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David Earl Nelson
Cleveland Indians
Second Base
Born: June 20, 1944, Fort Sill, OK
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1968-69; Washington Senators 1970-71; Texas Rangers 1972-75; Kansas City Royals 1976-77
Died: April 23, 2018, Milwaukee, WI (age 73)
Dave Nelson played professionally for 14 seasons, spending six seasons with the Senators/Rangers, before moving on to a long coaching and broadcasting career. Nelson was a light-hitting infielder when he first arrived in the majors in 1968, ending the season as the Indians' regular second baseman. He'd spend the entire 1969 season in Cleveland in a back-up role, and following the season was dealt to the Senators with Ron Law and Horacio Pina for Dennis Higgins (#441) and Barry Moore (#639). Nelson had his best seasons in the majors with the Senators/Rangers, stealing 51 bases in 1972 and representing the Rangers (with Jim Spencer) at the 1973 All-Star Game. He was the franchise's first third baseman, and he'd finish the Rangers' inaugural season with a career-best .286 batting average. After two seasons with the Royals, Nelson would retire following the 1977 season and pivot to coaching.
Dave Nelson played professionally for 14 seasons, spending six seasons with the Senators/Rangers, before moving on to a long coaching and broadcasting career. Nelson was a light-hitting infielder when he first arrived in the majors in 1968, ending the season as the Indians' regular second baseman. He'd spend the entire 1969 season in Cleveland in a back-up role, and following the season was dealt to the Senators with Ron Law and Horacio Pina for Dennis Higgins (#441) and Barry Moore (#639). Nelson had his best seasons in the majors with the Senators/Rangers, stealing 51 bases in 1972 and representing the Rangers (with Jim Spencer) at the 1973 All-Star Game. He was the franchise's first third baseman, and he'd finish the Rangers' inaugural season with a career-best .286 batting average. After two seasons with the Royals, Nelson would retire following the 1977 season and pivot to coaching.
Nelson coached at the major league level with the White Sox (1981-84), Indians (1992-97) and Brewers (2003-06). In between coaching gigs, he worked as a broadcaster with the Royals, Cubs, Indians and Brewers. In 813 big league games, Nelson batted .244 with 630 hits, 187 stolen bases, 77 doubles and 211 RBIs.
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 44th of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me a little less than a dollar.
Topps must have needed a second baseman for its 1968 All-Star Rookie team, and Nelson got the job by default. He batted .233 in 88 games in 1968, with four doubles, five triples and 19 RBIs. This is Nelson's rookie card, taken during spring training in 1969, with a photo from the same session used for his 1970 Topps card. In the write-up on the back, Topps highlights Nelson's speed on the base paths. He finished in the top ten for stolen bases in the American League in four different seasons, with his 51 stolen bases in 1972 second behind Bert Campaneris (#495), who had one more with 52.
Accuracy Index: Nelson's card earns a +5 for the accurate uniform.
1969 Season
In just 52 games, Nelson batted .203 (25 for 123) with no extra base hits and six RBIs. On the roster the entire season, Nelson made 30 starts at second base, starting 24 games in a row for Al Dark's (#91) team between July 24th and August 16th. He batted .196 during that stretch.
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First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #579
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1969-76
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1976 Topps #535
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 48 in the Beckett online database as of 3/21/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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