#20 Ernie Banks - Chicago Cubs

Ernest Banks
Chicago Cubs
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  January 31, 1931, Dallas, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs a free agent in 1953
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1953-71

Died:  January 23, 2015, Chicago, IL (age 83)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1977

Known by most simply as "Mr. Cub," Ernie Banks enjoyed a 19-year playing career and encapsulated everything that a baseball player should aspire to be.  His genuine appreciation and affection for the game was unrivaled.  Banks was the runner-up to Wally Moon in 1954 for the National League Rookie of the Year Award and he won the league's MVP honors in 1958 and 1959.  An 11-time All-Star, Banks hit 512 career home runs and tallied 1,636 career RBIs.  He excelled defensively at both shortstop (1953-61) and first base (1962-71).  When he hit his 500th career home run on May 12, 1970, he became just the ninth member to join that exclusive club.  Banks batted .274 in 2,528 games for the Cubs, with 2,583 hits, and his #14 was the first number retired by the franchise in 1982.

During his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1977, Banks repeated his famous quote, "There's sunshine, fresh air, and the team's behind us.  Let's play two."

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #441
April 9, 2024 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Baseball Cards)
On April 7th, I received an e-mail from Gar Miller, hobby icon, informing me and other customers he had recently updated his inventory of vintage baseball cards for sale at garmillercards.com.  In need of some vintage cardboard, and wanting to see if Miller had any Diamond Stars cards I needed, I decided to check out the new inventory.  

A high-number Red Lucas card from the Diamond Stars set was reasonably priced, so I added it, a few cards needed for our 1969 Topps set and a few random Phillies-related cards to my cart and submitted my order.  Given the proximity of Miller to our house, I wasn't surprised when the cards arrived in our mail box in two days.  Banks joined Don Drysdale (#400) and the Graig Nettles (#99) rookie card as the trio of cards added to our 1969 Topps set.

The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

Topps used this exact same photo on Banks' 1968 base card.  The back of the card is mostly statistics, save for the two lines of text at the top.  Banks was the Cubs' all-time home run leader until 2004, when he was surpassed by Sammy Sosa.  Sosa hit 545 home runs with the Cubs, and 609 home runs overall.  Topps included a reprint of this card in its 2019 Topps Update Iconic Card Reprints insert set.

Accuracy Index:  Banks' card loses points for the repeat photo.

1969 Season
This was to be Banks' final year as an everyday player, and he batted .253 in 155 games for the Cubs.  The 38-year-old hit 23 home runs and drove in 106, the eighth and final season he cleared 100 RBIs.  This was also the closest Banks ever came to playing in the postseason.  His Cubs were in first place in the National League East as late as September 9th, a position they had held since opening day.  Over the final 20 games of the season, the Cubs went 8-12 to lose their grip on the division, with the Mets surprisingly winning the pennant.  This was also the year Banks was first credited, by sportswriter Jimmy Enright, of exclaiming, "Let's Play Two," before a game in July with the temperature exceeding 100 degrees.

1954 Topps #94

1956 Topps #15

1968 Topps #355

1971 Topps #525

1975 Topps #197

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #94
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1954-71, 1973, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Stadium Club #88
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,219 in the Beckett online database as of 12/27/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog

#19 Ken Suarez - Cleveland Indians / #21 Jose Santiago - Boston Red Sox

#4 N.L. RBI Leaders - Willie McCovey / Ron Santo / Billy Williams

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #440
January 6, 2024 from Tomball, TX (The Battersbox)

Proving I'm taking a leisurely pace with this blog and spending time with each and every card added, this league leader card was added over a year ago with cards from three other sets I'm collecting or will be collecting.  

Wanting to start the new year off appropriately, I impulsively took advantage of a storewide sale at The Battersbox on New Year's Day, with the 1936 Diamond Stars Al Lopez (#527) card as the cornerstone of my purchase.  Lopez arrived five days later from Texas, along with three other cards from the 1955 Bowman, 1959 Topps and 1969 Topps sets.  The National League RBI Leaders card was less than $6.

With hindsight of the full year now behind me, 120 cards were added to our 1969 Topps set in 2024, with 115 of those cards recently added at The Philly Show in December.  I spent the bulk of the year going through and posting about 256 different cards purchased between March and December 2023.

