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Edward Wayne Spiezio
San Diego Padres
Third Base
Born: October 31, 1941, Joliet, IL
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1963 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1964-68; San Diego Padres 1969-72; Chicago White Sox 1972
World Series Appearances: St. Louis Cardinals 1967-68
Ed Spiezio was a back-up infielder on the 1964 and 1967 World Champion Cardinals and later was the first third baseman in Padres franchise history. Spiezio was used primarily as either a defensive replacement at third base or as a pinch-hitter during his five seasons with the Cardinals. In one of the earliest trades in Padres history, he was acquired from the Cardinals with three other players on December 3, 1968 for pitcher Dave Giusti (#98). He was the opening day third baseman for the Padres, collecting the team's first hit, home run and run when he connected on April 8, 1969, against Astros' pitcher Don Wilson (#202) in the fifth inning of the team's home opener. Spiezio appeared in a career-high 121 games that season, batting .234 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs. For his career, Spiezio batted .238 with 39 home runs and 174 RBIs, collecting 367 hits. His son, Scott Spiezio, played for 12 seasons in the majors with the Athletics, Angels, Mariners and Cardinals between 1996 and 2007. Scott Spiezio won two World Series rings himself, with the Angels in 2002 and with the Cardinals in 2006.
Ed Spiezio was a back-up infielder on the 1964 and 1967 World Champion Cardinals and later was the first third baseman in Padres franchise history. Spiezio was used primarily as either a defensive replacement at third base or as a pinch-hitter during his five seasons with the Cardinals. In one of the earliest trades in Padres history, he was acquired from the Cardinals with three other players on December 3, 1968 for pitcher Dave Giusti (#98). He was the opening day third baseman for the Padres, collecting the team's first hit, home run and run when he connected on April 8, 1969, against Astros' pitcher Don Wilson (#202) in the fifth inning of the team's home opener. Spiezio appeared in a career-high 121 games that season, batting .234 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs. For his career, Spiezio batted .238 with 39 home runs and 174 RBIs, collecting 367 hits. His son, Scott Spiezio, played for 12 seasons in the majors with the Athletics, Angels, Mariners and Cardinals between 1996 and 2007. Scott Spiezio won two World Series rings himself, with the Angels in 2002 and with the Cardinals in 2006.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #552
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Vintage Cardboard Collectibles)
The Card /
Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Spiezio made 92 starts at third base for the Padres in their inaugural season and was their starting left fielder on the final day of the season. On August 6th, he hit a walk-off home run off Steve Carlton (#255), as the Padres defeated the Cardinals, 3-2. As mentioned above, this was the season Spiezio saw the most action in the majors, but he'd enjoy a career year in 1970, batting .285 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #431
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1965, 1967-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #504
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 30 in the Beckett online database as of 8/17/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Vintage Cardboard Collectibles)
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 spent the first half hour or so pulling 98 commons and semi-stars from the neon green binder of Uncle Dick's Cards, and adding the big purchase of the day, the Rollie Fingers (#597) rookie card, and after adding a few more star cards, the remaining cash I had was starting to burn a hole in my wallet. I had noticed the common/semi-star boxes at the tables of Vintage Cardboard Collectibles, and I found 14 more cards for our 1969 Topps set and six cards for our not-yet-officially collecting 1959 Topps set. This is the seventh of those 14 cards. After the obligatory dealer discount, I handed over the last of my cash, and we exited the show for the drive home.
The Card /
Spiezio is wearing a navy blue Cardinals hat here, with the logo covered over. The photo could have been taken at the same time as the photo used for his 1967 Topps card. The cartoon oddly highlights his spring training statistics from 1965. And the write-up is incorrect as Spiezio was acquired via trade and not through the expansion draft. The three other players shipped from St. Louis to San Diego with Spiezio were Philip Knuckles, Danny Breeden (#536) and Ron Davis (#553).
Accuracy Index: Spiezio's card scores the somewhat standard -8 for cards in the low series of the set.
1969 Season
Spiezio made 92 starts at third base for the Padres in their inaugural season and was their starting left fielder on the final day of the season. On August 6th, he hit a walk-off home run off Steve Carlton (#255), as the Padres defeated the Cardinals, 3-2. As mentioned above, this was the season Spiezio saw the most action in the majors, but he'd enjoy a career year in 1970, batting .285 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #431
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1965, 1967-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #504
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 30 in the Beckett online database as of 8/17/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#248 Bob Priddy - Chicago White Sox / #250 Frank Robinson - Baltimore Orioles
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