#164 1968 World Series Game 3 - McCarver's Homer Puts St. Louis Ahead

The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free (?) publicity as the paper's banner.

Building the Set / Card #76
February 23, 2023 from Glen Morgan, WV
A few nights after I learned of Tim McCarver's passing, I found his two cards from the 1969 Topps set from eBay seller nflmlb with reasonable Buy It Now prices.  The two cards were a combined $11 and arrived a day or two later from Morgan, West Virginia.

My earliest memories of McCarver are as a Phillies broadcaster in the early 1980s, and I met him in the Phillies' broadcast booth the same night I played catch on the Veterans Stadium outfield turf with Bob Dernier.  (I need to memorialize that full story at some point, likely over at The Phillies Room.)  My strongest memories of McCarver involve by maternal grandfather, my Pop-Pop, tuning in to watch Mets games, just so he could root against the hated Mets and criticize McCarver for his broadcasting style.  My Pop-Pop loved the Phillies, never missing a televised game, and he'd sometimes spend an evening flipping channels from the Phillies (Channel 17, then 29), to the Yankees (Channel 11), to the Mets (Channel 9) depending on which game was the most interesting that night.  He's the one who first clued me in to the life hack of having the Phillies game on the radio and turning down the volume of the TV set so that he could follow Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn when they moved over to radio for a few innings.  I did that throughout the Phillies' entire 2022 playoff and World Series run, never hearing a word of any of the national broadcasters and preferring to listen to Scott Franzke tell me what was going on.  In any event, I can't remember any specific reason why my Pop-Pop held McCarver in such low regard, and maybe he's giving McCarver an earful now in that great ballpark in the sky.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Tigers Team Set

With the series tied at 1-1, the two teams faced off on October 5th at Tiger Stadium.  Ray Washburn (#415) was on the mound for the Cardinals, facing off against the Tigers' Earl Wilson (#525).  Al Kaline (#410) hit a two-run home run in the third to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals would take the lead for good in the fifth.  With Wilson starting the inning, Lou Brock (#85) singled to center, stole second and came home on a double to left by Curt Flood (#540).  Roger Maris walked next, ending Wilson's day and bringing reliever Pat Dobson (#231) into the game.  McCarver launched a three-run home run to deep center field, scoring Flood and Maris and giving the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.  Orlando Cepeda (#385) would put the game out of reach in the seventh with his own three-run home run, again scoring Flood and Maris.

Topps uses a photo of McCarver crossing the plate on the front of the card, and goes with a weird, hybrid box score on the back, showing hitting and fielding summaries along with a line score.  Mike Shannon (#110), the on-deck batter, has his head cut off by Topps, so I'm not going to tag him as actually appearing on this card.  This Maris cameo marks his only appearance in the 1969 Topps set, as the slugger retired following the 1968 World Series.  Tommy Matchick (#344), Wayne Comer (#346) and Jim Price (#472) are all shown without positions for the Tigers in the box score, and each of them pinch-hit at some point during the game.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#163 1968 World Series Game 2 / #165 1968 World Series Game 4

#475 Tim McCarver - St. Louis Cardinals

James Timothy McCarver
St. Louis Cardinals
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  183
Born:  October 16, 1941, Memphis, TN
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, June 8, 1959
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1959-1961, 1963-1969; Philadelphia Phillies 1970-1972; Montreal Expos 1972; St. Louis Cardinals 1973-1974; Boston Red Sox 1974-1975; Philadelphia Phillies 1975-1980

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1964, 1967-1968
Died:  February 16, 2023, Memphis, TN (age 81)

Tim McCarver enjoyed a 21-year major league career as a catcher, most notably with the Cardinals and Phillies, before embarking on a Hall of Fame career as a broadcaster.  McCarver was an All-Star in 1966 and 1967 and the starting catcher for the World Champion Cardinals in 1964 and 1968.  He achieved his career-best triple crown in 1967, with a .295 average to go along with 14 home runs and 69 RBIs.  McCarver twice led the league in fielding percentage for a catcher (1965 and 1967) and he also led the league with 13 triples in 1966.  The long-time personal catcher for Steve Carlton (#477), McCarver later served as Bob Boone's back-up during the Phillies mini-dynasty between 1976 and 1978.

