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Richard Charles Simpson
New York Yankees
Outfield
Born: July 28, 1943, Washington, DC
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Angels 1962-65; Cincinnati Reds 1966-67; St. Louis Cardinals 1968; Houston Astros 1968; New York Yankees 1969; Seattle Pilots 1969
Dick Simpson played in seven major league seasons, seeing the most action in 1966 with 92 games for the Reds and in 1968 with 47 starts for the Astros. In 1969, his final year in the majors, Simpson played in 26 games for the Pilots during their first and last season, batting .176. He appeared in 288 career games, and had a .207 average with 15 home runs, 56 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #508
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 / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Simpson was on the move quite a bit over his final two seasons in the majors. He was a member of four different organizations in 1968, spending time on the payrolls of the Reds, Cardinals, Astros and Yankees. The Astros traded him to the Yankees on December 4, 1968 for Dooley Womack (#594), and Simpson began the season as a back-up outfielder for the Yankees, appearing in six games. On May 19th, he was traded again to the Pilots for Jose Vidal (#322). Simpson was used sparingly by the Pilots, playing in 26 games for the club in May, June and August. For the season, he batted .194 in 32 games with a pair of home runs and nine RBIs. Simpson ended the year as part of yet another trade, going to the Giants on December 12th for Bobby Bolin (#505).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1963-69
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #608
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 5/23/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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| 1969 Seattle Pilots 5x7 |
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 64th 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 $2.
The Card / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Simpson appeared on four multi-player Rookie Stars cards between 1963 and 1966, before getting his first solo baseball card appearance in 1967. It's hard to say for certain, but I'm guessing he's wearing a Reds away jersey in this photo. Two trades are mentioned on the back of the card. The write-up covers his trade from the Astros to the Yankees, and the cartoon suitcase is for his trade from the Orioles to the Reds, which saw Frank Robinson (#250) join the Orioles in 1965.
Accuracy Index: I get the sense Topps is grasping for players to feature towards the end of the set, and Simpson's card is another in a run of -8 scores.
1969 Season
Simpson was on the move quite a bit over his final two seasons in the majors. He was a member of four different organizations in 1968, spending time on the payrolls of the Reds, Cardinals, Astros and Yankees. The Astros traded him to the Yankees on December 4, 1968 for Dooley Womack (#594), and Simpson began the season as a back-up outfielder for the Yankees, appearing in six games. On May 19th, he was traded again to the Pilots for Jose Vidal (#322). Simpson was used sparingly by the Pilots, playing in 26 games for the club in May, June and August. For the season, he batted .194 in 32 games with a pair of home runs and nine RBIs. Simpson ended the year as part of yet another trade, going to the Giants on December 12th for Bobby Bolin (#505).
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1963-69
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #608
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 5/23/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#607 Dick Bosman - Washington Senators / #609 Phil Gagliano - St. Louis Cardinals
Seems like the Giants got fleeced on the Bolin-for-Simpson trade.
ReplyDeleteI remember when posting my Bob Bolin and Ray Sadecki cards, the Giants unloaded both of those (serviceable) pitchers in separate deals either on the same day or on consecutive days, for a bunch of spare parts.