 |
.jpg) |
John Joseph Podres
San Diego Padres
Pitcher
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
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
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room
#658 A.L. Rookie Stars / #660 Reggie Smith - Boston Red Sox
No comments:
Post a Comment