Showing posts with label St. Louis Cardinals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Louis Cardinals. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

#169 1968 World Series - Tigers Celebrate Their Victory


The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free publicity as the paper's banner.


Building the Set / Card #643
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Crazy Boxes)
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.  I'm not even sure how best to describe the fifth table I visited.  I typically steer clear of tables that look incredibly disorganized or tables that look as if the dealer put minimal effort into his/her display.  This table was both.  But the crudely designed, hand-made sign advertising "Entire Table is 50% Off" made me stop and at least look at what was in the 1969 Topps hodgepodge of cards.  And I'm glad I did.  It took me a solid 20-25 minutes to go through the cards that were loosely in order, but I found seven cards I needed with either mislabeled prices (?) or prices that hadn't been updated since the 1980s.  I paid a little over $0.50 for this World Series card, the third of seven cards purchased from what I'm calling the Crazy Boxes table, and I wished I had made this table my first stop.

Dick McAuliffe (#305), Denny McLain (#150) and Willie Horton (#180) are featured on the obligatory World Series wrap-up/celebration card, and I always appreciated these somewhat oddball inclusions into the Topps base sets.  There's a whole lot of very small statistics on the card's back, and anyone interested in reading any of that would first need to find a magnifying glass.

Sources:

Monday, March 2, 2026

#168 1968 World Series Game 7 - Lolich Series Hero Outduels Gibson


The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free publicity as the paper's banner.


Building the Set / Card #642
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Crazy Boxes)
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.  I'm not even sure how best to describe the fifth table I visited.  I typically steer clear of tables that look incredibly disorganized or tables that look as if the dealer put minimal effort into his/her display.  This table was both.  But the crudely designed, hand-made sign advertising "Entire Table is 50% Off" made me stop and at least look at what was in the 1969 Topps hodgepodge of cards.  And I'm glad I did.  It took me a solid 20-25 minutes to go through the cards that were loosely in order, but I found seven cards I needed with either mislabeled prices (?) or prices that hadn't been updated since the 1980s.  I paid a little over $0.50 for this World Series card, the second of seven cards purchased from what I'm calling the Crazy Boxes table, and I wished I had made this table my first stop.

Starting on only two days rest, Mickey Lolich (#270) again got the call to start the game, his third start of the series.  Bob Gibson (#200), also making his third start, but on three days rest, was set to face Lolich in the deciding game of the 1968 World Series.  Advertised as a pitcher's duel, Lolich and Gibson did not disappoint, with both shutting down the other team's offense through six innings.  In the top of the seventh, and with two outs, Norm Cash (#80) and Willie Horton (#180) both singled.  Jim Northrup (#580) hit a fly ball that some said would have been typically caught by Gold Glove center fielder Curt Flood (#540), but Flood initially misjudged the ball and it fell in for a two-run triple.  Bill Freehan (#390) then doubled Northrup home and the Tigers had a 3-0 lead, plenty of support for Lolich.  The Tigers added another run in the top of the ninth when Don Wert (#443) singled home pinch-runner Dick Tracewski (#126).

Mike Shannon (#110) connected for a solo home run off Lolich in the bottom of the ninth, spoiling his shutout, but Tim McCarver (#475) hit a pop foul caught by Freehan a batter later, giving the Tigers the title.  Gibson ended the series with a record 35 strikeouts, but Lolich was named World Series MVP.


Sources:

Thursday, February 26, 2026

#432 Bob Gibson AS - St. Louis Cardinals


All-Star cards returned to Topps sets in 1968 under The Sporting News banner for a three-year run between 1968 and 1970.  Topps included 20 All-Star cards in its 1969 set, featuring 10 All-Stars from each league and one player from each position, including both a right-handed and left-handed pitcher.  

Building the Set / Card #640
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Richie's Sports Cards)
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.  After about 90 minutes of walking and buying, while running low on funds, and even lower on stamina, I found a nice display of vintage Topps star cards at Richie's Sports Cards, from Manalpan, New Jersey.  I quickly and easily picked up six more star cards needed for our set from Richie's, my fourth stop of the show.  This is the sixth of those six cards and it cost around $9 after a discount.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Pete Rose Puzzle
Nine-time All-Star Bob Gibson (#200) started the All-Star Game twice in his career, in 1968 and again in 1970.  In between those two years, his teammate Steve Carlton (#255) got the start, with Gibson relieving Carlton in the fourth inning.  Gibson struck out a pair, but allowed a run on an RBI-single by Bill Freehan (#390).

Linked below is a great article from Sports Collectors Daily, and the author did his best in tracking down the origins of the action photos appearing on these All-Star subset cards.  The black and white photo behind Gibson is actually him, and Topps repurposed a photo originally appearing on a 1968 Topps World Series subset card.

