#321 Jim McAndrew - New York Mets

James Clement McAndrew
New York Mets
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  185
Born:  January 11, 1944, Lost Nation, IA
Drafted:  Drafted by the New York Mets in the 11th round of the 1965 amateur draft
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1968-1973; San Diego Padres 1974

Died:  March 14, 2024, Scottsdale, AZ (age 80)

Jim McAndrew was a member of both 1969 and 1973 National League Champion Mets teams, serving as key pitching depth on both clubs.  Used as a swingman throughout his big league career, McAndrew came up to the Mets for good in 1968 and was a back of the rotation starter in 1969 behind Tom Seaver (#480), Jerry Koosman (#90) and Gary Gentry (#31).  McAndrew pitched in a career high 184 1/3 innings in 1970 and had his best season in 1972 when he was 11-8 with a 2.80 ERA in 28 games pitched.  His time in 1973 was limited due to injury and the Mets dealt him to the Padres following the 1973 World Series.  Following a brief stint withe Padres, a knee injury resurfaced, prematurely ending his pitching career.

In 161 games, McAndrew was 37-53 with a 3.65 ERA in 771 1/3 innings pitched, recording four saves.

Building the Set / Card #309
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the 17th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $2.

The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This is McAndrew's rookie card and his first of five appearances in Topps flagship sets.  The write-up on the back of the card defends McAndrew's won-loss record from 1968 given his poor run support from the Mets offense.  The cartoon demonstrates his involvement with the Job Corps, which is still active today.  McAndrew's home town of Lost Nation, Iowa has a total area of 0.64 square miles and had a population of 434 at the time of the 2020 census.

Accuracy Index:  McAndrew's excellent looking 1969 Topps card scores a +5.

1969 Season
McAndrew started the second game of the season for the Mets, behind Seaver.  He was hassled by injuries and bad luck throughout the year, and pitched in 27 games, making 21 starts.  McAndrew was 6-7 with a 3.47 ERA in 135 innings pitched, throwing four complete games and a pair of shutouts.  His biggest outing of the season came in the first game of a double header on September 10th against the Expos.  McAndrew pitched 11 innings, in a game eventually won by the Mets in 12 innings, landing them in first place in the National League East for the first time all season.

1970 Topps #246

1971 Topps #428

1972 Topps #781

1973 Topps #436

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #321
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1969-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1973 Topps #436
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  25 in the Beckett online database as of 6/2/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#320 Dal Maxvill - St. Louis Cardinals / #322 Jose Vidal - Seattle Pilots