#32 Sammy Ellis - California Angels

Samuel Joseph Ellis
California Angels
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Born:  February 11, 1941, Youngstown, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1962, 1964-1967; California Angels 1968; Chicago White Sox 1969

Died:  May 13, 2016, Temple Terrace, FL (age 75)

Sammy Ellis pitched in parts of seven big league seasons, reaching the pinnacle of his career in 1965 when he made the National League All-Star team and won 22 games.  The Reds' top reliever in 1964, Ellis made 52 appearances out of the bullpen and had a 2.57 ERA over 122 1/3 innings pitched as the team's closer.  He saved a career-high 14 games for a Reds team that would eventually finish as a runner-up to the Cardinals for the league pennant.  Converted to a starting pitcher for the 1965 season, Ellis went 22-10 with a 3.79 ERA in 44 games, including 39 starts.  Perhaps due to his unrelenting workload, he'd develop arm problems shortly thereafter, and was never the same pitcher again.  Ellis continued to pitch through the 1971 season, last appearing for the Athletics' Double-A team in Birmingham.  He retired with a 63-58 record and a 4.15 career ERA, with 677 strikeouts.

1980 TCMA
Columbus Clippers #14

In the mid 1970s, Ellis began his second career as a minor and major league pitching coach.  He served on the big league staffs of the Yankees (1982-1986), Cubs (1989-1992), Mariners (1993-1994), Red Sox (1996) and Orioles (2000).

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

Building the Set / Card #91
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 14th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar.  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index -10

Ellis is wearing a Reds' uniform here, in a photo that could be several years old.  He looks confused at his fate of appearing on an Angels baseball card, hatless, and clearly wearing the wrong jersey.  The back of the card mentions how Ellis came to the Angels.  On November 29, 1967, the Reds traded him to California in exchange for Bill Kelso and Jorge Rubio.

Accuracy Index:  Ellis slips to a -10 for the Reds jersey (-5), being hatless (-3), and not actually playing for the Angels in 1969 (-2).

1969 Season
On January 20, 1969, before collectors were finding this card in packs, Ellis was dealt to the White Sox for Rube Rubilotta and Bill Voss (#621).  (Voss appears late in the 1969 Topps set on an Angels card.)  Ellis made 10 appearances for the White Sox through mid-June, going 0-3 with a 5.83 ERA in 29 1/3 innings.  His final appearance in the majors came on June 8th when he pitched a scoreless eighth inning in an eventual 11-2 loss against the Yankees in the Bronx.  On June 13th, Ellis was traded to the Indians for Jack Hamilton (#629), and he'd play out the balance of the season with the Triple-A Portland Beavers.

1963 Topps #29

1965 Topps #507

1966 Topps #250

1967 Topps #176

1968 Topps #453

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1963-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #293
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  50 in the Beckett online database as of 5/15/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#31 Mets Rookie Stars / #33 Wayne Causey - Atlanta Braves