After retiring as a player, McCarver began his broadcast career with the Phillies, paired with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn in 1980.  On a local level, he'd work with the Phillies (1980-1982), Mets (1983-1998), Yankees (1999-2001) and Giants (2002).  On a national level, McCarver called 23 different World Series and 20 All-Star Games, most frequently for Fox Sports.  A broadcaster for over 35 years, McCarver was the recipient of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award in 2012 for broadcasting excellence.

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

Building the Set / Card #76
February 23, 2023 from Glen Morgan, WV
A few nights after I learned of McCarver's passing, I found his two cards from the 1969 Topps set from eBay seller nflmlb with reasonable Buy It Now prices.  The two cards were a combined $11 and arrived a day or two later from Morgan, West Virginia.

My earliest memories of McCarver are as a Phillies broadcaster in the early 1980s, and I met him in the Phillies' broadcast booth the same night I played catch on the Veterans Stadium outfield turf with Bob Dernier.  (I need to memorialize that full story at some point, likely over at The Phillies Room.)  My strongest memories of McCarver involve by maternal grandfather, my Pop-Pop, tuning in to watch Mets games, just so he could root against the hated Mets and criticize McCarver for his broadcasting style.  My Pop-Pop loved the Phillies, never missing a televised game, and he'd sometimes spend an evening flipping channels from the Phillies (Channel 17, then 29), to the Yankees (Channel 11), to the Mets (Channel 9) depending on which game was the most interesting that night.  He's the one who first clued me in to the life hack of having the Phillies game on the radio and turning down the volume of the TV set so that he could follow Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn when they moved over to radio for a few innings.  I did that throughout the Phillies' entire 2022 playoff and World Series run, never hearing a word of any of the national broadcasters and preferring to listen to Scott Franzke tell me what was going on.  In any event, I can't remember any specific reason why my Pop-Pop held McCarver in such low regard, and maybe he's giving McCarver an earful now in that great ballpark in the sky.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

#15 is the uniform number McCarver wore the longest with the Cardinals, and his Baseball Reference page shows he wore #51, #9 and #20 with the team early in his career.  The back of the card highlights his .478 average in the 1964 World Series and his league-leading 13 triples from 1966.

Accuracy Index:  McCarver's card scores a five for showing him in a Cardinals uniform on a photo Topps hadn't used before.

Inserts:  McCarver is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
In the final season of his first stint with the Cardinals, McCarver appeared in 138 games, batting .260 with seven home runs and 51 RBIs.  He made 136 starts behind the plate, with Joe Torre (#460) moving over from first base to replace McCarver for 16 starts.  Dave Ricketts (#232) made seven starts and a young Ted Simmons made three starts after earning a September call-up.  With Simmons waiting in the wings and Torre available to take over catching duties, McCarver was swapped to the Phillies as part of a major eight-player trade discussed below.

Phillies Career
McCarver first came to the Phillies in an historic trade that ultimately led to the advent of free agency, due to Curt Flood (#540) refusing to report to Philadelphia.  On October 7, 1969, the Cardinals traded McCarver, Flood, Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner (#522) to the Phillies for Dick Allen (#350), Jerry Johnson (#253) and Cookie Rojas (#507).  Both McCarver and back-up catcher Mike Ryan (#28) were injured in the same game in early May 1970, leading to a season-long catching crisis in Philadelphia.  During his first stint with the club, McCarver appeared in 223 games, batting .272.  The team dealt him to the Expos on June 14, 1972 for fellow catcher John Bateman (#138).

McCarver returned to the Phillies, this time as a veteran back-up, signing with the club as a free agent on July 1, 1975, a week after being released by the Red Sox.  Between 1975 and 1980, he appeared in 405 games, batting .271.  In total, during his nine seasons in Philadelphia, McCarver played in 628 games, including a brief return in September 1980 after spending most of that season in the team's broadcast booth.  As mentioned above, McCarver would broadcast Phillies games in 1981 and 1982 before departing for his next announcing gig with the Mets.

