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Andrew John Kosco
Los Angeles Dodgers
Outfield
Born: October 5, 1941, Youngstown, OH
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1965-1967; New York Yankees 1968; Los Angeles Dodgers 1969-1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1971; California Angels 1972; Boston Red Sox 1972; Cincinnati Reds 1973-1974
Andy Kosco played in parts of 10 major league seasons with seven different teams, earning the most playing time as a member of the Yankees and Dodgers. Kosco was a late season call-up by the Twins in 1965, after having his finest professional season as a member of the Triple-A Denver Bears. He batted .327 with 27 home runs and 116 RBIs for the Bears before getting the call in mid-August to replace an injured Harmon Killebrew (#375) in the Twins' line-up. The Twins would win the pennant, but Kosco was omitted from their World Series roster. He'd get a chance to play regularly with the Yankees in 1968, appearing in 131 games and batting .248 as the team's right fielder. Enjoying his season in the Bronx, Kosco was disappointed when he was dealt to the Dodgers in late 1968. He was the Dodgers' opening day left fielder in 1969, appearing in 120 games overall, his final season with regular playing time.
Kosco moved on to the Brewers, Angels and Red Sox in the early 1970s before earning a role as a back-up outfielder and pinch-hitter with the Reds. His sole postseason experience came in the 1973 NLCS against the Mets, and he batted .300 (3 for 10) while starting three games in right field as the Reds fell in five games. For his career, Kosco batted .236 in 658 games, with 73 home runs and 267 RBIs.
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 96th 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 / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
I thought at first Kosco was wearing a Yankees uniform here, which would have been tough for Topps given the player boycott of 1967-68. He's actually wearing a Twins uniform, and the photo was likely taken at the same time as the photo used for his 1967 Topps card. On the back, Topps celebrates his Triple Crown winning season in 1964 and references his trade from the Yankees. Baseball Reference's statistics for Kosco's 1964 minor league season are incomplete, but they do agree with the home run (28) and RBI (97) tally presented in the cartoon.
Accuracy Index: Kosco's card receives the fairly standard -8 for the Twins jersey (-5) and the logo-less hat (-3).
1969 Season
On December 4, 1968, the Yankees traded Kosco to the Dodgers for left-handed pitcher Mike Kekich (#262). Kosco batted .248 with 19 home runs and 74 RBIs, achieving career bests in all three categories. He started 67 games in right field and 36 games in left field for the fourth place Dodgers.
Phillies Connection
Kosco's final season professionally came in 1975 with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, then the top minor league affiliate for the Phillies. He appeared in 48 games, batting .235, with his time cut short by a broken wrist.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #264
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1966-1972, 1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #34
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 35 in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #264
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1966-1972, 1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #34
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 35 in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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