Saturday, December 21, 2024

#476 Red Sox Rookie Stars - Ken Brett / Gerry Moses


Kenneth Alven Brett
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  September 18, 1948, Brooklyn, NY
Drafted:  Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1966 amateur draft, June 7, 1966
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1967, 1969-71; Milwaukee Brewers 1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1973; Pittsburgh Pirates 1974-75; New York Yankees 1976; Chicago White Sox 1976-77; California Angels 1977-78; Minnesota Twins 1979; Los Angeles Dodgers 1979; Kansas City Royals 1980-81
World Series Appearances:  Boston Red Sox 1967
Died:  November 18, 2003, Spokane, WA (age 55)

Gerald Braheen Moses
Boston Red Sox
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  210
Born:  August 9, 1946, Yazoo City, MS
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, June 1964
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1965, 1968-70; California Angels 1971; Cleveland Indians 1972; New York Yankees 1973; Detroit Tigers 1974; San Diego Padres 1975; Chicago White Sox 1975
Died:  March 26, 2018, Haverhill, MA (age 71)

Ken Brett, the older brother of Hall of Famer George Brett, pitched for ten different teams over his 14-year major league career.  His first taste of the spotlight came early, as he was a late addition to the Red Sox World Series roster in 1967.  The Red Sox would eventually lose to the Cardinals, but Brett had two scoreless outings and at 19 years old, became the youngest pitcher ever in the World Series.  Brett was traded to the Brewers in October 1971, kicking off what would be a decade on the move for the lefty pitcher.  He was an All-Star with the Pirates in 1974, and ended up as the winning pitcher in the game after throwing two scoreless innings.  Brett was an above average hitter, batting .262 for his career, with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs.  Even after the designated hitter rule went into effect in the American League, Brett still got called upon to pinch-hit.

Brett finished his career with two seasons in Kansas City, teammates with his brother George.  For his career, he was 83-85 with a 3.93 ERA in 349 games pitched.  Brett struck out 807 in 1,526 1/3 innings.  He'd later briefly manage in the minor leagues, and work as a broadcaster for the Mariners and Angels.

From the 1973 Phillies Yearbook
Jerry Moses provided catching and pinch-hitting services for the Red Sox and six other teams for nine seasons.  His best season came in 1970 when he was named to the American League All-Star team and ended up hitting .263 with career highs in home runs (six) and RBIs (35).  In 386 career games, Moses hit .251 with 25 home runs and 109 RBIs.

Building the Set / Card #419
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 127th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than $2.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Brett Accuracy Index +5 / Moses Accuracy Index +5
Was Brett's photo taken at night, which would make it the only (?) night photo in the set?  This is Brett's rookie card and Moses had first appeared on a Topps card way back in 1965.  That's quite the gap between appearing on Rookie Stars cards, and I can't imagine there's anyone who's got that beat.

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 the player's names printed in yellow.

Accuracy Index:  Both sides of the Rookie Stars card score a +5.

1969 Season - Brett
Brett missed a chunk of the 1968 season while serving in the Army Reserve, and he'd return to the majors briefly in 1969.  Most of his season was spent with the Louisville Colonels, where he was 7-5 with a 3.28 ERA in 25 games, including 19 starts.  With the Red Sox, Brett appeared in eight games in April, September and October, and was 2-3 with a 5.26 ERA in 39 1/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career - Brett
On October 31, 1972, Brett, Jim Lonborg (#109), Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson were traded from the Brewers to the Phillies for Bill Champion, Don Money (#454) and John Vukovich.  General manager Paul Owens was looking for help in the starting pitching rotation for Steve Carlton (#255), hoping Brett and Lonborg would do the trick.  Brett had a great season, and was 13-9 with a 3.44 ERA in 31 games, including 25 starts.  He threw 211 2/3 innings, the second most innings thrown by him in a season in his big league career.  Brett also set a record for a pitcher by hitting four home runs in four consecutive games.

Despite his success with the Phillies, he was one the move again following the season.  On October 18, 1973, the Phillies traded Brett to the Pirates for second baseman Dave Cash.
1969 Season - Moses
Moses was with the Red Sox all season as third-string catcher behind Russ Gibson (#89) and Tom Satriano (#78).  Moses started 32 games behind the plate, and appeared in 53 games overall.  He batted .304 with four home runs and 17 RBIs.
1971 Topps #89
1973 Topps #444
1975 Topps #250
1980 Topps #521
1982 Topps #397

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Brett

First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #476
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1969, 1971-82
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #192
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  57 in the Beckett online database as of 11/27/24.

Sources - Brett:  

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Moses

First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #573
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1965, 1969-75
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1975 Topps #271
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  27 in the Beckett online database as of 11/27/24.

Sources - Moses:  
1965 Topps #573
1970 Topps #104
1972 Topps #356
1974 Topps #19
1975 Topps #271

#475 Tim McCarver - St. Louis Cardinals / #477 Jeff James - Philadelphia Phillies

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