196(9) At A Time - Page 56

#491 - Twins Rookies Another "one made it, one didn't" card. Jerry Crider didn't. As a 27 year old rookie for the Twins in 1969 he pitched in 21 games and had an ERA of 4.71. He spent 1970 with the White Sox and was out of the majors after that. Mitterwald played for 11 seasons including four with the Cubs in the mid '70's. He played in 69 games for the '69 Twins and hit .257.



#492 - Tony Cloninger 1969 was his first full season in Cincinnati, having been traded by the Braves in June of 1968. He didn't have a very good year, going 11-17 with an ERA over five. My apologies to Tony, but he was also a member of our All Star Ugly Team.



#493 - Wes Parker Parker was the Gold-glove first baseman for LA, having won the award six consecutive times from 1966 - 1972. He was 29 and at the peak of his game in 1969. He slugged a career high 13 homers and hit 20 points higher than this previous high. This card also gives a good look at what the Shea Stadium scoreboard looked like originally.



#494 - Ken Berry One of the two noted "Ken Berry" of the time. The other was this guy,



the actor from F Troop and Mayberry RFD. The baseball Ken Berry was the centerfielder for the White Sox, an All Star in 1967. It was his glove, not his bat, that he was known for. I have a fuzzy memory of him making a catch and falling over the outfield wall somewhere. I wonder if that really did happen?



#495 - Bert Campaneris Campy was coming off a nice '68 season, having led the league in plate appearances, at bats, hits, stolen bases (his fourth time in a row as AL leader) and times caught stealing. Despite leading the league with 177 hits, with all his at bats his average was only .277. He also made the All Star team for the first time in his career, something he would do five more times. He tailed off a bit in 1969, hitting only .260 but did steal 62 bases.



#496 - Larry Jaster When you go 9-13 for the NL champs, you are not protected in the expansion draft. The Expos grabbed him, hoping he could recapture the magic of his rookie season when he was 11-5. But he went 1-5 with a 5.49 ERA and was traded to the Braves after the season.



#497 - Julian Javier This is the player that taught me that J in Spanish can have an H sound. Hooolian Haaavier, not Julian Javier. He was an All Star for the Redbirds in 1968. 1969 was his last good year in the majors, as he hit .282 with 10 home runs.



#498 - Juan Pizarro This veteran was in the journeyman phase of his career. He spent '66 with the White Sox, '67 with Pittsburgh, and '68 was split between the Pirates and Red Sox. He had three stops in 1969, Boston, Cleveland, and Oakland, combining for a 4-5 record in 57 games. The next three seasons were spent with the Cubs before he ended his career with the Astros and back to the Pirates.



#499 - Astros Rookies You learn something new every day. I had never heard of Don Bryant, and it turns out he made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 1966, playing in 13 games. The Cubs later traded him to the Giants and the Astros drafted him from SF. He would play in 46 games over two seasons with Houston, but hit only .193. Shea was 4-4 in 30 games for the Astros in 1968, so I'm not sure why he was placed on a rookie card. The Astros sold him to the Expos just before the season began and he pitched in 10 games early in the season, but was sent back to AAA and never pitched in the majors again.



Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 33
Hatless - 111
Airbrush - 91
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 68