The Card / Giants Team Set / Cubs Team Set

There are three future Hall of Famers on this card, and I'm sure this would have been a thrill for a Cubs fan to find in packs of Series One cards back in 1969.  Willie McCovey (#440) led the league in 1968 with 105 RBIs, and he'd top that tally with 126 RBIs in 1969 while once again leading the league and winning MVP honors.  Teammates Ron Santo (#570) and Billy Williams (#450) tied for second place in the league with 98 RBIs.  McCovey crossed the 100-RBI plateau with four RBIs on September 22nd against the Braves.  Santo enjoyed a late surge, guaranteeing his spot on this card, with nine RBIs in the last four games of the season.  And Williams had actually led the league as late as September 18th before being overtaken by McCovey and tied by Santo.  Just missing appearing on this card, with 38 RBIs each, were Tony Taylor (#108), Roberto Pena (#184), Tony Gonzalez (#501) and Dick Dietz (#293).

#3 1968 A.L. RBI Leaders / #5 1968 A.L. Home Runs Leaders

#550 Brooks Robinson - Baltimore Orioles

Brooks Calbert Robinson
Baltimore Orioles
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  May 18, 1937, Little Rock, AR
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1955-77

World Series Appearances:  Baltimore Orioles 1966, 1969-71
Died:  September 26, 2023, Owings Mills, MD (age 86)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1983

Brooks Robinson spent his entire 23-year major league career with the Baltimore Orioles, a record in terms of longevity with only one team.  While I'm personally partial to Mike Schmidt, Robinson is considered to be one of the best defensive third baseman in the history of the game and he won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves during his career.  He was named to the American League All-Star team for 15 consecutive seasons between 1960 and 1974, earning All-Star Game MVP honors in 1964.  Robinson helped lead the Orioles to World Series appearances in 1966, 1969, 1970 and 1971, winning the series in 1966 and 1970 and earning World Series MVP honors in 1970.

Robinson was named the American League MVP in 1964, a season in which he hit .317 with 28 home runs and a league leading 118 RBIs.  Along with his win in 1964, he finished in the top ten in MVP voting in seven different seasons.  He finished his career with 2,848 hits, 268 home runs and 1,357 RBIs.  His #5 was retired by the Orioles in 1977 at the end of his final season with the club.  Robinson was a first ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

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

Building the Set / Card #439
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Bagger's Auctions)

I wrote a full write-up of The Philly Show from December over at The Phillies Room.  Having added another 145 commons to our 1969 Topps set build, and then securing autographs from Tom Herr and Bobby Wine (#648), Doug and I were ready to call it a day.  

On our way out, I stopped at a table near the exit when I noticed a display with baseball cards from the 1930s, including a few Diamond Stars cards.  I had been watching the Carl Hubbell card from that set for a while on a few eBay auctions, and given the reasonable price tag on this card for $110, I started a short negotiation with the dealer.  He pointed out there were some other Diamond Stars cards in a bargain bin next to the case, and I was pleasantly surprised to find an extremely reasonably priced Ducky Medwick card to pair with the Hubbell purchase.  A reasonable person would have stopped there, but this Robinson card along with the card of his manager, Earl Weaver (#516), seemed too good to pass up, especially from what was deemed to be a bargain bin.  I bundled the Medwick, Weaver and Robinson cards together, made a fairly low offer for the trio, and had my offer accepted.  It likely helped I had already committed to buying the more expensive Hubbell card.

We quickly exited the show soon afterwards, given my now completely empty wallet.

The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

The "B. Robinson" nameplate on the back of Robinson's jersey was necessitated by the acquisition of Frank Robinson (#250) in 1966.  The photo is likely from 1966, as it's the same exact photo used on Robinson's 1967 Topps card.  This is also the third and final appearance of Robinson in the 1969 Topps set, as he previously appeared on an All-Star card (#421) and the 6th Series checklist (#504).  Oddly enough, this seems to be one of the few Robinson Topps flagship releases that has yet to be reprinted.

Accuracy Index:  This is a great card, but it scores a +1 since the photo had been used two years before.

Inserts:  Robinson is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set.

1969 Season
Robinson's numbers slipped a little, as he batted .234 in 156 games with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs.  Despite his off year, the Orioles advanced to the first ever ALDS, sweeping the Twins in three games.  In the World Series, against the underdog and surprising Mets, Robinson struggled mightily, batting just .053 (1 for 19) in the five-game series.

