#440 Willie McCovey - San Francisco Giants

Willie Lee McCovey
San Francisco Giants
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  198
Born:  January 10, 1938, Mobile, AL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent, March 12, 1955
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1959-1973; San Diego Padres 1974-1976; Oakland Athletics 1976; San Francisco Giants 1977-1980

World Series Appearances:  San Francisco Giants 1962
Died:  October 31, 2018, Palo Alto, CA (age 80)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1986

Willie McCovey enjoyed a 22-year Hall of Fame career that saw him reach the All-Star Game six times and earn N.L. MVP honors in 1969.  He appeared in only 52 games his rookie season in 1959, but his .354 average along with 13 home runs were enough to make him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.  McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch," led the league in home runs in 1963, 1968 and 1969.  He also led the league in RBIs in those latter two years, with his 1969 season leading to his MVP award with a .320 average, 45 home runs and 126 RBIs.  He had been previously named the MVP of the 1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs in the contest.  McCovey played in one World Series, with the Giants losing in 1962 to the Yankees.

McCovey had 521 career home runs when he retired, placing him seventh on the all-time list at the time.  He accumulated a lifetime batting average of .270 with 1,555 RBIs.  McCovey hit his final home run on May 3, 1980, giving him the distinction, along with Ted Williams (#650), Rickey Henderson and Omar Vizquel, of having homered in four different decades.  His 18 grand slams are the most ever in the National League.

The Giants retired his #44 in 1980, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year of eligibility.  When the Giants moved into their new ballpark in 2000 (now called Oracle Park), the San Francisco Bay inlet beyond the right field fence was named McCovey Cove.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #273
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this McCovey card.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

The photo used for the card is likely from 1967, and it was taken at the same time as the photo used for McCovey's 1968 Topps card.  This is one of five cards he appears on in the set, including the RBI Leaders (#4) and Home Run Leaders (#6) cards, an All-Star card (#416) and a combo card (#572) with fellow future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (#370).  Given this was his MVP year, the card has been reprinted by Topps a few times, first re-appearing on the MVP subset in the 1975 Topps set.

This is one of 23 cards available in the set's fifth series available as either "yellow letter" or "white letter" variations, with the yellow letter variations being more prevalent.  This is the more prevalent yellow letter variation with McCovey's last name printed in yellow.

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

Inserts:  McCovey is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.  He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.

1969 Season
Already a superstar, as pointed out on the back of this card, this was McCovey's career year.  He batted .320 with 45 home runs and 126 - both career highs and both marks leading the league.  McCovey also topped the league with a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, while setting a new major league record with 45 intentional walks.  The starting first baseman for the National League All-Stars, McCovey led the way with a pair of home runs, hit off Blue Moon Odom (#195) in the third and Denny McLain (#150) in the fourth.  He appeared in 149 games for the second place Giants, making 148 starts at first base.

In the postseason MVP voting, McCovey tied Tom Seaver (#480) with 11 first place votes but had more higher ranked votes overall.

1960 Topps #316

1965 Topps #176

1972 Topps #280

1975 Topps #450

1980 Topps #335

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #316
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21):  1960-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Topps Archives #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  1,614 in the Beckett online database as of 3/29/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#439 White Sox Rookie Stars / #441 Dennis Higgins - Washington Senators

#255 Steve Carlton - St. Louis Cardinals

Steven Norman Carlton
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 22, 1944, Miami, FL
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, October 8, 1963
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1965-1971; Philadelphia Phillies 1972-1986; San Francisco Giants 1986; Chicago White Sox 1986; Cleveland Indians 1987; Minnesota Twins 1987-1988

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1967; Philadelphia Phillies 1980, 1983
Hall of Fame Induction:  1994

Steve Carlton was one of the best left-handed pitchers in the history of the game.  He found early success with the Cardinals, making three All-Star squads and earning his first World Series ring in 1967.  After the Phillies acquired him in February 1972 for Rick Wise (#188), he took his career to the next level.  Lefty led the league in strikeouts five times, wins four times and he clinched an ERA title in 1972 with a 1.97 mark to go along with his 27-10 record and 30 complete games.  That was also the year he won the first of his four Cy Young Awards, winning the honor again in 1977, 1980 and 1982.  His pitching helped the Phillies win their first World Championship in 1980.  

