise.

Charlie Spikes was drafted by the Yankees in the first round in '69 out of Louisiana, where he was a multi-sport star and in baseball a power-hitting third baseman. Charlie would be handcuffed a bit his first couple seasons in Rookie ball and then A ball by strikeouts but his power was pretty impressive and his base-running surprisingly so as those two years he stole 29 while getting caught only six times. In '71 at the higher level he dropped 40 strikeouts, added nearly as many points to his average, and became entrenched in his new position in the outfield. A fine Double A season in '72 followed during which he also stole 23 bases, sported a .400-plus OBA, and prompted a September call-up.

The big trade - Spikes, Jerry Kenney, John Ellis, and Rusty Torres for Nettles and Jerry Moses - was pretty interesting since the man that orchestrated it for Cleveland, Gabe Paul, departed as their GM right after the trade to become the Yankee GM. Given that the trade was a steal for the Yankees it was a bit suspicious at the time. Charlie had a nice rookie season becoming a starter right off the bat. The next season was better as he boosted his RBI total to 80 and his average 33 points. It would be his best season. In winter ball that year Charlie was nailed in the eye by a pitch and though he recovered it seems undeniable from his stats that the incident affected the rest of his career and the remainder of Charlie's time in Cleveland would be tough. Already one of the guys in Gaylord Perry's doghouse for his real or imagined loafing, Spikes withered under Frank Robinson's critical eye when the latter became the Indian manager. In '75 his average dropped back to the .230 level and his playing time decreased, most of it to rookie Rick Manning, a high-average (for a while at least) contact guy who was a much better fielder.  Charlie's home run total dropped to three in '76, his last season as a regular. In '77 Charlie was demoted to Triple A  and after a good partial season there that included a .293 average and seven homers and 31 RBI's in 164 at bats as well as a rediscovered ability to steal bases (for his minor league career he stole 86 while being caught only 16 times) he returned to Cleveland. But after a season off the bench the rest of the way that produced fewer than 100 at bats he went to Detroit for shortstop Tom Veryzer.

In Detroit Spikes reunited with his first MLB manager, Ralph Houk, and hopes were high that Charlie would regain his offensive footing. But at the top of the season he injured his knee and was assigned to Triple A for rehab. There he hit quite well - .320 with a .438 OBA - but in minimal at bats and after a bit of time in Detroit that produced discounted numbers, Charlie got knee surgery and was then released. Just prior to the '79 season he signed as a free agent with Atlanta. For the Braves Charlie enjoyed a bit of a revival as a pinch hitter, that year producing a .362,2/13 line with five doubles and a .423 OBA in 47 at bats. His '80 was also pretty good - a .294/0/2/.351 line in 34 at bats - but Charlie had only a two-year contract that was not renewed. In '81 he moved to Chunchi in Japan but was not too comfortable overseas and quit early that season. That was his last in baseball. For his career he hit .246 with 65 homers and 256 RBI's.

After playing Spikes returned to Louisiana where for a time he worked in a textile factory until a back injury put him on disability.

In the mid-'70's the Indians, like many teams, were pretty strapped for cash and decided to save money on transportation by moving from commercial airlines to a local commuter service. The planes were prop planes and since they were not pressurized they had to fly in the low heavier air, which meant two things. One was that the flights were much longer: a normal 90-minute flight would take three hours. Two was the planes could not fly above the weather. Once in '76 the plane on which poor Charlie was traveling was struck by lightning. Apparently by the time the plane landed, he and several other Indian passengers were curled into fetal positions. No wonder the guy's stats took a hit!

Leslie is Charlie's real first name; he opted for the middle one for I think obvious reasons. He had a nice compact signature; it leans to the left which is odd for a right-hander. This is also the second time we have seen that - maybe it was a thing back then. He hit 22 homers in '71. I cannot grab his August '72 stats, but his whole season was pretty good. His nickname, at least early on, was the "Bogalusa Bomber."

