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Leonard Eugene Alley
Pittsburgh Pirates
Shortstop
Born: July 10, 1940, Richmond, VA
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1963-73
World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1971
Gene Alley was a steady defender for the Pirates for over a decade between 1963 and 1973. With his double play partner Bill Mazeroski (#335), Alley won Gold Gloves for his work at shortstop in 1966 and 1967 and the duo set a record for most double plays in a season with 161 in 1966. He hit a career high .299 that season and was a two-time All-Star in 1967 and 1968. Alley appeared in the 1970, 1971 and 1972 postseason with the Pirates, winning a ring with the club in 1971. He retired following the 1973 season mainly due to lingering shoulder and knee injuries. For his career, Alley batted .254 with 999 hits, one short of the 1,000-hit plateau.
Gene Alley was a steady defender for the Pirates for over a decade between 1963 and 1973. With his double play partner Bill Mazeroski (#335), Alley won Gold Gloves for his work at shortstop in 1966 and 1967 and the duo set a record for most double plays in a season with 161 in 1966. He hit a career high .299 that season and was a two-time All-Star in 1967 and 1968. Alley appeared in the 1970, 1971 and 1972 postseason with the Pirates, winning a ring with the club in 1971. He retired following the 1973 season mainly due to lingering shoulder and knee injuries. For his career, Alley batted .254 with 999 hits, one short of the 1,000-hit plateau.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #386
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Alley was limited to 82 games for the Pirates in 1969, missing time in April and June while on the disabled list. With Freddie Patek (#219) seeing the bulk of the playing time at shortstop, Alley slid over to second base, making 47 starts. He started 20 games at short, and four games at third base. He enjoyed a 21-game hitting streak between mid-August and mid-September, batting .366 (30 for 82) during that span. Overall, Alley batted .246 with eight home runs, a career-high at that point, and 32 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #509
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1964-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #138
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 66 in the Beckett online database as of 10/28/24.
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 94th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little over $1.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
It looks as if the photos used for Alley's 1967, 1968 and 1969 Topps cards were taken at the same session. His uniform #14, worn between 1964 and 1967, can be seen on the front of his jersey. Alley switched to #22 for the 1968 season, yielding his normal number to new teammate and future Hall of Famer, Jim Bunning (#175). The write-up on the back highlights his strong defensive skills and the cartoon features his .299 average from the 1966 season - a career-high mark, as mentioned above.
Accuracy Index: Alley's card scores a solid +5.
1969 Season
Alley was limited to 82 games for the Pirates in 1969, missing time in April and June while on the disabled list. With Freddie Patek (#219) seeing the bulk of the playing time at shortstop, Alley slid over to second base, making 47 starts. He started 20 games at short, and four games at third base. He enjoyed a 21-game hitting streak between mid-August and mid-September, batting .366 (30 for 82) during that span. Overall, Alley batted .246 with eight home runs, a career-high at that point, and 32 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #509
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1964-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #138
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 66 in the Beckett online database as of 10/28/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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