1957 Topps #328

1967 Topps #600

1971 Topps #300

1975 Topps #50

1978 Topps #4

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1957 Topps #328
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1957-78
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps Update Autumn Tales #AT-13
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,425 in the Beckett online database as of 12/27/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

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

#549 Ron Brand - Montreal Expos / #551 Wayne Granger - Cincinnati Reds

#516 Earl Weaver MG - Baltimore Orioles

Earl Sidney Weaver
Baltimore Orioles
Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'7"  Weight:  180
Born:  August 14, 1930, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1948 season

As a Manager:  Baltimore Orioles 1968-82, 1985-86
Died:  January 19, 2013, Caribbean Sea (age 82)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1996

After a relatively successful 13-year career in the minor leagues as a second baseman in the Cardinals, Pirates and Orioles organizations, Earl Weaver began his second career as a full-time manager, leading the Orioles to a World Series title in 1970, and earning enshrinement in Cooperstown in 1996.  Weaver was a minor league player-manager with the Orioles between 1956 and 1960, retiring as a player in 1961.  After seven years climbing the managerial ladder in the Orioles' minor league system, and winning three minor league championships, Weaver began the 1968 season as the Orioles' first base coach.  He took over as manager on July 11, 1968, replacing Hank Bauer (#124), and he'd lead the Orioles for the next 14 1/2 seasons.  The Orioles won American League pennants under Weaver in 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1979, defeating the Reds in five games int he 1970 World Series.  He retired following the 1982 season, but was briefly coaxed out of retirement for the 1985 and 1986 seasons. 

Weaver's Orioles teams won 90 or more games in ten of his 14 full seasons at the helm between 1969 and 1982, based on his philosophy of "pitching, defense, and the three-run homer."  His lifetime record of 1,480 wins to 1,060 loses earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Orioles retired his #4 upon his first retirement in 1982.  At the time of his retirement, Weaver's 96 career ejections ranked third all-time.

Building the Set / Card #438
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Bagger's Auctions)

I wrote a full write-up of The Philly Show from December over at The Phillies Room.  Having added another 145 commons to our 1969 Topps set build, and then securing autographs from Tom Herr and Bobby Wine (#648), Doug and I were ready to call it a day.  

On our way out, I stopped at a table near the exit when I noticed a display with baseball cards from the 1930s, including a few Diamond Stars cards.  I had been watching the Carl Hubbell card from that set for a while on a few eBay auctions, and given the reasonable price tag on this card for $110, I started a short negotiation with the dealer.  He pointed out there were some other Diamond Stars cards in a bargain bin next to the case, and I was pleasantly surprised to find an extremely reasonably priced Ducky Medwick card to pair with the Hubbell purchase.  A reasonable person would have stopped there, but this Weaver card along with the card of his regular third baseman, Brooks Robinson (#550), seemed too good to pass up, especially from what was deemed to be a bargain bin.  I bundled the Medwick, Weaver and Robinson cards together, made a fairly low offer for the trio, and had my offer accepted.  It likely helped I had already committed to buying the more expensive Hubbell card.

We quickly exited the show soon afterwards, given my now completely empty wallet.

The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This serves as Weaver's rookie card, and the only contemporary baseball card from his playing days appears to be from the 1950 Winston-Salem Cardinals Photos set.  The photo seems to have been taken at night.  The back of the card highlights his three MVP wins while in the minor leagues.  A quick search of his biographies showed no details for these wins, and I have to imagine these came while he was a minor league manager, not a minor league player.  His best year as a player was likely 1949, when as an 18-year-old, Weaver batted .282 with 101 RBIs and 17 stolen bases for the Class C St. Joseph Cardinals.

The caricature on the back of the card is simply the reverse of the photo on front, with some graphic-y touches applied.  Topps reprinted the card for the 1997 Topps Stars Rookie Reprints insert set.

Accuracy Index:  Weaver's rookie card scores a +5.

1969 Season
Weaver's Orioles won 109 games and the American League pennant in his first full season as manager.  They swept the Twins in three games in the first ever ALCS, but fell to the underdog Mets in the World Series in five games.  On August 13th, future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (#573) threw the only no-hitter of his career, against the Athletics.  Mike Cuellar (#453) and Dave McNally (#340) were both 20-game winners for the team, with Eddie Watt (#652) and Pete Richert (#86) essentially platooning as the club's closer, with 16 and 12 saves respectively.

Right fielder Frank Robinson (#250) (.308, 32 home runs, 100 RBIs) and center fielder Paul Blair (#506) (.285, 32 doubles, 26 home runs and 76 RBIs) were offensive forces for the Orioles.  First baseman Boog Powell (#15) slugged 37 home runs and drove in 121 runs.

