#375 Harmon Killebrew - Minnesota Twins

Harmon Clayton Killebrew
Minnesota Twins
Third Base-First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  June 29, 1936, Payette, ID
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent, June 19, 1954
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1954-60; Minnesota Twins 1961-74; Kansas City Royals 1975

World Series Appearances:  Minnesota Twins 1965
Died:  May 17, 2011, Scottsdale, AZ (age 74)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1984

Harmon Killebrew was one of the most prolific sluggers of his era, and upon his retirement he was fourth on the major league all-time home run list and second to Babe Ruth in the American League.  Killebrew led the league six times in home runs and three times in RBIs.  He was a 13-time All-Star and received MVP votes in 11 different seasons.  He helped lead the Twins to the their first pennant in 1965, and while he hit .286 in the World Series, the Dodgers prevailed in seven games.  In 1967, he hit the longest home run ever recorded at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium at 520 feet.  Killebrew attained career highs in home runs (49) and RBIs (140) in 1969 and won the league's MVP honors that season.  He wrapped up his 22-year big league career with a final season with the Royals, serving as the team's designated hitter.  When the Royals visited Minnesota in early May 1975, the Twins held a pre-game ceremony to retire Killebrew's #3.  He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984, and was in the inaugural class of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2000.  In 2,435 games, Killebrew accumulated 2,086 hits while batting .256.  He hit 573 career home runs to go along with 1,584 RBIs.

After retiring as a player, Killebrew served as a broadcaster for the Twins, Athletics and Angels between 1976 and 1988.  He also briefly served as a hitting instructor with the Athletics.  Nicknamed "Killer" on the field, by all accounts Killebrew was one of the kindest and most well-respected men to ever play the game.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #593
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)

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.  The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.  

I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set.  It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop.  This was the 34th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 34th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day.  Killebrew was the second of four star cards I'd add from America's Pastime, and the most expensive card I added at the show.

The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This is such an iconic card, and a card I first saw when I added the 1982 Topps Kmart box set to my relatively new and growing collection.  Topps has reprinted the card a few times, most notably within its 2002 Topps Archives-related releases.  There's no room for a cartoon on the back of the card, just lines of incredibly impressive stats.

Accuracy Index:  The Killer earns a +5.

Inserts:  Killebrew is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
His MVP season, along with career highs in home runs and RBIs, Killebrew batted .276 with a league-leading 145 walks and a .427 on-base percentage.  He started in all 162 games for the Twins, although he was often replaced late in the game with a pinch-runner or defensive upgrade.  True to the position designation on his card, Killebrew started 96 games at third base and 66 games at first base.  He topped Boog Powell (#15) for league MVP honors, earning 16 first place votes to Powell's six votes.  Frank Robinson (#250) captured the remaining two votes.

1955 Topps #124

1962 Topps #70

1966 Topps #120

1972 Topps #51

1975 Topps #640

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #124
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1955-56, 1958-75
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2025 Topps Holiday Evergreen #E-18
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,008 in the Beckett online database as of 11/8/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog

#374 Bob Tillman - Atlanta Braves / #376 Royals Rookie Stars

#40 Mayo Smith MG - Detroit Tigers

Edward Mayo Smith
Detroit Tigers
Manager

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  183
Born:  January 17, 1915, New London, MO
Drafted:  Drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics from the Detroit Tigers in the 1944 Rule 5 draft.
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1945

As a Manager:  Philadelphia Phillies 1955-58; Cincinnati Reds 1959; Detroit Tigers 1967-70
Died:  November 24, 1977, Boynton Beach, FL (age 62)

Mayo Smith spent almost four decades in organized baseball, first as an outfielder in the Tigers, Reds, Athletics and Yankees system between 1933 and 1952, and then as a manager for the Phillies, Reds and Tigers between 1955 and 1970.  Smith's sole year as a player in the big leagues came in 1945 when he hit .212 in 73 games for the Athletics.  He was named the manager of the Phillies in October 1954 at the age of 39, replacing the outgoing Terry Moore.  The Phillies never finished above fourth place in his 3 1/2 years at the helm, and he was fired in mid-1958.  Smith briefly managed the 1959 Reds before getting fired again mid-season.

