#199 - Mike Kekich

Poor Mike Kekich. He'd been underground all these years and had to resurface this year when a couple of Red Sox fans - that hurts - decided they were going to make a movie based on his life. In this shot taken in Oakland it looks like he has just heard the news: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck announced earlier this year that they are making a movie based on the (in)famous family swap Fritz Peterson and Mike enacted with each other before '73 spring training. It WAS the 70's. Mike doesn't want the movie made and is trying to block it. Frankly I don't think there's enough there but what do I know. When the Peterson-Kekich swap was announced it was decided the two players should be split up which meant that Mike - by far the worse pitcher - was traveling. He went to Cleveland for Lowell Palmer early in the '73 season and it was a season to forget as Mike got very little starting time for the Tribe and his numbers went the wrong way in a hurry.

Mike Kekich grew up in San Diego and was signed by the Dodgers in '64, a year out of high school. Mike had an excellent fastball but could be a bit wild. His first season at Single A was pretty good as a starter but he walked nearly a batter an inning. He also struck out over a batter an inning including 11 straight in one game. So the Dodgers thought they had something and to prevent his loss to the Rule 5 draft they promoted him to LA for all of '65. There in only a few innings he did nothing special and in '66 he was back in the minors. He got hurt that season only throwing a few innings but came back strong in '67, going 17-5 with a 3.01 ERA split between Single and Double A. That would get him promoted to LA for real in '68 where he joined the rotation, had a less than stellar year, and was traded to the Yankees after the season ended for Andy Kosco.

Kekich would spend his best years in NY and over the next four seasons went a combined 30-31 with an improving ERA. He would work his way from spot starting to a regular spot in the rotation in '71 and '72.  In '74 he was released by the Indians in March and then would travel for real - all the way to Japan to pitch for the Nippon Ham Fighters. While there he would sign a free agent deal with Texas and return to the States to throw a few games at Triple A Spokane. After a strong start there in '75 - 7-4 with a 3.40 ERA - he came up, threw 31 innings, and posted his only season of better than league-average ERA. But the Rangers cut him the following March and he went down to play ball in Mexico. In '77 the new Seattle Mariners bought him and that year he threw all in relief, putting up a 5.60 ERA with three saves. But he WAS the only Mariner pitcher with a winning record (5-4). When they released him in spring training of '78 that was it for him in the majors. He would pitch the '78 season in Triple A going 9-4 but with a high ERA in 65 games. He finished his major league career with a record of 39-51 with a 4.59 ERA, eight complete games, a shutout, and six saves. In the minors he was 44-26 with a 3.84 ERA.

In '79 Kekich coached and played in Santo Domingo in the DR in the Inter-American League. He then returned to Mexico where he was still pitching in '82 when SI did a profile on a bunch of guys there. While south of the border Mike attended medical school which he used to eventually set up a business in Arizona that performs health checks on insurance policy holders. He did that for a bunch of years and then apparently moved into real estate as well. He has intentionally kept a very low profile until this year when he was discovered by reps for the Affleck/Damon team who were searching for advisors for their movie (tentatively called "The Trade"). He gave an emphatic no.

The middle initial in Mike's signature looks a lot more like a W than a D. One wonders if the two star bullets are referring to the same games. I could probably check but that would be too much work. Mike was also a big skin diver and parachutist.

This will be a relatively long one:

1. Kekich and Bob Bailey '68 Dodgers;
2. Bailey and Willie Stargell '62 to '66 Pirates;
3. Stargell and Dave Cash '69 to '73 Pirates.

#198 - Dave Cash

Now we get to another one of the coolest guys in the set, Dave Cash. Dave had it going on, but his card sure doesn't. First off, it's a non-traded Traded card and shows Dave in a Pirates road uniform in spring training that is airbrushed into a Phillies one. Dave had a pretty good '73 but both offensively and defensively it was a bit of a discount to his prior seasons in Pittsburgh. Because of his military obligation, it was tough for Dave to get full-time traction with the Pirates, but that would end when he moved across the state. The script "P" on his hat is quite good but the red on black thing just doesn't work. And Dave is sweating up a storm which makes him all shiny. Finally there is another one of those taped-over arms in the background.