1971 Topps #477

1974 Topps #306

1978 Topps #211

1983 Topps #426

1987 Topps #568

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #516
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1969-81, 1983, 1985-87
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps Living #741
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  280 in the Beckett online database as of 12/9/24.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.  The Orioles are fairly well represented in the set, but these five players deserve a card in my imaginary update series.

• Merv Rettenmund (of) - Outfielder Merv Rettenmund is sharing a Rookie Stars card with pitcher Mike Adamson (#66) and I've give him a solo card.
• Chico Salmon (inf) - Chico Salmon (#62) is in the set with the Pilots, but he played in 52 games for the Orioles after a trade to Baltimore in late March.
• Marcelino Lopez (lhp) - Two of the top five relievers for Weaver's Orioles aren't in the set, starting with Marcelino Lopez.  Lopez and Dick Hall made 27 and 39 appearances, respectively, throughout the season.
• Dick Hall (rhp)
• Terry Crowley (1b) - Long-time Oriole Terry Crowley was a September call-up in 1969, appearing in seven games.  He'd earn a rookie card in the 1970 Topps set.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Weaver / Baseball Reference - 1969 Orioles / SABR / Wikipedia

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

#515 Dick Green - Oakland Athletics / #517 Mike McCormick - San Francisco Giants

#499 Astros Rookie Stars - Don Bryant / Steve Shea

Donald Ray Bryant
Houston Astros
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'5"  Weight:  200
Born:  July 13, 1941, Jasper, FL
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent, June 24, 1959
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1966; Houston Astros 1969-70

Died:  January 22, 2015, Jacksonville, FL (age 73)

Steven Francis Shea
Houston Astros
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  215
Born:  December 5, 1942, Worcester, MA
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  Houston Astros 1968; Montreal Expos 1969

Died:  March 4, 2015, North Hampton, NH (age 72)

Don Bryant played briefly in the majors, but spent 13 seasons and 871 games in the minor leagues between 1960 and 1973.  Drafted by the Tigers, Bryant spent the first 5 1/2 seasons of his professional career climbing the ranks of Detroit's minor league system.  In 1962 with the D-Level Jamestown Tigers, Bryant batted .272 while attaining career highs in a single season for home runs and RBIs, with eight and 65, respectively.  Sold to the Cubs in December 1965, he'd finally crack the major leagues, playing 13 games with Chicago in the summer of 1966.  Bryant was back to the minors for two more seasons before getting another chance with the Astros in 1969.  For his big league career, he batted .220 in 59 games, with one home run and 13 RBIs.

Bryant finished up his playing days as a player-coach with the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1973.  Pawtucket's manager, Darrell Johnson, was promoted to manage the Red Sox in 1974, and brought Bryant with him.  Bryant served as Johnson's bullpen coach with the Red Sox (1975-76) and Mariners (1977-80).

Steve Shea was originally signed by the Cubs in 1961, but released by the team three years later.  After being out of baseball for over a year, Shea signed with the Astros in August 1965.  He'd earn a promotion in July 1968, eventually pitching in 30 games, all in relief, for Houston.  Shea was 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA and six saves in his lone season with the Astros, and those six saves led the team.  Right before the start of the 1969 season, Shea was sold to the expansion Expos.  He'd make 10 appearances with the Expos, pitching fairly well, before getting demoted back to the minors.  Shea wouldn't return to the big leagues before retiring from baseball in 1971.  In 40 games with the Astros and Expos, he was 4-4 with a 3.22 ERA in 50 1/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set / Card #437
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

This is it!  After a full year of having these cards stacked on my project table, I finally picked up the last card on the bottom of the pile to admire and write about for this blog.  I have a few more cards to go before I'm completely up to date, but it's nice to have this haul from last December cleared out and properly bindered.

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the last of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than a dollar.

The Card / Astros Team Set / Bryant Accuracy Index +5 / Shea Accuracy Index -7
This is the rookie card for both players, and the first and last card for Shea.

Accuracy Index:  Bryant scores a standard +5, but Shea drops to -7, losing points since he didn't actually play for the Astros in 1969.

1969 Season - Bryant
On December 2, 1968, the Astros selected Bryant from the Giants in the annual rule 5 draft.  Required to stay on the Astros roster all season, Bryant made it into 31 games, batting .186 with a home run and six RBIs.  In a rare start on May 1st against the Reds, Bryant caught Don Wilson's second career no-hitter.  He'd make just 18 starts all season as the back-up to regular catcher Johnny Edwards.

