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Richard John Rollins
Seattle Pilots
Third Base
Born: April 16, 1938, Mount Pleasant, PA
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1961-68; Seattle Pilots 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970; Cleveland Indians 1970
World Series Appearances: Minnesota Twins 1965
The bespectacled Rich Rollins was the regular third baseman for the Twins during the earliest years of the franchise between 1962 and 1968. He was an All-Star in 1962, his best season, and helped the Twins reach the World Series in 1965. Rollins drove in a career high 96 runs with 16 home runs in 1962 while hitting .298. He'd tie his 16 home run mark in 1963 while hitting .307, the third best mark in the league behind Carl Yastrzemski (#130) at .321 and Al Kaline (#410) at .312. Rollins and teammate Zoilo Versalles (#38) tied for the league lead in triples with 10 a piece in 1964.
Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, the Pilots selected Rollins as the 26th pick and he was the team's opening day third baseman in 1969. He ultimately lost his job to Tommy Harper (#42) by the end of the season and he was released in May 1970 following the Pilots' move to Milwaukee. He retired following 42 games with the Indians in 1970. For his career, Rollins appeared in 1,002 games and hit .269 with 77 home runs and 399 RBIs. Following his playing days, Rollins was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and he'd also serve in the front office of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
The bespectacled Rich Rollins was the regular third baseman for the Twins during the earliest years of the franchise between 1962 and 1968. He was an All-Star in 1962, his best season, and helped the Twins reach the World Series in 1965. Rollins drove in a career high 96 runs with 16 home runs in 1962 while hitting .298. He'd tie his 16 home run mark in 1963 while hitting .307, the third best mark in the league behind Carl Yastrzemski (#130) at .321 and Al Kaline (#410) at .312. Rollins and teammate Zoilo Versalles (#38) tied for the league lead in triples with 10 a piece in 1964.
Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, the Pilots selected Rollins as the 26th pick and he was the team's opening day third baseman in 1969. He ultimately lost his job to Tommy Harper (#42) by the end of the season and he was released in May 1970 following the Pilots' move to Milwaukee. He retired following 42 games with the Indians in 1970. For his career, Rollins appeared in 1,002 games and hit .269 with 77 home runs and 399 RBIs. Following his playing days, Rollins was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and he'd also serve in the front office of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #398
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
As mentioned above, Rollins was selected by the Pilots from the Twins as the 26th pick in the 1968 expansion draft on October 15, 1968. He'd make 44 starts at third base for the Pilots, with his final start coming on July 9th, before he was placed on the 60-day disabled list, ending his season. Rollins was injured for most of the season, first with a bad back and then with knee problems. He'd move with the team to Milwaukee, playing in 14 games with the Brewers before being released on May 13th.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #596
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1962-70
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #169
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 67 in the Beckett online database as of 11/17/24.
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 106th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than $1.
The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
This is a rare sighting of Rollins without his signature, and stylish, spectacles and he's wearing a Twins jersey here. The cartoon on the back pays tribute to his third place finish in the 1963 batting race, and the write-up explains how he came to the Pilots.
This is one of 23 cards available in the set's fifth series available as either "yellow letter" or "white letter" variations, with the yellow letter variations being more prevalent. This is the more prevalent yellow letter variation with Rollins' first name printed in yellow.
Accuracy Index: Rollins is wearing his former team's uniform (-5) and he's hatless (-3).
1969 Season
As mentioned above, Rollins was selected by the Pilots from the Twins as the 26th pick in the 1968 expansion draft on October 15, 1968. He'd make 44 starts at third base for the Pilots, with his final start coming on July 9th, before he was placed on the 60-day disabled list, ending his season. Rollins was injured for most of the season, first with a bad back and then with knee problems. He'd move with the team to Milwaukee, playing in 14 games with the Brewers before being released on May 13th.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #596
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1962-70
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #169
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 67 in the Beckett online database as of 11/17/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#450 Billy Williams - Chicago Cubs / #452 Al Ferrara - San Diego Padres
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