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Juan Roman Pizarro
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher
Born: February 7, 1937, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1957-60; Chicago White Sox 1961-66; Pittsburgh Pirates 1967-68; Boston Red Sox 1969; Cleveland Indians 1969; Oakland Athletics 1969; Chicago Cubs 1970-73; Houston Astros 1973; Pittsburgh Pirates 1974
World Series Appearances: Milwaukee Braves 1957-58
Died: February 18, 2021, Carolina, Puerto Rico (age 84)
A veteran of 18 Major League seasons, Juan Pizarro was a two-time All-Star with the White Sox in 1963 and 1964. Pizarro went 16-8 with a 2.39 ERA in 1963 and topped that performance with a 19-win season in 1964. His ERA in 1963 was second only to his teammate Gary Peters (#34) who had a 2.33 ERA. Prior to joining the White Sox, Pizarro pitched in parts of four seasons with his original team, the Milwaukee Braves, winning a World Series ring with them in 1957.
Pizarro was a journeyman towards the latter part of his career, and his Baseball Reference page shows an impressive display of the uniform numbers he wore throughout his career. After being traded to the Pirates in 1966, Pizarro played for seven different teams over a nine-year period. He wrapped up his big league career in 1974 with the Pirates, helping them win the National League East pennant. Pizzaro finished his career with close to 400 professional wins - 131 in the majors, 66 in the minors, 38 in Mexico and 157 while playing winter ball in his native Puerto Rico. He had a major league record of 131-105 in 488 games played, with a 3.43 ERA and 1,522 strikeouts in 2,034 1/3 innings.
Died: February 18, 2021, Carolina, Puerto Rico (age 84)
A veteran of 18 Major League seasons, Juan Pizarro was a two-time All-Star with the White Sox in 1963 and 1964. Pizarro went 16-8 with a 2.39 ERA in 1963 and topped that performance with a 19-win season in 1964. His ERA in 1963 was second only to his teammate Gary Peters (#34) who had a 2.33 ERA. Prior to joining the White Sox, Pizarro pitched in parts of four seasons with his original team, the Milwaukee Braves, winning a World Series ring with them in 1957.
Pizarro was a journeyman towards the latter part of his career, and his Baseball Reference page shows an impressive display of the uniform numbers he wore throughout his career. After being traded to the Pirates in 1966, Pizarro played for seven different teams over a nine-year period. He wrapped up his big league career in 1974 with the Pirates, helping them win the National League East pennant. Pizzaro finished his career with close to 400 professional wins - 131 in the majors, 66 in the minors, 38 in Mexico and 157 while playing winter ball in his native Puerto Rico. He had a major league record of 131-105 in 488 games played, with a 3.43 ERA and 1,522 strikeouts in 2,034 1/3 innings.
The 1961 Topps Pizarro card was one of the oldest cards in my collection for a while. I vaguely recall my Dad had bought the card for me due to the similarities between our last name and Pizarro's, but I never really knew anything about the pitcher smiling back at me until recently.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #436
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #383
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1957, 1959-69, 1971-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #79
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 92 in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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| At one point, these were the three oldest baseball cards in my collection |
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 penultimate of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little over a dollar.
The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Pizarro is wearing a Pirates jersey here, and he had spent all of 1967 and the start of the 1968 season in Pittsburgh. A vested Pirates teammate can be seen making a blurry cameo over Pizarro's right shoulder. There are already a lot of statistics on the back of the card, and Pizarro would add six more seasons to the tally before retiring.
Accuracy Index: Pizarro's card drops to a -8. He'd appear in 25 games overall with the Red Sox, but never be featured on a baseball card wearing an actual Red Sox uniform.
1969 Season
Pizarro was frequently on the move throughout the season. He pitched in six games in relief for the Red Sox before he was traded with Dick Ellsworth (#605) and Ken Harrelson (#240) to the Indians for Joe Azcue (#176), Vicente Romo (#267) and Sonny Siebert (#455). Pizarro spent the bulk of the season with the Indians, and was 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 48 appearances, including four starts. On September 21st, he was sold to the Athletics, where he'd appear in only three games. His combined numbers with the three teams - 4-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 57 games, 52 strikeouts and 58 walks over 99 1/3 innings.
Pizarro was frequently on the move throughout the season. He pitched in six games in relief for the Red Sox before he was traded with Dick Ellsworth (#605) and Ken Harrelson (#240) to the Indians for Joe Azcue (#176), Vicente Romo (#267) and Sonny Siebert (#455). Pizarro spent the bulk of the season with the Indians, and was 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 48 appearances, including four starts. On September 21st, he was sold to the Athletics, where he'd appear in only three games. His combined numbers with the three teams - 4-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 57 games, 52 strikeouts and 58 walks over 99 1/3 innings.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #383
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1957, 1959-69, 1971-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #79
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 92 in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#497 Julian Javier - St. Louis Cardinals / #499 Astros Rookie Stars
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