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John Edward Briggs
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield
Born: March 10, 1944, Paterson, NJ
Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies, September 12, 1962
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1964-1971; Milwaukee Brewers 1971-1975; Minnesota Twins 1975
John Briggs enjoyed a 12-year big league career, playing primarily with the Phillies and Brewers. Briggs made his debut with the Phillies in 1964 as a 20-year-old rookie and never went back down to the minor leagues. He spent his first few seasons as a fourth outfielder with the club, and never quite found regular playing time until a trade at the start of the 1971 season sent him to the Brewers. With Milwaukee, Briggs settled in as the club's regular left fielder between 1972 and 1974, hitting a career high 21 home runs in both 1971 and 1972. He drove in a career high 73 runs in 1974. Briggs went 6 for 6 in a game against the Indians on August 4, 1973, and he'd earn MVP votes that season.
After a half-season with the Twins in 1975, Briggs' big league career was over and he left the majors after 1,366 games with a .253 career average and 139 home runs. Briggs played 47 games in Japan for the Lotte Orions in 1976 before officially retiring.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #11
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 1959 Topps cards for a future set build. This Briggs card was $1. 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 / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Briggs was on the Phillies' roster all season, appearing in 124 games and making 55 starts in left field, 25 starts in center field, nine starts in right field and a pair of starts at first base. He batted .238 in his utility role with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. Briggs went 4-for-4 in a game against the Expos on June 28th, driving in five runs in a 13-8 win. He'd have a multi-home run day against the Cubs on July 11th.
Phillies Career
Briggs debuted with the Phillies on April 17, 1964 after playing only a year in the minors. He played sparingly during that fateful season, appearing in 61 games. Over the final month of the season, when the Phillies dramatically fell out of first place, Briggs appeared in 16 games and batted .100 (1 for 10). His role as a bench player continued over the next several seasons until he finally began to see more playing time in 1967. For four consecutive seasons between 1967 and 1970, Briggs appeared in at least 100 games and his final full year in Philadelphia, 1970, was perhaps his best. Briggs hit .270 that season with nine home runs and 47 RBIs as the team's primary left fielder. In 1971, as the Phillies moved into the new Veterans Stadium, Briggs was the team's opening day left fielder in Pittsburgh and the first Phillies left fielder in Veterans Stadium history a few days later. After only 10 games with the Phillies in 1971, Briggs was dealt to the Brewers on April 22nd for first baseman Pete Koegel and pitcher Ray Peters. Overall, Briggs appeared in 695 games with the Phillies, batting .251 with 52 home runs and 209 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #482
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #424
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 50 in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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 1959 Topps cards for a future set build. This Briggs card was $1. 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 / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is one of those cards where the circle used to include the player's name and position works very well with the photo selected. Similar to his 1965 Topps card, the back of the card plays up Briggs' success while a member of the Bakersfield Bears in 1963. We also learn Briggs' hobby is bowling.
Accuracy Index: Briggs scores a solid 5 for appearing on the correct team and in the correct uniform, although the photo itself may actually be several years' old.
1969 Season
Briggs was on the Phillies' roster all season, appearing in 124 games and making 55 starts in left field, 25 starts in center field, nine starts in right field and a pair of starts at first base. He batted .238 in his utility role with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. Briggs went 4-for-4 in a game against the Expos on June 28th, driving in five runs in a 13-8 win. He'd have a multi-home run day against the Cubs on July 11th.
Briggs debuted with the Phillies on April 17, 1964 after playing only a year in the minors. He played sparingly during that fateful season, appearing in 61 games. Over the final month of the season, when the Phillies dramatically fell out of first place, Briggs appeared in 16 games and batted .100 (1 for 10). His role as a bench player continued over the next several seasons until he finally began to see more playing time in 1967. For four consecutive seasons between 1967 and 1970, Briggs appeared in at least 100 games and his final full year in Philadelphia, 1970, was perhaps his best. Briggs hit .270 that season with nine home runs and 47 RBIs as the team's primary left fielder. In 1971, as the Phillies moved into the new Veterans Stadium, Briggs was the team's opening day left fielder in Pittsburgh and the first Phillies left fielder in Veterans Stadium history a few days later. After only 10 games with the Phillies in 1971, Briggs was dealt to the Brewers on April 22nd for first baseman Pete Koegel and pitcher Ray Peters. Overall, Briggs appeared in 695 games with the Phillies, batting .251 with 52 home runs and 209 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #482
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #424
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 50 in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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