#258 Jackie Hernandez - Kansas City Royals

Jacinto Hernandez
Kansas City Royals
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  165
Born:  September 11, 1940, Central Tinguaro, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  California Angels 1965-1966; Minnesota Twins 1967-1968; Kansas City Royals 1969-1970; Pittsburgh Pirates 1971-1973

World Series Appearances:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1971
Died:  October 12, 2019, Miami, FL (age 79)

Originally a catcher, Jackie Hernandez made the wise move to shortstop early in his career, eventually spending parts of nine seasons in the majors.  Hernandez was a September call-up for the Angels in 1965 and was a back-up with the Angels and Twins through the 1968 season.  He received a chance to start when left unprotected by the Twins for the 1968 expansion draft, and the Royals selected him as the 43rd pick.  Hernandez was the opening day shortstop for the Royals in 1969, and he'd start 139 games overall at the position, batting .222.  He shared starts at shortstop with Rich Severson and Tommy Matchick (#344) in 1970, and was deal to the Pirates as part of a six-player trade that December.

From the 1974 Phillies Yearbook

Hernandez spent three years with the Pirates and was a member of their 1971 World Championship team.  He played in all seven World Series games against the Orioles, making six starts, and providing flawless defense at shortstop.  Before that, on September 1, 1971, Hernandez was the shortstop in a game notable as being the first major league game to field nine African American or Latino players.  In 618 major league games, Hernandez batted .208. 

Building the Set / Card #245
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March last year, over a year ago at this point, 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 168th 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 a little over $2.

The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Hernandez is wearing an Angels uniform in this photo, taken at the same time as the photo used for his 1968 Topps rookie card.  I think this is the first snow man appearance on the back of a 1969 Topps card, and the write-up explains how Hernandez wound up on the Royals, and his expected role for the upcoming season.

Accuracy Index:  Hernandez scores a -8 for the Angels uniform and blank hat.

1969 Season
Hernandez appeared in a career high 145 games with the Royals, batting .222 with four home runs and 40 RBIs.  He led the American League with 33 errors and was second in the league with 111 strikeouts.  Reggie Jackson (#260) was the runaway strikeout leader with 142.

Phillies Connection
On January 31, 1974, Hernandez was traded by the Pirates to the Phillies in exchange for catcher Mike Ryan (#28).  He never appeared in a game for the Phillies and was released three weeks into the season on April 23rd, re-signing that same day with the Pirates.  Hernandez spent the entire 1974 season playing for the Pirates' Triple-A team in Charleston, and would not return to the majors.

1968 Topps #352

1970 Topps #686

1971 Topps #144

1972 Topps #502

1974 Topps #566

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1968 Topps #352
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1968-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1974 Topps #566
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  38 in the Beckett online database as of 2/16/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#257 Jim Ray - Houston Astros / #259 Bill Short - Cincinnati Reds