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Edward Albert Brinkman
Washington Senators
Shortstop
Born: December 8, 1941, Cincinnati, OH
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1961-1970; Detroit Tigers 1971-1974; St. Louis Cardinals 1975; Texas Rangers 1975; New York Yankees 1975
Died: September 30, 2008, Cincinnati, OH (age 66)
A Gold Glove winner in 1972 and an All-Star in 1973 with the Tigers, Ed Brinkman was a steady fielding shortstop over 15 big league seasons. A teammate of Pete Rose (#120) in high school, Brinkman signed with the Senators in 1961 and spent 10 seasons with the club as their regular shortstop. Under the tutelage of manager Ted Williams (#650), Brinkman hit .266 for the Senators in 1969, a career high. Traded to the Tigers in October 1970 in the deal that sent Denny McLain (#150) to the Senators, Brinkman was one of the top players for the club despite his low batting average. He helped lead the Tigers to the 1972 ALCS and was named Tiger of the Year that season even though he hit just .203.
Brinkman was consistently among the league leaders in defensive categories throughout his career, but in 1,846 career games he hit only .224. Later as a minor league manager in the Tigers system for the Montgomery Rebels, he helped develop young infield prospects Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. He spent a season with the Tigers in 1979 on their coaching staff, and was the infield coach for the White Sox between 1983 and 1988. Brinkman made a cameo on the White Sox Team Leaders card with Julio Cruz in the 1987 Topps set. If I had to guess, I'd say I personally own at least 10 copies of this card based on the number of 1987 Topps packs I opened as a kid and how familiar I am with this particular card.
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| 1987 Topps #356 |
Brinkman was consistently among the league leaders in defensive categories throughout his career, but in 1,846 career games he hit only .224. Later as a minor league manager in the Tigers system for the Montgomery Rebels, he helped develop young infield prospects Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. He spent a season with the Tigers in 1979 on their coaching staff, and was the infield coach for the White Sox between 1983 and 1988. Brinkman made a cameo on the White Sox Team Leaders card with Julio Cruz in the 1987 Topps set. If I had to guess, I'd say I personally own at least 10 copies of this card based on the number of 1987 Topps packs I opened as a kid and how familiar I am with this particular card.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #182
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
As mentioned above, Brinkman hit a career-best .266 for the Senators as their everyday shortstop. He made 149 starts at short, and was one of the best defensive players at that position in the game. His most frequent double play partner was Bernie Allen (#27) at second base.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1963-1975, 1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1987 Topps #356
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 72 in the Beckett online database as of 11/15/23.
Merry Christmas! Here's a selection from Johnny Mathis' 1969 Christmas album, Give Me Your Love for Christmas. I hope this Christmas finds you safe, happy and healthy.
Building the Set / Card #182
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 105th 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 / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
The photo for Brinkman's card was likely taken in 1967, and at the same time as the photo used for his 1968 Topps card. There's a teammate making a cameo behind Brinkman, but the player's uniform number on his back is just blurry enough to result in his anonymity. Topps focuses on Brinkman's strong glove work on the back, touting his skills in the field with the cartoon and in the write-up.
Accuracy Index: After a few misses in a row, Brinkman's card receives a solid +5.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, Brinkman hit a career-best .266 for the Senators as their everyday shortstop. He made 149 starts at short, and was one of the best defensive players at that position in the game. His most frequent double play partner was Bernie Allen (#27) at second base.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1963-1975, 1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1987 Topps #356
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 72 in the Beckett online database as of 11/15/23.
Merry Christmas! Here's a selection from Johnny Mathis' 1969 Christmas album, Give Me Your Love for Christmas. I hope this Christmas finds you safe, happy and healthy.
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