#461 Mike Epstein - Washington Senators

Michael Peter Epstein
Washington Senators
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  230
Born:  April 4, 1943, Bronx, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1966-67; Washington Senators 1967-71; Oakland Athletics 1971-1972; Texas Rangers 1973; California Angels 1973-74

World Series Appearances:  Oakland Athletics 1972

First baseman Mike Epstein originally came up with the Orioles in 1966, but after only 15 appearances with the club he requested a trade following a demotion to the minors in 1967.  With Boog Powell (#15) at first base, the Orioles accommodated Epstein and dealt him to the Senators.  Epstein had the best seasons of his nine-year big league career with the Senators, and had a career year in 1969 when he batted .278 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs.  All three marks would be career bests.  He'd attribute his success to the hitting theories of manager Ted Williams (#650), and later in life Epstein would open the Epstein School of Hitting, passing along Williams' teachings to young hitters.  Epstein's production gradually decreased in 1970 and early 1971, and the Senators traded him to the Athletics in May 1971.  He'd go to the postseason twice with the Athletics, winning a World Series ring with the club in 1972.  A bad slump during that series (0 for 16), an ongoing feud with manager Dick Williams (#349) and a fight earlier in the season with star Reggie Jackson (#260), led to his departure from Oakland.

Epstein played his final two seasons with the Rangers and Angels, serving as a back-up first baseman and left-handed pinch-hitter.  For his career, Epstein batted .244 with 695 hits, 130 home runs and 380 RBIs.  He had a knack for getting hit by pitches, and finished in the top ten in that category in six different seasons.

Building the Set / Card #406
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

This card is scheduled to post exactly one year after we added it to our set.  The pile of 1969 Topps cards sitting on my project table has steadily declined throughout 2024, and I'll hopefully be replenishing the stack soon.  

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 114th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost less than a dollar.

The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Epstein is shown posing at Yankee Stadium.  He'd appear again later in the set, sharing a card with his mentor Williams, on a combo card (#539) appropriately titled, "Ted Shows How."  The write-up on the back notes there were high hopes for Epstein, and he'd deliver with a great season in 1969.  The full trade, as characterized in the cartoon, that brought Epstein to the Senators happened on May 29, 1967.  Epstein and Frank Bertaina (#554) were sent from the Orioles in exchange for Pete Richert (#86).

This is one of 23 cards available in the set's fifth series available as either "yellow letter" or "white letter" variations, with the yellow letter variations being more prevalent.  This is the more prevalent yellow letter variation with Epstein's last name printed in yellow.

Accuracy Index:  Epstein's card earns a now quite common +5.

1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Epstein's best season.  He finished ninth in the league in home runs (30), sixth in slugging percentage (.551) and third in on-base percentage (.414).  Along with left fielder Frank Howard (#170), Epstein was one of the top sluggers for the Senators, who finished above .500 for their first and only time while in Washington.  Epstein made 115 starts at first base throughout the season.

1967 Topps #204

1972 Topps #715 Epstein

1973 Topps #38

1974 Topps #650

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1967 Topps #204
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1967-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #261
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  58 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#460 Joe Torre - St. Louis Cardinals / #462 Red Schoendienst MG - St. Louis Cardinals

#539 Ted Shows How - Mike Epstein / Ted Williams CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #4
November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Seventh Inning Stretch)

In early November 2021, needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days.  We loaded our car on a Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area over the weekend, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We had spent a little bit of time in the multi-level Seventh Inning Stretch, located adjacent to Doubleday Field, on Friday.  But on Saturday I wanted to dig in to their haphazard, loosely alphabetical, collection of baseball cards for sale on their second floor.  I spent close to 45 minutes going through the boxes, and this card was one of about a dozen cards I picked out among the glorious mess of cards covering all eras between early 20th Century the late 2010s.  This card cost $12 and was one of a pair of cards, along with Luis Aparico (#75), added to our not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.  We also added one card to my 1935 Diamond Stars set and a few low-priced cards for our future 1959 Topps set.

The Card / Senators Team Set

Ted Williams (#650) was named the Senators manager prior to the 1969 season, taking over for Jim Lemon (#294) who had been let go following the team's 10th place finish the prior season.  

Williams seems to be showing Mike Epstein (#461) how to choke up on the bat in this photo taken at the Senators spring training facility in early 1969.  The back of the card summarizes Williams' career highlights and mentions the hope the team had of Epstein following in Williams' steps. 

1969 Season
Williams guided the club to a record of 86-76 in 1969, winning Manager of the Year honors for his efforts.  It was the only winning season of the franchise's brief 11-year stay in Washington, and they would relocate to Arlington in 1972, rechristened as the Texas Rangers.  Epstein was the Senators' regular first baseman, making 115 starts at the position and appearing in 131 games overall.  He batted .278 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs, one of his best seasons in the majors.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#538 Charlie Smith - Chicago Cubs / #540 Curt Flood - St. Louis Cardinals