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Don Alvin Buford
Baltimore Orioles
Second Base-Outfield
Born: February 2, 1937, Linden, TX
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent, November 1959
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1963-67; Baltimore Orioles 1968-72
World Series Appearances: Baltimore Orioles 1969-71
Don Buford started his 10-year big league career as a speedy infielder for the White Sox and ended as a World Series hero and left fielder for the Orioles. With the White Sox, he stole a career high 51 bases in 1966, a year in which he also led the league in sacrifices with 17. After establishing himself as one of the best lead-off hitters in the league, the White Sox traded him along with Bruce Howard (#226) and Roger Nelson (#279) to the Orioles for Luis Aparicio (#75), John Matias and Russ Snyder (#201) on November 29, 1967.
Don Buford started his 10-year big league career as a speedy infielder for the White Sox and ended as a World Series hero and left fielder for the Orioles. With the White Sox, he stole a career high 51 bases in 1966, a year in which he also led the league in sacrifices with 17. After establishing himself as one of the best lead-off hitters in the league, the White Sox traded him along with Bruce Howard (#226) and Roger Nelson (#279) to the Orioles for Luis Aparicio (#75), John Matias and Russ Snyder (#201) on November 29, 1967.
With the Orioles, Buford was atop a line-up that went to the World Series three years in a row between 1969 and 1971, winning it all against the Reds in 1970. In 1969, he became the first player to lead-off Game 1 of the World Series with a home run, hitting it off future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (#480). Buford was an All-Star in 1971 and led the league with 99 runs scored. He departed for Japan for the 1973 season and batted .270 over four seasons, retiring after 1976.
Buford returned to baseball in 1981 as a coach for the Giants, managed by his former Orioles teammate, Frank Robinson (#250). He stayed with Robinson in San Francisco through 1984, then followed him briefly to Baltimore in 1988 and 1994, and again to Washington in 2005. His son Damon Buford played with the Orioles, Mets, Rangers, Red Sox and Cubs between 1993 and 2001.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #421
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Buford had another solid season for the Orioles as their regular left fielder, batting .291 in 144 games, with 31 doubles, 11 home runs and 64 RBIs. His average was a career high. The Orioles swept the Twins in the ALCS, with Buford batting .286 (4 for 14), but then lost to the Mets in the World Series. As mentioned above, Buford led off the series with a home run and also doubled in Game 1. Unfortunately, he'd go 0 for 16 in the next four games, as the Mets stunned the Orioles, winning Games 2 through 5.
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 129th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than a dollar.
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is the first Topps card to feature Buford actually wearing an Orioles uniform. The cartoon on the back celebrates the grand slam Buford hit off Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg (#109) on September 9, 1968. Buford had hit one grand slam before that in 1967, and he'd connect for the third and final grand slam of his career in 1970.
Accuracy Index: Buford's card earns a +5.
1969 Season
Buford had another solid season for the Orioles as their regular left fielder, batting .291 in 144 games, with 31 doubles, 11 home runs and 64 RBIs. His average was a career high. The Orioles swept the Twins in the ALCS, with Buford batting .286 (4 for 14), but then lost to the Mets in the World Series. As mentioned above, Buford led off the series with a home run and also doubled in Game 1. Unfortunately, he'd go 0 for 16 in the next four games, as the Mets stunned the Orioles, winning Games 2 through 5.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #368
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1964-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #107
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 84 in the Beckett online database as of 11/27/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#477 Jeff James - Philadelphia Phillies / #479 Richie Scheinblum - Cleveland Indians
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