Carlton currently ranks 11th on the all-time wins list (329) and 4th on the all-time strikeouts list (4,136) and only Warren Spahn has more wins in baseball history (363) among all left-handed pitchers.  He briefly held the top spot for all-time strikeouts before being ultimately overtaken by Nolan Ryan (#533) in 1984, and along with Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens he's one of only four players with over 4,000 strikeouts in major league history.  That mark also puts him atop the all-time National League leaders list for strikeouts.  His #32 was retired by the Phillies in 1989, and he was an easy first ballot Hall of Famer in 1994.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #272
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this Carlton card.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

The photo used here was likely taken at the same time as the photo used for Carlton's 1968 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights his career achievements to date, and Topps seems somewhat surprised Carlton had a decent season in 1968, following his rookie season of 1967.

Carlton signed reprints of this card for the 2018 Topps Heritage release.

Accuracy Index:  No issues here, as Carlton's card scores a +5.

1969 Season
Carlton enjoyed his best season to date in 1969, going 17-11 in 31 starts with an impressive 2.17 ERA.  He struck out 210 over 236 1/3 innings pitched, both career highs for him at that point in his career.  He and Bob Gibson (#200) won 37 games between the two of them, nearly half of the Cardinals' 87 total wins for the fourth place club.  Carlton was the starting pitcher for the National League All Stars, pitching three innings and ultimately getting credited with the win, despite allowing home runs to Frank Howard (#170) and Bill Freehan (#390).  On September 15th, Carlton set a then major league record by striking out 19 batters in a game against the Mets.

Phillies Career
Carlton put together a Hall of Fame career as the greatest left-handed pitcher in Phillies team history.  He was an All-Star in 1972, 1974, 1977 and 1979 through 1982.  Carlton was the winning pitcher in the World Series clinching game against the Royals in 1980.  He's the franchise's all-time leader in games started (499), wins (241) and strikeouts (3,031).  

A statute of Carlton stands at Citizens Bank Park, the current home of the Phillies, along with statues of the other members of the franchise's Mount Rushmore - Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt.

1965 Topps #477

1972 Topps #751

1977 Topps #110

1980 Topps #210

1987 Topps Traded #19T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #477
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1965, 1967-1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps 1989 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Autographs #89BA-SC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,223 in the Beckett online database as of 3/25/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#254 Joe Schultz MG - Seattle Pilots / #256 Gates Brown - Detroit Tigers

#120 Pete Rose - Cincinnati Reds

Peter Edward Rose
Cincinnati Reds
Outfield

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  192
Born:  April 14, 1941, Cincinnati, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent, July 8, 1960
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1963-1978; Philadelphia Phillies 1979-1983; Montreal Expos 1984; Cincinnati Reds 1984-1986

World Series Appearances:  Cincinnati Reds 1970, 1972, 1975-1976; Philadelphia Phillies 1980, 1983
As a Manager:  Cincinnati Reds 1984-1989

Major League Baseball's all-time leader in games played (3,562), plate appearances (15,890), at-bats (14,053) and hits (4,256), Pete Rose was permanently banned from the game he loves in 1989 for his gambling activities.  Rose was a spark plug player from the start, winning the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1963.  He was a 17-time All-Star, the league's MVP in 1973 and a two-time Gold Glove winner.  Rose won the league's batting title three times (1968, 1969, 1973) and led the league in hits a staggering seven times.  A versatile player on defense, he helped lead the Reds to the World Series four times as his club won it all in back-to-back years in 1975 and 1976.  Rose spent stints as the team's regular second baseman, left fielder, right fielder and third baseman.  He was the World Series MVP in 1975, after hitting .370 in the seven game victory over the Red Sox.  Rose left the Reds via free agency following the 1978 season, signing with the Phillies and guiding that club to its first World Championship title in 1980.  He returned to the Reds in 1984 as their player-manager, and surpassed Ty Cobb as the game's all-time hits leader on September 11, 1985, with a single to left off the Padres' Eric Show.

Rose retired as a player following the 1986 season, and would continue to manage the Reds until his ban from baseball on August 24, 1989.  Despite numerous reinstatement efforts, his ban has not been lifted as of yet, resulting in his exile from baseball's Hall of Fame.  In the years that followed the ban, Rose's troubles mounted and he served five months in prison in 1990 for tax evasion charges.  He was selected as an outfielder on the MLB All-Century Team in 1999 and the Reds retired his #14 in 2016, after receiving permission to do so from the commissioner's office.  Rose owns a .303 lifetime average and he's ranked 6th on the all-time runs scored list with 2,165, and 2nd on the all-time doubles list with 746.  In recent years, he's been ubiquitous at baseball card shows across the country and my son Doug and I briefly met Charlie Hustle, The Hit King in 2015.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

1979 Burger King Phillies #13

1982 Donruss #1

1986 Topps #3

October 31, 2015

Building the Set / Card #271
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.  

