Wednesday, February 21, 2024

#224 Angels Rookie Stars - Bill Harrelson / Steve Kealey


William Charles Harrelson
California Angels

Pitcher

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'5"  Weight:  215
Born:  November 17, 1945, Tahlequah, OK
Signed:  Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  California Angels 1968

Steven William Kealey
California Angels

Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  185
Born:  May 13, 1947, Torrance, CA
Signed:  Signed by the California Angels as an amateur free agent before 1966 season
Major League Teams:  California Angels 1968-1970; Chicago White Sox 1971-1973

Of Cherokee Indian descent, Bill Harrelson pitched in 10 games for the Angels in 1968, going 1-6 with a 5.08 ERA over 33 2/3 innings.  Harrelson's one big league win came on August 27th against the Yankees, when he pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings, navigating around a hit and six walks while striking out two batters.  Harrelson pitched professionally between 1964 and 1972, including a stint in Mexico, before retiring.  He struck out 22 while walking 26 during his short time in the majors.

Steve Kealey pitched in parts of six seasons for the Angels and White Sox, with his most successful years coming out of the White Sox bullpen in 1971 and 1972.  After parts of three seasons with the Angels, he was dealt to Chicago with Dave Adlesh (#341) for Art Kusnyer.  Kealey led the White Sox pitching staff with 54 appearances in 1971, going 2-2 with a 3.84 ERA and six saves in 77 1/3 innings pitched.  He'd have an even better season in 1972, going 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA and four saves in 57 1/3 innings pitched.  A shoulder injury quickly derailed his career, and Kealey pitched in his final seven games with the White Sox in 1973.  He'd attempt comebacks with the Reds' organization in 1974 and in Mexico in 1975, but the shoulder ailment proved too difficult to overcome.  Kealey was 8-5 lifetime with a 4.28 ERA, 126 strikeouts and 11 career saves.

Building the Set / 
Card #224
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
This won't happen again - Card #224 in the set is the 224th added to our set build.  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 147th 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 / Angels Team Set / Harrelson Accuracy Index +3 / Kealey Accuracy Index +2
This is the rookie card for both pitchers.  Amazingly enough, I think both are wearing Angels uniforms here.  We can't see Kealey's hat, but I'll give him credit as the piping around his neck matches up with the piping on Harrelson's uniform.  This is Harrelson's one and only mainstream baseball card appearance, and Kealey's sports goggles wouldn't return to any of his three future Topps cards.  The back contains an uncorrected error in Harrelson's write-up, as the year mentioned should be 1968 and not 1969.

Accuracy Index:  Both players have their scores dropped on technicalities.  Both earn +5 for the accurate uniforms, but Harrelson drops points (-2) as he didn't pitch with the Angels in 1969, and Kealey's hat logo can't actually be seen (-3).

1969 Season - Harrelson
Harrelson pitched in four Triple-A games for the Hawaii Islanders, but most of his time was spent in Double-A with the El Paso Sun Kings.  In a combined 26 games at both levels, including 17 starts, Harrelson was 5-9 with a 4.54 ERA.  On January 14, 1970, he was traded with fellow minor leaguer Daniel Loomer to the Reds for Jack Fisher (#318).
1969 Season - Kealey
Kealey was called up to the Angels in late July, ultimately appearing in 15 games, and going 2-0 with a 3.93 ERA.  He made three starts, and pitched a complete game shutout against the powerhouse Orioles on August 21st.  With Hawaii, Kealey was 3-3 with a 4.65 ERA in 32 relief appearances.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Harrelson

First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #224
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #224
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  3 in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/24.

Sources - Harrelson:  

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Kealey

First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #224
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1969, 1971-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1973 Topps #581
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  9 in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/24.

Sources - Kealey:  
1971 Topps #43
1972 Topps #146
1973 Topps #581

#223 Tom Dukes - San Diego Padres / #225 Don Kissinger - Chicago Cubs

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