#407 Tom Egan - California Angels

Thomas Patrick Egan
California Angels
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  218
Born:  June 9, 1946, Los Angeles, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Angels 1965; California Angels 1966-70; Chicago White Sox 1971-72; California Angels 1974-75

Tom Egan appeared in ten big league seasons as a backup catcher with the Angels and White Sox.  He played in a career high 85 games for the Angels in 1971, also hitting his career high batting average at .239.  A lifetime .200 hitter, he's best known for catching Nolan Ryan's (#533) third no-hitter on September 28, 1974 against the Twins.

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

Building the Set / Card #370
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 78th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me less than a dollar.

The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index -2

Egan was absent from the 1968 Topps set, and this is the exact same photo collectors had seen on his card in the 1967 Topps set.  The back of the card mentions Egan's biggest thrill was his first big league hit, which came off the Orioles' Wally Bunker (#137) on June 5, 1965.  Egan was pinch-hitting for reliever Barry Latman.  The "huge bonus" was $100,000, which would be a little under $1 million in 2024 dollars.

Accuracy Index:  The photo is likely from 1964 or early 1965, when the Angels were still known as the Los Angeles Angels.  Topps needed to black out the "LA" logo on Egan's hat (-3).  His card earns a +5 for the accurate uniform, but loses points (-4) for the repeat photo.

1969 Season
Egan was on the Angels' big league roster all season, serving as the back-up to Tom Satriano (#78) at the start of the season and to Joe Azcue (#176), following Azcue's acquisition from the Red Sox in mid-June.  Egan made 40 starts behind the plate, and in 46 games overall he batted .142 (17 for 120) with a double, five home runs and 16 RBIs.

1965 Topps #486

1967 Topps #147

1972 Topps #207

1973 Topps #648

1975 Topps #88

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #486
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1965-67, 1969-73, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1975 Topps #88
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  30 in the Beckett online database as of 9/14/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#406 Phil Ortega - Washington Senators / #408 Nate Colbert - San Diego Padres