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Cecil Randolph Hundley
Chicago Cubs
Catcher
Born: June 1, 1942, Martinsville, VA
Signed: Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1964-65; Chicago Cubs 1966-73; Minnesota Twins 1974; San Diego Padres 1975; Chicago Cubs 1976-77
He played his first eight big league games with the Giants, but Randy Hundley is best known as the long-time leader and catcher for the Cubs, the team he played in 947 games with over ten seasons. Blocked behind Tom Haller (#310) in San Francisco, Hundley got the chance to start for the Cubs when the team acquired him before the 1966 season. His 19 home runs in 1966 set a National League record for rookie catchers, and he'd finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He'd enjoy arguably his best season in 1967, winning a Gold Glove, and batting .267 with 25 doubles, 14 home runs and 60 RBIs. He'd make the All-Star team in 1969, his last great season before the heavy workload behind the plate started taking a toll on him. Between 1970 and 1976, Hundley was injured more often than not, although he did regain the starting catcher's job for the Cubs in 1972 and 1973.
Hundley briefly spent time with the Twins and Padres before returning to the Cubs in 1976 for his swan song. He served as the team's bullpen coach in 1977, activated late in the season and appearing in his final two games before retiring as a player. In 1,061 career games, Hundley batted .236 with 82 home runs and 381 RBIs. He managed in the Cubs' minor league system between 1979 and 1981, and was a part of a large inaugural class of Cubs Hall of Fame inductees in 2021. Hundley is also credited with starting and running fantasy camps, now prevalent throughout the spring trainings of many big league teams.
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table. I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2. I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4.
I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop. This was the 22nd of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 57th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. Unsleeved, this card cost less than $1 after a dealer discount.
The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
It's a great pose, but collectors had already seen this photo on Hundley's first solo card in the 1967 Topps set. A few highlights from the 1967 season are covered on the back of the card - his 13-game hitting streak and his record-setting low of only four errors all season.
Accuracy Index: Again, great card, but it scores only a +1 due to the repeat photo.
1969 Season
Hundley batted .255 with 18 home runs and 64 RBIs, starting 145 of the Cubs' 163 regular season games behind the plate. From his SABR biography, written by Steve Dunn:
For Randy and other Cub mainstays such as Ernie Banks (#20), [Ron] Santo (#570) and [Billy] Williams (#450), the 1969 season was the highlight and lowlight of their time in Chicago. On August 14, the Cubs enjoyed a nine-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals and a 10-game cushion over the New York Mets after being in first place for 155 straight days.
But the lead had shrunk to a half-game in early September when the Mets beat the Cubs twice in New York . . . It only got worse for the Cubs when they lost twice to the Philadelphia Phillies, while the Mets rolled over the Montreal Expos four times, putting the upstart New Yorkers in first place for good. Like most of the other Cub regulars, Randy’s performance at the plate declined greatly in September. On June 1, he was hitting .307 with eight homers, but he hit only .151 in the last month of the season.
Nevertheless, the ironman catcher was named to the National League All-Star team for the first time and led the league's catchers in fewest errors and double plays turned by a catcher and tied for most games and assists. He also hit a grand slam and a double on May 28, 1969, in a 9-8 win over the Giants.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #392
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1966-74, 1976-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game #73
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 85 in the Beckett online database as of 1/19/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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