Dave Cash grew up in Utica, NY where he was a high school hoops and baseball star when he was drafted by the Pirates in '66. After a decent start in Rookie ball in which he played primarily shortstop, he hit .335 in his first season of A ball in '67. Another season of A ball followed and then in '69 Pittsburgh was making plans to find a successor for Bill Mazeroski so Dave was moved to second base while at Triple A Columbia. It was there too that he enlisted in the Marines. He would pull a reserve gig so that his two year hitch would be spent doing two weeks a summer and another weekend every month for the next six years. In the meantime he hit .291 in '69 and .279 in a few games up top. After a strong start at Columbus in '70 (.313 with a .400 OBA) he came up for good, spelling Maz at second while hitting .314. That average would get him named to the Topps Rookie team that year.

Cash's military time would make his playing situation a little problematic. While he took over as the starter at second in '71 and did quite well, hitting above .280 the next three seasons, his time away allowed Pittsburgh to give time to Rennie Stennett, another good hit/good field player. But Dave did get plenty of post-season action - he hit .421 against the Giants in the '71 NL series - and was a positive, if quiet, presence in the clubhouse. In '73 he asked out and the Pirates obliged him by trading him to the Phillies for Ken Brett.

In Philadelphia, Cash's career bloomed. He became the for-real regular second baseman - he missed one game in three years - and one of the league's best hitters, averaging over 200 hits in the same time span. He made three successive All-Star teams, led the league once in hits and triples, teamed well with Larry Bowa, and stepped things up in the clubhouse becoming a team leader. He also rarely struck out: in '76 he K'd only 13 times in 727 plate appearances. That same year he returned to the post-season and hit .308 in the NL championships. Dave and the Phillies would be far apart in contract talks - he played without one in '76 and wanted a three year deal with a big increase from the $100K he made in '76 - and so he left for Montreal after the season. His '77 card would be another awful air-brushed one. Dave began his Montreal career pretty much where left off in Philly, but in '78 his average slipped almost 40 points. He would rebound to hit .321 in '79 but by then Rodney Scott had taken over second, Tony Bernazard was in the wings, and Dave would be sent to the Padres for Billy Almon and Dan Briggs. After a season as a semi-regular during which he hit only .227 he would be released, ending his playing career. He hit .283 with 1,571 hits in 1,422 games. In the post-season he hit .236 in 21 games.

After playing, Cash became involved in a business that leased-to-own semi truck cabs that was pretty successful until the '86 tax laws took away the accelerated depreciation deduction that made the business work. He then hooked back up with the Phillies and in '87 began his coaching career as a roving instructor in the minors. He did that for ten years, finishing as Jim Fregosi's first base coach in '96. From there he did minor league managing and coaching in the Baltimore chain for a few years and then moved on to doing the same thing for some independent league teams. He is currently the hitting coach for the Yuma Scorpions. I have inserted an audio interview with him from a couple years ago here. He still has a great voice.

Two more demerits for this card from the back. One is that Dave doesn't even get the little type saying he was traded. Two is that this card is awfully crooked. Dave finished his military hitch by the '74 season which allowed him to play all the time.

Finally an NL hookup and this one is all Padres:

1. Cash and Dave Winfield '80 Padres;
2. Winfield and Vicente Romo '73 to '74 Padres.

#197 - Vicente Romo

This guy has what may be the most informative Baseball-Reference bullpen page I have seen thus far of the players in this set. The author appears to hold Mr. Romo here in a venerated light but I certainly have my favorites also. I will be borrowing from his contribution pretty liberally for the narrative. On these cards Vicente takes a break from his favorite fielding pose. He is a season away from having a Traded card which would have made this a very crowded post. Prior to the '73 season Vicente went to the Padres for Johnny Jeter where he shared closing duties, recorded seven saves, and posted some of the best numbers for any San Diego hill guy. Vicente would have a very long career, only a fraction of it being in the States.

