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Alphonso Erwin Downing
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: June 28, 1941, Trenton, NJ
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1961-1969; Oakland Athletics 1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1970; Los Angeles Dodgers 1971-1977
World Series Appearances: New York Yankees 1963-1964; Los Angeles Dodgers 1974
Al Downing played in parts of 17 seasons in the big leagues, was an American League All-Star in 1967 and was the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 1971 after winning 20 games with the Dodgers. He had a lifetime record of 123-107 with a 3.22 ERA, and he allowed 177 home runs - including one of the most famous home runs ever hit. Despite his success and longevity, Downing is best remember as the pitcher who surrendered Henry Aaron's (#100) record breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.
Downing was a member of the Yankees starting pitching rotation in the mid to late 1960s, as the franchise's perennial hold on the American League was waning. He won at least 13 games in 1963, 1964 and in his All-Star season of 1967. He led the league in strikeouts in 1964 with 217, the only time in his career he'd surpass the 200-strikeouts in a season mark. Following brief stays with the A's and Brewers, Downing enjoyed a resurgence with the Dodgers in the early to mid 1970s. He went 20-9 with the Dodgers in 1971, leading the league in shutouts with five, and finishing third in Cy Young voting behind Fergie Jenkins (#640) and Tom Seaver (#480).
Following his playing days, Downing served as a color analyst on Dodgers TV broadcasts between 1980 and 1987, and on radio in 2005. He also briefly broadcast for the Braves in 2000.
Al Downing played in parts of 17 seasons in the big leagues, was an American League All-Star in 1967 and was the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 1971 after winning 20 games with the Dodgers. He had a lifetime record of 123-107 with a 3.22 ERA, and he allowed 177 home runs - including one of the most famous home runs ever hit. Despite his success and longevity, Downing is best remember as the pitcher who surrendered Henry Aaron's (#100) record breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.
Downing was a member of the Yankees starting pitching rotation in the mid to late 1960s, as the franchise's perennial hold on the American League was waning. He won at least 13 games in 1963, 1964 and in his All-Star season of 1967. He led the league in strikeouts in 1964 with 217, the only time in his career he'd surpass the 200-strikeouts in a season mark. Following brief stays with the A's and Brewers, Downing enjoyed a resurgence with the Dodgers in the early to mid 1970s. He went 20-9 with the Dodgers in 1971, leading the league in shutouts with five, and finishing third in Cy Young voting behind Fergie Jenkins (#640) and Tom Seaver (#480).
Following his playing days, Downing served as a color analyst on Dodgers TV broadcasts between 1980 and 1987, and on radio in 2005. He also briefly broadcast for the Braves in 2000.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #268
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
In his ninth and final season with the Yankees, Downing was 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 30 games overall, and 15 starts. He threw five complete games in his 15 starts, and was the team's fifth starter and swingman, behind Mel Stottlemyre (#470), Fritz Peterson (#46), Stan Bahnsen (#380) and Bill Burbach (#658). On December 5th, Downing and Frank Fernandez (#557) were traded to the Athletics for Danny Cater (#44) and Ossie Chavarria.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1962, 1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #96
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 77 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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 191st 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 / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Downing is shown in a pose similar to that used for his 1967 and 1968 Topps cards, but the photos for all three cards are different. The back of the card explains an arm injury limited him to just 15 appearances in 1968. The cartoon highlights his Immaculate Inning thrown on August 11, 1967 against the Indians, striking out Tony Horton, Don Demeter and Duke Sims (#414) on nine pitches.
Accuracy Index: Downing's card scores a +5 for the accurate Yankees uniform in a photo not seen before.
1969 Season
In his ninth and final season with the Yankees, Downing was 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 30 games overall, and 15 starts. He threw five complete games in his 15 starts, and was the team's fifth starter and swingman, behind Mel Stottlemyre (#470), Fritz Peterson (#46), Stan Bahnsen (#380) and Bill Burbach (#658). On December 5th, Downing and Frank Fernandez (#557) were traded to the Athletics for Danny Cater (#44) and Ossie Chavarria.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1962, 1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #96
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 77 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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