 |
.jpg) |
Donn Alvin Clendenon
Houston Astros
First Base
Born: July 15, 1935, Neosho, MO
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1961-1968; Montreal Expos 1969; New York Mets 1969-1971; St. Louis Cardinals 1972
World Series Appearances: New York Mets 1969
Died: September 17, 2005, Sioux Falls, SD (age 70)
Donn Clendenon played in parts of 12 seasons in the major leagues, but he's best remembered for hitting three home runs in 1969 World Series and winning World Series MVP honors as his Miracle Mets defeated the highly favorited Orioles in five games. Clendenon finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1962, behind Ken Hubbs, when he batted .302 for the Pirates in 80 games. He'd settle in as the everyday first baseman for the Pirates, striking out a lot, but hitting for power and driving in an average of 83 runs between 1963 and 1968. He reached his career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (98) in 1966. With top prospect Al Oliver (#82) ready to take over at first base for the Pirates, the team decided to leave Clendenon unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft.
Drafted by the Expos in October 1968, Clendenon was dealt to the Astros in January 1969, but refused to report due to his rocky relationship with Harry Walker (#633), the manager of Houston who had previously managed in Pittsburgh. Clendenon began the season with the Expos and was eventually dealt to the Mets in mid-June. With the Mets, Clendenon split time at first base with Ed Kranepool (#381) and he'd start four of the team's five World Series games, batting .357 (5 for 14) with a double and three home runs. He'd play three more seasons with the Mets and Cardinals before retiring. Clendenon appeared in 1,362 games, batting .274 with 1,273 hits, 159 home runs and 682 RBIs.
Died: September 17, 2005, Sioux Falls, SD (age 70)
Donn Clendenon played in parts of 12 seasons in the major leagues, but he's best remembered for hitting three home runs in 1969 World Series and winning World Series MVP honors as his Miracle Mets defeated the highly favorited Orioles in five games. Clendenon finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1962, behind Ken Hubbs, when he batted .302 for the Pirates in 80 games. He'd settle in as the everyday first baseman for the Pirates, striking out a lot, but hitting for power and driving in an average of 83 runs between 1963 and 1968. He reached his career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (98) in 1966. With top prospect Al Oliver (#82) ready to take over at first base for the Pirates, the team decided to leave Clendenon unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #213
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index -20
Building the Set / Card #213
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 136th 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 me $1.25.
The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index -20
Like the Clay Dalrymple (#151) card, Topps made the unusual move of updating Clendenon's team designation from the Astros to the Expos in later printings of the cards. Unlike Dalrymple though, Topps used the same photo for both versions of Clendenon's cards. I'll add both versions of the card, along with both versions of the Dalrymple card, to my set. I know Oliver was going to take over at first base for the Pirates, but it's crazy to me the Pirates would leave their 1968 team RBI leader unprotected in the expansion draft. The write-up on the back of the card explains his arrival in Houston via Montreal.
Accuracy Index: There are all kinds of problems with this card, landing it a score of -20. Clendenon didn't play for the Astros in 1969 (-2) or ever (-6). He's wearing a Pirates jersey (-5), with no logo on his helmet (-3) and the exact photo had been used before in the 1967 Topps set (-4).
Inserts: Clendenon is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set, and I'll feature his decal with the Expos version of his card.
1969 Season
This was to be a memorable season for Clendenon. The Expos made him the 11th pick in the 1968 expansion draft and as mentioned above, he was traded on January 22nd with Jesus Alou (#22) to the Astros for Rusty Staub (#230). Clendenon refused to report, and both he Staub began the season on the Expos' roster. Clendenon made 21 starts at first base and nine starts in left field, batting .240 for the Expos. On June 15th he was on the move again, heading to the Mets in exchange for five players, including pitcher Steve Renko. Clendenon played in a platoon at first base with Kranepool, batting .252 during the regular season with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs. He secured his place in Mets' franchise history with his stellar World Series performance, winning MVP honors. Clendenon's three home runs against the Orioles stood as a record for most in a five-game World Series until tied by the Phillies' Ryan Howard in 2008.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #86
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1962-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Fleer Fall Classic #83
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 110 in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
1969 Season
This was to be a memorable season for Clendenon. The Expos made him the 11th pick in the 1968 expansion draft and as mentioned above, he was traded on January 22nd with Jesus Alou (#22) to the Astros for Rusty Staub (#230). Clendenon refused to report, and both he Staub began the season on the Expos' roster. Clendenon made 21 starts at first base and nine starts in left field, batting .240 for the Expos. On June 15th he was on the move again, heading to the Mets in exchange for five players, including pitcher Steve Renko. Clendenon played in a platoon at first base with Kranepool, batting .252 during the regular season with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs. He secured his place in Mets' franchise history with his stellar World Series performance, winning MVP honors. Clendenon's three home runs against the Orioles stood as a record for most in a five-game World Series until tied by the Phillies' Ryan Howard in 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #86
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1962-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Fleer Fall Classic #83
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 110 in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#208 Donn Clendenon - Montreal Expos / #209 Larry Haney - Seattle Pilots
No comments:
Post a Comment