#401 Jake Gibbs - New York Yankees

Jerry Dean Gibbs
New York Yankees
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Born:  November 7, 1938, Grenada, MS
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1962-71

Jake Gibbs was the catcher who bridged the gap between Elston Howard and Thurman Munson for the Yankees.  In 10 seasons in the Bronx, Gibbs hit .233 over 538 games with 25 home runs and 146 RBIs.  He was the Yankees regular starting catcher in 1967 and 1968.  His best season was likely 1968, as he appeared in a career-high 124 games, batting .213 with 29 RBIs.  Following his playing days, Gibbs returned to his alma mater, the University of Mississippi, and coached their baseball team to the 1972 SEC championship.  He returned to the Yankees organization in 1993 as their bullpen catcher, and he managed the Tampa Yankees in 1994 and 1995.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #365
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

We're half-way through this series of posts featuring cards purchased at the December 2023 Philly Show.  At the pace I'm going, I hope to be caught up by the time the calendar turns to 2025.

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 73rd of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $1.

The Card / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Gibbs gets a great-looking card, and these are few and far between so far with the cards I've collected for our set.  The back of the card touches on his football career.  Gibbs' bonus with the Yankees was $100,000, and he opted for a baseball career even though he had also been drafted by the Houston Oilers and the Cleveland Browns.  

Accuracy Index:  If I could give this card more points I would, as the photo works well with the set's design.

1969 Season
The left-handed hitting Gibbs and the righty Frank Fernandez (#557) formed a platoon behind the plate for most of the season as the Yankees finished in fifth place in the American League East, one game below .500 for the year.  Gibbs got 66 starts with Fernandez receiving 57.  On August 8th, Munson made his debut and both Gibbs and Fernandez were essentially out of a job.  Gibbs batted .224 with nine doubles, nary a home run and 18 RBIs.

1962 Topps #281

1964 Topps #281

1965 Topps #226

1966 Topps #117

1971 Topps #382

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #281
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1962, 1964-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JGI
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  48 in the Beckett online database as of 9/3/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#400 Don Drysdale - Los Angeles Dodgers / #402 Ken Boswell - New York Mets