 |
 |
Robert Andrew Veale
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
Born: October 28, 1935, Birmingham, AL
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1962-72; Boston Red Sox 1972-74
World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1971
Died: January 7, 2025, Birmingham, AL (age 89)
Long-time Pirates pitcher Bob Veale was an All-Star twice (1965 and 1966) and tallied at least 15 wins for the club in four straight seasons between 1964 and 1967. He accumulated over 200 strikeouts in four different seasons and led the league in that category in 1964 with 250. An effective starter for most of the 1960s, an elbow injury caused Veale to alter his pitching motion and ultimately led to his move to the bullpen. He pitched solely out of the bullpen in 1971 and a strong September helped propel the Pirates to the World Series. Veale struggled in his sole World Series appearance, but the Pirates prevailed in seven games over the Orioles earning Veale and his teammates the title. Veale wrapped up his big league career with 56 games for the Red Sox between 1972 and 1974. In 397 career games, Veale was 120-95 with a 3.07 ERA and 1,703 strikeouts and his 1,652 strikeouts while with the Pirates rank second on their all-time list behind Bob Friend. After his playing days, Veale served as a minor league pitching coach in the Braves and Yankees organizations. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Died: January 7, 2025, Birmingham, AL (age 89)
Long-time Pirates pitcher Bob Veale was an All-Star twice (1965 and 1966) and tallied at least 15 wins for the club in four straight seasons between 1964 and 1967. He accumulated over 200 strikeouts in four different seasons and led the league in that category in 1964 with 250. An effective starter for most of the 1960s, an elbow injury caused Veale to alter his pitching motion and ultimately led to his move to the bullpen. He pitched solely out of the bullpen in 1971 and a strong September helped propel the Pirates to the World Series. Veale struggled in his sole World Series appearance, but the Pirates prevailed in seven games over the Orioles earning Veale and his teammates the title. Veale wrapped up his big league career with 56 games for the Red Sox between 1972 and 1974. In 397 career games, Veale was 120-95 with a 3.07 ERA and 1,703 strikeouts and his 1,652 strikeouts while with the Pirates rank second on their all-time list behind Bob Friend. After his playing days, Veale served as a minor league pitching coach in the Braves and Yankees organizations. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #455
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Veale made 34 starts for the third place Pirates, going 13-14 with a 3.23 ERA. The ace of the staff, Veale led the team in ERA, games started, innings pitched (225 2/3) and strikeouts (213), while tying for the team lead in complete games with Steve Blass (#104) with nine. He threw a four-hit shutout against the Astros on August 20th, striking out 10. Veale struck out at least 10 batters in seven different starts.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #593
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1962-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #114
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 90 in the Beckett online database as of 1/20/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having had success the prior two shows at Uncle Dick's Cards with his well-organized, neon common binders, I opted to pull up a chair once again at the friendly dealer's array of tables. The aim was simple: Clear out Uncle Dick's 1969 Topps commons, starting off where I had left off the year before with card #501 and going through the end of the set, card #664. In less than 25 minutes, I completed my quest, and this is the 11th of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me around $1.75.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
I wrote this in the post for Veale's 1965 Topps card, linked below, and the same applies with this card: I wouldn't be surprised to learn if Veale requested his hat be removed for this photo, solely to highlight his awesome glasses frames. The Pirates pitcher, who recently passed away, appeared on so many great Topps baseball cards. The write-up on the back is somewhat outdated as Friend would eventually pass Veale as the Pirates' all-time strikeout leader. Veale had taken over the team lead from Wilbur Cooper, a Pirates pitcher between 1912 and 1924.
Accuracy Index: If I were awarding extra points for pure style, Veale would be a recipient.
1969 Season
Veale made 34 starts for the third place Pirates, going 13-14 with a 3.23 ERA. The ace of the staff, Veale led the team in ERA, games started, innings pitched (225 2/3) and strikeouts (213), while tying for the team lead in complete games with Steve Blass (#104) with nine. He threw a four-hit shutout against the Astros on August 20th, striking out 10. Veale struck out at least 10 batters in seven different starts.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #593
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1962-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #114
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 90 in the Beckett online database as of 1/20/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#519 Yankees Rookie Stars / #521 George Thomas - Boston Red Sox
No comments:
Post a Comment