Again, one guy links the two players, and it is an All-Star:

1. Spikes and George Hendrick '73 to '76 Indians;
2. Hendrick and Darold Knowles '71 to '72 A's.

#57 - Darold Knowles

1973 was the year that made Darold Knowles famous, or at least the answer to a trivia question. It would be an unusual year for him, mostly in good ways. On his way to another very good Oakland season out of the pen, his best outing through the end of July was probably his last one: nearly five innings of two-hit shutout relief that got him the win. In fact, there's a good shot this photo is from that game as Darold only went up against the Rangers twice at home that year. That prompted Oakland to use Darold in a way he almost never was - in the rotation. So in August Darold got four starts and while the first three weren't anything special, the last one was: a six-hit shutout against Boston. The rest of the way he returned to the pen Then, after getting zero work in the AL playoffs, Darold had himself a helluva Series, becoming the first pitcher to appear in all seven games. Here he has a nice action shot hurling at home against the Texas Rangers. Who's that guy on second base behind him? It looks too small to be Jim Spencer or Toby Harrah or Bill Sudakis. I am going with Jim Mason. If I am correct about the game, it could be Mason, who was on second when Darold came in. The only other white guy to reach second in that game against him was Rich Billings, who I guess it could be as well. Whoever it is certainly is not an aggressive runner.

Darold Knowles was signed by the Orioles in '61 out of Missouri after trying - and failing - to give college a shot. A big fastball guy back then - see the card back - his first two seasons in C ball he went a combined 23-12 with a 2.79 ERA and nearly 400 K's in 325 innings. In '63 he graduated to Double A and went 16-7/2.73 and began expanding his pitches to incorporate some off-speed and sinking stuff so the K numbers came down. The next year he took on a spot role in Triple A so the innings were down but in '65 after a not great early look up top an improved 11-5/2.53 got him back up in Baltimore that again didn't go terribly well. While in the minors he also pitched a bit for the Twins' system although I see no record of a trade; this seems to have happened fairly often and I believe that back then it was fairly common for players to be loaned between franchises. While Darold's Baltimore looks were a tad short of perfection he was still claimed to be a hot property for the O's. Then they sent him to the Phillies with Jackie Brandt for Jack Badschun.

Knowles had a pretty good rookie year for Philly, posting over 100 relief innings and grabbing 13 saves with a nice ERA. But then he was on the road again, this time going to the Senators for outfielder Don Lock. Darold picked up where he left off and in '67 except for his record he improved on his Phillies numbers, posting 14 saves. Then he was en route to a very nice '68 when his season was cut short by National Guard duty in Japan, of all places. He returned in '69 and was an All-Star in another 13-save season. His best year was probably 1970, though. Despite a 2-14 record, he pitched 119 innings, got 27 saves and had an ERA of 2.04. About a month into the '71 season he was traded with Mike Epstein to Oakland for Don Mincher, Frank Fernandez, and Paul Lindblad.

Knowles had pretty excellent timing in getting with the A's. While in Oakland he closed the second most games behind Rollie Fingers, for whom he also set up (ooh, bad, ending with a preposition!). The balance of '71 he put up seven saves of his own and saw his first post-season action. He then put up a sweet '72 that included eleven saves before he broke his thumb late in the season while batting. Then in '73 he made up for his lost Series time in a big way. But then '74 was tough. Darold didn't get along too well with new manager Al Dark, his time on the hill came in a bit, and his numbers tumbled to a 3-3/4.22 season with only three saves. After that year he was again on the trading block, this time going to the Cubs with Bob Locker (around the corner) and Manny Trillo for Billy Williams.

Knowles had sort of an intriguing year in '75. Taking over as the Cub bullpen ace, he led the team with 15 saves and won six games, but his ERA was huge at 5.81. That number improved markedly in a '76 that had a line of  5-7/2.89 with nine saves. But by then Bruce Sutter was the new man in the pen and Darold went to Texas for Gene Clines. His '77 was quite good at 5-2/3.22 with four saves and was followed by a sale to Montreal that produced a better '78 at 3-3/2.38 with six saves. Darold then took the free agent route, signing with St. Louis, where he pitched through 1980. He finished with a 66-74 record, that one complete game shutout, 143 saves, and a 3.12 ERA. In the post-season he gave up no earned runs and put up two saves in his eight games.

Following his playing career Knowles has done a bunch of coaching at both the major and minor levels. From '81 to '88 he was a roving pitching instructor in the St. Louis system. He then moved to the Phillies, where he coached up top ('89-'90) and in the minors ('91-2001). He then coached in the Pittsburgh system (2002-'05) and Toronto's ('06-present) where he is currently coaching close to home in Florida.