1962 Topps #167

1968 Topps #275

1971 Topps #465

1977 Topps #357

1980 Topps #178

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #167
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19):  1962-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-TMC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  179 in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

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

#474 Tom Murphy - California Angels / #476 Red Sox Rookie Stars

#659 Johnny Podres - San Diego Padres

John Joseph Podres
San Diego Padres
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  September 30, 1932, Witherbee, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1955, 1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966; Detroit Tigers 1966-1967; San Diego Padres 1969

World Series Appearances:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1953, 1955; Los Angeles Dodgers 1959, 1963
Died:  January 13, 2008, Glens Falls, NY (age 75)

Johnny Podres forever joined the ranks of Dodger greats when the lefty won 1955 World Series MVP honors for his two fantastic starts against the Yankees in the Fall Classic.  Podres started Game 3, pitching a complete game in the Dodgers' win, and then started the decisive Game 7, pitching a complete game shutout to give the team their first and only World Series title while in Brooklyn.  Podres settled in as a reliable starter for Brooklyn and then Los Angeles, winning at least 12 games over the next seven seasons and making four All-Star teams.  He led the league with six shutouts in 1957 while winning the ERA title with a 2.66 mark.  Podres attained a career-high 18 wins in 1961, and he'd win two more World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959 and 1963.  He retired as a player following a half-season with the expansion Padres in 1969.  Podres was 148-116 over 440 career games, pitching 77 complete games and 24 shutouts.  He struck out 1,435 over his 15-year big league career, currently 254th on the all-time leader's list.  Podres' 136 career wins with the Dodgers currently ranks 10th all-time for the franchise.

Podres served as a long-time pitching coach in the majors, working for the Padres (1973), Red Sox (1980), Twins (1981-1985) and Phillies (1991-1996).

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

Building the Set / Card #75
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Podres card which was $12.

The Card / Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index +10

It's Podres on the Padres!  This is Podres' last appearance in a Topps flagship set as an active player, and he'd show up as a Padres coach in the 1973 Topps card featuring manager Don Zimmer.  The back of this card is mostly statistics, although Topps points out Podres had won four World Series games.  The card was reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set.

Accuracy Index:  Collectors of the 1969 Topps set didn't have many opportunities to see what an actual Padres uniform looked like.  There are 25 Padres cards in the set, and only six of them show players in a Padres jersey and hat, including this Podres card.  Podres scores a coveted perfect 10 for showing up late in the set in his new brown gear.

1969 Season
Podres was out of baseball in 1968, having been released by the Tigers following the 1967 season.  Looking to make a comeback, he signed with the expansion Padres on March 21, 1969, and he was the second starting pitcher in Padres' franchise history behind Dick Selma (#197), who had started on opening day.  Podres threw perhaps the best game of his short season in that start, pitching seven shutout innings against the Astros on April 9th.  He'd get roughed up over his next several outings, and his final two great starts came on May 25th and June 1st.  On May 25th, he pitched a complete game against the Cubs, allowing one earned run.  On June 1st, he went seven solid innings against the Expos, again only giving up an earned run.  His final appearance would come on June 21st in relief against the Astros, and his final out recorded was a strikeout of the opposing pitcher, Tom Griffin (#614).  Griffin was seven years old when Podres was named the MVP of the 1955 World Series.

Phillies Career
Podres was hired as the Phillies pitching coach on October 31, 1990, after spending the prior five seasons as a minor league coach with the Dodgers.  He joined manager Nick Leyva's coaching staff as the replacement for Darold Knowles, who had departed after two seasons at the post.  Podres stuck around following Leyva's dismissal 13 games into the 1991 season, and he was a key member of new manager Jim Fregosi's (#365) coaching staff throughout the early 1990s.  Podres is credited with helping Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene, Ben Rivera, and other young Phillies pitchers find early success in their careers.  He went to his final World Series with the club in 1993, with the Phillies falling in six games to Joe Carter and the Blue Jays.  Podres left the team during the 1996 season to deal with health issues and was replaced on an interim basis by Jim Wright.  Following the 1996 season, and in connection with the hiring of new manager Terry Francona, Podres was replaced by Galen Cisco (#211) as the team's full-time pitching coach.