The backs of these All-Star cards contain a puzzle piece of either Pete Rose (#120) or Carl Yastrzemski (#130).  The back of Gibson's card features half of Rose's face, and with all All-Star cards now collected for the set, I can present the full Rose puzzle below.  This one turned out even more off-kilter than my Yaz puzzle!

Topps All-Star Card Appearances (2):  1968-69

1968 Topps #154
1968 Topps #378



Saturday, February 21, 2026

#200 Bob Gibson - St. Louis Cardinals


Robert Gibson
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  189
Born:  November 9, 1935, Omaha, NE
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1959-75
World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1964, 1967-68
Died:  October 2, 2020, Omaha, NE (age 84)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1981

One of the best, most feared and most competitive pitchers of his generation, Bob Gibson was a nine-time All-Star, a two-time World Series winner (1964 and 1967), a two-time Cy Young Award winner (1968 and 1970) and the second pitcher in history to reach the 3,000 strikeout plateau.  Along with his 1968 Cy Young Award, he also took home that season's MVP award as he went 22-9 with a 1.12 ERA, 28 complete games, 13 shutouts and 268 strikeouts in one of the most dominant seasons of pitching in baseball history.  Gibson won 20 or more games five times.  If that wasn't enough, he also won nine Gold Gloves for his fielding and was a lifetime .206 batter with 24 home runs.  He retired after 17 seasons with 251 wins, 56 shutouts and 3,117 strikeouts and the Cardinals retired his #45 in September 1975.

Gibson was a first ballot inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1981, the same year he returned to baseball as a Mets coach on the staff of former teammate and Mets manager Joe Torre (#460).  He moved with Torre to the Braves in 1982 where he stayed through 1984.  He coached one last time for Torre with the Cardinals in 1995.  Gibson passed away on October 2, 2020, 52 years after his dominant performance in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series in which he pitched a complete game shutout and struck out 17 Tigers batters.

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

Building the Set / 
Card #636
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Richie's Sports Cards)
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.  After about 90 minutes of walking and buying, while running low on funds, and even lower on stamina, I found a nice display of vintage Topps star cards at Richie's Sports Cards, from Manalpan, New Jersey.  I quickly and easily picked up six more star cards needed for our set from Richie's my fourth stop of the show.  This is the second of those six cards and it cost about $36 after a discount.  This was one of four cards I spent more than $30 on at the show, along with Bobby Cox (#237), Harmon Killebrew (#375) and Rod Carew (#510).

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
I feel this is one of the more iconic Gibson cards, as it captures him following his incredible 1968 season.  He's all over the 1969 Topps set, and this is one seven cards of Gibson in the set.  He's on three League Leaders cards (#8, #10, #12), the 2nd Series Checklist (#107), the World Series Game #1 card (#162), this base card and an All-Star card (#432).  The back of the card justifiably focuses on his prior season.

Gibson's 1959 and 1968 Topps cards have been reprinted by Topps a ton over the years, and I was surprised to see this card has never been reprinted, at least as far as I can tell.

Accuracy Index:  Gibson's card easily earns a +5.
Inserts:  Gibson is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.  He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.


1969 Season
There was really nowhere to go but down after Gibson's all-time great season in 1968, but he still led the league with a 10.4 bWAR and 28 complete games.  From his SABR biography, written by Terry Sloope: 
Things went downhill for the Cardinals after 1968, although Gibson still had some productive seasons ahead of him. [Orlando] Cepeda (#385), their clubhouse cheerleader, was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre before the 1969 season.  As the players union threatened to delay the start of the 1969 season with a strike, owner [August] Busch publicly blasted his team in spring training for being complacent and too concerned with monetary matters, further lowering club morale.  Although Gibson went 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA, the Cardinals dropped to fourth place in the National League’s new Eastern Division.
1959 Topps #514
1965 Topps #320
1968 Topps #100
1971 Topps #450
1975 Topps #150

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #514
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1959-75, 1988
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2025 Topps Archives #297
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  2,253 in the Beckett online database as of 2/15/26.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Thursday, February 19, 2026

#166 1968 World Series Game 5 - Kaline's Key Hit Sparks Tiger Rally


The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free publicity as the paper's banner.


Building the Set / Card #635
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Richie's Sports Cards)
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.  After about 90 minutes of walking and buying, while running low on funds, and even lower on stamina, I found a nice display of vintage Topps star cards at Richie's Sports Cards, from Manalpan, New Jersey.  I quickly and easily picked up six more star cards needed for our set from Richie's my fourth stop of the show.  This is the first of those six cards, and it cost less than $6 after a discount.