By the way, this is another great instructional pitching photo. Knowles frequently threw a slider and judging by the grip and the position of the laces, that is what he is preparing to throw here.

These are some pretty good bits of trivia. The Ban Johnson League was and is a college-aged summer league based in Kansas City (Knowles played at Missouri). The guy he pitched against struck out 18. In '61 he went 11-5 with a 3.29 ERA. He got those K's in only 164 innings. I can't find any more dirt about the no-hitter but it looks like it was thrown at Stockton, a California League C-level club.

He threw awfully well against them, but how do we get from Mr. Knowles to those '73 Mets? Through his NL days of course.

1. Knowles and Wayne Garrett '78 Expos;
2. Garrett on the '73 Mets.

#56 - Mets Team Records

Here are the '73 NL champs. Like the Orioles card this one has very good clarity; I can pretty much recognize everyone including the three Hall of Famers in the second row. The guy in the shades and the fro in the back left is a mystery - Nino Espinosa? - but everyone else I am pretty sure about.The only downside to the photo is that backdrop. Depressing!

1973 was a pretty crazy year for these guys. Just about every regular got hurt and the team pretty much occupied last place from early June until the end of August. Tom Seaver injured himself moving a case of wine. They finally gave up on Jim Fregosi, moving him to Texas. Willie Mays retired before the end of the season, promising to return if the team made the playoffs, which did not seem likely at the time of his announcement (this is one of his last cards while he was active; the other one is down the road). There was a bunch of talk about Billy Martin replacing Yogi Berra as manager. That was all laid to rest by a September during which the Mets went 19-8 while the only other NL East team over .500 was Montreal. The definitive game of that drive was on September 20th in which the Mets beat Pittsburgh in the 13th inning. The game featured the "Ball off the Wall" play in which a Cleon Jones to Wayne Garrett to Ron Hodges relay nailed Richie Zisk at the plate. It was also the rally during which the "You gotta believe!" slogan became meaningful. In the end the Mets won their division with an 82-79 record, up 1 1/2 games over St. Louis. In fact the five top teams were within five games on the last day of the season. It was a very emotional year.

There is not too much special on the front of the checklist. It is split pretty evenly between guys on the '69 club and the "newer" guys. Some signatures are pretty formal but nothing particularly stands out.

Now that I have done this a couple times, the format I established is to talk about the guys without cards in the current set. Here goes:

Roy McMillan was a shortstop who signed with the Reds in 1947 out of his small Texas town after a tryout. While he had some moments as a hitter in the minors - a .307 in C ball in '48 - he quickly earned a reputation as a defensive gem He came up in '51 and was pretty much Cincinnati's starting shortstop through the 50's, and was widely viewed as the NL's best at that position. During his time in Cincy Roy would twice be named an All-Star and win three Gold Gloves. After the 1960 season he was traded to the Braves to make way for Leo Cardenas. He would be the regular Milwaukee guy for three seasons and earn some MVP votes in '61. Early in the '64 season he went to the Mets for Jay Hook. He started for NY the next two years and played for them through the '66 season, his last as a player. Roy hit .243 for his career with 68 homers and nearly 600 RBI's. Defensively he finished very high in career categories and currently ranks 19th in career shortstop putouts, 18th in assists, and eighth in double plays. He then took up coaching, first in the Mets' system ('67 as a coach and '68-'69 as manager), up top for Milwaukee ('70-'72), and then at that same level for the Mets ('73 to '76). During that time he managed the Brewers a couple games in '72 and took over NY after Yogi was canned in '75 and went a combined 27-28 in those two stints.He then moved to manage in the Minnesota system ('77-'80) before scouting for Montreal ('81-'97). As a manager in the minors he went 454-449 and won two league championships. He died shortly after the end of the '97 season of a heart attack at age 68.