1953 Topps #263

1955 Topps #25

1959 Topps #495

1963 Topps #150

1967 Topps #284

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #263
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1953-1967, 1969, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Topps Stepping Up #SU-4
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  367 in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#658 A.L. Rookie Stars / #660 Reggie Smith - Boston Red Sox

#565 Hoyt Wilhelm - California Angels

James Hoyt Wilhelm
California Angels
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  July 26, 1922, Huntersville, NC
Acquired:  Purchased by the Boston Braves from Mooresville (North Carolina State), October 28, 1947
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1952-1956; St. Louis Cardinals 1957; Cleveland Indians 1957-1958; Baltimore Orioles 1958-1962; Chicago White Sox 1963-1968; California Angels 1969; Atlanta Braves 1969-1970; Chicago Cubs 1970; Atlanta Braves 1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1971-1972

World Series Appearances:  New York Giants 1954
Died:  August 23, 2002, Sarasota, FL (age 80)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1985

Hoyt Wilhelm served during World War II, seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge, before making his big league debut with the Giants in 1952 at the age of 29.  On the strength of his resiliency and his knuckle ball, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career over the next 21 seasons, pitching until he was nearly 50 years old.  His sole postseason action came in 1954 when his Giants swept the Indians in four games in the World Series.  Wilhelm was an eight-time All-Star and his league's ERA leader in 1952 with the Giants and 1959 with the Orioles.  He threw a no-hitter with the Orioles in 1958 and 1959 was perhaps his best season as he appeared in 32 games and went 15-11 with a 2.19 ERA and a career-high 139 strikeouts.  He appeared with nine different teams, spending the most time with the White Sox.  Between 1963 and 1968 with the White Sox, Wilhelm went 41-33 with a 1.92 ERA and 99 saves.  He was the oldest player in the majors between 1966 and his retirement in 1972.

1988 Pacific Legends I #76

Wilhelm holds the major league record for wins in relief (124) and he was also the first pitcher in major league history to reach the 200 save plateau and to appear in 1,000 games.  For his career, Wilhelm was 143-122 in 1,070 games pitched (currently 6th all-time) with 228 saves (43rd) and 1,610 strikeouts.  Upon his retirement, he had the lowest career ERA (2.52) of any pitcher since 1927 (Walter Johnson) with at least 2,000 innings pitched.  He briefly managed in the minor leagues following his retirement, and then was a minor league pitching coach with the Yankees for 22 years.  Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2002.

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

Building the Set / Card #74
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Wilhelm card which was $12.

The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Wilhelm is wearing a White Sox jersey here, and the photo appears to come from the same session as the photo used for his 1965 Topps card.  The back of the card is nothing but glorious statistics for the future Hall of Famer.

Accuracy Index:  Wilhelm receives a -8 for the White Sox jersey (-5) and the logo-less hat (-3).

Inserts:  Wilhelm 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 and one of only eight future Hall of Famers to appear in both insert sets.  Given the composition of the Deckle Edge checklist, and while Wilhelm's hat is logo less,  his card here was meant to be a Royals card.  When he was traded to the Angels, Topps pulled the Wilhelm card and replaced him with Joe Foy so that the Royals could be represented by someone actually on their team.  (See below and my Deckle Edge Insert Set page for more detail.)

1969 Season
Wilhelm, at 46 years old, was left unprotected by the White Sox in the expansion draft and selected by the Royals as the 49th pick on October 15, 1968.  He'd never wear a Royals uniform, as the team traded him to the Angels on December 12, 1968 for Ed Kirkpatrick (#529) and Dennis Paepke.  Wilhelm, along with closer Ken Tatum, was one of the Angels' better relievers, going 5-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 44 games.  He pitched 65 2/3 innings, saving 10 games.  On September 8th, Wilhelm was traded to the Braves with Bob Priddy (#248) for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers.  The Braves were attempting to win the National League West pennant, and Wilhelm may have been the player to put them over the top.  In eight games with the Braves, Wilhelm was 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA, striking out 14 in 12 1/3 innings.  He converted four saves as the Braves would win the pennant.  Acquired too late for postseason eligibility, Wilhelm had to watch from the dugout as the Braves were swept in three games in the NLDS by the Mets.

