#524 Expos Rookie Stars - Jose Laboy / Floyd Wicker

Jose Alberto Laboy
Montreal Expos
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  165
Born:  July 4, 1940, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams:  Montreal Expos 1969-1973

Floyd Euliss Wicker
Montreal Expos
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  175
Born:  September 12, 1943, Burlington, NC
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1968; Montreal Expos 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970-1971; San Francisco Giants 1971

For ten seasons between 1959 and 1968, Coco Laboy languished in the minor league systems of the Giants and Cardinals, never making it higher than either team's Triple-A level.  Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, Laboy finally got his chance in the majors with the new Expos team.  He was the club's first ever third baseman, making all but 15 starts at the position in the franchise's inaugural year.  1969 was by far Laboy's best year in the majors, as he batted .258 with 18 home runs and 83 RBIs, leading the Expos in RBIs and finishing third on the team in home runs behind Rusty Staub (#230) and Mack Jones (#625).  He finished tied for second in the Rookie of the Year voting with Al Oliver (#82), behind winner Ted Sizemore (#552).  Laboy would steadily decline after that first year, with a knee injury contributing to him eventually losing his third baseman's job to Bob Bailey (#399) in 1971.  In 420 major league games, all with the Expos, Laboy batted .233 with 28 home runs and 166 RBIs.  He'd later be credited with scouting Edgar Martinez for the Mariners in the early 1980s.

Floyd Wicker played in part of four seasons in the majors, and was on the Expos' roster for their entire inaugural season.  Wicker appeared in 81 games with four different teams, making 16 starts and being used primarily as a pinch-hitter.  For his career, he batted .159 (18 for 113) with one home runs and six RBIs.  His only home run came on September 26, 1970, in the top of the first inning against White Sox pitcher Floyd Weaver and it scored Tommy Harper (#42) who had walked to lead off the game.

1971 Topps #97

Building the Set / Card #70
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 Expos Rookie Stars card which was $3.

The Card / Expos Team Set / Laboy Accuracy Index +10 / Wicker Accuracy Index +10
This is the rookie card for both Laboy and Wicker.  Topps created a stand-alone version of the card for Laboy as part of its 2019 Topps Archives 50th Annversary of the Montreal Expos insert set.  I love that Wicker is clearly wearing his tricolor Expos hat underneath his helmet.  Topps unnecessarily uses a lower case "a" in Laboy's name on the back of the card.

Accuracy Index:  Perfect scores all around as both players are pictured in the expansion Expos uniforms.

1969 Season - Laboy
As mentioned above, this was Laboy's best season in the majors.  In the Expos' inaugural game against the Mets on April 8th, Laboy started at third and batted seventh.  He hit the first three-run home run in franchise history in the eighth inning of that game off Mets' pitcher Ron Taylor (#72), with Bailey and John Bateman (#138) scoring ahead of him.

1969 Season - Wicker
Wicker was with the Expos all season, but didn't make his first start until June 12th, in center field against the Padres.  It was his only start of the season.  He appeared in 41 games overall, which included 30 pinch-hitting and four pinch-running appearances.  Wicker batted .103 (4 for 39) in what must have been a very long season for him.

1970 Topps #238

1971 Topps #132

1972 Topps #727

1973 Topps #642

2019 Topps Archives 50th Anniversary of the Montreal Expos #MTL-CL

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Laboy
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #524
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1969-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Archives 50th Anniversary of the Montreal Expos #MTL-CL
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  33 in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/23.

Sources - Laboy:  

Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Wicker
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #524
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1969, 1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #97
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  9 in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/23.

Sources - Wicker:  

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#523 Bob Chance - California Angels / #525 Earl Wilson - Detroit Tigers