He found his most success as manager of the Tigers for four seasons, leading the Tigers to a World Series title in 1968.  The Cardinals had taken a commanding three games to one lead in that series, but the Tigers won three in a row to take the title.  Smith was named American League Manager of the Year in 1968 and would manage the Tigers for two more seasons.  He was fired following the 1970 season and replaced by Billy Martin (#547), having managed Detroit to a  363-285 record.  After a single season as a scout for the Oakland Athletics in 1971, Smith officially retired from baseball.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #548
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 third 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 / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This card is almost identical to Smith's card in the 1968 Topps set, as the photographer snapped photos as Smith turned right and then left.  The back of the card highlights the Tigers' recent World Series win.

Accuracy Index:  Smith's card earns a solid +5.

1969 Season
The Tigers weren't able to defend their World Championship title, going 90-72 for the season, and finishing 19 games behind the powerhouse Orioles in the American League East.  Pitching was once again the Tigers' strength, with Denny McLain (#150) going 24-9 with a 2.80 ERA in 325 innings pitched.  McLain led the league in wins, starts (with 49) and shutouts (with nine).  He'd win his second straight Cy Young Award.  Mickey Lolich (#270) had a solid season too, going 19-11 with a 3.14 ERA.  The offense was paced by center fielder Jim Northrup (#580), who batted .295 with 25 home runs and 66 RBIs.  Left fiedler Willie Horton (#180) led the team in both main power categories with 28 home runs and 91 RBIs.

Pitching coach Johnny Sain was fired in August following public disagreements with Smith on how to handle the pitching staff.

Phillies Career
Smith's record as Phillies manager was 264-282-2, and his best season came in 1957 when the Phillies battled at the top of the division until mid-July.  That team finished the season right at .500 with a 77-77 record.  The play was much of the same at the start of the 1958 season, and the Phillies reached a winning record on July 12th at 39-38.  However, the team lost eight of their next nine games and Smith was fired on July 22nd.  Whiz Kids manager Eddie Sawyer was brought back to replace Smith, his second managerial stint with the club.

Smith received two mainstream baseball cards to mark his time with the Phillies, in the 1955 and 1956 Topps sets.  He also appears in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Jay Publishing Phillies sets, as well as in the oddball 1956 Topps Pins and 1956 Topps Hocus Focus sets.  He's also in the rare 1955 Felin's Franks Match the Phillies set, which according to my edition of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, may not have actually been released.

1955 Topps #130

1967 Topps #321

1968 Topps #544

1970 Topps #313

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #130
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1955-56, 1967-70
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1970 Topps #313
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  26 in the Beckett online database as of 8/9/25.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.  Maybe because they were the defending World Championships, and they're weren't a lot of offseason moves, but just about every player to play for the Tigers in 1969 received a card in the set.

• Tom Tresh (ss) - This is probably the only "must" for the update set, as Tom Tresh (#212) appears in the set with the Yankees, but after a mid-June trade, he became the everyday second baseman for the Tigers.
• Ike Brown (2b) - Ike Brown's rookie card is in the 1970 Topps set.  He played in 70 games for the Tigers in 1969.
• Mike Kilkenny (lhp) - Lefty swingman Mike Kilkenny is in the set on a Rookie Stars card (#544), but I'd give him a solo card.
• Tom Timmermann (rhp) - Like Brown, Timmermann would receive a rookie card in the 1970 Topps set.
• Cesar Gutierrez (ss) - Infielder Cesar Gutierrez came to the Tigers late in the season from the Giants.  He's on a Rookie Stars card (#16) with the Giants, and his appearance here is a push.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Smith / Baseball Reference - 1969 Tigers / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#39 Dick Hughes - St. Louis Cardinals / #41 Bob Barton - San Francisco Giants

