Tuesday, January 5, 2010

196(9) At A Time - Page 72

We are nearing the end of the set, and on this page we have our lfinal Cubs player - and a really good one, at that. But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read about him. The rest of the guys on the page aren't household names.



#635 - George Culver It looks like he is at some high school field, not a big league spring training camp. Culver spent the 1968 season in the Reds starting rotation and went 11-16. Most of 1969 was spent working out of the bullpen and his record fell to 5-7.



#636 - Woodie Held Held's long major league career was just about over. The White Sox were his seventh and final team over a fourteen season career. He saw action in five different positions for the Sox in '69 in 56 games. But he hit only .143 and was released after the season.



#637 - Padres Rookies There rookies, all is Padres' hats. The Topps photographers were working overtime! DaVanon was taken from the Cardinals organization and made his first big league roster with the Padres. The Cardinals must have liked what he did in his 24 games with San Diego, because the reacquired him in a mid-May trade...and then sent him back to the minors! Reberger was orginally Cubs property and pitched three games for them in 1968. He made 67 apperances for the Padres and recorded six saves to go with his 1-2 record. Clay Kirby would be the most-recongized of the three, though the 21 year old rookie lost a league-high 20 games in 1969.



#638 - Ed Sprague Working as a reliever, he followed up his rookie season record of 3-4 by going 1-1 in 1969. His son, Ed Sprague, would have an eleven year big league career, outlasting dad's by three seasons.



#639 - Barry Moore Moore spent most of 1969 in the Senators starting rotation and was 9-8. The nine wins would be his career high. After the season he was dealt to the Indians and 1970 would be his last in the majors.

#640 - Fergie Jenkins - The Cubs ace gets his own post tomorrow



#641 - National League Rookies If they are the best rookies of the National League, why are two of them airbrushed? Darwin broke in with the Angels at the age of 19 in 1962. He wouldn't make it back to the majors for seven more years, a six game stint with the '69 Dodgers. He had some decent years with the Twins in the early '70's and then after bouncing around, saw his career end with he Cubs in 1977. Miller played in 26 games for the Dodgers and then was out of baseball. Tommy Dean saw action in 97 games as the Padres shortstop, but hit only .176.



#642 - John Hiller
Working mainly out of the bullpen, Hiller went 4-4 for the Tigers.



#643 - Billy Cowan This picture of Cowan in a Mets uniform was from his only season with them, 1965. Cowan was originally a Cub and was their starting centerfielder in 1964. He then was bounced around to three teams and then spent 1968 in AAA before landing with the Yankees in 1969. He spent only 32 games in the Bronx before beings sent across the country to the Angels in July.



Overall Set Totals (player cards only)
Hall of Famers - 44
Hatless - 143
Airbrush - 99
Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 96

6 comments:

  1. Hiller was a good reliever for a few years. Great guy to have on a Strat-O-Matic team.

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  2. Interesting cards of Culver, Sprague, and Moore. Each is a refreshing change from recent seasons, where the Reds wore white caps, the Senators wore gray caps, and the 1968 Athletics all wore "unmarked glossy black caps" (if they wore caps at all)! ;)

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  3. Notice that Darwin is a PITCHER on this card. Soon he would make the fulltime switch to the outfield. He and Willie Smith look to be the last two players to make the majors as pitchers first, then as fielders.

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  4. Hiller deserves more of a post. He missed all of 1972 after having a heart attack, then came back and led the league in saves. He was also the last member of the Tigers' 1968 championship to still be with the team. Haven't been in Michigan long, have you :)

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