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Theodore Wade Abernathy
Chicago Cubs
Pitcher
Born: March 6, 1933, Stanley, NC
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1955-57, 1960; Cleveland Indians 1963-64; Chicago Cubs 1965-66; Atlanta Braves 1966; Cincinnati Reds 1967-68; Chicago Cubs 1969-70; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970-72
Died: December 16, 2014, Gastonia, NC (age 71)
Ted Abernathy was a durable reliever who spent 14 years in the majors, topping the league in relief appearances three times and leading the league in saves twice. Abernathy developed an effective submarine pitching motion following right shoulder surgery in 1959. After pitching sporadically with the Senators in the late 1950s and 1960, Abernathy began a string of ten consecutive seasons between 1963 and 1972 in which he'd relieve in at least 40 games. He developed into one of the game's top closers, making 84 appearances in 1965 with the Cubs and saving a league leading 31 games. Abernathy enjoyed a career year in 1967 with the Reds, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 70 games and 106 1/3 innings pitched while leading the league with 28 saves. He'd finish his career as one of the first closers in Royals' franchise history, appearing in his final major league games in 1972.
Abernathy owned a lifetime record of 63-69 in 681 games pitched, with a 3.46 ERA and 149 saves. His saves total is still within the top one hundred of all-time as of this writing.
Ted Abernathy was a durable reliever who spent 14 years in the majors, topping the league in relief appearances three times and leading the league in saves twice. Abernathy developed an effective submarine pitching motion following right shoulder surgery in 1959. After pitching sporadically with the Senators in the late 1950s and 1960, Abernathy began a string of ten consecutive seasons between 1963 and 1972 in which he'd relieve in at least 40 games. He developed into one of the game's top closers, making 84 appearances in 1965 with the Cubs and saving a league leading 31 games. Abernathy enjoyed a career year in 1967 with the Reds, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 70 games and 106 1/3 innings pitched while leading the league with 28 saves. He'd finish his career as one of the first closers in Royals' franchise history, appearing in his final major league games in 1972.
Abernathy owned a lifetime record of 63-69 in 681 games pitched, with a 3.46 ERA and 149 saves. His saves total is still within the top one hundred of all-time as of this writing.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #424
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
On January 9th, the Reds traded Abernathy to the Cubs for Clarence Jones, Bill Plummer and minor leaguer Kennth Myette. It was Abernathy's second stint with the Cubs, and he had one of his best seasons with the team back in 1965. Abernathy was an effective set-up man for closer Phil Regan (#535), appearing in 56 games and going 4-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 85 1/3 innings pitched. He had three saves for the Cubs, while Regan led the team with 17.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #293
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1957, 1959-1960, 1964-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #22
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 49 in the Beckett online database as of 11/29/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / 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 132nd 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 / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Topps had the benefit of Abernathy having pitched for the Cubs once before, so this photo is from the pitcher's first stint with the team in 1965 or 1966. The Cubs' road jerseys bore the same design between 1962 and 1968, dropping the red outline around the word mark and the piping at the bottom of the sleeves for the 1969 season. The back of the card touches on Abernathy's success as a late-inning reliever and mentions his submarine-style of pitching.
Accuracy Index: It's a +5, but only because Topps had the benefit of Abernathy's prior stint with the Cubs.
1969 Season
On January 9th, the Reds traded Abernathy to the Cubs for Clarence Jones, Bill Plummer and minor leaguer Kennth Myette. It was Abernathy's second stint with the Cubs, and he had one of his best seasons with the team back in 1965. Abernathy was an effective set-up man for closer Phil Regan (#535), appearing in 56 games and going 4-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 85 1/3 innings pitched. He had three saves for the Cubs, while Regan led the team with 17.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #293
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1957, 1959-1960, 1964-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #22
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 49 in the Beckett online database as of 11/29/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#482 Jim Gosger - Seattle Pilots / #484 Joe Gordon MG - Kansas City Royals
Abernathy's career year in 1967 came after being a Rule 5 pickup from the Braves after the 1966 season.
ReplyDeleteBad move by the Braves. They finished in 7th place in 1967, while going through 18 pitchers.