#513 Camilo Pascual - Washington Senators

Camilo Alberto Pascual
Washington Senators
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  January 20, 1934, La Habana, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Nationals 1954-56; Washington Senators 1957-60; Minnesota Twins 1961-66; Washington Senators 1967-69; Cincinnati Reds 1969; Los Angeles Dodgers 1970; Cleveland Indians 1971

World Series Appearances:  Minnesota Twins 1965

If not for Camilo Pascual, the Nationals/Senators/Twins teams of the late 1950s/early 1960s would have lost a lot more games than they actually did.  Pascual was a mainstay in those teams' pitching rotations, making at least 25 starts in 11 different seasons between 1956 and 1967.  He was named to seven All-Star teams and was a 20-game winner in 1962 and 1963.  Pascual led the American League in complete games in 1959, 1962 and 1963 and in shutouts in 1959, 1961 and 1962.  He struck out over 200 in a season four times, leading the league in that category in 1961, 1962 and 1963.  He finished in the top four in ERA in four different seasons.  Pascual holds the record for opening day strikeouts, having fanned 15 Red Sox on opening day in 1960.  Ted Williams (#650) described Pascual's overhand curveball as the "most feared curveball in the American League for 18 years."

The Twins, who had moved from Washington, traded Pascual to the expansion Washington Senators in December 1966, giving him the distinction of having pitched for both versions of the expansion Senators teams.

Over his career, Pascual pitched in 529 games and had a record of 174-170 with a 3.63 ERA.  His 2,167 career strikeouts currently ranks him 71st on the all-time list.  Following his playing career, Pascual served as Gene Mauch's (#606) pitching coach for the Twins between 1978 and 1980.  He also worked as a scout for the A's, Mets and Dodgers and he was the scout who recommended the A's sign Jose Canseco.  Pascual was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2012.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 and 1965 Topps blogs.

Building the Set / Card #450
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 sixth of 98 commons pulled from the binder.  After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me about $1.75.

The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index -12

This is the same photo Topps used for Pascual's 1968 card, and I'm guessing he's wearing a Twins jersey here, putting the photo at at least three years old.  Given his longevity in the league, the back of the card doesn't have room for a cartoon and is filled with his career stats to date.  The one sentence write-up highlights Pascual achieving 2,000 strikeouts.  Pascual struck out the Angels' Chuck Hinton (#644) on April 15, 1968 to reach the milestone.

Accuracy Index:  This is the first -12 in a while, as Pascual's card loses points for the former team uniform (-5), lack of a hat (-3) and the repeat photo (-4).

Inserts:  With not a lot of big names on the Senators, Pascual is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
Pascual made his fifth and final Opening Day start, getting hit hard and allowing four runs in 2 2/3 innings before being pulled by Williams, the new Senators' manager.  Pascual labored through 14 games with Washington, and was 2-5 with a 6.83 ERA when the team sold him to the Reds on July 7th.  The veteran pitcher continued to struggle in Cincinnati, earning an 8.59 ERA in five appearances and just 7 1/3 innings pitched.

1955 Topps #84

1959 Topps #413

1962 Topps #230

1968 Topps #395

1970 Topps #254

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #84
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1955-70
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #255
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  137 in the Beckett online database as of 1/12/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog

#512 Cleon Jones - New York Mets / #514 Mike Lum - Atlanta Braves

#379 Ken Boyer - Los Angeles Dodgers

Kenton Lloyd Boyer
Los Angeles Dodgers
Third Base-First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  May 20, 1931, Liberty, MO
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1955-65; New York Mets 1966-67; Chicago White Sox 1967-68; Los Angeles Dodgers 1968-69

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1964
As a Manager:  St. Louis Cardinals 1978-80
Died:  September 7, 1982, St. Louis, MO (age 51)

Ken Boyer was the best third baseman in the National League in the late 1950s into the early 1960s, winning five Gold Gloves, playing in seven All-Star games and winning the league's MVP award in 1964.  He enjoyed a 15-year career, with the first 11 of those years coming with the Cardinals.  He's been acknowledged by teammates Tim McCarver (#475) and Stan Musial as the true leader of the Cardinals teams of that era and many view him as the greatest third baseman in Cardinals history.  Boyer finished his career with 282 home runs, 1,141 RBIs and a career average of .287. 

