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James Reynold Lonborg
Boston Red Sox
Catcher
Born: April 16, 1942, Santa Maria, CA
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, August 14, 1963
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1965-1971; Milwaukee Brewers 1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1973-1979
World Series Appearances: Boston Red Sox 1967
A veteran of 15 big league seasons, Jim Lonborg enjoyed his best season in 1967, making the A.L. All Star team, winning 22 games and helping pitch the Red Sox to the pennant. Lonborg started three of the seven games in the World Series eventually lost to the Cardinals and was awarded the Cy Young Award for his amazing season. He'd never win 20 games in the majors again, but he'd come close by winning 17 in 1974 and 18 in 1976, both with the Phillies. For his career, he compiled a 157-137 record with a 3.86 ERA and 1,475 strikeouts. Lonborg was elected into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002.
A veteran of 15 big league seasons, Jim Lonborg enjoyed his best season in 1967, making the A.L. All Star team, winning 22 games and helping pitch the Red Sox to the pennant. Lonborg started three of the seven games in the World Series eventually lost to the Cardinals and was awarded the Cy Young Award for his amazing season. He'd never win 20 games in the majors again, but he'd come close by winning 17 in 1974 and 18 in 1976, both with the Phillies. For his career, he compiled a 157-137 record with a 3.86 ERA and 1,475 strikeouts. Lonborg was elected into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #147
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
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| From the 1977 Phillies Yearbook |
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 70th 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 $1.25.
The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is one of the strangest crops of a photo I've come across so far in our set build. There's really no reason why Lonborg is so far to the left and down, when he easily could have been scooched over and up a little. It's almost as if Topps wanted to make sure both the American flag and the ad for Gilbey's Gin both made it onto the card, peaking over each of Lonborg's shoulders. It's no surprise Topps focuses on Lonborg's amazing 1967 campaign on the back of the card.
Accuracy Index: Lonborg's card scores a solid 5, despite the odd cropping job.
1969 Season
Lonborg slipped a little following his fantastic 1967 season, going 6-10 in 1968 and 7-11 in 1969. He made 23 starts, pitching to a 4.51 ERA with four complete games. Only Ray Cup (#391) and Mike Nagy had more starts on the Red Sox staff than Lonborg. His season was plagued by injuries as he missed three weeks at the start of the season with shoulder pain, missed more time with a broken toe suffered on June 21st and then pitched through shoulder pain throughout the rest of the season.
Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Lonborg from the Brewers on October 31, 1972 with Ken Brett (#476), Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson for Bill Champion, Don Money (#454) and John Vukovich. Lonborg immediately solidified a shaky Phillies pitching rotation, and he'd serve as one of the club's top starters throughout the rest of the decade. Second only behind Steve Carlton (#255) for most of his time in the Phillies' rotation, Lonborg helped the team reach the postseason in three straight seasons between 1976 to 1978.
He was released on June 16, 1979, ending his playing days. With the Phillies, Lonborg appeared in 188 games, pitching more innings than he had during his seven seasons in Boston. He went 75-60 with a 3.98 ERA and 548 strikeouts.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #573
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1965-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #69
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 139 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Lonborg slipped a little following his fantastic 1967 season, going 6-10 in 1968 and 7-11 in 1969. He made 23 starts, pitching to a 4.51 ERA with four complete games. Only Ray Cup (#391) and Mike Nagy had more starts on the Red Sox staff than Lonborg. His season was plagued by injuries as he missed three weeks at the start of the season with shoulder pain, missed more time with a broken toe suffered on June 21st and then pitched through shoulder pain throughout the rest of the season.
The Phillies acquired Lonborg from the Brewers on October 31, 1972 with Ken Brett (#476), Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson for Bill Champion, Don Money (#454) and John Vukovich. Lonborg immediately solidified a shaky Phillies pitching rotation, and he'd serve as one of the club's top starters throughout the rest of the decade. Second only behind Steve Carlton (#255) for most of his time in the Phillies' rotation, Lonborg helped the team reach the postseason in three straight seasons between 1976 to 1978.
He was released on June 16, 1979, ending his playing days. With the Phillies, Lonborg appeared in 188 games, pitching more innings than he had during his seven seasons in Boston. He went 75-60 with a 3.98 ERA and 548 strikeouts.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #573
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1965-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #69
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 139 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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