 |
 |
John Thomas Matchick
Detroit Tigers
Second Base - Shortstop
Born: September 7, 1943, Hazleton, PA
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1967-69; Boston Red Sox 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1971; Baltimore Orioles 1972
World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1968
Died: January 4, 2022, Sylvania, OH (age 78)
A light-hitting infielder, Tommy Matchick played in parts of six big league seasons, winning a World Series ring with the Tigers in 1968. Matchick made his debut as a September call-up in 1967, and would spend the entire 1968 and 1969 seasons on the Tigers' roster as a reserve for all four infield positions. He batted .203 in 80 games for the 1968 Tigers, and was 0 for 3 in three pinch-hitting appearances in the World Series against the Cardinals. His best year came in 1969 when he played in a career-high 94 games, batting .242 with 32 RBIs. Dealt to the Red Sox following the season, Matchick would spend time over the next three seasons with the Red Sox, Royals, Brewers and Orioles.
Died: January 4, 2022, Sylvania, OH (age 78)
A light-hitting infielder, Tommy Matchick played in parts of six big league seasons, winning a World Series ring with the Tigers in 1968. Matchick made his debut as a September call-up in 1967, and would spend the entire 1968 and 1969 seasons on the Tigers' roster as a reserve for all four infield positions. He batted .203 in 80 games for the 1968 Tigers, and was 0 for 3 in three pinch-hitting appearances in the World Series against the Cardinals. His best year came in 1969 when he played in a career-high 94 games, batting .242 with 32 RBIs. Dealt to the Red Sox following the season, Matchick would spend time over the next three seasons with the Red Sox, Royals, Brewers and Orioles.
Building the Set / Card #326
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.
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 34th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me less than $1, which is surprising given the premium placed on Mets cards from this set.
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Matchick shared space on Rookie Stars cards in the 1967 and 1968 Topps sets, and this is his first solo card. The photo dates from 1967, as that's the only season Matchick wore #43 with the Tigers before switching over to #2. The cartoon pictures a distraught cardinal, as Matchick spent a year in the Cardinals' minor league system before the Tigers drafted him away in November 1962.
Accuracy Index: We're on a run of +5 cards, which I imagine will start to come a little more frequently once we get into the higher series of the set.
1969 Season
With the Tigers all season, Matchick made starts at all four infield positions - 45 games at second base, 24 games at third base, six games at shortstop and a game at first base. He batted .500 (8 for 16) as a pinch-hitter for the second place club. On December 13th, Matchick was traded to the Red Sox for fellow infielder Dalton Jones (#457).
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #72
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1967-71, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #397
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 31 in the Beckett online database as of 7/2/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment