#284 Expos Rookie Stars - Jerry Robertson / Mike Wegener

Jerry Lee Robertson
Montreal Expos
Pitcher

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  205
Born:  October 13, 1943, Winchester, KS
Drafted:  Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 27th round of the 1965 amateur draft, June 8, 1965
Major League Teams:  Montreal Expos 1969; Detroit Tigers 1970

Died:  March 24, 1996, Burlington, KS (age 52)

Michael Denis Wegener
Montreal Expos
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  215
Born:  October 8, 1946, Denver, CO
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  Montreal Expos 1969-1970

Pitcher Jerry Robertson was originally drafted by the Cardinals in 1965, and when St. Louis left him unprotected before the 1968 expansion draft, the Expos took him as the 38th pick.  Robertson made the inaugural opening day roster for the expansion club, pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief  in the first game in franchise history.  He'd move into the starting rotation in late May, where he'd remain for the duration of the year, going 5-16 in 27 starts, throwing three complete games.  Robertson was dealt to the Tigers in December 1969, and his last big league action came in relief with Detroit during the first half of the 1970 season.  Robertson had a career record of 5-16 with a 3.94 ERA and one save in 49 appearances, including 27 starts.

From the 1968 Phillies Yearbook

Mike Wegener pitched professionally for 14 seasons, including a full two seasons with the Expos in 1969 and 1970.  Wegener pitched in the Phillies' system between 1965 and 1968, and was a 10-game winner with the Miami Marlins, then the Phillies' Florida State League affiliate, in 1965.  The Expos made him the 15th pick in the 1968 expansion draft, and while he'd start the season in the bullpen, he'd make his first big league start on April 20, 1969.  Wegener was on the team for the entire 1970 season, but appeared in only 25 games and was 3-6 with a 5.26 ERA.  He surrendered the 3,000th hit of Willie Mays' (#190) career on July 18, 1970.  Wegener last appeared in the majors in September 1970, but he'd pitch through the 1977 season in the minor league systems of the Expos, Mets and Giants before retiring.  He was 8-20 lifetime with a 4.73 ERA in 57 games, striking out 159 in 270 innings pitched.

Building the Set / Card #263
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 186th 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 / Expos Team Set / Robertson Accuracy Index -8 / Wegener Accuracy Index -8
Robertson is either wearing a Cardinals jersey and hat, or the uniform of a Cardinals' minor league team.  Wegener is either wearing a Phillies jersey, or the uniform of a Phillies' minor league team.  It's the rookie card for both.

Accuracy Index:  The two players are demonstrating the two ways to score a -8 in my scoring system by wearing an old team's uniform, and having either a hat with no logo or no hat at all.

1969 Season - Robertson
As mentioned above, Robertson was an original Expo, and manager Gene Mauch (#606) moved him into the starting pitching rotation in mid-May as support for Bill Stoneman (#67) and Mudcat Grant (#306), the only two effective starting pitchers for the club over the season's first six weeks.  He'd lead the Expos' pitching staff with a bWAR of exactly 1.0.  On December 3rd, the Expos traded Robertson to the Tigers in exchange for Joe Sparma (#488).

1969 Season - Wegener
Wegener ended up being the third most used starting pitcher for the Expos, and his 26 starts were third on the club behind Stoneman and Robertson.  He threw 165 2/3 innings, striking out 124, which again was third on the club.

Phillies Connection - Wegener
As mentioned above, Wegener spent four seasons in the Phillies minor league system, making it as high as Triple-A San Diego in 1968.  The team's 1968 Yearbook lists him among the "Farm System Stand-Outs," noting he had been plagued by arm troubles in recent years.

1970 Topps #661

1971 Topps #651

1970 Topps #193

1971 Topps #608

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Robertson
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #284
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #651
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  9 in the Beckett online database as of 3/11/24.

Sources - Robertson:  

Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Wegener
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #284
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #608
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  20 in the Beckett online database as of 3/11/24.

Sources - Wegener:  

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#283 Sandy Alomar - Chicago White Sox / #285 Don Mincher - Seattle Pilots