#212 - Tom Tresh The 1962 Rookie of the Year was on his last legs by 1969. He was coming off a season in which he hit only .195. He couldn't get back on track in 1969 and was traded to the Tigers in June. He finished the season with Detroit and was released by the Tigers at the end of spring training in 1970. With that, he was finished.
#213 - Gerry Arrigo I had this card as a kid and it was one of my favorites, not because of the player, but because of what is behind Arrigo's right shoulder. Yep, that is the Wrigley Field scoreboard. This would be another of the many Reds photos taken at Wrigley in 1967.
#214 - 3rd Series Checklist - This one doesn't have a photo on it like the first two. It does have a second checklist on the back, a checklist for the 33 card deckle edge insert set. And when I was a kid opening packs of cards in 1969, these inserts meant nothing. Of course, the autographs on the cards weren't real and there weren't any little square pieces of jersey attached to the card.
#214 - Rico Petrocelli I like this un-centered photo, which works because of the way Rico is bent over. The name circle looks good over his shoulder. The Bosox shortstop had a career year in 1969, smashing 40 homers, being named to the All-Star team, and finishing 7th in the MVP balloting.
#215 - Don Sutton The future hall of famer is shown at spring training, and look how absolutely awful the grass looks. That's what my lawn looks like in July (because if God doesn't want to water my lawn, why should I!!). Don had just finished his third season in the majors and had yet to have a winning season. That wouldn't change in 1969 as he went 17-18.
#216 - John Donaldson This is the only airbrushed card on the page, as Topps had to get rid of his KC A's hat. He appeared in only 12 games for the A's in 1969 before he was traded to the Pilots for Topp's left-handed catcher Larry Haney. He got into 95 games for Seattle.
#217 - John Roseboro John is hatless and wearing a Dodger uniform (you can see the top of the D in the very bottom left corner of the card). By 1969 he was one of the few Brooklyn Dodgers still active. Traded to the Twins in 1968, he made the AL All-Star team in 1969. Yet, the Twins released him at the end of the season. He spent a little time with the Senators in 1970 before hanging 'em up.
#218 - Freddie Patek The shortest man in baseball at the time was a secret hero of mine because I was a little shrimp of a kid. The back of his card calls him "pint-sized." How nice! 1969 would be his first full year in the majors and he started 141 games for the Pirates.
#220 - Sam McDowell Sudden Sam was at the top of his game. He led the AL in strikeouts in 1968 , was second in ERA and was an All-Star. He continued his dominance in 1969, again leading the league in K's and posting 18 wins.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 14
Hatless - 47
Airbrush - 43
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 36
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