196(9) At A Time - Page 67

#590 - Rico Carty Rico was ready for a comeback season in 1969 after having missed all of 1968 with tuberculosis. Boy, did he come back! He hit .342 for the Braves in 104 games. He would miss another full season in 1971 due to a knee injury, but this time it took him longer to get his stroke back. He spent 1973 with three teams, including a 22 game stint with the Cubs.



#591 - Mike Hedlund He had two brief stints with the Indians before being selected by the Royals in the expansion draft. 1969 was his first full year in the majors and he was 3-6 splitting his time between the bullpen and the rotation.



#592 - Padres Rookies Rafael Robles was the first batter in the history of the San Diego Padres, batting leadoff and playing shortstop. A week later he was in AA and he would spend the rest of the season in Elmira. Santorini pitched in one game as a 20 year old for the '68 Braves and was taken by the Padres in the draft. He spent 1969 as a regular in the starting rotation and was 8-14.



#593 - Don Nottebart This Cub gets a separate post tomorrow



#594 - Dooley Womack The Astros picked Womack up for the Yankees after the 1968 season, so Topps was on the ball here with this spring, 1969 photo. He pitched 30 games out of the pen for the Astros before being traded to the Pilots in August. In exchange, the Astros got Jim Bouton. which was detailed in Bouton's classic book Ball Four.



#595 - Lee Maye, not to be confused with Lee May or brother Carlos May. This Lee May had his picture taken at spring training in 1969. Lee spend half the season with the Indians before being traded to the Senators in late June. For the year he hit .277 with 10 home runs.



#596 - Chuck Hartenstein That's a Cubs jersey that Hartenstein is wearing. The Cubs signed him as an amateur free agent in 1964 and spent time with the Cubs from 1966 - 1968. He was traded to the Pirates in the off-season for infielder Manny Jimenez. He would pitch in 56 games for the Pirates, going 5-4 with a 3.95 ERA.



#597 - AL Rookies An interesting card with two no-names an one Hall of Famer. Floyd played in 39 games for the Orioles, while Burchart's one and only major league season was the 29 games he pitched for the Indians. Fingers looks so young, and without his famous handlebar mustache, is pretty unrecognizable. 1969 was his first full big league season, and he actually had eight starts among his 60 appearances. He finished the season with a record of 6-7 with 12 saves.



#598 - Ruben Amaro Shown here in Yankee pinstripes, Amaro eleven year career wrapped up in 1969. The Angels purchased him up from the Yankees during the winter. He started only two games in 1969, spending the rest of the time as a pinch-hitter. He hit only .222 and was released by the Angels after the season. He would later spend four seasons as a coach for the Cubs in the mid-80's. His son, Ruben Amaro, Jr. is the Phillies general manager.



Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 43
Hatless - 131
Airbrush - 93
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 83