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John Robert Tillman
Atlanta Braves
Catcher
Born: March 24, 1937, Nashville, TN
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, January 18, 1958
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1962-67; New York Yankees 1967; Atlanta Braves 1968-70
Died: June 23, 2000, Gallatin, TN (age 63)
For all but two of his nine big league seasons, Bob Tillman served as a back-up catcher for the Red Sox, Yankees and Braves. His best season came in 1964 when he earned an opportunity to serve as the Red Sox regular catcher, and he delivered with a .278 batting average, 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. He was the Red Sox opening day catcher again in 1965, but offensive struggles caused manager Billy Herman to give more starts to either Mike Ryan (#28) or Russ Nixon (#363). Tillman was briefly a member of the Impossible Dream Red Sox team in 1967, as he appeared in 30 games for the club but was sold to the Yankees on August 8th. Following the 1967 season, Tillman was dealt to the Braves with Dave Roberts (#536) for Bobby Cox (#237). He'd play his final three seasons in the majors with Atlanta. Tillman was dealt to the Brewers in December 1970, but the club released him the following February and his big league career was over. In 775 big league games, Tillman batted .232 with 79 home runs and 282 RBIs.
For all but two of his nine big league seasons, Bob Tillman served as a back-up catcher for the Red Sox, Yankees and Braves. His best season came in 1964 when he earned an opportunity to serve as the Red Sox regular catcher, and he delivered with a .278 batting average, 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. He was the Red Sox opening day catcher again in 1965, but offensive struggles caused manager Billy Herman to give more starts to either Mike Ryan (#28) or Russ Nixon (#363). Tillman was briefly a member of the Impossible Dream Red Sox team in 1967, as he appeared in 30 games for the club but was sold to the Yankees on August 8th. Following the 1967 season, Tillman was dealt to the Braves with Dave Roberts (#536) for Bobby Cox (#237). He'd play his final three seasons in the majors with Atlanta. Tillman was dealt to the Brewers in December 1970, but the club released him the following February and his big league career was over. In 775 big league games, Tillman batted .232 with 79 home runs and 282 RBIs.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #349
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index -12
1969 Season
In his penultimate season, Tillman served as back-up to Braves' regular catcher Bob Didier (#611), starting 52 games, including opening day and the final game of the season. He batted .195 in 69 games, with 12 home runs and 29 RBIs. He saw his only postseason action in the 1969 NLCS against the victorious Mets, replacing Didier behind the plate to catch the bottom of the eighth of Game 3.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #368
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #172
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 45 in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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 57th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me less than $1.
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index -12
Tillman looks absolutely thrilled to have his photo taken here, and collectors would have already seen his beaming image on his 1968 Topps card. Topps was completely off with its prediction on the back of the card for Tillman's 1969 season. Joe Torre (#460) was dealt to the Cardinals on March 17th in exchange for Orlando Cepeda (#385). And Tillman didn't play one inning at first base during his entire major league career. He had one pinch-hit appearance during the season.
Accuracy Index: Tillman's card scores a -12. We've seen the photo before (-4), he's hatless (-3) and wearing a Red Sox away jersey (-5).
1969 Season
In his penultimate season, Tillman served as back-up to Braves' regular catcher Bob Didier (#611), starting 52 games, including opening day and the final game of the season. He batted .195 in 69 games, with 12 home runs and 29 RBIs. He saw his only postseason action in the 1969 NLCS against the victorious Mets, replacing Didier behind the plate to catch the bottom of the eighth of Game 3.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #368
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #172
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 45 in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#373 Fred Lasher - Detroit Tigers / #375 Harmon Killebrew - Minnesota Twins
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