Charlie Neal was another Texas kid whose first pro experience was for the Negro League's Atlanta Black Crackers when he was a teenager. He then signed with Brooklyn in 1950. While he would hit .286 in the minors as a second baseman, he would not get to The Show until '56 since he had two Brooklyn icons ahead of him in the middle infield in Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese. That year he arrived early in the season and hit .287 as a backup middle guy. In '57 Reese moved to third so Charlie took over as shortstop. When the Dodgers moved to LA Jackie opted to retire and Charlie regained his primary position, taking over second base. He would then put up his two best seasons, in '58 topping out with 22 homers despite missing some time; and in '59 charging things up by hitting .289, 30 doubles, 11 triples, 19 homers, 83 RBIs, and 102 runs. He would follow that up with a monster Series against Chicago. In '60 he was again an All-Star (as he had been in '59) though his offense came down pretty hard and remained there in '61. Prior to the team's initial '62 season he was traded to the Mets where he was the first starting second baseman. He put up his best numbers since '59 but after a discounted start to the '63 season went to the Reds midway through in what would be his final year. He hit .259 for his career with 87 homers and 391 RBI's and won a Gold Glove. In the post-season he hit .323 with two homers and six RBI's in his seven games. There is absolutely nothing out there on what he did subsequent to his playing career. He passed away in '96 at age 65.

In 1962 Charlie Neal roomed with the Mets' catcher Choo Choo Coleman, who was a bit of an airhead. During training camp the following season, Charliel bet someone that Choo Choo would not know who he was, despite their time together the prior year. When the other player asked Coleman who Charlie was, his response was "Number seven". Neal won the bet.

Frank Thomas had a colorful career, not all for good reasons. A big local kid, he was signed by Pittsburgh late in '47 after apparently attending seminary school in his teens. He planned to be a priest but liked baseball too much. He had some big seasons in the minors, including his first one in '48 when he knocked in 132 in D ball and in '51 when he hit 23 out with over 90 RBI's in Double A before being called up top. He hit OK the rest of the way, returned to Double A for a big year - .309/35/131 and came up for good later that season. With the Pirates Frank was viewed as the heir apparent to Ralph Kiner and he remained with Pittsburgh through '59. While there he averaged 27 homers and 90 RBI's. His best season was '58 when he hit 35 homers with 109 RBI's. But despite being a three-time All-Star he never led the league in homers like Ralph did and after his big '58 he was traded to the Reds with a guy named Whammy and others in the deal that got Pittsburgh Smokey Burgess, Don Hoak, and Harvey Haddix. But an arm injury led to an off season and following it Frank went to the Cubs, had surgery on his hand, and put in other discounted year. Early in '61 he went to the Braves where he recovered his stroke. Prior to the '62 season he was traded to the Mets for Gus Bell and had a decent season - .266/34/94 - for that terrible team. In '63 he moved to first base - he also had played third - and would stay there midway through the '64 season when he was traded to Philly for that team's pennant run. He was having a nice run for the Phillies when he broke his thumb; it was cited as one of the reasons for the team's collapse that year. In '65 he and Dick Allen got into a fight with racial overtones and Thomas was sent to Houston the next day. After return stints with the Cubs and Braves, he was done in '66. For his career he hit .266 with 286 homers and 962 RBI's. He also had eight kids. While Thomas was playing he would boast that he could catch anyone's hardest throw bare-handed; as far as I can tell, he always did. There is no dirt out there on what he did after baseball professionally though for a long while he did the old-timer game thing and he still shows up regularly at card shows.

Donn Clendenon has one of the most intesting Wiki pages that I have ever seen. The link is here. Set on becoming a teacher after his graduation from Morehouse College like his dad, Donn was influenced enough by his stepfather, a former Negro League star. to take a few days off from his teaching job and try out for the Pirates in '57. He made the cut and while in the minors he developed some power, his fielding at first base, and his ability to strike out. He came up late in '62 and despite only 222 at-bats finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. He stuck with Pittsburgh through '68, averaging .275 with 17 homers, 77 RBI's, and 125 K's. His biggest Pirate seasons were '65 and '66 when he put up lines of .301/14/96 and .299/28/98 respectively. Following the '68 season he was taken by the Expos in the expansion draft - the Pirates had Al Oliver coming up - and was quickly traded to Houston with Jesus Alou for Rusty Staub. Harry Walker was the Astros' manager; Donn had played for him in Pittsburgh and did not want to do so again, so he refused to report. After half a season in Montreal, he was traded to the Mets for a bunch of young players. He became a clubhouse leader, sat out the NL playoffs, and had his kick-ass Series against Baltimore. 1970 may have been his best season - 22 homers, 97 RBI's in less than 400 at-bats - and after a '71 in which his playing time was greatly reduced, he went to the Cards in '72 for his last season. He finished with a .274 average, 159 homers, and 682 RBI's. In the post-season he hit .357 with three homers, four RBI's, and a .438 OBA in his four games. Donn was very active away from baseball professionally during his career, working as a teacher, a consultant, and in management for some pretty big companies. Following baseball, he got a law degree, started his own criminal law firm, and in the Eighties had a pretty big drug problem. He got cleaned up, did a bunch of rehab work, and passed away in 2005 at age 70 from leukemia.

