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John Junior Roseboro
Minnesota Twins
Catcher
Born: May 13, 1933, Ashland, OH
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1967; Minnesota Twins 1968-1969; Washington Senators 1970
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1959, 1963, 1965-1966
Died: August 16, 2002, Los Angeles, CA (age 69)
John Roseboro was a six-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner and winner of three World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959, 1963 and 1965. His 14-year career resulted in 1,206 hits and 9,291 putouts behind the plate, currently 20th on the all-time list. But unfortunately, Roseboro is most commonly known as the catcher hit over the head with a bat by Giants' pitcher Juan Marichal (#370) during a brawl between the Dodgers and Giants in 1965. He was promoted early to the starting catcher role in 1958 following Roy Campanella's paralyzing car accident. Roseboro made his first All-Star team that year, batting .271 with 14 home run, and he'd reach career highs in home runs (18) and RBIs (59) in 1961. He'd catch every inning (except one) in every Dodgers World Series appearance between 1959 and 1966, and he was behind the plate for two of Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters.
When the Dodgers went into a rebuilding phase, Roseboro was dealt to the Twins following the 1967 season. He'd make one last All-Star team with the Twins in 1969, and he'd see his last postseason action with the club as they lost to the Orioles in the ALCS. Roseboro, now 37 years old, spent one last season in the majors with the Senators in 1970, serving in a back-up role for Ted Williams' (#650) last place team. He'd coach with the Senators (1971) and Angels (1972-1974), and work in the Dodgers' system as a minor league catching instructor. Roseboro would publicly forgive Marichal for the 1965 incident, personally appealing for the incident not to affect Marichal's induction into the Hall of Fame. Marichal would serve as an honorary pallbearer at Roseboro's funeral services in 2002.
Died: August 16, 2002, Los Angeles, CA (age 69)
John Roseboro was a six-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner and winner of three World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959, 1963 and 1965. His 14-year career resulted in 1,206 hits and 9,291 putouts behind the plate, currently 20th on the all-time list. But unfortunately, Roseboro is most commonly known as the catcher hit over the head with a bat by Giants' pitcher Juan Marichal (#370) during a brawl between the Dodgers and Giants in 1965. He was promoted early to the starting catcher role in 1958 following Roy Campanella's paralyzing car accident. Roseboro made his first All-Star team that year, batting .271 with 14 home run, and he'd reach career highs in home runs (18) and RBIs (59) in 1961. He'd catch every inning (except one) in every Dodgers World Series appearance between 1959 and 1966, and he was behind the plate for two of Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters.
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| 1968 Dexter Press Minnesota Twins |
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #220
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Roseboro was the opening day catcher for the Twins, and he'd make 102 starts overall behind the plate in his final All-Star season. The Twins were well-represented at the All-Star Game, with Roseboro, Tony Oliva (#600), Harmon Killebrew (#375) and Rod Carew (#510) all selected. Roseboro entered the game in the seventh inning, replacing starting catcher Bill Freehan (#390), and flew to center off Jerry Koosman (#90) in his lone at-bat. He batted .263 with three home runs and 32 RBIs during the regular season, and was 1 for 5 in the ALCS against the Orioles. The Twins released Roseboro on October 13th, and he'd sign with the Senators on New Year's Eve.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #42
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1958-1970, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 SP Legendary Cuts #62
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 115 in the Beckett online database as of 1/13/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #220
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 143rd 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 / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Roseboro is wearing a Dodgers uniform here, and the photo is likely from the same photo session as the photo used for his 1967 and 1968 Topps cards. The cartoon on the back highlights Roseboro's two Gold Glove wins. The trade referenced happened on November 28, 1967, with the Dodgers getting Mudcat Grant (#306) and former MVP Zoilo Versalles (#38) in exchange for Roseboro, Bob Miller (#403 - not mentioned here) and Ron Perranoski (#77).
Accuracy Index: Roseboro gets the by now fairly standard -8 for the former team's uniform (-5) and lack of a hat (-3).
1969 Season
Roseboro was the opening day catcher for the Twins, and he'd make 102 starts overall behind the plate in his final All-Star season. The Twins were well-represented at the All-Star Game, with Roseboro, Tony Oliva (#600), Harmon Killebrew (#375) and Rod Carew (#510) all selected. Roseboro entered the game in the seventh inning, replacing starting catcher Bill Freehan (#390), and flew to center off Jerry Koosman (#90) in his lone at-bat. He batted .263 with three home runs and 32 RBIs during the regular season, and was 1 for 5 in the ALCS against the Orioles. The Twins released Roseboro on October 13th, and he'd sign with the Senators on New Year's Eve.
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #42
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1958-1970, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 SP Legendary Cuts #62
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 115 in the Beckett online database as of 1/13/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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