With the Cardinals leading the series three games to one, it was do or die time for the Tigers.  Mickey Lolich (#270), the Tigers' Game 2 winner, again took the mound and pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out eight.  All three runs allowed by Lolich came in the first inning, and he settled down after that.  The Tigers chipped away against Cardinals' starter Nelson Briles (#60) with a pair of runs in the fourth inning on RBIs from Norm Cash (#80) and Jim Northrup (#580).  Trailing 3-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, Briles allowed Lolich to reach with a single, chasing him from the game to be relieved by Joe Hoerner (#522).

Needing seven outs to secure the World Series title, Hoerner allowed four straight baserunners, coughing up the lead and giving the Tigers the momentum shift they needed.  Dick McAuliffe (#305) singled and Mickey Stanley (#13) walked to load the bases.  Al Kaline (#410) brought two runs home with a single to center, giving the Tigers the lead.  Cash added another RBI single and the inning would end with the Tigers now ahead, 5-3.

I was able to find the image Topps used for the card fairly quickly from the Getty Images website, and the photo actually depicts Kaline hitting his Game 3 home run off the Cardinals' Ray Washburn (#415) in a losing effort.  Tim McCarver (#475) was behind the plate for the Cardinals throughout the series, but that's home plate umpire Stan Landes shown here, while Doug Harvey was actually behind the plate for Game 5.


Sources:


Thursday, February 12, 2026

#428 Lou Brock AS - St. Louis Cardinals


All-Star cards returned to Topps sets in 1968 under The Sporting News banner for a three-year run between 1968 and 1970.  Topps included 20 All-Star cards in its 1969 set, featuring 10 All-Stars from each league and one player from each position, including both a right-handed and left-handed pitcher.  

Building the Set / Card #630
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Niagara Sports Cards)
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 eighth of those 12, and the 71st of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day.  I paid less than $1.50 for it after the bulk dealer discount was applied. 

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Pete Rose Puzzle
Lou Brock (#85), teammate Curt Flood (#540) and Pete Rose (#120) each get outfield spots on The Sporting News National League All-Star team.  Flood, Henry Aaron (#100) and Willie Mays (#190) were the starting outfielders in the actual 1968 All-Star Game, with Matty Alou (#490), Aaron and Cleon Jones (#512) starting in the outfield in the 1969 game.  I wonder what made Topps give the nod to Brock for this card over Aaron?  Brock was a six-time All-Star, earning a spot on the team in 1967, 1971-72, 1974-75 and 1979.

Linked below is a great article from Sports Collectors Daily, and the author did his best in tracking down the origins of the action photos appearing on these All-Star subset cards.  There's some fantastic detective work explained in the article, but there are six All-Stars cards, including this Brock card, where the author has had no success yet in identifying the background photo.  Ironically, Brock does actually appear as the background photo on the All-Stars card of Rod Carew (#419).

The backs of these All-Star cards contain a puzzle piece of either Rose or Carl Yastrzemski (#130).  The back of Brocks's card features Rose's batting grip.

Topps All-Star Card Appearances (3):  1968-69, 1976

1968 Topps #372
1976 Topps #10

Saturday, January 3, 2026

#163 1968 World Series Game 2 - Tiger Homers Deck the Cards


The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free publicity as the paper's banner.


Building the Set / Card #601
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 6th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 42nd of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day.  Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount.

After getting shutout by Bob Gibson in Game 1, the Tigers' bats awakened against Cardinals' starting pitcher Nelson Briles in Game 2, played on October 3, 1968.  Briles worked a 1-2-3 inning in the first with Willie Horton connecting for a home run with one out in the top of the second.  Briles' counterpart, Mickey Lolich, hit a solo home run in the third, and Norm Cash homered to lead off the sixth, chasing Briles from the game.  Steve Carlton entered in relief and would allow a two-run single to Dick McAuliffe to give the Tigers a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Cardinals scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth, when Orlando Cepeda singled home Lou Brock.  With the score 6-1 heading to the ninth, Cardinals' reliever Joe Hoerner gave up two final runs on bases loaded walks to Don Wert and Lolich.

The card shows Horton hitting his home run with Tim McCarver behind the plate for the Cardinals, and home plate umpire Jim Honochick looking on.  Lolich would never hit a regular season home run, and was a lifetime .110 batter with five doubles and a pair of triples.  The home run and then later a bases loaded walk, makes this easily his top offensive game in his 13-year big league career.


