 |
.jpg) |
Alan Edward Closter
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: June 15, 1943, Creighton, NE
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1965 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1966; New York Yankees 1971-1972; Atlanta Braves 1973
John Sheldon Cumberland
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: May 10, 1947, Westbrook, ME
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1966 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1968-1970; San Francisco Giants 1970-1972; St. Louis Cardinals 1972; California Angels 1974
Died: April 5, 2022, Lutz, FL (age 74)
Al Closter pitched professionally for 11 years, mostly within the Yankees organization, and played in 21 big league games over four different seasons. He made a brief appearance with the Senators in 1966, pitching a third of an inning during his debut on April 19th. Closter bounced around a bit, but ultimately came back to the Yankees in May 1966, where he'd stay until being dealt to the Braves in September 1973. During those eight years, he made a total of 16 appearances with the big club, getting into a career-high 14 games in 1971, including one start in which he lasted five innings against the Tigers. Closter was a stand-out for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, pitching in 162 games for the club over six seasons and going 47-39 for them with 583 strikeouts. He was elected to the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame in 2006.
Building the Set / Card #151
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 74th 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 / Yankees Team Set / Closter Accuracy Index -10 / Cumberland Accuracy Index -3
I'm going to guess Closter is wearing a Senators jersey here, unless Topps somehow got a photo of him in a Yankees jersey during a spring training session. His rookie card can be found in the 1966 Topps set, as he shared a card with Casey Cox (#383). This is his second of three appearances on a Rookie Stars card in Topps set, and he'd make a return trip (with Rusty Torres and Roger Hambright) in the 1972 Topps set. Closter's 110 strikeouts in 1968 weren't his career high. That would come in 1973 with the Chiefs when he struck out 139.
Maybe Cumberland is wearing a Yankees uniform, or maybe he's wearing a minor league uniform. This one is going down as a "?" in my official tracking schedule. This is his rookie card, and he'd receive a solo card a few years later with the Giants.
Accuracy Index: Closter drops to -10 for the (presumably) Senators jersey (-5), for not actually playing with the Yankees in 1969 (-2) and for being hatless (-3). Cumberland gets off easy with a -3 for being hatless, as it's not known if he's wearing a Yankees jersey here or not.
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Closter
First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #549
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1966, 1969, 1972-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #634
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 15 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources - Closter:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Cumberland
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #114
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1993 Fleer ProCards #962
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 34 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources - Cumberland:
1969 Season - Closter
Closter spent the entire 1969 season with the Chiefs, and was 9-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 35 games, including 17 starts. Only Ron Klimkowski had more wins for the Chiefs than Closter with 15.
Closter spent the entire 1969 season with the Chiefs, and was 9-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 35 games, including 17 starts. Only Ron Klimkowski had more wins for the Chiefs than Closter with 15.
1969 Season - Cumberland
Cumberland pitched in two games for the Yankees in mid-July, throwing four total innings in a couple of blowout losses. With the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, he was 12-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 23 games, including 21 starts.
Phillies Connection
Cumberland was originally signed by the Phillies, and he'd play the 1966 season with their affiliate in Eugene, Oregon before being selected by the Yankees on November 29, 1966 in the minor league draft.
Cumberland pitched in two games for the Yankees in mid-July, throwing four total innings in a couple of blowout losses. With the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, he was 12-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 23 games, including 21 starts.
Phillies Connection
Cumberland was originally signed by the Phillies, and he'd play the 1966 season with their affiliate in Eugene, Oregon before being selected by the Yankees on November 29, 1966 in the minor league draft.
|
|
|
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Closter
First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #549
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1966, 1969, 1972-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #634
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 15 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources - Closter:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Cumberland
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #114
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1993 Fleer ProCards #962
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 34 in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/23.
Sources - Cumberland:
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment