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Kenneth Jerry Adair
Kansas City Royals
Infield
Born: December 17, 1936, Sand Springs, OK
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent, September 2, 1958
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1958-1966; Chicago White Sox 1966-1967; Boston Red Sox 1967-1968; Kansas City Royals 1969-1970
World Series Appearances: Boston Red Sox 1967
Died: May 31, 1987, Tulsa, OK (age 50)
Jerry Adair was a veteran of 13 big league seasons known best for his solid defense as a middle infielder. He first got a chance as an everyday player with the Orioles in 1961, winning playing time at second base after the Orioles' opening day second baseman, Marv Breeding, struggled at the plate. Adair would move to shortstop in 1962 and then back to second in 1963 with the arrival of Luis Aparicio (#75). He was the Orioles opening day second baseman for three seasons in a row between 1963 and 1965, and he set a then-record for highest fielding percentage at second base in 1964 with a .994 mark and fewest errors at the position with five. He led the league again in fielding percentage in 1965 and Adair set records for consecutive errorless games at second base (89) and consecutive chances handled without an error (458) between July 22, 1964 and May 6, 1965.
Dealt to the White Sox in 1966 and then the Red Sox in 1967, Adair's strong second half of 1967 helped the Red Sox to clinch the American League pennant. He batted .291 for the Red Sox over 89 games, filling in for the injured Rico Petrocelli (#215) at shortstop and also receiving regular playing time at second and third base. Adair was dubbed "Mr. Clutch" by the Boston media. Later, Adair would serve as the first second baseman in Royals history, starting 105 games at the position for the expansion club in 1969. In 1,165 career games, Adair had 1,022 hits, 57 home runs and 366 RBIs to go along with his .985 career fielding percentage, which is currently 41st all-time among second baseman. He played in Japan in 1971 for the Hankyu Braves. Adair coached for his former Red Sox manager Dick Williams (#349) with the Athletics (1972-1974) and Angels (1975-1976).
Died: May 31, 1987, Tulsa, OK (age 50)
Jerry Adair was a veteran of 13 big league seasons known best for his solid defense as a middle infielder. He first got a chance as an everyday player with the Orioles in 1961, winning playing time at second base after the Orioles' opening day second baseman, Marv Breeding, struggled at the plate. Adair would move to shortstop in 1962 and then back to second in 1963 with the arrival of Luis Aparicio (#75). He was the Orioles opening day second baseman for three seasons in a row between 1963 and 1965, and he set a then-record for highest fielding percentage at second base in 1964 with a .994 mark and fewest errors at the position with five. He led the league again in fielding percentage in 1965 and Adair set records for consecutive errorless games at second base (89) and consecutive chances handled without an error (458) between July 22, 1964 and May 6, 1965.
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| 1973 Topps #179 |
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #186
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -12
1969 Season
Adair was left unprotected by the Red Sox and selected by the Royals as the 51st pick in the 1968 expansion draft. Adair owns the first RBI in Royals team history, singling home Lou Piniella (#394) who had singled in the bottom of the first on opening day. He made 105 starts at second base and eight starts at shortstop for the new club, and his .984 fielding percentage was second among all American League second baseman, behind the Athletics' Dick Green (#515). Adair batted .250 with 108 hits, five home runs and 48 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Leaf #28
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1961-1970, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #179
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 65 in the Beckett online database as of 11/18/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #186
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 109th 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 / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -12
Adair is wearing an Orioles' road jersey here, and the photo could be several years old from either 1964 or 1965. Topps used the exact same photo on his 1968 Topps card. The cartoon on the back is strange. The characters are bundled up (because the draft took place over the winter?) and the executive is handing Adair an A's jersey? Did the cartoonist forget the new Kansas City team wouldn't be called the Athletics?
As mentioned above, Adair was a key contributor to the Red Sox reaching the World Series in 1967. The write-up mentions a game-winning home run he hit to wrap up a 9-8 come from behind win, but there's not enough room for any more details. The home run came on August 20th at Fenway Park against the Angels. With the score tied 8-8, after the Red Sox had trailed 8-0, Adair hit his second home run of the season off reliever Minnie Rojas (#502) to give Boston a 9-8 lead.
Accuracy Index: Adair's card suffers a -12 for the repeat photo (-4), the Orioles jersey (-5) and the lack of a hat (-3).
1969 Season
Adair was left unprotected by the Red Sox and selected by the Royals as the 51st pick in the 1968 expansion draft. Adair owns the first RBI in Royals team history, singling home Lou Piniella (#394) who had singled in the bottom of the first on opening day. He made 105 starts at second base and eight starts at shortstop for the new club, and his .984 fielding percentage was second among all American League second baseman, behind the Athletics' Dick Green (#515). Adair batted .250 with 108 hits, five home runs and 48 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Leaf #28
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1961-1970, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #179
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 65 in the Beckett online database as of 11/18/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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