Sources:

Thursday, October 16, 2025

#462 Red Schoendienst MG - St. Louis Cardinals


Albert Fred Schoendienst
St. Louis Cardinals
Manager

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 2, 1923, Germantown, IL
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1945-56; New York Giants 1956-57; Milwaukee Braves 1957-60; St. Louis Cardinals 1961-63
World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1946; Milwaukee Braves 1957-58
As a Manager:  St. Louis Cardinals 1965-76, 1980, 1990
Died:  June 6, 2018, Town and Country, MO (age 95)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1989

Amazingly, 67 of Red Schoendienst's 76 years in baseball were spent as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization.  Schoendienst was a 10-time All-Star, a steady hitter and an above-average defender who led all National League second basemen in fielding percentage in six different seasons.  He enjoyed his finest seasons in the early 1950s, batting over .300 three seasons in a row and hitting a career-high .342 in 1953.  He won his first World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1946 and he won the All-Star Game for his league in 1950 with a 14th inning home run.  Schoendienst departed St. Louis in a highly unpopular trade with the Giants in June 1956.  A year later, he was dealt to the Braves and he won his second World Series ring when Milwaukee defeated the Yankees in seven games in the 1957 series.  Schoendienst led the league that season with 200 hits.

After three seasons as a back-up infielder and pinch-hitter in a return trip to the Cardinals in the early 1960s, he retired as a player and began his lengthy coaching and managing career.  In 2,216 career games, Schoendienst collected 2,449 hits while batting .289.  He'd manage the Cardinals in parts of 14 different seasons, over four different decades, winning National League pennants in 1967 and 1968.  His lifetime managerial record was 1,041-955 with a World Series title in 1967.  He served as a coach for the Cardinals (1961-1964, 1979-1995) and Athletics (1977-1978) and won two more World Series rings as a member of the Cardinals coaching staff in 1964 and 1982.  Schoendienst was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Cardinals retired his #2 in 1996.

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

Building the Set / 
Card #571
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 12th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 12th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost less than $5 after the dealer discount.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Topps really had to schmoosh Schoendienst's last name to fit it in the yellow circle on the front of the card.  It looks as if Topps used photos from the same session for Schoendienst's 1967 and 1969 cards, and then photos from another session for his 1968 and 1970 Topps cards.  I'll give them some credit for mixing it up a little.  The back of the card celebrates his All-Star Game winning home run from 1962.

Accuracy Index:  Schoendienst's card scores a +5.

1969 Season
A year after leading the Cardinals to a National League pennant and to within a game of winning back-to-back World Series, Schoendienst guided the club to an 87-75 record and a fourth place finish.  Bob Gibson (#200) and Steve Carlton (255) led the pitching-strong club, going 20-13 and 17-11, respectively and finishing second and third for the best ERA in the leagues with marks of 2.18 and 2.17.  Gibson led the league with 28 complete games, and both he and Curt Flood (#540) were Gold Glove winners.  Center fielder Flood was the Cardinals' top offensive performer, hitting .285 with 31 doubles.  Left fielder Lou Brock (#85) led the league with 53 stolen bases and first baseman Joe Torre (#460) led the Cardinals with 18 home runs and 101 RBIs.  Joe Hoerner (#522) and Chuck Taylor were Schoendienst's top relievers.

1948 Bowman #38
1952 Topps #91
1957 Topps #154
1967 Topps #512
1990 Topps Traded #113T

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1948 Bowman #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (24):  1951-53, 1956-62, 1965-76, 1988, 1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Panini Chronicles Pinnacle #28
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  702 in the Beckett online database as of 10/8/25.

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.  Surprisingly, there are quite a few great candidates for update cards from the defending National League champions, and I couldn't narrow it down to less than seven cards.
  • Chuck Taylor (rhp) - Taylor got left out of the set altogether, and his rookie card appeared in the 1970 Topps set.
  • Mudcat Grant (rhp) - Mudcat Grant was the second most frequently used reliever before Hoerner, and he's in the set with the Expos (#306).
  • Steve Huntz (ss) - Steve Huntz and Mike Torrez share a Rookie Stars card (#136) and they'd each have solo cards in my update set.
  • Mike Torrez (rhp)
  • Dave Giusti (rhp) - Dave Giusti is in the set with the Padres (#98), a team he never pitched for.  He appeared in 22 games for the Cardinals.
  • Ted Simmons (c) - Future Hall of Famer Ted Simmons was a September call-up in 1968 and 1969, and his rookie card wouldn't appear until the 1971 Topps set.
  • Dick Sisler (coach) - And finally, my Dad's favorite player and former Whiz Kid Dick Sisler coached with the Cardinals between 1966 and 1970.  He'd get a card in my update set.
Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Schoendienst / Baseball Reference - 1969 Cardinals / SABR / Wikipedia