1969 Season - Shea
On April 3rd, the Expos purchased Shea's contract from the Astros.  He make his Expos debut six days later, pitching two-thirds of a scoreless inning on April 9th.  He was used sparingly by manager Gene Mauch over the first two months of the season, appearing in 10 games overall, and having a 2.87 ERA in 15 2/3 innings pitched.  Shea struck out 11 and walked eight.  Demoted to the Triple-A Vancouver Mounties for the remainder of the season, Shea appeared in 33 games, all in relief, and was 2-5 with a 3.68 ERA over 71 innings pitched.

1970 Topps #473

1974 Topps #403

1977 Topps #597

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Bryant
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #499
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1969-70, 1974, 1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1977 Topps #597
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  13 in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/24.

Sources - Bryant:  

Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Shea
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #499
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #499
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2 in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/24.

Sources - Shea:  

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#498 Juan Pizarro - Boston Red Sox / #500 Mickey Mantle - New York Yankees

#498 Juan Pizarro - Boston Red Sox

Juan Roman Pizarro
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 7, 1937, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Milwaukee Braves 1957-60; Chicago White Sox 1961-66; Pittsburgh Pirates 1967-68; Boston Red Sox 1969; Cleveland Indians 1969; Oakland Athletics 1969; Chicago Cubs 1970-73; Houston Astros 1973; Pittsburgh Pirates 1974

World Series Appearances:  Milwaukee Braves 1957-58
Died:  February 18, 2021, Carolina, Puerto Rico (age 84)

A veteran of 18 Major League seasons, Juan Pizarro was a two-time All-Star with the White Sox in 1963 and 1964.  Pizarro went 16-8 with a 2.39 ERA in 1963 and topped that performance with a 19-win season in 1964.  His ERA in 1963 was second only to his teammate Gary Peters (#34) who had a 2.33 ERA.  Prior to joining the White Sox, Pizarro pitched in parts of four seasons with his original team, the Milwaukee Braves, winning a World Series ring with them in 1957.

Pizarro was a journeyman towards the latter part of his career, and his Baseball Reference page shows an impressive display of the uniform numbers he wore throughout his career.  After being traded to the Pirates in 1966, Pizarro played for seven different teams over a nine-year period.  He wrapped up his big league career in 1974 with the Pirates, helping them win the National League East pennant.  Pizzaro finished his career with close to 400 professional wins - 131 in the majors, 66 in the minors, 38 in Mexico and 157 while playing winter ball in his native Puerto Rico.  He had a major league record of 131-105 in 488 games played, with a 3.43 ERA and 1,522 strikeouts in 2,034 1/3 innings.

The 1961 Topps Pizarro card was one of the oldest cards in my collection for a while.  I vaguely recall my Dad had bought the card for me due to the similarities between our last name and Pizarro's, but I never really knew anything about the pitcher smiling back at me until recently.

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

At one point, these were the three oldest baseball cards in my collection

Building the Set / Card #436
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the penultimate of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little over a dollar.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Pizarro is wearing a Pirates jersey here, and he had spent all of 1967 and the start of the 1968 season in Pittsburgh.  A vested Pirates teammate can be seen making a blurry cameo over Pizarro's right shoulder.  There are already a lot of statistics on the back of the card, and Pizarro would add six more seasons to the tally before retiring.

Accuracy Index:  Pizarro's card drops to a -8.  He'd appear in 25 games overall with the Red Sox, but never be featured on a baseball card wearing an actual Red Sox uniform.

1969 Season
Pizarro was frequently on the move throughout the season.  He pitched in six games in relief for the Red Sox before he was traded with Dick Ellsworth (#605) and Ken Harrelson (#240) to the Indians for Joe Azcue (#176), Vicente Romo (#267) and Sonny Siebert (#455).  Pizarro spent the bulk of the season with the Indians, and was 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 48 appearances, including four starts.  On September 21st, he was sold to the Athletics, where he'd appear in only three games.  His combined numbers with the three teams - 4-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 57 games, 52 strikeouts and 58 walks over 99 1/3 innings.

1957 Topps #383

1961 Topps #227

1963 Topps #160

1968 Topps #19

1972 Topps #18

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1957 Topps #383
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14):  1957, 1959-69, 1971-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #79
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  92 in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#497 Julian Javier - St. Louis Cardinals / #499 Astros Rookie Stars