Bill Wakefield pitched one season in the majors, and it wasn't that bad. Bill came out of Kansas City and then went to Stanford. Somewhere along the way he must have put up some impressive pitching numbers since he was signed by St. Louis just prior to his sophomore baseball season in '61. A starter, he won nine and ten in A ball and Double A, respectively, each of the next two seasons but each year had a losing record and a pretty high ERA. After a '63 in which he went a combined 4-10 out of the pen in Double A and Triple A with another high ERA, he came to the Mets with George Altman for Roger Craig (good trade for Roger; bad one for Bill). Primarily a reliever in '64, he did some spot starting, including the first night game at Shea. He finished with a 3-5 record, two saves, and a 3.61 ERA, pretty good for that team. That year he also earned his degree at Stanford. He went back to the minors, where outside of his last season, 1966, he regularly had ERA's close to 5.00 which I guess is what kept him from coming back. He also seems to have had some control issues. In the minors for his career he went 29-53 with a 4.67 ERA. Following baseball Bill was an operations VP at S+W Fine Foods ('67-'77); a VP at Kransco ('77-'94); and since '94 has run his own firm which manufactures sporting goods (he is on LinkedIn). There is a nice video of Bill on YouTube in which he throws out a first ball at the new Citi Field in 2009.

Roger Craig has a bio on the Houston manager/coaches card.

Jack Fisher was signed by the Orioles out of his Atlanta high school in '57. After a shaky career start that year he won 14 in B ball in '58 and then eight in half a Triple A season in '59. Around those last numbers he debuted up top that year and while he was only 1-6 was deemed to be part of a group of young pitchers - Milt Pappas, Steve Barber, Jerry Walker, and Chuck Estrada were the others - to pull Baltimore out of the second division. 1960, during which he was 12-11with a 3.41 ERA, was his best season. In '61 and '62 he recorded losing seasons as his win totals moved down while his ERA moved way up. Following the '62 season he was traded to the Giants. After a not great year there as a spot guy he got to come to the Mets in the infamous "make-up draft". In four years with the Amazins' he led the league in losses twice and in earned runs three times. Prior to the '68 season he went to the White Sox in a pretty big trade that brought the Mets Tommie Agee. While he went 8-13 for the Sox he put up his best ERA of 2.99. In '69 he went to the Reds. After that season and a 1970 spent in the minors - for Baltimore and St. Louis - he was done. He finished with an 86-139 record with a 4.06 ERA, 62 complete games, nine shutouts, and nine saves. After playing he coached a bit and worked for a publishing company before opening a restaurant in PA he ran for a long time called "Fat Jack's" (his nickname when he played).

The most prominent everyday player in '73 without a card is Willie Mays who had 209 at bats. Jim Fregosi had a card with his new team in Texas. Jim Gosger also put in some outfield time and had 92 at bats but he hadn't had a card since '71. On the pitching side 5 wins, 21 losses, and seven saves are not represented; those stats belonged to Jim McAndrew (3-8 with a save and a 5.38 ERA in his last NY season), Buzz Capra (2-7 with four saves and a 3.86 ERA also in his last NY season), Phil Hennigan (0-4 with three saves and a 6.23 ERA in his final MLB year) and a couple 0-1 guys in Craig Swan, who would go on to have a decent MLB career, and Tommy Moore, who wouldn't. Most of these guys do make the team photo card, however. Mays is the second guy in the second row; Capra, Gosger, and Hennigan are the first three in the third row; and McAndrew is the third guy from the right in the last row. Though the Mets were NL champs, the excluded at bats and decisions get them close to the bottom of the list in representation.

Getting Frank Robinson linked to these guys takes advantage of a very big trade:

1. The '73 Mets included Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver, etc.
2. Koosman, Seaver, etc. and Nolan Ryan on the '67 to '72 Mets;
3. Ryan and Frank Robinson '73 to '74 Angels.