#267 Vicente Romo - Cleveland Indians

Vicente Romo
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  April 12, 1943, Santa Rosalia, Mexico
Acquired:  Purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Mexico City Tigers (Mexican League), October 5, 1964
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1968; Cleveland Indians 1968-1969; Boston Red Sox 1969-1970; Chicago White Sox 1971-1972; San Diego Padres 1973-1974; Los Angeles Dodgers 1982

Vicente Romo pitched professionally in parts of three decades, and his success spanning 25 years in the Mexican League between 1962 and 1986 led to his induction into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.  Romo was acquired by the Indians in October 1964, but left unprotected and selected by the Dodgers in the 1967 rule 5 draft.  After just one appearance with the Dodgers on April 11, 1968, he was returned to the Indians.  The late 1960s and early 1970s were Romo's best seasons in the major leagues.  Used mostly in relief, he was 5-3 with a 1.62 ERA in 40 games with the Indians in 1968, recorded 12 saves to lead the team.  Dealt to the Red Sox in 1969, he'd appear in a career-high 55 games, striking out 96 and converting 11 saves.  Romo would pitch in at least 40 games in the next four out of five seasons between 1970 and 1974 before returning to Mexico in 1975.

Romo worked as a staring pitcher in Mexico between 1975 and early 1982, returning to the Dodgers in 1982 after a seven year absence from the majors.  His second stint with the Dodgers lasted 15 games and Romo returned to Mexico for two more seasons to wrap up his career.  In 335 major league games, Romo was 32-33 with a 3.36 ERA and 52 saves.  He struck out 416 over 645 2/3 career innings pitched.  His younger brother, Enrique Romo, pitched six seasons in the majors for the Mariners (1977-1978) and Pirates (1979-1982).

Building the Set / Card #251
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 174th 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 / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This is Romo's rookie card featuring what must be a relatively new photo of the pitcher, as he first pitched with the Indians in June 1968.  The write-up on the back of the card explains how the Indians lost Romo to the Dodgers, only to have him return in 1968.

Accuracy Index:  Romo's card scores a surprising +5 for the accurate Indians uniform.

1969 Season
Romo started the season with the Indians, pitching in three games and a total of eight innings.  On April 19, 1969, he was traded with Joe Azcue (#176) and Sonny Siebert (#455) to the Red Sox for Dick Ellsworth (#605), Ken Harrelson (#240) and Juan Pizarro (#498).  As the Red Sox already had lefty Sparky Lyle (#311) in the closer role, Romo was used mostly as a set-up man, but he'd still get some save opportunities.  Romo's 11 saves for the season were second on the club behind Lyle's 17.  Overall, Romo was 7-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 52 games, which included 11 starts.  He threw four complete games, including a shutout against the Orioles on September 18th.

1970 Topps #191

1972 Topps #499

1974 Topps #197

1975 Topps #274

1983 Topps #633

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #267
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1969-1975, 1983
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1983 Topps #633
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  29 in the Beckett online database as of 2/18/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#266 Dodgers Rookie Stars / #268 Al Spangler - Chicago Cubs