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Charles Thomas Dobson
Oakland Athletics
Pitcher
Born: January 10, 1944, Kansas City, MO
Signed: Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent before 1965 season
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1966-67; Oakland Athletics 1968-71, 1973; California Angels 1974-75
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1966-67; Oakland Athletics 1968-71, 1973; California Angels 1974-75
Died: November 30, 2021, Kansas City, MO (age 77)
Chuck Dobson displayed flashes of brilliance with the Athletics in the early 1970s before elbow injuries shortened his career. Dobson represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as one of seven pitchers on Team USA when baseball was a demonstration sport. He made his big league debut with the Athletics on opening day 1966, becoming the first starting pitcher to make his debut in his team's opener in the state where he was born. He won at least 10 games each year between 1967 and 1971, with his career year coming in 1970. Dobson was 16-15 that season with a 3.74 ERA and a league leading five shutouts. He threw a career-high 267 innings and was never quite the same.
Dobson was a 15-game winner again in 1971, but missed all of 1972 while recovering from elbow surgery. He'd pitch in only 15 more games in the majors between 1973 and 1975, with his final big league action coming with the Angels in 1975. An excellent fielder, Dobson led all pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage in both 1967 and 1971. For his career, he was 74-69 with a 3.78 ERA in 202 games pitched. He threw 49 complete games, including 11 shutouts.
Chuck Dobson displayed flashes of brilliance with the Athletics in the early 1970s before elbow injuries shortened his career. Dobson represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as one of seven pitchers on Team USA when baseball was a demonstration sport. He made his big league debut with the Athletics on opening day 1966, becoming the first starting pitcher to make his debut in his team's opener in the state where he was born. He won at least 10 games each year between 1967 and 1971, with his career year coming in 1970. Dobson was 16-15 that season with a 3.74 ERA and a league leading five shutouts. He threw a career-high 267 innings and was never quite the same.
Dobson was a 15-game winner again in 1971, but missed all of 1972 while recovering from elbow surgery. He'd pitch in only 15 more games in the majors between 1973 and 1975, with his final big league action coming with the Angels in 1975. An excellent fielder, Dobson led all pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage in both 1967 and 1971. For his career, he was 74-69 with a 3.78 ERA in 202 games pitched. He threw 49 complete games, including 11 shutouts.
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 71st 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 / Athletics Team Set / Accuracy Index +2
The photo used here is very close, but not quite the same, as the photo used for Dobson's 1968 Topps card. I'm guessing all these photos were taken in 1965, as the photo used for his 1966 Topps rookie card is also similar. Foreshadowing what was to come, the cartoon on the back shows Dobson with his arm in a sling. The write-up covers his success in 1968 and the no-hitter he threw in 1965 as a member of the Lewiston Broncs of the Northwest League.
Accuracy Index: Like most of his teammates, and given Topps didn't have updated photos showing players without the "KC" logo on their hats, Dobson's card drops to -2.
1969 Season
Dobson made 35 starts for the second place Athletics, tied for the team lead with Catfish Hunter (#235). He was 15-13 with a 3.86 ERA in 235 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 137 batters. Hunter and Blue Moon Odom (#195) tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 150.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #588
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1966-72, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1975 Topps #635
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 32 in the Beckett online database as of 9/3/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#396 Jim Campanis - Kansas City Royals / #398 Tito Francona - Atlanta Braves
Chcuk Dobson brings to mind a couple of things. Even though he was part of the Oakland A's young core of 1969/1970 that eventually won the 3 World Series championships, due to arm issues he was not on the World Series roster of any of those teams. The second is the iconic Thurman Munsion 1971 Topps card with Munson tagging out Dobson at home plate.
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