Vicente Romo was from Baja and began playing in the Mexican Leagues in '62 upon finishing school. Purchased by Cleveland following the '64 season from Mexico City, he would have a not particularly great '65 at Triple A Portland. He then did a round trip, returning to the Tigers in '66 and giving Portland another shot in '67 which also did not go so well (those two seasons he went a combined 5-16 with an ERA above 4.20). Prior to the '68 season the Dodgers snapped up Vicente in the Rule 5 draft and pitched him for an inning before returning him to the Tribe. In '68 the numbers at Portland improved significantly and during the season he returned to the majors, this time as an Indian. His rookie stats were excellent as he recorded twelve saves in his 40 games and put up an ERA to match teammate Luis Tiant's. He also had a dramatic windup very similar to the one Tiant would develop with a big turnaround motion on the mound.

In '69 after a good start, Romo was traded to the Red Sox with Joe Azcue and Sonny Siebert in the deal that brought Ken Harrelson to Cleveland. For Boston he would continue with good stats, posting eleven saves while also picking up some starts. In '70 he continued his dual roles, turning his record around even though his ERA shot up. Prior to the '71 season he was sent to the White Sox with Tony Muser for Duane Josephson and Dan Murphy. In Chicago Vicente would pitch for legendary coach Johnny Sain as he returned to the pen primarily as a middle reliever. While his record wasn't great, his ERA was better than league average.  In '74 his ERA shot way up although he upped his save total to nine. He also had control issues, recording more walks than strikeouts and he was released the following March. He returned to the Mexican League for a bunch of seasons. In May of '82 LA bought Vicente and pulled him all the way up as a starter and reliever and at age 39 he did pretty well, going 1-2 with a save and a 3.03 ERA in 15 games. That would be the last appearance of his career in the States. Vicente went 32-33 with a 3.36 ERA, four complete games, a shutout, and 52 saves.

Romo's true success was found in Mexico. Playing primarily in the Pacific Mexican League, he pitched there through '86 in both summer and winter ball. He is the league's record holder in career wins, strikeouts, complete games, and ERA. He won 182 games in that league and all told more than 400 wins during his career. He was elected to the Mexican baseball Hall of Fame in '92 and worked as a pitching coach there following his retirement as a player. He is currently a coach for Olmecas de Tabasco.

Vicente gets mention for his '72 season since that year the Sox gave Oakland a pretty good run in the West. His nickname was courtesy of his head, which a coach in the minors likened to an egg. It was pretty big. Vicente's brother Enrique was also a pitcher up top. I remember him having a nice rookie year for the Mariners in '77.

Finally back to the NL, I lean on the other league for the hookup:

1. Romo and Gerry Moses '69 to '70 Red Sox;
2. Moses and Jim Fregosi '71 Angels.

#196 - Jim Fregosi

Back to the west coast as Jim Fregosi poses in Oakland. Jim was about to kick into the second part of his playing career - that of an infielder reserve - by the end of the '73 season. In July of that year he was sold to Texas by the Mets. Back in the AL his numbers picked up substantially, but nowhere near where they were in his prime. He will be always remembered for his earlier transaction as the guy traded for Nolan Ryan. An interesting sidebar to that deal is that Ryan wasn't even the pitcher California initially wanted, but I'll get to that on another post. Here, at least, we get a red, white, and blue color scheme for the Fourth.

Jim Fregosi was born and grew up in San Francisco where he excelled in four sports in high school. He was signed by the Red Sox in '60 and got off to a pretty good start in D ball and then in '61 was grabbed by the LA Angels in the expansion draft. For LA he would be their starting Triple A shortstop the next season-and-a-half. He hit OK, putting up a .283 average in '62, but fielding was a little problematic. Jim had a very strong arm and put up a decent amount of throwing errors. He played a bit up top late in '61 and then came up for good the second half of '62 and was given the starting job in '63. Through '70 he would be the league's best-hitting shortstop and his defense improved significantly so that by the middle of the '60's he and Bobby Knoop at second were one of the AL's best middle infield combinations. During that time Jim received MVP votes every year, made six All-Star teams, and won a Gold Glove. He was the team's first true star and its most consistent hitter.

'71 was a perfect storm type of year for California. Fregosi, just off the best season in his career, got a tumor on his foot, missed a bunch of time, and was so constricted in his mobility that he put in some time at first base. Then came The Trade. After the crash and burn the Angels wanted to improve their pitching and revamp their outfield. The Mets desperately needed a third baseman and while Jim was damaged goods, they decided to take a shot. Pitcher number one wasn't available but Ryan wanted out of NY (his wife was terrified of the place), he had finished the '71 season 2-10, and had put up nearly as many walks as strikeouts to date. So Jim was traded for Ryan, a couple minor leaguers, and Leroy Stanton, a pretty hot outfield prospect. When the year opened he was the third base starter but his unfamiliarity with the position, being in a new league, and permanent damage from his tumor combined to produce a season as bad as '71's.  Beginning in '74 Jim would play primarily first and DH a bit, both in supporting roles. In '77 he went to the Pirates for Ed Kirkpatrick and had a good year as a pinch hitter. He was then released in the summer of '78 so that he could pursue his next career. Lifetime Jim hit .265 with 151 homers and 756 RBI's. His OBA was .338 which, while not over-the-top great, was way higher than average at the time for shortstops. And defensively he is in the top 75 all-time for putouts, assists, and double plays at shortstop.

In '78 Jim returned to the Angels as their manager and took a good team to a second place finish. In '79 he led them to their first division title. He would stick in Anaheim through '81 and then move to: Louisville as manager ('82 to '86); the White Sox as manager ('86 to '88); the Phillies as manager ('91 to '96); the Giants as a special assistant/scout ('97 to '99); Toronto as manager ('99 to 2000); and the Braves as a scout ('01 to present). His career record as a manager up top is 1,028-1,095 and in the minors was 263-235.

Jim gets one star bullet and it's pretty good, He also hit for the cycle twice during his career. I guess he dropped that salesman gig pretty quickly. Jim gets a pretty funny mention in the "Seasons in Hell" book. He was the first guy to field a ball in the game in which Jim Merritt threw a greaseball and on a pretty routine play his throw to first sailed way over Jim Spencer's head. Fregosi was laughing before the ball hit the ground.

We are still on an all-AL swing:

1. Fregosi and Bobby Knoop '64 to '69 Angels;
2. Knoop and Carlos May '69 to '70 White Sox.

#195 - Carlos May

Here is a nice on deck shot of Carlos May, probably in Yankee Stadium, a future home. Assuming the bat Carlos is holding is the one he used during the game, I'm pretty surprised its use was allowed given the pine tar on it almost reaches the tip. It's certainly a lot higher (lower?) than it was on George Brett's bat during that infamous dispute. Anyway Carlos looks pretty thoughtful during the best two-year run of his career in the States. His number was 17 so his uniform in full read May 17th. He may be the only guy who played with his birthdate on his back. I believe that is Chuck Tanner behind him.

Carlos May was drafted by the White Sox as a first-rounder in '66 out of high school in Birmingham, Alabama. A thick guy who could run pretty well, Carlos was an immediate hit in Rookie ball, hitting .426. He slowed down a bit the rest of the season at Single A but the following two seasons at that level he hit .333 and after a short look during '68 jumped all the way up to the Sox for good in '69. He would have an excellent rookie season, putting up 18 homers and 62 RBIs by early August when he was called to Marine reserve duty. In California he was a swabber for the artillery (the guy that cleans the mortars between launches). He was cleaning a mortar whose shell hadn't gone off and unfortunately caused it to explode in the mortar tube, causing him to lose his right thumb. Bob Watson - of all people - is reported to have found the thumb but too late to re-attach it. Carlos' season was obviously over and he immediately went to the operating room and rehab although there were serious doubts about his ability to use his hand again. But his '69 numbers were good enough to get him an All-Star nod, third place in AL ROY voting, and a spot on the Topps Rookie Team of '69.

May had a very intensive rehab over the winter of '69-'70 which even incorporated his wife hitting him grounders. He was able to not miss a beat, putting up very similar numbers in '70 to his rookie year. In '71 he moved to first base from the outfield and saw his homer total fall off but did continue to boost his average. In '72 the Sox acquired Dick Allen so Carlos returned to the outfield, hit .308 with a .405 OBA and earned his second All-Star appearance. In '73 the average came in a bunch but Carlos put up his best power numbers. Late that season he would be injured - I believe it was a knee - and his stats would generally decline thereafter. In '74 his power numbers got cut roughly in half and '75 saw a bit of a rebound as he again put in most of his time at first but lost about 100 at bats to nagging injuries.

In early '76 May was traded to the Yankees for Ken Brett and Rich Coggins. For NY Carlos would primarily DH, a job he performed pretty well during the pennant run. He got his first taste of post-season action but went hitless in the Series blowout to the Reds. After a diminished role as DH in '77 he was sent to the Angels before the end of the season. After a few at bats there Carlos was done in the majors. He hit .274 with 90 homers and 556 RBIs in 1,165 games. His career OBA was .357 and he hit .105 in the '76 post-season.

In '78 May went to Japan to play for the Nankai Hawks for three-plus seasons. His numbers were pretty good there, averaging about .315 with 23 homers and 77 RBIs per season. When he returned to the States in '81 he went back to Chicago where he worked for the central post office for a bunch of years. He also has done community work for the Sox and served as hitting instructor for the Cook County Cheetahs, an independent team. There is a fairly recent interview with him here.

Carlos gets some excellent star bullets on his card. Signing his name must have been tough since he was a righty. He was surprisingly fast and Dick Allen taught him how to run bases (he would have 85 stolen bases in his career). His brother is, of course, Lee May, a guy we'll be seeing later. Carlos would lose the official ROY award to Lou Piniella, with whom he was a teammate in '76 and '77.

Outside of Tom Walker we are in a long AL run. It will help:

1. May and Bill Sharp '73 to '74 White Sox;
2, Sharp and Darrell Porter '75 to '76 Brewers.

#194 - Darrell Porter

Darrell Porter has his shot taken in Oakland during his true rookie season. Darrell had already had two cards at this point - a multi-player rookie card in '72 in which I'm pretty sure he was switched with the guy next to him, Jerry Bell; and a solo card in '73. He would earn the catching nod for the Baseball Digest rookie team over the Topps choice of Bob Boone and finish third in AL ROY voting. He was a bull of a player, tough on the basepaths, willing to participate in collisions on both sides, and often playing hurt. Darrell would have a pretty dramatic career, although not all for the right reasons.

Darrell Porter was born in Missouri - a state he would return to as a player - and grew up in Oklahoma. In high school he was an all-state quarterback at the same school from which Bobby Murcer came. Darrell signed to play football at Oklahoma but got whisked away as a first rounder by the Brewers in the '70 draft. His rise through the minors was pretty quick: a couple seasons of A ball and a '72 at Triple A Evansville. While his overall hitting was nothing special, he put up pretty good power and excelled defensively. He got some late looks in '71 and '72 then came up for good his rookie season. In '74 he would get more playing time after starter Ellie Rodriguez moved to California and although his power stats came in a bit Darrell earned his first All-Star nod. In '75 and '76 he continued as the primary starter but his offensive numbers came in on what were generally pretty poor teams. It was in Milwaukee that he developed the routine of snapping the ball to first base after every strikeout he caught.

After the '76 season Porter joined Jim Colborn in a big trade that sent them to Kansas City for a bunch of guys. In KC Darrell's career took off as his average and power jumped on a significantly better team. In '77 he hit .275 and experienced his first post-season action, hitting .333 against the Yankees. In '78 he would return to the All-Star game while reaching new highs in homers and RBIs - 18 and 78 - and better his previous year's playoff numbers by hitting .357. In '79 he would put up amazing numbers reaching double figures in all extra-base categories, scoring 101 runs, grabbing 112 RBIs and leading the league with 121 walks. He hit .291 with a .421 OBA. At the time he was only the sixth catcher to go over 100 in both runs and RBIs in a season and the double-figure number was made a big fuss of although I cannot remember the details. The Royals did not make the post-season that year so the numbers weren't extended. Unfortunately it would be Darrell's best season by far as the following year he checked himself into rehab for drug and alcohol dependency. He did that after a dugout visit by Don Newcombe in which Don gave a lecture about his own issues with alcohol and then gave a ten question quiz. According to Newcombe if any three answers were positive, the respondent had a problem; Darrell answered yes to all ten. But '80 wasn't a complete wash as he got another All-Star nod, put up better than average offensive numbers for a league catcher, and went to the Series where KC would lose to the Phillies.