After his playing career, Boyer managed the Cardinals for three seasons beginning in 1978.  He compiled a record of 166-190 before being replaced in June 1980 by Whitey Herzog.  Boyer's #14 was retired by the Cardinals in 1984, and he's the only player whose number has been retired by the team who is not in the Hall of Fame.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #353
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the 61st of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $1.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index -12

Boyer is wearing a Mets jersey in this photo, and it's the same photo used for his 1968 Topps card.  The back of the card doesn't have room for a cartoon, and the two lines of text rightfully highlight his grand slam in the 1964 World Series.  This is Boyer's final Topps card as an active player.

Accuracy Index:  Yet another -12 given the photo had been used before (-4), Boyer is wearing a Mets jersey (-5) and he's hatless (-3).

1969 Season
In his final year as a player, Boyer appeared in 25 games for the Dodgers, batting .206 (7 for 34) with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.  He made four starts at first base in July for Walter Alston's (#24) club, with his final game action coming on August 9th.  Boyer pinch-hit for reliever Pete Mikkelsen in the ninth inning of that game against the Cubs, grounding out to shortstop Don Kessinger (#225).  The Dodgers released him following the season.

1955 Topps #125

1961 Topps #573

1964 Topps #160

1966 Topps #385

1968 Topps #259

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #125
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1955-69, 1975, 1979-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2021 Panini Absolute #81
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  233 in the Beckett online database as of 8/31/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog

#378 Jose Herrera - Montreal Expos / #380 Stan Bahnsen - New York Yankees

#369 Bob Skinner MG - Philadelphia Phillies

Robert Ralph Skinner
Philadelphia Phillies
Manager

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  190
Born:  October 3, 1931, La Jolla, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1954, 1956-63; Cincinnati Reds 1963-64; St. Louis Cardinals 1964-66

World Series Appearances:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1964
As a Manager:  Philadelphia Phillies 1968-69; San Diego Padres 1977

Bob Skinner spent over 50 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach and scout.  Most of his playing career was spent with the Pirates where he was an All-Star in 1958 and for both games in 1960.  As the regular left fielder for the Pirates, Skinner had his best season in 1958 when he batted .321 with 13 home runs and 70 RBIs, finishing in the top ten in the National League in most major offensive categories and earning MVP votes.  In 1960, Skinner was second on the club with 86 RBIs, behind only Roberto Clemente (#50) for the team lead, helping the Pirates clinch the pennant and eventually win the World Series in seven games over the Yankees.  After a few seasons with the Reds, Skinner ended his playing career as a pinch-hitter and back-up outfielder for the Cardinals.  He had four pinch-hitting appearances in the 1964 World Series, going 2 for 3 as St. Louis prevailed over the Yankees.  In 1,381 career games, Skinner batted .277 with 103 home runs and 531 RBIs.

Skinner began his managerial career in 1967 with the San Diego Padres, then the top minor league affiliate for the Phillies.  He won Minor League Manager of the Year honors after leading the Padres to an 85-63 record and winning the 1967 Pacific Coast League Championship.  On June 16, 1968, Skinner was named as the new manager of the Phillies after Gene Mauch (#606) was fired.  Skinner's time as manager of the Phillies would last a little over a year before he'd resign from the position.  

Skinner would coach in the majors with the Padres (1970-73, 1977), Pirates (1974-76, 1979-85), Angels (1978) and Braves (1986-88), and he earned his third World Series ring as the hitting coach for the Pirates in 1979.  He'd work in the Astros organization as a special assignment scout until 2009.  Skinner's son Joel played nine seasons in the majors with the White Sox, Yankees and Indians.  Joel Skinner briefly managed the Indians in the second half of the 2002 season.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #344
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the 52nd of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me less than $1.

