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Henry Albert Bauer
Oakland Athletics
Manager
Born: July 31, 1922, St. Louis, IL
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1948-1959; Kansas City Athletics 1960-1961
World Series Appearances: New York Yankees 1949-1953, 1955-1958; Baltimore Orioles 1966
As a Manager: Kansas City Athletics 1961-1962; Baltimore Orioles 1964-1968; Oakland Athletics 1969
Died: February 9, 2007, Lenexa, KS (age 84)
Hank Bauer was a hero during World War II before joining the Yankees and winning seven World Series rings with the club as their regular right fielder. Bauer was consistently dependable throughout his Yankees tenure, and between 1950 and 1959 he batted .279 with an average of 15 home runs and 60 RBIs per season. Bauer owned a 17-game World Series hitting streak, still a record today as tied by Derek Jeter, and contributed a three-run triple in the decisive Game 6 fo the 1951 World Series. He slugged four home runs in the 1958 World Series, his final postseason action as a player. Bauer was a three-time All-Star between 1952 and 1954, and earned MVP votes each year between 1952 and 1956. He was dealt to the Athletics in December 1959 as part of the deal that brought Roger Maris (#164) to the Bronx. While Maris went on to set the single-season home run record, Bauer played in parts of two seasons with the Athletics, becoming their player-manager in June 1961, before retiring as a player and focusing on his managing career. Bauer retired with 1,424 hits, 164 home runs, 703 RBIs and a .277 career average.
As a Manager: Kansas City Athletics 1961-1962; Baltimore Orioles 1964-1968; Oakland Athletics 1969
Died: February 9, 2007, Lenexa, KS (age 84)
Hank Bauer was a hero during World War II before joining the Yankees and winning seven World Series rings with the club as their regular right fielder. Bauer was consistently dependable throughout his Yankees tenure, and between 1950 and 1959 he batted .279 with an average of 15 home runs and 60 RBIs per season. Bauer owned a 17-game World Series hitting streak, still a record today as tied by Derek Jeter, and contributed a three-run triple in the decisive Game 6 fo the 1951 World Series. He slugged four home runs in the 1958 World Series, his final postseason action as a player. Bauer was a three-time All-Star between 1952 and 1954, and earned MVP votes each year between 1952 and 1956. He was dealt to the Athletics in December 1959 as part of the deal that brought Roger Maris (#164) to the Bronx. While Maris went on to set the single-season home run record, Bauer played in parts of two seasons with the Athletics, becoming their player-manager in June 1961, before retiring as a player and focusing on his managing career. Bauer retired with 1,424 hits, 164 home runs, 703 RBIs and a .277 career average.
His first managerial stint with the Athletics lasted only through the 1962 season. He joined the Orioles as a first base coach in 1963, and was promoted to their manager following the season. Bauer guided the Orioles to their first ever World Series title in 1966, sweeping the heavily favored Dodgers in four games. His success with the Orioles waned after a few years and he was fired on July 10, 1968, to be replaced by Orioles' first base coach Earl Weaver (#516). Bauer managed one last time, returning to the Athletics, now in Oakland, for the 1969 season. His lifetime managerial record was 594-544-1. Bauer managed the Mets' top farm team in Tidewater in 1971 and 1972, before leaving the dugout for good. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1990.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #160
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
1969 Season
In his only season as manager of the Athletics while the team was in Oakland, Bauer had the A's in first place at various times between mid-May and early July. They would fall behind the surging Twins, ultimately finishing in second place, nine games behind the pennant winners in the new A.L. West division. The summer swoon cost Bauer his job, and owner Charles Finley replaced him with John McNamara for the season's final 13 games. The Athletics were building a nucleus of young stars around future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson (#260), Catfish Hunter (#235) and Rollie Fingers (#597). Bauer's hitting coach was former Yankee teammate Joe DiMaggio.
Update Cards
Sources:
Baseball Reference - Bauer / Baseball Reference - 1969 Athletics / SABR / Wikipedia
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 83rd 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 $2.
The Card / Athletics Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
This is Bauer's 18th and final appearance in a Topps flagship set. The photo is likely from 1964, as it seems similar to the photo used for his 1965 Topps card, except Bauer is hatless here. His impressive 17-game World Series hitting streak is highlighted on the back of the card.
Accuracy Index: Bauer is hatless (-3) and wearing an Orioles uniform (-5).
1969 Season
In his only season as manager of the Athletics while the team was in Oakland, Bauer had the A's in first place at various times between mid-May and early July. They would fall behind the surging Twins, ultimately finishing in second place, nine games behind the pennant winners in the new A.L. West division. The summer swoon cost Bauer his job, and owner Charles Finley replaced him with John McNamara for the season's final 13 games. The Athletics were building a nucleus of young stars around future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson (#260), Catfish Hunter (#235) and Rollie Fingers (#597). Bauer's hitting coach was former Yankee teammate Joe DiMaggio.
Jackson was the top player on the club, batting .275 while leading the team in home runs (47) and RBIs (118). Third baseman Sal Bando (#371) had a great season at the plate too, batting .281 with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs. Chuck Dobson (#397) and Blue Moon Odom (#195) were 15-game winners, while Fingers led the bullpen with 12 saves. The Athletics would win three World Series titles in a row between 1972 and 1974.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1951-1952, 1954-1962, 1964-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2010 Topps New York Yankees 27 World Series Championships #YC13
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 298 in the Beckett online database as of 10/29/23.
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First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1951-1952, 1954-1962, 1964-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2010 Topps New York Yankees 27 World Series Championships #YC13
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 298 in the Beckett online database as of 10/29/23.
For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series. With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.
- Joe DiMaggio (coach) - This is a favorite target of custom card makers, as DiMaggio was the Athletics' hitting coach in 1968 and 1969.
- Rollie Fingers (rhp) - Fingers shares a Rookie Stars card with two other American League pitchers, and I'd give him his own solo card here.
- Jose Tartabull (of) - Tartabull appears in the set with the Red Sox (#287). Sold to the Athletics in early May, he'd be a regular outfielder for the club over the summer.
- Jim Roland (lhp) - Reliever Roland is in the set with the Twins (#336), but he was acquired by the Athletics during spring training.
- Bobby Brooks (of) - Brooks shares Rookies Stars cards with other prospects in the 1970 and 1971 Topps set, and he's the only player on the club with at least 100 plate appearances who didn't appear in the 1969 Topps set.
- Marcel Lachemann (rhp) - Lachemann's rookie card wouldn't come until the 1971 Topps set, but he relieved in 28 games for the Athletics in 1969.
- Gene Tenace (c) - Tenace and pitcher Vida Blue share a Rookie Stars card in the 1970 Topps set.
If additional cards were needed to fill out the update set's checklist, I'd add a card for Tony LaRussa, who appeared in eight games for the Athletics. Blue would also get an honorary mention card, as the young pitcher appeared in 12 games for the Athletics.
Sources:
Baseball Reference - Bauer / Baseball Reference - 1969 Athletics / SABR / Wikipedia
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