#78 Tom Satriano - California Angels

Thomas Victor Nicholas Satriano
California Angels
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  185
Born:  August 28, 1940, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent, July 22, 1961
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Angels 1961-1964; California Angels 1965-1969; Boston Red Sox 1969-1970

Tom Satriano, nicknamed Mr. Everything for his versatility on the field and his role as a super substitute player, was signed by the expansion Angels in July 1961 and immediately placed on the team's active roster.  He had attended USC where a few months earlier he was a member of the Trojans' 1961 NCAA Tournament championship team.  Originally an infielder, Satriano was converted to a catcher in 1963 and that would remain his primary position.  A back-up for most of his 10 big league seasons, his best year came in 1968 when he appeared in 111 games for the Angels, batting .253 with career highs in both home runs (8) and RBIs (35).  He spent two seasons as a back-up catcher with the Red Sox and played in 1971 with the Padres' top farm club in Hawaii before retiring as an active player.  In 674 big league games, Satriano batted .225 with 21 home runs and 157 RBIs.

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

Building the Set / Card #127
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 50th 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 less than a dollar.

The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

This is the exact same photo used for Satriano's 1967 Topps card.  The write-up on the back of the card explains Satriano's first home run was wiped out by rain.  I'm guessing this home run was hit on July 20, 1961, as he made his debut on July 23rd and the 20th was the last date the Angels didn't play an official game.  The Topps cartoonist also highlights Satriano's versatility.

Accuracy Index:  Satriano gets the lowest positive score since he's wearing the right uniform (+5) but in a photo collectors had seen before (-4).

1969 Season
Satriano began the season with the Angels, and was the club's opening day catcher.  He was one of three original Angels still with the team at the start of the season, along with Jim Fregosi (#365) and Buck Rodgers (#157).  Satriano started strong, but saw his average plummet nearly 100 points when he went through a 4 for 37 slump in May.  On June 15th, Satriano was dealt to the Red Sox in exchange for catcher Joe Azcue (#176).  Azcue had become unhappy with the Red Sox, leaving the team at one point, and the Red Sox gladly swapped Azcue in exchange for Satriano.  In 47 games with Boston, Satriano batted .189 with nary a home run.

1963 Topps #548

1965 Topps #124

1967 Topps #343

1968 Topps #238

1971 Topps #557

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #548
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1963-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #557
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  30 in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#77 Ron Perranoski - Minnesota Twins / #79 Milt Pappas - Atlanta Braves