1952 Topps #392

1954 Topps #36

1959 Topps #349

1965 Topps #276

1972 Topps #777

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #392
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1952-1954, 1956-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Now Turn Back the Clock #116
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  493 in the Beckett online database as of 2/21/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

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

#564 Gil Hodges MG - New York Mets / #566 Ron Hansen - Chicago White Sox

#556 A's Stars - Sal Bando / Bert Campaneris / Danny Cater CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #73
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this A's Stars card which was $10.

The Card / Athletics Team Set

Similar to the combo card proceeding it, the "Bird Hill Aces" (#532) that omitted the main Bird Hill Ace, Jim Palmer (#573), this card omits the biggest star for the A's in 1969 - Reggie Jackson (#260).  As Jackson had first made his mark on the league in 1968, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Topps.  What's more, first baseman Danny Cater's (#44) inclusion here is somewhat surprising, given he had never been considered in the "star" category.  He did finish second in the batting race in 1968 with a .290 mark, but that's barely star-worthy.  In 1968, the Athletics sent three players to the All-Star Game - Bert Campaneris (#495), Rick Monday (#105) and John Odom (#195).  In 1969, Odom returned to the All-Star Game and was joined by teammates Sal Bando (#371) and Jackson.  Nothing against former Phillie Cater here, but an A's Stars card likely should have omitted him and included either Monday, Odom or the budding superstar Jackson.

What's more, the first sentence on the back of the card refers to the "youthful A's" which would have fit the description of Bando (25), Monday and Jackson (both 23), but likely not Cater (29).  Had the Topps photographer found someway to squeeze Jackson into this photo, it would have been much more desirable and accurate.

1969 Season

The three top players in 1969 for the Athletics were Jackson, Bando and second baseman Dick Green (#515).  Hank Bauer's (#124) club was in first place as late as July 4th, but then fell into second place on July 5th, where they'd stay for the duration of the season.  Their 88-74 record landed them nine games behind the American League West division winners, the Twins.  Bando batted .281 with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs, leading the team in batting, but second behind Jackson who had a monster year.  At one point, Jackson's home run tally was on pace to break Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs set in 1961.  Jackson would finish the season with 47 home runs and 118 RBIs.

Campaneris had another consistent year, playing steady shortstop and batting .260 with 62 stolen bases, which was second in the league behind Tommy Harper's (#42) 73.  Cater had a decent year too, batting .262 over 152 games with 10 home runs and 76 RBIs.  His RBI tally was third on the club behind Jackson and Bando.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#555 Jim Hart - San Francisco Giants / #557 Frank Fernandez - New York Yankees

#532 Bird Hill Aces - Phoebus / Hardin / McNally / Cuellar CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #72
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Bird Hill Aces card which was $10.

October 9, 1969 - Cuellar, Palmer and McNally

The Card / Orioles Team Set

Collectors and baseball fans will most likely immediately recognize there's a key person missing in this photo, as it only features four of the five most regularly used starting pitchers by the pennant-winning 1969 Orioles team.  Dave McNally (#340) was the team's opening day pitcher, followed by Mike Cuellar (#453) and Jim Hardin (#610).  But then future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (#573) slotted in as the fourth starter with Tom Phoebus (#185) rounding out the quintet.  Cuellar is the newcomer to the group, as he had been acquired from the Astros on December 4, 1968.  

It's likely this photo was taken during spring training in 1969, on the same day Cuellar was having his picture taken for his solo Topps card in the set.  The back of the card summarizes the accolades of each pitcher, starting with Phoebus and Hardin.  Palmer would throw his only career no-hitter on August 13, 1969, driving home his unfortunate omission from a card labelled "Bird Hill Aces."

1969 Season
McNally was one of six Orioles to head to the All-Star Game in 1969, and the only pitcher from the club.  Cuellar would lead the pitching staff with a 23-11 record, a 2.38 ERA, 18 complete games and five shutouts.  McNally was 20-7 with a 3.22 ERA.  Palmer, despite only making 26 appearances and 23 starts, would top all Orioles pitchers with a 4.2 bWAR.  He was 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA, 11 complete games and a team-leading six shutouts.  He'd strike out 123 in 181 innings.  Phoebus was 14-7 with a 3.52 ERA and Hardin finished with a 6-7 record to go with a 3.60 ERA at the back end of the rotation.

