#234 Dave Bristol MG - Cincinnati Reds

James David Bristol
Cincinnati Reds
Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Born:  June 23, 1933, Macon, GA

As a Manager:  Cincinnati Reds 1966-1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970-1972; Atlanta Braves 1976-1977; San Francisco Giants 1979-1980

Dave Bristol never played a game in the majors, but he managed over 1,400 games between 1966 and 1980, having the most success with the Reds.  Bristol started managing in the minor leagues in 1957 at the age of 24, and he'd steadily move up the ranks of the Reds' minor league system until making it to Triple-A in 1964.  He led the San Diego Padres, then the Reds' top farm team, to the Pacific Coast League pennant at the age of 31.  Bristol joined the Reds' major league coaching staff in 1966, and he'd take over as manager on July 13th that season following the dismissal of Don Heffner.  Dismissed following the 1969 season and replaced by Sparky Anderson, Bristol just missed the Big Red Machine years.  He was named the first manager in Milwaukee Brewers' history in 1970, doing the best he could with the struggling and relatively new team.

1985 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies

Bristol would later manage the Braves and Giants, and his career record finished at 657-764 over 11 seasons.  Bristol's coaching career lasted into the mid-1990s, as he spent time with the Expos (1973-1975), Giants (1978-1979), Phillies (1982-1985, 1988) and Reds (1989, 1993).  He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2018.

Building the Set / Card #232
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 155th 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 / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This photo was taken in 1966 and it's definitely from the same session as the photo used for Bristol's 1967 Topps card.  In 1966, Bristol was only 33 years old!  Honestly, the years of managing in the minor leagues must have taken a toll on him, and the cartoon rendering of Bristol on the back is even less flattering.

Accuracy Index:  Bristol's card scores a +5.

1969 Season
The Reds went 89-73, finishing in third place in the National League West, four games behind the pennant-winning Braves.  They had been in first place as late as September 8th, but couldn't hold off the surging Braves or Giants, who finished in second place.  The nucleus of what would become the Big Red Machine was coming together, and the top three players for the Reds were right fielder Pete Rose (#120), catcher Johnny Bench (#95) and third baseman Tony Perez (#295).  Rose batted .348 on the way to his second straight batting title.  Jim Merritt (#661) was the top pitcher for the Reds, going 17-9 with a 4.37 ERA while closer Wayne Granger (#551) recorded 27 saves.

Phillies Career
Dave Bristol was named the Phillies third base coach on December 2, 1981, less than a month after the Phillies selected Pat Corrales (#382) as their new manager to succeed the departed Dallas Green.  Bristol was the veteran of the team's coaching staff, and he had previously managed Corrales, hitting coach Deron Johnson (#297) and current Phillies' first baseman Rose.  Bristol would last longer than Corrales, sticking around through 1985 and John Felske's first year as Phillies' manager.  Bristol was fired before the season finale of the 1985 season, to be replaced by Jim Davenport (#102) as the Phillies' third base coach.  In 1988, Bristol returned as the third base coach for the Phillies, now managed by Lee Elia (#312).  His return would last just the one season.

1967 Topps #21

1970 Topps #556

1972 Topps #602

1977 Topps #442

1981 Topps #686

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1967 Topps #21
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1967-1974, 1976-1977, 1980-1981
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 Topps #686
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  48 in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/24.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.

The Reds are actually fairly well-represented in the 1969 Topps set, and I only picked five players deserving on an update card.

• Jimmy Stewart (of) - Fourth outfielder Jimmy Stewart played in 119 games.
• Ted Savage (of) - Acquired by the Reds right before the start of the season, Ted Savage is in the set with the Dodgers (#471).
• Pedro Ramos (rhp) - Righty reliever Pedro Ramos appeared in 38 games in the final full year of his 15-year career.  He had last appeared in a Topps set in 1967.
• Al Jackson (lhp) - Al Jackson relieved in 33 games, and he's on a Mets card (#649) in the set.
• Bernie Carbo (of) - Finally, Bernie Carbo made his debut in 1969, appearing in four games with the Reds as a September call-up.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Bristol / Baseball Reference - 1969 Reds / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
The Phillies Room

#233 Steve Barber - Seattle Pilots / #235 Jim Hunter - Oakland Athletics