#17 Mike Marshall - Seattle Pilots

Michael Grant Marshall
Seattle Pilots
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  180
Born:  January 15, 1943, Adrian, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, September 13, 1960
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1967; Seattle Pilots 1969; Houston Astros 1970; Montreal Expos 1970-1973; Los Angeles Dodgers 1974-1976; Atlanta Braves 1976-1977; Texas Rangers 1977; Minnesota Twins 1978-1980; New York Mets 1981

World Series Appearances:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1974
Died:  May 31, 2021, Zephyrhills, FL (age 78)

1983 Galasso
1969 Seattle Pilots #6

Relying on a nearly unhittable screwball, Mike Marshall played for nine different teams over 14 seasons, but he's best remembered as a successful reliever for the Dodgers between 1974 and 1976, and as the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in 1974.  Marshall didn't find much success in the early part of his career, despite a strong rookie campaign with the Tigers in 1967 when he had a 1.98 ERA over 37 relief appearances.  He bounced around a bit before assuming the closer role for the Expos in 1971.  He'd lead the league in games finished for four straight seasons beginning that year.  With the Expos in 1973 and the pennant-winning Dodgers in 1974, he'd lead the league with 31 and 21 saves, respectively.  Marshall appeared in a career-high, league leading 106 games in 1974, pitching 208 1/3 innings in relief and was 15-12 with a 2.42 ERA on the way to his Cy Young win.  He was also an All-Star in 1974 and 1975. 

Over the next six seasons, and somewhat due to having a difficult personality, Marshall spent time with the Braves, Rangers, Twins and Mets, once again leading the league in appearances and saves in 1979 when he entered 90 games for the Twins and notched 32 saves.  

For his career, Marshall was 97-112 with a 3.14 ERA in 724 games pitched, recording 188 saves, which is currently 59th on the all-time list.  Known for his quirkiness and his opinionated nature, Marshall often backed up his arguments with science, having earned his Ph.D. in kinesiology, the study of bone mechanics, from Michigan State University.

Building the Set / Card #8
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY)
I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room, and this was one of six cards from the 1969 Topps set I added to our stack of 1965 Topps commons, almost as an afterthought.  In total, I added 94 cards to our 1965 Topps set from Uncle Dick's and his neon green binders, six cards from the 1969 Topps set and two more from the 1959 Topps set for a future set build.  After a dealer discount, this Marshall card was $1.50.  Composing posts for these six cards will take much less time than it took to compose posts for the 94 cards added to our 1965 Topps set.

The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

For the first Pilots card in the set, Marshall is shown wearing a Tigers jersey in Yankee Stadium, in a photo from the same session that gave Topps the picture used for his 1968 Topps rookie card.  Topps left the cartoon tiger on the back of the card, despite Marshall having moved on to the Pilots.  The start of his professional career within the Phillies system (see below) is discussed, and there's an uncorrected error with the word mound misspelled as "mount."

Accuracy Index:  This card gets a -8 (minus five for the Tigers uniform, and minus three since Marshall is hatless) which could be considered a harsh grade given the Pilots were a new expansion team.

1969 Season
Marshall was left unprotected by the Tigers and selected by the Pilots as the 53rd pick in the 1968 expansion draft.  He made the club's opening day roster and the starting pitching rotation, starting the second game in Pilots' team history following Marty Pattin's (#563) opening day start.  Marshall was 3-10 with a 5.13 ERA in 20 games, including 14 starts, throwing 87 2/3 innings.  He made his final appearance with the Pilots on July 5th and then somehow spent the remainder of the season pitching for the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate and the team he had pitched with for the entire 1968 season.  Marshall was 6-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 11 starts for the Mud Hens.  On November 21st, he was sold to the Astros.

Phillies Connection
The Phillies signed Marshall as a shortstop in September 1960, and he struggled mightily in the field, committing 205 errors at four different stops in the Phillies' minor league system between 1961 and 1964.  He decided to convert to pitching in 1965, appearing in 44 games and going 8-9 with a 3.39 ERA in 85 innings for the Phillies' single-A and AA teams.  Having seen enough of Marshall, and convinced he would never make it as a pitcher, the Phillies sold him to the Tigers on April 11, 1966.

1968 Topps #201

1972 Topps #505

1974 Topps #73

1975 Topps #330

1977 Topps #263

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1968 Topps #201
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1968-1969, 1971-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #6
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  67 in the Beckett online database as of 12/28/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#16 Giants Rookie Stars / #18 Dick Schofield - St. Louis Cardinals