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Jesse Lamar Gonder
San Diego Padres
Catcher
Born: January 20, 1936, Monticello, AR
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1960-61; Cincinnati Reds 1962-63; New York Mets 1963-65; Milwaukee Braves 1965; Pittsburgh Pirates 1966-67
Died: November 14, 2004, Oakland, CA (age 68)
Originally drafted by the Reds, Jesse Gonder began his big league career with the Yankees after a March 1960 trade sent him to the Bronx. He'd appear in 22 games for the Yankees in 1960 and 1961 before being traded back to Cincinnati in December 1961. In 1962, Gonder would enjoy the best season of his professional career, as a member of the Triple-A San Diego Padres, then the Reds' top farm team. He led the Pacific Coast League in batting (.342) and RBIs (116) and was named the league's most valuable player. He'd spend the next four seasons exclusively in the majors, serving as a back-up catcher and pinch-hitter for the Mets, Braves and Pirates. Gonder appeared in a career-high 131 games in 1964 for the Mets, starting 82 games behind the plate and entering 47 games as a pinch-hitter. He hit .270 that season, reaching major league career high totals with seven home runs and 35 RBIs.
Originally drafted by the Reds, Jesse Gonder began his big league career with the Yankees after a March 1960 trade sent him to the Bronx. He'd appear in 22 games for the Yankees in 1960 and 1961 before being traded back to Cincinnati in December 1961. In 1962, Gonder would enjoy the best season of his professional career, as a member of the Triple-A San Diego Padres, then the Reds' top farm team. He led the Pacific Coast League in batting (.342) and RBIs (116) and was named the league's most valuable player. He'd spend the next four seasons exclusively in the majors, serving as a back-up catcher and pinch-hitter for the Mets, Braves and Pirates. Gonder appeared in a career-high 131 games in 1964 for the Mets, starting 82 games behind the plate and entering 47 games as a pinch-hitter. He hit .270 that season, reaching major league career high totals with seven home runs and 35 RBIs.
Gonder last appeared in the majors in 1967 with the Pirates, but he'd play two more seasons after that in the Braves, Angels and Giants organizations before retiring. In 1969, he made the opening day roster of the expansion Padres, but was released by the club before appearing in a game. In 395 games, Gonder batted .251 with 26 home runs and 94 RBIs.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #513
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 /
Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index -16
1969 Season
Manager Preston Gomez (#74) invited Gonder to Padres' spring training, and he made the club's opening day roster, but as mentioned above, he was released before appearing in a game. Gonder was set to back-up Chris Cannizzaro (#131), but the job initially went to Chris Krug instead. Gonder played in 27 games for the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants in Phoenix before calling it a career.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1963-67, 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #238
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 44 in the Beckett online database as of 5/25/25.
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 69th 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 $1.50.
The Card /
Gonder is likely wearing a Mets uniform here, and as mentioned above, he never actually appeared in a game for the Padres. The back of the card highlights his career minor league successes.
Accuracy Index: Gonder is the first -16 scored card I've added in a little while. He loses points for the Mets jersey (-5), the lack of a visible logo on his hat (-3), not playing for the Padres in 1969 (-2), or ever (-6).
1969 Season
Manager Preston Gomez (#74) invited Gonder to Padres' spring training, and he made the club's opening day roster, but as mentioned above, he was released before appearing in a game. Gonder was set to back-up Chris Cannizzaro (#131), but the job initially went to Chris Krug instead. Gonder played in 27 games for the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants in Phoenix before calling it a career.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1963-67, 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #238
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 44 in the Beckett online database as of 5/25/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#616 Don McMahon - Detroit Tigers / #618 Ramon Webster - Oakland Athletics
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