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Mitchell Jack Stanley
Detroit Tigers
Outfield-Shortstop
Born: July 20, 1942, Grand Rapids, MI
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1964-78
World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1968
Known primarily for his defense, Mickey Stanley played 15 seasons in the majors, all with his home state Tigers. His best season statistically coincided with the Tigers winning the World Series in 1968. As the club's everyday centerfielder, Stanley played in 153 games, batting .259 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs that season, while also winning his first of four career Gold Gloves. With stronger offense needed for the stretch run and the World Series, manager Mayo Smith (#40) moved Stanley to shortstop late in the season, a position he had never played professionally. The move paid off, with the slugging Willie Horton (#180), Jim Northrup (#580) and Al Kaline (#410) in the outfield, and Stanley replacing the light-hitting Ray Oyler (#178) in the infield. Stanley would occasionally play shortstop during the 1969 season, but he'd remain as the club's most used center fielder through the early 1970s.
Known primarily for his defense, Mickey Stanley played 15 seasons in the majors, all with his home state Tigers. His best season statistically coincided with the Tigers winning the World Series in 1968. As the club's everyday centerfielder, Stanley played in 153 games, batting .259 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs that season, while also winning his first of four career Gold Gloves. With stronger offense needed for the stretch run and the World Series, manager Mayo Smith (#40) moved Stanley to shortstop late in the season, a position he had never played professionally. The move paid off, with the slugging Willie Horton (#180), Jim Northrup (#580) and Al Kaline (#410) in the outfield, and Stanley replacing the light-hitting Ray Oyler (#178) in the infield. Stanley would occasionally play shortstop during the 1969 season, but he'd remain as the club's most used center fielder through the early 1970s.
Stanley shifted to a super utility and pinch-hitting role beginning in 1974. In his last season with the club, in 1978, Stanley helped usher in a new era of Tigers stars, playing alongside rookies Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish and Jack Morris. He retired with a lifetime batting average of .248, with 1,243 hits, 117 home runs and 500 RBIs. His .993 fielding percentage as a center fielder is currently 20th all-time.
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Niagara Sports Cards)
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
From his SABR biography, written by Jerry Nechal:
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #198
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1966-79
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #78
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 79 in the Beckett online database as of 2/1/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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 third stop was a smaller table with the impossible to pass up offer of 1969 Topps commons that were only $1, unless marked. The binder was right at the end of the table, making it an even easier sell. The prices on some of the cards were stunningly low, so I was even more surprised when the dealer, Niagara Sports Cards, gave me an even deeper discount upon tallying up my total.
I found 12 cards needed from Niagara Sports Cards, and this was the first of 12, and the 64th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. True to its advertising, this card was less than a dollar after the discount.
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Topps chose a great photo of Stanley that works well with the set's design. If the player making a cameo behind him is wearing #2, it would be Jake Wood if the photo is from 1967 or Tommy Matchick (#344) if the photo is from 1968. The write-up on the back of the card refers to manager Smith's "World Series surprise" of having his Gold Glove outfielder move to shortstop for the series.
Accuracy Index: Stanley card earns a strong +5.
1969 Season
From his SABR biography, written by Jerry Nechal:
[Following the World Series win,] Stanley's fortunes turned quickly the following spring. The newspapers were filled with speculation about a permanent move to shortstop. On the first day of spring training Mickey injured his throwing arm. In 2007 he remembered that day, "The first ground ball . . . Dick Tracewski (#126) hit one in the hole; being the young showoff, I picked it up and threw it off the wrong foot . . . It hurt my arm and that was it for the rest of my career. I played with a bad arm . . . It definitely took the fun out of baseball for me, because that was my biggest asset." Despite the injury, Stanley led the team with 149 games played, 59 of them at shortstop. He returned to the outfield as a regular after Tom Tresh (#212) was acquired from the Yankees in June to play short. Stanley won his second Gold Glove and set a Tigers record by playing in 220 consecutive errorless games as an outfielder. His batting average slipped to .235, but he had a career-high 70 RBI as the Tigers finished 19 games behind Baltimore.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #198
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1966-79
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #78
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 79 in the Beckett online database as of 2/1/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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