The Card / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Skinner is wearing a Cardinals uniform here, in a photo taken during the latter end of his playing days.  On the back of the card, Topps could have highlighted his Minor League Manager of the Year honors from 1967, but they opted to point out his .321 average was fifth best in the league in 1958.  (Richie Ashburn won the batting title in 1958 with a .350 mark.)

Accuracy Index:  Skinner's card scores a -8 for the Cardinals uniform (-5) and lack of a hat (-3).

1969 Season
With ongoing distractions all season (see below), the Phillies lost 99 games on their way to a fifth place finish behind Skinner and his replacement, third base coach George Myatt.  Despite missing almost a month of the season, Dick Allen (#350) was still the team's top offensive force, batting .288 with 32 home runs and 89 RBIs.  Allen's .573 slugging percentage was third best in the league.  Center fielder Larry Hisle (#206) was second on the club with 20 home runs and left fielder Deron Johnson (#297) drove in 80 runs.  Grant Jackson (#174), Woodie Fryman (#51) and Rick Wise (#188) bolstered the pitching staff, winning 14, 12 and 15 games respectively.  Jackson and Wise both threw four shutouts.  The Phillies didn't have a lock at the back end of their bullpen, with eight different pitchers saving at least one game.

Phillies Career
Skinner's managerial career with the Phillies did not go well, which was somewhat surprising at the time given his success with the Triple-A Padres.  In 1968, Skinner inherited a team from Mauch in fifth place, but only 5 1/2 games out of first place.  The 1968 Phillies finished the season with 86 losses overall and 21 games out of first place.  In 1969, Skinner continued to clash with his star first baseman, Allen.  When Allen skipped a double header in New York on June 24th, he was suspended and missed the next 26 games.  With the Phillies front office seemingly negotiating with Allen behind Skinner's back, the manager abruptly resigned in early August.  The story from the Phillies was that Skinner resigned because the team wouldn't extend his contract beyond the 1969 season, but Skinner maintained the reason for his departure was the constant clashing with Allen.  Myatt managed the team for the remainder of the season.  Skinner was 92-123 overall for the Phillies, in a managerial tenure that lasted a little over one year.

1955 Topps #88

1958 Topps #94

1961 Topps #204

1965 Topps #591

1985 Topps #139

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #88
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1955-66, 1969, 1973-74, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Fleer ProCards #503
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  98 in the Beckett online database as of 8/10/24.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.

Surprisingly, the Phillies made very few moves in 1969, and all five player cards listed below aren't "traded" cards but cards that should have existed.

• George Myatt (manager) - Myatt went 19-35 as the interim manager to finish out the season.  His only appearance in a Topps set came as a floating head on the Braves Coaches card in the 1960 Topps set.
• Bill Champion (rhp) - Bill Champion made 20 starts and was 5-10 with a 5.01 ERA for the Phillies.
• Lowell Palmer (rhp) - Reliever Lowell Palmer pitched 90 innings in 26 games.  Champion and Palmer would have rookie cards in the 1970 Topps set.
• Al Raffo (rhp) - Al Raffo never appeared on a baseball card, and I'd right that wrong.  In 45 games, and 72 1/3 innings pitched in 1969, Raffo was 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA.
• Don Money (shortstop) - I'd give regular shortstop Don Money his own card, as he shared a Rookie Stars card with Larry Colton (#454) in the set.
• Larry Hisle (outfield) - Same goes for regular center fielder Larry Hisle, who shared a card with Barry Lersch (#206) in the set.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Skinner / Baseball Reference - 1969 Phillies / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#368 Vic Roznovsky - Baltimore Orioles / #370 Juan Marichal - San Francisco Giants

#659 Johnny Podres - San Diego Padres

John Joseph Podres
San Diego Padres
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  September 30, 1932, Witherbee, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1955, 1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966; Detroit Tigers 1966-1967; San Diego Padres 1969