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards, including this Rose, which was the most expensive of the bunch.  Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Rose is all over the 1969 Topps set and he appears on the front of three cards in the set - this base card, the National League Batting Leaders card (#2) and an All-Star card (#424).  He's also on the back of 10 different All-Star cards, forming a puzzle of the baseball superstar.  Growing up a Phillies fan, Rose was one of my earliest favorite players - see below.  It's cool to me that I now own a card like this, along with the card to be featured in the next post, after seeing pictures of this card in baseball card publications over the years and thinking I'd never have a card this "old" or this cool in my collection.

Accuracy Index:  Rose's card scores a solid +5.

Inserts:  Rose is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.  He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.

1969 Season
Rose was the opening day center fielder for the Reds.  In late June, he and Bobby Tolan (#448) would switch positions, with Rose going to right and Tolan moving to center.  Overall, Rose started 100 games in right and 56 games in center, on the way to his second straight batting title with a .348 average.  Rose collected 218 hits and led the league with 120 runs scored.  He was named to his fourth All-Star Game, placed fourth in MVP voting and won his first Gold Glove for his outfield defense.

Phillies Career
Rose was my first favorite Phillies player, and his 1979 Burger King Phillies card was the first baseball card I ever clearly remember seeing.  The Phillies won the Rose free agency lottery on December 5, 1978, signing him to a then-record four-year, $3.2 million contract.  With Mike Schmidt at third base, Rose moved to first base and he'd prove to be the final piece to the puzzle for the Phillies as the club advanced to and won the World Series in 1980.  He was an All-Star while in Philadelphia four times between 1979 and 1982, leading the league in doubles in 1980 with 42 and in hits in 1981 with 140.  Rose, now 42, helped the Phillies reach the World Series again in 1983, although he suffered through one of the worst seasons of his career.  Towards the end of the 1983 season, Rose was benched by manager Paul Owens in favor of giving Len Matuszek more playing time at first.  His last at-bat with the team came during Game 5 of the 1983 World Series.  Rose went 2 for 4 in that game, as the Orioles prevailed, 5-0, to give them the World Series title.  

Rose was released by the Phillies on October 19, 1983, and he'd somewhat surprisingly sign with the Expos.  In 745 games with the Phillies, Rose batted .291 with 826 hits.  He was set to be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2017, but the club cancelled the induction a week before the ceremony when news came to light of Rose's sexual relationship with a minor during the 1970s.

1963 Topps #537

1970 Topps #580

1975 Topps #320

1980 Topps #540

1988 Topps #475

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #537
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (27):  1963-1989
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Panini Prizm #33
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  1,930 in the Beckett online database as of 3/24/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#119 Doug Rader - Houston Astros / #121 Joe Grzenda - Minnesota Twins

#298 Dave Nicholson - Kansas City Royals

David Lawrence Nicholson
Kansas City Royals
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  215
Born:  August 29, 1939, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent, January 26, 1958
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1960, 1962; Chicago White Sox 1963-1965; Houston Astros 1966; Atlanta Braves 1967

Died:  February 23, 2023, Carni, IL (age 83)

When Dave Nicholson stepped to the plate, there was usually only one of two outcomes - a towering home run or a strikeout.  Nicholson had a career year in 1959 playing in the Orioles' minor league system, launching 35 home runs and collecting 115 RBIs while batting .292.  That earned him a promotion in 1960 but he struggled at the plate, batting just .186 with 55 strikeouts in 133 plate appearances.  After a brief return to the Orioles in 1962, Nicholson was dealt to the White Sox where he was the club's opening day left fielder in 1963 and 1964.  He hit 22 home runs in 1963, but led the league with 175 strikeouts.  Nicholson's most memorable moment came on May 6, 1964, when he hit a home run that completely left Comiskey Park.  The home run was estimated to have been hit 573 feet!