In '81 Porter left the Royals as a free agent and was signed by St. Louis. The Cards had traded their decade-long starter Ted Simmons to the Brewers and had also acquired Gene Tenace. Darrell and Gene would split time at catcher the next couple seasons and those two seasons Porter's numbers would approach his worst in Milwaukee. But '82 brought St. Louis a Series winner and Darrell won MVP for both the NL playoffs and the World Series. In '83 and '84 he would get a bunch more time and improve his offense, although his strikeout totals would ratchet way up. In '85 he split starting time with Tom Nieto and returned to the Series, this time losing to KC (both of Porter's St. Louis Series appearances were against his old teams). After the season the Cards turned Darrell lose and he would sign with the Rangers for whom he spent two seasons doing backup work at catcher and DH. He hit .247 with 188 homers and 826 RBIs. He also had a .354 OBA. In the post-season he hit .267 with a .378 OBA in 37 games.

After playing Porter ran an antiques business and did some motivational speaking as well as some broadcasting work which he was gearing up to do when in 2002 he crashed his car in Missouri. He would have a heart attack during that incident which would be fatal due to a high level of cocaine in his system. He was 50.

Darrell has informative star bullets, which is a nice change. Clinton was the first Single A team for which he played. That must have been a trip for an 18-year old. His QB experience allowed him to develop a fierce throw to second. He was one of very few catchers to wear glasses when he played. He was always a great tough-guy role model for us wanna be bespectacled baseball players.

I'll use another important '73 rookie to help out here:

1. Porter and Pedro Garcia '73 to '76 Brewers;
2. Garcia and Aurelio Rodriguez '76 Tigers;
3. Rodriguez and Tom Walker '75 Tigers.

#193 - Tom Walker

Tom Walker gets a shot at - for a change - Shea Stadium. The cool thing about this particular photo is that it has Willie Mays in the background. Tom has on his game face and gives us a good view of the old Expos logo. It clearly shows the "M", "e", and "b." 1973 was Tom's sophomore season and during it he bettered just about all his rookie numbers except his ERA and had four saves in what could probably be regarded as his best year. Tom is a bit far from all the NY guys but in the photo it looks like he is trying to overhear their conversation.

Tom Walker grew up in Florida and then attended Brevard County Community College from which he was drafted by the Orioles in '68. He apparently threw quite well in school and his journey through the minors was very successful as he was a combined 34-26 with a 2.59 ERA as a starter during three years of A ball and one of Double A. Following the '71 season he was grabbed by the Expos in the Rule 5 draft and the next season he made the jump from Double A to the Montreal bullpen and had a pretty good rookie season. In '74 Tom would split time between Triple A (5-0 with a 1.35 ERA) and back in Montreal where he would get in less games but start eight of them. After the season he would go to Detroit with Terry Humphrey for Woody Fryman.

In '75 Walker's ERA would jump to above 4.00 as he again got some starts but only went 3-8 for a pretty bad team. Before the '76 season he was sold to St. Louis and for them he would strictly relieve. Up top Tom only got into ten games; most of his year was spent back in Triple A where he went 9-5 with a 3.76 ERA. Before the '77 season he was released and he then returned to Montreal as a free agent. Again he barely played up top (1-2 with a high ERA in 19 innings), but went 7-0 with a 1.97 ERA as a reliever in Triple A Denver. He was then selected off waivers that June by California finishing badly on both levels. That would be his final year of pitching as he went 59-33 with a 2.84 ERA in the minors and 18-23 with a 3.87 ERA, a complete game, and eleven saves up top.

When he was done playing Walker settled in the suburban Pittsburgh area. His son, Neil Walker is now a rising star second baseman with the Pirates.

Tom - or Robert - has some tidbits regarding his pre-major league days although that last star bullet is redundant. That's a hell of a way to kick off a college career; I bet Tom felt right at home pretty fast after that game. He is also related by marriage to Chip Lang, another former Expos pitcher.

I'll use Detroit and Boston to tie these two together:

1. Walker and Ben Oglivie '75 Tigers;
2. Oglivie and Mario Guerrero '73 Red Sox.