#35 Joe Morgan - Houston Astros

Joe Leonard Morgan
Houston Astros
Second Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'7"  Weight:  160
Born:  September 19, 1943, Bonham, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent, November 1, 1962
Major League Teams:  Houston Colt .45s 1963-1964; Houston Astros 1965-1971; Cincinnati Reds 1972-1979; Houston Astros 1980; San Francisco Giants 1981-1982; Philadelphia Phillies 1983; Oakland Athletics 1984

World Series Appearances:  Cincinnati Reds 1972, 1975-1976; Philadelphia Phillies 1983
Died:  October 11, 2020, Danville, CA (age 77)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1990

Joe Morgan put together a Hall of Fame career, playing 22 seasons and winning the National League MVP award in back-to-back years in 1975 and 1976.  He was a ten-time All-Star, winning the All-Star Game MVP honors in 1972.  He won five Gold Gloves and helped lead the Big Red Machine to two World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.  He's currently ranked 11th all-time in stolen bases with 689, and second all-time at games played at second base with 2,527.  Only fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Collins played more games at the position with 2,650.  Morgan was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1990.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #276
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards first, and Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs.  I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale, including this Morgan card.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index -2

Morgan is wearing an Astros uniform, and the same hatless photo is used for his 1968 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights his Rookie of the Year win in 1965, his All-Star Game start in 1966 and his lost 1968 season.

Accuracy Index:  Morgan's card receives a somewhat rare -2.  He's in an Astros uniform (+5), but hatless (-3) and we've seen the photo before (-4).

1969 Season
Morgan missed almost the entire 1968 season with a knee injury, and he returned as the Astros' opening day second baseman in 1969.  Making 131 starts at the position, and appearing in 147 games overall, Morgan batted .236 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.  His best seasons were ahead of him.

Phillies Career
On December 14, 1982, the Giants traded the 39-year-old Morgan with Al Holland to the Phillies for Mark Davis, Mike Krukow and minor leaguer C.L. Penigar.  Morgan had enjoyed an impressive 1982 season, winning the National League Comeback Player of the Year award and a Silver Slugger at second base.  As the regular second baseman for the Phillies, He appeared in 123 games, hitting .230 with 16 home runs, 59 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

He played in his final postseason games with the Phillies, appearing in all five World Series games and hitting .263 with two home runs.  He homered off the Orioles' Scott McGregor in the sixth inning of Game 1, tying up the game.  The Phillies released Morgan after the World Series and he signed with the A's, where he'd close out his career the following season.

1965 Topps #16

1968 Topps #144

1976 Topps #420

1983 Topps Traded #77T

1985 Topps #352

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #16
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1965-1985, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps Heritage #194
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  1,606 in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#34 Gary Peters - Chicago White Sox / #36 Luke Walker - Pittsburgh Pirates

#19 Ken Suarez - Cleveland Indians

Kenneth Raymond Suarez
Cleveland Indians
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  175
Born:  April 12, 1943, Tampa, FL
Signed:  Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent before 1965 season
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Athletics 1966-1967; Cleveland Indians 1968-1969, 1971; Texas Rangers 1972-1973

Died:  July 28, 2023, Fort Worth, TX (age 80)

Ken Suarez played in parts of seven big league seasons, but his greatest success in baseball came during his years playing for Florida State University.  Named a First Team All-American in 1964, Suarez also represented the United States that year at the Tokyo Summer Olympics as baseball was then a demonstration sport.  He was back-up catcher in the majors, finding some success with the Indians in 1969 when he batted .294 and with the Rangers in 1973 when he appeared in a career-high 93 games and batted .248.  Suarez was dealt by the Rangers to the Indians in February 1974 after a salary dispute, and rather than report back to the Indians, Suarez opted to retire.

In 295 big league games, Suarez batted .227 with 150 hits, five home runs and 60 RBIs.

Building the Set / Card #275
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards first, and Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs.  I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale, including this Suarez card.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Suarez is wearing an Athletics uniform in this photo and given what appear to be palm trees in the background, the photo was taken during spring training.  The write-up on the back of the card is a bit off as 1969 turned out to not be Suarez's year - see below.

Accuracy Index:  Suarez loses points for being hatless (-3) and not being in an Indians uniform (-5).

1969 Season
Suarez split the season between the Indians and their top farm team, the Portland Beavers.  With the Beavers, he played in 49 games, batting .239 with a pair of home runs.  He'd be promoted to the Indians in mid-June, ultimately appearing in 36 games, making 29 starts behind the plate.  Suarez batted .294 with a home run and nine RBIs, and despite the modest success he'd spend the entire 1970 season back in the minors.

