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Ronald Earl Willis
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher
Born: July 12, 1943, Willisville, TN
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1966-1969; Houston Astros 1969; San Diego Padres 1970
World Series Appearances: St. Louis Cardinals 1967-1968
Died: November 21, 1977, Memphis, TN (age 34)
Ron Willis pitched in parts of five seasons in the majors and he's best known as one of the most effective relievers for the 1967 and 1968 National League pennant-winning Cardinals teams. Willis was a September call-up in 1966, and he'd make the Cardinals' opening day roster in 1967. He'd go on to appear in 65 games, third most in the National League, pitching to a 2.67 ERA in 81 innings pitched. Willis was an excellent counterpart to lefty Joe Hoerner (#522) that season with Willis recording 10 saves to Hoerner's 14. His success didn't carry over to the World Series, and while he was hit hard by the Red Sox, the Cardinals still prevailed in seven games.
He was again a reliable reliever in 1968, appearing in 48 games and recording four saves as the Cardinals returned to the World Series. An elbow injury quickly derailed his career, and Willis was out of baseball following the 1970 season. He passed away at the way too young age of 34 following a brain tumor diagnosis.
Died: November 21, 1977, Memphis, TN (age 34)
Ron Willis pitched in parts of five seasons in the majors and he's best known as one of the most effective relievers for the 1967 and 1968 National League pennant-winning Cardinals teams. Willis was a September call-up in 1966, and he'd make the Cardinals' opening day roster in 1967. He'd go on to appear in 65 games, third most in the National League, pitching to a 2.67 ERA in 81 innings pitched. Willis was an excellent counterpart to lefty Joe Hoerner (#522) that season with Willis recording 10 saves to Hoerner's 14. His success didn't carry over to the World Series, and while he was hit hard by the Red Sox, the Cardinals still prevailed in seven games.
He was again a reliable reliever in 1968, appearing in 48 games and recording four saves as the Cardinals returned to the World Series. An elbow injury quickly derailed his career, and Willis was out of baseball following the 1970 season. He passed away at the way too young age of 34 following a brain tumor diagnosis.
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 177th 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 / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is Willis' third and final appearance in a Topps flagship set, and the photos for all three of his cards were likely taken at the same time in 1966. I'm guessing that's right-handed pitcher Nelson Briles (#60) walking away from Willis over his left shoulder, as Briles wore #34 for the Cardinals between 1965 and 1970. The write-up on the back of the card shorts Willis a save, as the official record shows him with 10 saves and not nine.
Accuracy Index: Willis' card scores a +5 for the accurate uniform and a photo that hadn't been used before.
1969 Season
Willis first noticed soreness in his pitching elbow during spring training. He pitched well enough in his 26 appearances with the Cardinals, going 1-2 with a 4.18 ERA in 26 games and 32 1/3 innings pitched. But in early July he was demoted to the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers, and he struggled mightily, going 1-4 with a 6.87 ERA in eight games, which included six starts. On August 8th, Willis was sold to the Astros where he'd make only three appearances throughout the final two months of the season. In 29 games overall, he was 1-2 with a 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings pitched.
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First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #592
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1967-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #273
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 10 in the Beckett online database as of 3/3/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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