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Michael Peter Epstein
Washington Senators
First Base
Born: April 4, 1943, Bronx, NY
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1966-67; Washington Senators 1967-71; Oakland Athletics 1971-1972; Texas Rangers 1973; California Angels 1973-74
World Series Appearances: Oakland Athletics 1972
First baseman Mike Epstein originally came up with the Orioles in 1966, but after only 15 appearances with the club he requested a trade following a demotion to the minors in 1967. With Boog Powell (#15) at first base, the Orioles accommodated Epstein and dealt him to the Senators. Epstein had the best seasons of his nine-year big league career with the Senators, and had a career year in 1969 when he batted .278 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs. All three marks would be career bests. He'd attribute his success to the hitting theories of manager Ted Williams (#650), and later in life Epstein would open the Epstein School of Hitting, passing along Williams' teachings to young hitters. Epstein's production gradually decreased in 1970 and early 1971, and the Senators traded him to the Athletics in May 1971. He'd go to the postseason twice with the Athletics, winning a World Series ring with the club in 1972. A bad slump during that series (0 for 16), an ongoing feud with manager Dick Williams (#349) and a fight earlier in the season with star Reggie Jackson (#260), led to his departure from Oakland.
Epstein played his final two seasons with the Rangers and Angels, serving as a back-up first baseman and left-handed pinch-hitter. For his career, Epstein batted .244 with 695 hits, 130 home runs and 380 RBIs. He had a knack for getting hit by pitches, and finished in the top ten in that category in six different seasons.
First baseman Mike Epstein originally came up with the Orioles in 1966, but after only 15 appearances with the club he requested a trade following a demotion to the minors in 1967. With Boog Powell (#15) at first base, the Orioles accommodated Epstein and dealt him to the Senators. Epstein had the best seasons of his nine-year big league career with the Senators, and had a career year in 1969 when he batted .278 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs. All three marks would be career bests. He'd attribute his success to the hitting theories of manager Ted Williams (#650), and later in life Epstein would open the Epstein School of Hitting, passing along Williams' teachings to young hitters. Epstein's production gradually decreased in 1970 and early 1971, and the Senators traded him to the Athletics in May 1971. He'd go to the postseason twice with the Athletics, winning a World Series ring with the club in 1972. A bad slump during that series (0 for 16), an ongoing feud with manager Dick Williams (#349) and a fight earlier in the season with star Reggie Jackson (#260), led to his departure from Oakland.
Epstein played his final two seasons with the Rangers and Angels, serving as a back-up first baseman and left-handed pinch-hitter. For his career, Epstein batted .244 with 695 hits, 130 home runs and 380 RBIs. He had a knack for getting hit by pitches, and finished in the top ten in that category in six different seasons.
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
This card is scheduled to post exactly one year after we added it to our set. The pile of 1969 Topps cards sitting on my project table has steadily declined throughout 2024, and I'll hopefully be replenishing the stack soon.
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 114th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost less than a dollar.
The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Epstein is shown posing at Yankee Stadium. He'd appear again later in the set, sharing a card with his mentor Williams, on a combo card (#539) appropriately titled, "Ted Shows How." The write-up on the back notes there were high hopes for Epstein, and he'd deliver with a great season in 1969. The full trade, as characterized in the cartoon, that brought Epstein to the Senators happened on May 29, 1967. Epstein and Frank Bertaina (#554) were sent from the Orioles in exchange for Pete Richert (#86).
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 Epstein's last name printed in yellow.
Accuracy Index: Epstein's card earns a now quite common +5.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Epstein's best season. He finished ninth in the league in home runs (30), sixth in slugging percentage (.551) and third in on-base percentage (.414). Along with left fielder Frank Howard (#170), Epstein was one of the top sluggers for the Senators, who finished above .500 for their first and only time while in Washington. Epstein made 115 starts at first base throughout the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #204
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1967-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #261
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 58 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#460 Joe Torre - St. Louis Cardinals / #462 Red Schoendienst MG - St. Louis Cardinals