World Series Appearances:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1953, 1955; Los Angeles Dodgers 1959, 1963
Died:  January 13, 2008, Glens Falls, NY (age 75)

Johnny Podres forever joined the ranks of Dodger greats when the lefty won 1955 World Series MVP honors for his two fantastic starts against the Yankees in the Fall Classic.  Podres started Game 3, pitching a complete game in the Dodgers' win, and then started the decisive Game 7, pitching a complete game shutout to give the team their first and only World Series title while in Brooklyn.  Podres settled in as a reliable starter for Brooklyn and then Los Angeles, winning at least 12 games over the next seven seasons and making four All-Star teams.  He led the league with six shutouts in 1957 while winning the ERA title with a 2.66 mark.  Podres attained a career-high 18 wins in 1961, and he'd win two more World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959 and 1963.  He retired as a player following a half-season with the expansion Padres in 1969.  Podres was 148-116 over 440 career games, pitching 77 complete games and 24 shutouts.  He struck out 1,435 over his 15-year big league career, currently 254th on the all-time leader's list.  Podres' 136 career wins with the Dodgers currently ranks 10th all-time for the franchise.

Podres served as a long-time pitching coach in the majors, working for the Padres (1973), Red Sox (1980), Twins (1981-1985) and Phillies (1991-1996).

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #75
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Podres card which was $12.

The Card / Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index +10

It's Podres on the Padres!  This is Podres' last appearance in a Topps flagship set as an active player, and he'd show up as a Padres coach in the 1973 Topps card featuring manager Don Zimmer.  The back of this card is mostly statistics, although Topps points out Podres had won four World Series games.  The card was reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set.

Accuracy Index:  Collectors of the 1969 Topps set didn't have many opportunities to see what an actual Padres uniform looked like.  There are 25 Padres cards in the set, and only six of them show players in a Padres jersey and hat, including this Podres card.  Podres scores a coveted perfect 10 for showing up late in the set in his new brown gear.

1969 Season
Podres was out of baseball in 1968, having been released by the Tigers following the 1967 season.  Looking to make a comeback, he signed with the expansion Padres on March 21, 1969, and he was the second starting pitcher in Padres' franchise history behind Dick Selma (#197), who had started on opening day.  Podres threw perhaps the best game of his short season in that start, pitching seven shutout innings against the Astros on April 9th.  He'd get roughed up over his next several outings, and his final two great starts came on May 25th and June 1st.  On May 25th, he pitched a complete game against the Cubs, allowing one earned run.  On June 1st, he went seven solid innings against the Expos, again only giving up an earned run.  His final appearance would come on June 21st in relief against the Astros, and his final out recorded was a strikeout of the opposing pitcher, Tom Griffin (#614).  Griffin was seven years old when Podres was named the MVP of the 1955 World Series.

Phillies Career
Podres was hired as the Phillies pitching coach on October 31, 1990, after spending the prior five seasons as a minor league coach with the Dodgers.  He joined manager Nick Leyva's coaching staff as the replacement for Darold Knowles, who had departed after two seasons at the post.  Podres stuck around following Leyva's dismissal 13 games into the 1991 season, and he was a key member of new manager Jim Fregosi's (#365) coaching staff throughout the early 1990s.  Podres is credited with helping Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene, Ben Rivera, and other young Phillies pitchers find early success in their careers.  He went to his final World Series with the club in 1993, with the Phillies falling in six games to Joe Carter and the Blue Jays.  Podres left the team during the 1996 season to deal with health issues and was replaced on an interim basis by Jim Wright.  Following the 1996 season, and in connection with the hiring of new manager Terry Francona, Podres was replaced by Galen Cisco (#211) as the team's full-time pitching coach.

1953 Topps #263

1955 Topps #25

1959 Topps #495

1963 Topps #150

1967 Topps #284

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #263
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1953-1967, 1969, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Topps Stepping Up #SU-4
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  367 in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#658 A.L. Rookie Stars / #660 Reggie Smith - Boston Red Sox