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Gerald Edward McNertney
Seattle Pilots
Catcher
Born: August 7, 1936, Boone, IA
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1964, 1966-68; Seattle Pilots 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970; St. Louis Cardinals 1971-72; Pittsburgh Pirates 1973
Jerry McNertney was originally drafted as a first baseman and an outfielder, but a conversion to catcher helped him find work with the White Sox as a back-up between 1964 and 1968. Despite coming late to the position, he led all catchers with a 54.8% caught stealing percentage in 1967. Left unprotected by the White Sox in the 1968 expansion draft, he was the 7th pick overall by the Pilots. McNertney was the team's opening day catcher, and he'd start 110 games behind the plate while having his best season in the majors. Batting .241 for the last place club, McNertney attained careers highs in runs (39), hits (99), doubles (18), home runs (eight) and RBIs (55). He was the final batter in the Pilots' short history, striking out to end the team's final game before moving to Milwaukee for the 1970 season.
Also the opening day catcher for the Brewers in their first ever game, McNertney would gradually lose playing time to Phil Roof (#334) throughout the season. He'd spend two seasons with the Cardinals as a back-up in 1971 and 1972, and play in nine games with the Pirates in 1973 before retiring. McNertney batted .237 for his career, with 337 hits, 27 home runs and 163 RBIs. He briefly served as a bullpen coach with the Yankees (1984) and Red Sox (1988).
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 16th of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me less than $2.
The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index +10
After seeing so many Pilots cards early in the set featuring hatless players or hats with dark blobs on the front, it's great that we're starting to see the actual Pilots hats and uniforms on cardboard. Topps seems excited by McNertney's addition to the Pilots, exclaiming, "Drafted from Chicago!" on the back.
Accuracy Index: Top marks for featuring a new expansion team uniform.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was McNertney's best season. He caught more games than any other American League catcher (122), and lead the league in runners caught stealing with 35.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #564
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1964, 1968-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1987 ProCards #762
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 47 in the Beckett online database as of 2/2/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#533 Nolan Ryan - New York Mets / #535 Phil Regan - Chicago Cubs
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