McNally threw an 11-inning complete game shutout against the Twins in Game 2 of the ALDS, striking out 11.  Palmer clinched the series with a complete game of his own in Game 3.  In the 1969 World Series,  Cuellar won Game 1 with a complete game victory, allowing just a run.  Jerry Koosman (#90) out dueled McNally in Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1.  Game 3 saw Palmer get roughed up, allowing four runs over six innings and Game 4 belonged to Tom Seaver (#480) who outmatched Cuellar in another low-scoring extra inning game.  In the decisive Game 5, McNally took the mound again, with he and Eddie Watt (#652) faltering in the late innings as the Mets amazingly took the World Series.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#531 Dick Farrell - Philadelphia Phillies / #533 Nolan Ryan - New York Mets

#530 Cesar Tovar - Minnesota Twins

Cesar Leonardo Tovar
Minnesota Twins
Third Base-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  155
Born:  July 3, 1940, Caracas, Venezuela
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams:  Minnesota Twins 1965-1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1973; Texas Rangers 1974-1975; Oakland Athletics 1975-1976; New York Yankees 1976

Died:  July 14, 1994, Caracas, Venezuela (age 54)

The versatile Cesar Tovar played for 12 season in the major leagues and an impressive 26 seasons in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, second only to Vic Davalillo (#275) in terms of longevity in that league.  (Davaillio played 30 seasons.)  Primarily an infielder, Tovar was known for his ability to play any position and on September 22, 1968 he became the second player in the majors, after Bert Campaneris (#495), to play all nine positions in a game.  Tovar led the league in doubles (36) and triples (13) in 1970, and he led the league in hits with 204 in 1971.  He finished in the top ten in the league for stolen bases in six different seasons.  In 1,488 career games, Tovar collected 1,546 hits while batting .278 with 226 stole bases.

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

Building the Set / Card #71
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Tovar card which was $4.

The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

They're different photos, but I'm assuming the photos used for Tovar's 1968 and 1969 Topps cards were taken at the same time.  The back of the card touts Tovar being named the Most Valuable Twin for 1968, and his bWAR would back that up.  Tovar, who batted .272 with 35 stolen bases and a team-leading 89 runs scored in 1968, had a bWAR of 4.8.  Among all Twins position players, the next closest player was right fielder Tony Oliva (#600) with a 3.8.  Starting pitcher Dean Chance (#620) led the team overall with a 5.2 mark.

Accuracy Index:  Tovar scores a five for being pictured in a Twins uniform in a photo not used before by Topps.

1969 Season
Tovar put together one of his most productive seasons, batting .288 with 99 runs scored, 11 home runs (a career high) and 54 RBIs as an everyday player for the American League West division winner Twins.  He stole a career-high 45 bases in 57 attempts, third best in the league.  Manager Billy Martin (#547) inserted Tovar all over the field defensively, as he made 65 starts in center field, 33 starts at second base, 14 starts at third base, eight starts in right field and three starts in left field.  Martin would call Tovar his "little leader" in his 1981 book, Number 1.  Tovar struggled in the ALDS against the Orioles, batting just .077 (1 for 13) as the Orioles swept the Twins in three games.

Phillies Career
On November 30, 1972, the Twins traded Tovar to the Phillies for Joe Lis, Ken Reynolds and Ken Sanders and he'd spend the 1973 season platooning with top prospect Mike Schmidt at third base.  In 97 games for the Phillies, Tovar made 39 starts at third base, 20 starts at second base, 16 starts in right field and two starts a piece in left field and center field.  He hit .268 during his lone Phillies season with 18 doubles, a home run, 21 RBIs and six stolen bases.  Tovar missed most of July recovering from a knee injury.

On December 7, 1973, and with the Phillies now invested in Schmidt as their future third baseman, Tovar was sold to the Rangers.

1965 Topps #201

1970 Topps #25

1972 Topps #275

1974 Topps #538

1977 Topps #408

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #201
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1965-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA the 1960s I #174
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  71 in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#529 Ed Kirkpatrick - Kansas City Royals / #531 Dick Farrell - Philadelphia Phillies