Dealt to Houston following the 1965 season, Nicholson was the Astros' opening day left fielder in 1966.  He last appeared in the majors with the Braves in 1967 and then spent two full seasons with the Braves and Royals Triple-A teams in 1968 and 1969.  For his big league career, Nicholson batted .212 over 538 games with 61 home runs and 179 RBIs.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #270
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

This is it!  After coming home with a brown bag full of 193 commons and semi-stars from last March's Philly Show, and starting on posts about each one of those cards last April, I've finally made my way through the entire pile with this Nicholson card.  I'm hoping to keep the momentum going, as I added another 145 commons when we attended the Philly Show this past December.  The two paragraphs below can finally be retired after appearing in every post throughout the 12 months.

In mid-March last year, over a year ago, 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 last 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 -16

I think Nicholson is wearing an Astros uniform here as the Braves uniform had piping around the neck in 1967.  As mentioned below, he'd never play for the Royals.  The back of the card celebrates his power skills, although Nicholson was never able to repeat the home run success he had found in the minor leagues.

Accuracy Index:  Nicholson joins a handful of players so far with a -16.  He's hatless (-3) and wearing an old team's uniform (-5), and didn't play for the Royals in 1969 (-2) or ever (-6).

1969 Season
On October 18, 1968, the Royals purchased Nicholson from the Braves and he had spent the entire prior season playing in Richmond.  At 29 years old, he'd not make the Royals out of spring training, and he'd never suit up for the team.  Nicholson appeared in 75 games for the Omaha Royals, batting .240 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in his final professional season.

1961 Topps #182

1963 Topps #234

1965 Topps #183

1966 Topps #576

1967 Topps #113

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #182
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1961-1967, 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  38 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#297 Deron Johnson - Philadelphia Phillies / #299 Mark Belanger - Baltimore Orioles

#293 Dick Dietz - San Francisco Giants

Richard Allen Dietz
San Francisco Giants
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  September 18, 1941, Crawfordsville, IN
Signed:  Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent, June 3, 1960
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1966-1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1972; Atlanta Braves 1973

Died:  June 27, 2005, Clayton, GA (age 63)

Dick Dietz played in eight big league seasons, mostly with the Giants, and was a National League All-Star in 1970.  Dietz came up in 1966, and he'd assume the role of regular catcher Tom Haller's (#310) back-up in 1967, winning a spot on the 1967 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.  He shared catching duties in 1968 with Jack Hiatt (#204) and Bob Barton (#41), and Dietz was behind the plate when Gaylord Perry (#485) no-hit the Cardinals that September 17th.  Finally a regular, he'd serve as the opening day catcher for the Giants for three seasons between 1969 and 1971.  Named a reserve to the National League All-Stars by manager Gil Hodges (#564), Dietz replaced Johnny Bench (#95) in the top of the seventh in the All-Star Game, leading off the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Catfish Hunter (#235).  The home run sparked a rally to tie the game, with the National League winning in the 12th inning after Pete Rose (#120) barreled over Ray Fosse (#244) at home plate.  Dietz was on deck and can be seen guiding Rose into the plate and congratulating him after the play.

Dietz spent his last two seasons with the Dodgers and Braves in 1972 and 1973, retiring following the 1973 season.  In 646 games, Dietz batted .261 with 478 hits, 66 home runs and 301 RBIs.  He owned an impressive career OBP of .390.  Dietz served as a long-time coach and manager in the Giants minor league system after retiring as a player.

Building the Set / Card #269
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 penultimate (!) 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 about $1.25.

The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Topps goes with the minor league accolades for the back of Dietz's card, highlighting his .354 average in 1963 to go along with 35 home runs.  I'm not so sure about Topps' comment on Dietz's defense.  Despite limited playing time, he finished in the top three for errors in four straight seasons between 1968 and 1971.  He also finished in the top three in passed balls during that timeframe, leading the league in both 1970 and 1971.  Baserunners appeared to run wild when Dietz was behind the plate, as he lead the league in stolen bases allowed in 1968 and 1970, with 92 base stealers successful against him in 1970.

Accuracy Index:  Dietz scores a +5 for the accurate depiction in a Giants uniform.

1969 Season
Dietz appeared in 79 games for the Giants, making 69 starts behind the plate, more than the 57 starts by Hiatt or the 33 starts by Barton.  He batted .230 for the season with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.  Dietz was third in the league for errors by a catcher and also third in the league for passed balls.

1967 Topps #341

1968 Topps #104

1970 Topps #135

1972 Topps #296

1973 Topps #442

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1967 Topps #341
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1967-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Fleer ProCards #2833
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  50 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#292 Al Downing - New York Yankees / #294 Jim Lemon MG - Washington Senators