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Michael George Paul
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: April 18, 1945, Detroit, MI
Drafted: Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 20th round of the 1967 amateur draft, June 6, 1967
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1968-71; Texas Rangers 1972-73; Chicago Cubs 1973-74
Serving primarily as a lefty reliever, Mike Paul spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, and was arguably the MVP of the Rangers' inaugural season in 1972. Paul was drafted by the Indians in 1967, and he'd make his debut with the club less than a year later in May 1968. He'd find some success in Cleveland, but an eight-player deal with the newly-located Texas Rangers in December 1971 proved to be fortuitous for Paul. He'd have a career year in 1972 as the most reliable pitcher on manager Ted Williams' (#650) staff, going 8-9 with a 2.17 ERA in 49 games and 20 starts. He threw a career high 161 2/3 innings, struck out a career-best 108 and led the 100-loss Rangers team with a 3.6 bWAR. Paul would begin the 1973 season back with the Rangers, and was dealt to the Cubs in August 1973 in exchange for Larry Gura. Paul's big league career would last just a dozen more games with the Cubs in 1973 and 1974.
After a stint in the Phillies' organization, Paul moved to Mexico where he pitched in the Mexican League through the 1982 season. In 228 big league games, Paul was 27-48 with a 3.91 ERA and 452 strikeouts in 627 2/3 innings pitched. He'd later serve as the bullpen coach for the Athletics (1987-88) and the pitching coach for the Mariners (1989-91).
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 18th of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me less than a dollar.
The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is Paul's rookie card, and the pitcher wore #39 during his time with the Indians. The cartoon on the back speaks to his short stint in the minors before getting recalled to the majors, and the write-up correctly predicts he'd see a lot of relief work while in Cleveland.
Accuracy Index: Paul's card scores a strong +5.
1969 Season
In his first full season in the majors, Paul was 5-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 47 appearances and 12 starts for the Indians. He served as a spot starter and long reliever, throwing 117 1/3 innings overall.
Phillies Connection
Paul ended up in the Phillies organization at some point in 1974, spending part of 1974 and all of 1975 with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, managed by Jim Bunning (#175). Only Jesus Hernaiz appeared in more Mud Hens games in 1975, with Hernaiz making 59 appearances overall to Paul's 45.
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First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #537
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1969-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #399
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 25 in the Beckett online database as of 2/15/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#536 Padres Rookie Stars / #538 Charlie Smith - Chicago Cubs
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