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Francis Ralph Quilici
Minnesota Twins
Infield
Born: May 11, 1939, Chicago, IL
Signed: Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1965, 1967-70
World Series Appearances: Minnesota Twins 1965
As a Manager: Minnesota Twins 1972-75
Died: May 14, 2018, Burnsville, MN (age 79)
Frank Quilici spent two decades in the Twins' organization as an infielder, coach, manager and broadcaster. He was pushed into duty with the Twins in 1965 when their regular second baseman, Jerry Kindall, couldn't overcome a hamstring injury. Quilici batted .208 down the stretch for the American League pennant winners, and then played every inning of all seven World Series games against the Dodgers. He batted .200 (4 for 20) in the World Series, and his most notable moment came in Game 1 when he collected two hits, a double and a single, in the same inning against Dodgers' starter Don Drysdale (#400). He'd return to the minors in 1966, and see his playing time diminish in the late 1960s with the arrival of Rod Carew (#510). In 405 big league games, Quilici batted .214 with 23 doubles, five home runs and 53 RBIs.
He joined the Twins' coaching staff in 1970, and was surprisingly promoted to the manager's position in July 1972 when Bill Rigney (#182) was fired. At just 33 years old at the time, he was the youngest manager in the majors. His teams hovered around the .500 mark during each of his 3 1/2 years at the helm, never finishing better than third place in the American League West. He was fired at the end of the 1975 season, with a lifetime record of 280-287. Quilici remained with the Twins through the early 1980s as part of the club's radio broadcast team.
As a Manager: Minnesota Twins 1972-75
Died: May 14, 2018, Burnsville, MN (age 79)
Frank Quilici spent two decades in the Twins' organization as an infielder, coach, manager and broadcaster. He was pushed into duty with the Twins in 1965 when their regular second baseman, Jerry Kindall, couldn't overcome a hamstring injury. Quilici batted .208 down the stretch for the American League pennant winners, and then played every inning of all seven World Series games against the Dodgers. He batted .200 (4 for 20) in the World Series, and his most notable moment came in Game 1 when he collected two hits, a double and a single, in the same inning against Dodgers' starter Don Drysdale (#400). He'd return to the minors in 1966, and see his playing time diminish in the late 1960s with the arrival of Rod Carew (#510). In 405 big league games, Quilici batted .214 with 23 doubles, five home runs and 53 RBIs.
He joined the Twins' coaching staff in 1970, and was surprisingly promoted to the manager's position in July 1972 when Bill Rigney (#182) was fired. At just 33 years old at the time, he was the youngest manager in the majors. His teams hovered around the .500 mark during each of his 3 1/2 years at the helm, never finishing better than third place in the American League West. He was fired at the end of the 1975 season, with a lifetime record of 280-287. Quilici remained with the Twins through the early 1980s as part of the club's radio broadcast team.
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 42nd of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me little less than $1.
The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Quilici is shown demonstrating his bunting stance, and he'd have 11 sacrifices throughout his five-year big league career. The back of the card highlights in cartoon form his two hits in an inning in the 1965 World Series, and the write-up reminds collectors he played in all seven games in that series. Quilici did in fact have his best year as a player in 1968, batting a career best .245 over 97 games.
Accuracy Index: Quilici's card scores a +5.
1969 Season
Quilici played in a career-high 118 games, batting .174 primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement for Carew at second base or Harmon Killebrew (#375) at third base. He made 30 starts throughout the season - 23 at second base and seven at third base.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #207
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1966, 1968-71, 1973-75
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1975 Topps #443
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 32 in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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