1966 Topps #588

1968 Topps #218

1970 Topps #209

1972 Topps #483

1974 Topps #39

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1966 Topps #588
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1966, 1968-1972, 1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1974 Topps #39
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  26 in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#18 Dick Schofield - St. Louis Cardinals / #20 Ernie Banks - Chicago Cubs

#480 Tom Seaver - New York Mets

George Thomas Seaver
New York Mets
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  November 17, 1944, Fresno, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent, April 3, 1966
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1967-1977; Cincinnati Reds 1977-1982; New York Mets 1983; Chicago White Sox 1984-1986; Boston Red Sox 1986

World Series Appearances:  New York Mets 1969, 1973
Died:  August 31, 2020, Calistoga, CA (age 75)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1992

The greatest pitcher in Mets franchise history, Tom Seaver earned the nicknames Tom Terrific and The Franchise as one of the most dominant pitchers in the game between 1967 and the late 1970s.  Seaver was a 16-game winner for the Mets in 1967, leading to his Rookie of the Year win.  He was a 12-time All-Star, making the team in nine of ten years between 1967 and 1977.  Seaver was a 25-game winner in 1969, leading the Mets to a World Series victory and winning the first of his three Cy Young Awards.  He'd win the award again in 1973, perhaps his best season statistically, and 1975.  A three-time wins leader, three-time ERA leader and five-time strikeout leader, Seaver is at the top of most pitching categories in Mets franchise history.  He recorded at least 200 strikeouts in 10 seasons, attaining a career-high with 289 strikeouts in 1971.

Traded to the Reds in June 1977, Seaver continued his success with a no-hitter against the Cardinals on June 16, 1978.  Pitching into his 40s, he had two last solid seasons for the White Sox in 1984 and 1985, winning 15 and 16 games respectively.  Seaver retired in 1986 after 16 starts for the Red Sox.  He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1992, inducted by the highest percentage of votes ever attained.  Seaver earned a lifetime record of 311-205 with a 2.86 ERA, 231 complete games, 61 shutouts (seventh all-time) and 3,640 strikeouts (sixth all-time).  His #41 was retired by the Mets in 1988, and he's a member of both the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fames.

Building the Set / Card #274
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this Seaver card.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

Collectors had already seen this exact same photo on Seaver's 1968 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights his young career, which at this point consisted of only two seasons with the Mets.  His performance in the 1967 All-Star Game is noted.  Tied 1-1 heading into the 15th, Tony Perez (#295) hit a home run off Catfish Hunter (#235) to give the National League the lead.  Seaver pitched a scoreless bottom of the 15th to earn the save.

Topps reprinted this card in its 2022 Topps Archives and Topps Archives Reserve sets, and again in its 2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps insert set.

Accuracy Index:  Great card, but Seaver's score drops to +1 as Topps had used the photo before.

Inserts:  Seaver is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
A star the prior two seasons, this was the season Seaver established himself as a superstar.  He was 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA as the ace for the Amazin' Mets.  Over half of his 35 starts resulted in complete games (18) and he also tossed five shutouts.  He was 1-1 in the World Series, losing Game 1, but pitching a 10-inning complete game victory in Game 4.  Seaver was the nearly unanimous choice for the National League Cy Young, receiving 23 of 24 first place votes.  Phil Niekro (#355), who was 23-13, earned the hold-out first place vote.

1967 Topps #581

1968 Topps #45

1973 Topps #350

1978 Topps #450

1987 Topps #425

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1967 Topps #581
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1967-1987, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-7
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,557 in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#479 Richie Scheinblum - Cleveland Indians / #481 Bill Melton - Chicago White Sox

#440 Willie McCovey - San Francisco Giants

Willie Lee McCovey
San Francisco Giants
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  198
Born:  January 10, 1938, Mobile, AL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent, March 12, 1955
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1959-1973; San Diego Padres 1974-1976; Oakland Athletics 1976; San Francisco Giants 1977-1980

World Series Appearances:  San Francisco Giants 1962
Died:  October 31, 2018, Palo Alto, CA (age 80)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1986

Willie McCovey enjoyed a 22-year Hall of Fame career that saw him reach the All-Star Game six times and earn N.L. MVP honors in 1969.  He appeared in only 52 games his rookie season in 1959, but his .354 average along with 13 home runs were enough to make him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.  McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch," led the league in home runs in 1963, 1968 and 1969.  He also led the league in RBIs in those latter two years, with his 1969 season leading to his MVP award with a .320 average, 45 home runs and 126 RBIs.  He had been previously named the MVP of the 1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs in the contest.  McCovey played in one World Series, with the Giants losing in 1962 to the Yankees.

McCovey had 521 career home runs when he retired, placing him seventh on the all-time list at the time.  He accumulated a lifetime batting average of .270 with 1,555 RBIs.  McCovey hit his final home run on May 3, 1980, giving him the distinction, along with Ted Williams (#650), Rickey Henderson and Omar Vizquel, of having homered in four different decades.  His 18 grand slams are the most ever in the National League.

The Giants retired his #44 in 1980, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year of eligibility.  When the Giants moved into their new ballpark in 2000 (now called Oracle Park), the San Francisco Bay inlet beyond the right field fence was named McCovey Cove.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #273
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this McCovey card.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

The photo used for the card is likely from 1967, and it was taken at the same time as the photo used for McCovey's 1968 Topps card.  This is one of five cards he appears on in the set, including the RBI Leaders (#4) and Home Run Leaders (#6) cards, an All-Star card (#416) and a combo card (#572) with fellow future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (#370).  Given this was his MVP year, the card has been reprinted by Topps a few times, first re-appearing on the MVP subset in the 1975 Topps set.

This is one of 23 cards available in the set's fifth series available as either "yellow letter" or "white letter" variations, with the yellow letter variations being more prevalent.  This is the more prevalent yellow letter variation with McCovey's last name printed in yellow.

Accuracy Index:  McCovey's card scores a +5.

Inserts:  McCovey is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.  He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.

1969 Season
Already a superstar, as pointed out on the back of this card, this was McCovey's career year.  He batted .320 with 45 home runs and 126 - both career highs and both marks leading the league.  McCovey also topped the league with a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, while setting a new major league record with 45 intentional walks.  The starting first baseman for the National League All-Stars, McCovey led the way with a pair of home runs, hit off Blue Moon Odom (#195) in the third and Denny McLain (#150) in the fourth.  He appeared in 149 games for the second place Giants, making 148 starts at first base.

In the postseason MVP voting, McCovey tied Tom Seaver (#480) with 11 first place votes but had more higher ranked votes overall.

1960 Topps #316

1965 Topps #176

1972 Topps #280

1975 Topps #450

1980 Topps #335

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #316
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21):  1960-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Topps Archives #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  1,614 in the Beckett online database as of 3/29/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#439 White Sox Rookie Stars / #441 Dennis Higgins - Washington Senators

#255 Steve Carlton - St. Louis Cardinals

Steven Norman Carlton
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 22, 1944, Miami, FL
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, October 8, 1963
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1965-1971; Philadelphia Phillies 1972-1986; San Francisco Giants 1986; Chicago White Sox 1986; Cleveland Indians 1987; Minnesota Twins 1987-1988

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1967; Philadelphia Phillies 1980, 1983
Hall of Fame Induction:  1994

Steve Carlton was one of the best left-handed pitchers in the history of the game.  He found early success with the Cardinals, making three All-Star squads and earning his first World Series ring in 1967.  After the Phillies acquired him in February 1972 for Rick Wise (#188), he took his career to the next level.  Lefty led the league in strikeouts five times, wins four times and he clinched an ERA title in 1972 with a 1.97 mark to go along with his 27-10 record and 30 complete games.  That was also the year he won the first of his four Cy Young Awards, winning the honor again in 1977, 1980 and 1982.  His pitching helped the Phillies win their first World Championship in 1980.  

Carlton currently ranks 11th on the all-time wins list (329) and 4th on the all-time strikeouts list (4,136) and only Warren Spahn has more wins in baseball history (363) among all left-handed pitchers.  He briefly held the top spot for all-time strikeouts before being ultimately overtaken by Nolan Ryan (#533) in 1984, and along with Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens he's one of only four players with over 4,000 strikeouts in major league history.  That mark also puts him atop the all-time National League leaders list for strikeouts.  His #32 was retired by the Phillies in 1989, and he was an easy first ballot Hall of Famer in 1994.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #272
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this Carlton card.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

The photo used here was likely taken at the same time as the photo used for Carlton's 1968 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights his career achievements to date, and Topps seems somewhat surprised Carlton had a decent season in 1968, following his rookie season of 1967.

Carlton signed reprints of this card for the 2018 Topps Heritage release.

Accuracy Index:  No issues here, as Carlton's card scores a +5.

1969 Season
Carlton enjoyed his best season to date in 1969, going 17-11 in 31 starts with an impressive 2.17 ERA.  He struck out 210 over 236 1/3 innings pitched, both career highs for him at that point in his career.  He and Bob Gibson (#200) won 37 games between the two of them, nearly half of the Cardinals' 87 total wins for the fourth place club.  Carlton was the starting pitcher for the National League All Stars, pitching three innings and ultimately getting credited with the win, despite allowing home runs to Frank Howard (#170) and Bill Freehan (#390).  On September 15th, Carlton set a then major league record by striking out 19 batters in a game against the Mets.

Phillies Career
Carlton put together a Hall of Fame career as the greatest left-handed pitcher in Phillies team history.  He was an All-Star in 1972, 1974, 1977 and 1979 through 1982.  Carlton was the winning pitcher in the World Series clinching game against the Royals in 1980.  He's the franchise's all-time leader in games started (499), wins (241) and strikeouts (3,031).  

A statute of Carlton stands at Citizens Bank Park, the current home of the Phillies, along with statues of the other members of the franchise's Mount Rushmore - Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt.

1965 Topps #477

1972 Topps #751

1977 Topps #110

1980 Topps #210

1987 Topps Traded #19T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #477
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1965, 1967-1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps 1989 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Autographs #89BA-SC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,223 in the Beckett online database as of 3/25/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#254 Joe Schultz MG - Seattle Pilots / #256 Gates Brown - Detroit Tigers