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Arthur Bobby Lee Darwin
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher
Born: February 16, 1943, Los Angeles, CA
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Angels 1962; Los Angeles Dodgers 1969, 1971; Minnesota Twins 1972-1975; Milwaukee Brewers 1975-1976; Boston Red Sox 1976-1977; Chicago Cubs 1977
John Allen Miller
Los Angeles Dodgers
Infield-Outfield
Born: March 14, 1944, Alhambra, CA
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1966; Los Angeles Dodgers 1969
Tommy Douglas Dean
San Diego Padres
Shortstop
Born: August 30, 1945, Iuka, MS
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1967; San Diego Padres 1969-1971
John Miller appeared in 32 games in 1966 and 1969 for the Yankees and Dodgers, hitting home runs in his first and last major league at-bats. His first home run came on September 11, 1966 off Red Sox starting pitcher Lee Stange (#148). He'd make it into six games as a September call-up that season, and not return to the majors until April 1969. Miller spent most of that year with the Dodgers, but only appeared in 26 games, making a pair of starts at first base, two starts in left field and a single start at third base. In his last major league at-bat, on September 23, 1969, Miller homered off Reds' pitcher Jim Merritt (#661), perfectly bookending his short big league career. Miller would find success in Japan with the Cunichi Dragons, hitting at least 24 home runs and driving in at least 70 runs in each of his three seasons with the team between 1970 and 1972.
Tommy Dean was a middle infielder for the Padres during their first three seasons, appearing in a career-high 101 games for the club during its inaugural season in 1969. As the Padres' most regularly used shortstop in their first year, Dean batted .176 in 101 games, making 81 starts. He was their opening day shortstop in 1970 and 1971, but his light hitting led to his eventual replacement in 1971 by Enzo Hernandez. In 215 big league games, Dean batted .180 with 95 hits, four home runs and 25 RBIs.
December 3, 2022 from The Philly Show (Huggins & Scott Auctions)
At the outset of The Philly Show, more formally known as the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, we needed just four cards to complete our 1965 Topps set. I wrote a full summary of the show in this post over at The Phillies Room.
The show so far had been an all-timer. Major purchases were made (1965 and 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle, 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson rookie card, Diamond Stars Rogers Hornsby), our 1965 Topps set was completed and I admittedly wasn't ready to leave just yet. With a little more cash in hand, I decided to find a few more cards for our now newly-collecting 1969 Topps set.
I found a box of vintage semi-star cards at the table of Higgins & Scott Auctions from Silver Spring, Maryland, with a "50% Off" sign attached to it. It was truly a hodge podge of minor stars, checklists, multi-player Rookie Stars cards and other assorted randomness. After confirming the cards were indeed 50% off the sticker prices, I found eight interesting cards needed for our set and parted with my final $50 of the day. This N.L. Rookie Stars card was $5, and was one of three multi-team, multi-player Rookie Stars cards I found in the box. My best guess is these were cards with no logical fit, part of no specific team set, and of use only to those collectors actually building a 1969 Topps set.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Padres Team Set
Darwin Accuracy Index +5 / Miller Accuracy Index -8 / Dean Accuracy Index -8
This is the rookie card for all three players. This is one of 52 Rookie Stars cards in the set, and one of four cards featuring players from different teams. I've somehow managed to add three of those four with this purchase from Huggins & Scott Auctions, with only the Rollie Fingers (#597) rookie card remaining. This is the first and last mainstream baseball card appearance for Miller, and he's wearing a Yankees uniform here. Dean is shown in a Dodgers uniform, for whom he played 12 games in 1967. I wonder if Topps intended this to be a Dodgers Rookie Stars card, given all three players had a connection with the team. Dean was dealt to the Padres in mid-April 1969, possibly scuttling the all-Dodgers card plan.
This is the rookie card for all three players. This is one of 52 Rookie Stars cards in the set, and one of four cards featuring players from different teams. I've somehow managed to add three of those four with this purchase from Huggins & Scott Auctions, with only the Rollie Fingers (#597) rookie card remaining. This is the first and last mainstream baseball card appearance for Miller, and he's wearing a Yankees uniform here. Dean is shown in a Dodgers uniform, for whom he played 12 games in 1967. I wonder if Topps intended this to be a Dodgers Rookie Stars card, given all three players had a connection with the team. Dean was dealt to the Padres in mid-April 1969, possibly scuttling the all-Dodgers card plan.
Accuracy Index: Darwin scores +5 for appearing in a Dodgers uniform. Miller and Dean each score -8 for being pictured in their former team's uniform (-5) and wearing a hat with the logo painted over (-3).
1969 Season - Darwin
Darwin appeared in six games for the Dodgers between mid-April and early May as either a relief pitcher (three games) or pinch-runner (three games). As a batter, he was 0 for 6 with a run scored and as a pitcher he had a 9.82 ERA over 3 2/3 innings pitched. In the minors, Darwin batted .160 in 21 games for the Spokane Indians and was 0-6 with a 6.49 ERA in 17 games pitched. Given how poorly his year went, it's amazing the Dodgers would continue to work with him right up until his trade to the Twins in October 1971.
Darwin appeared in six games for the Dodgers between mid-April and early May as either a relief pitcher (three games) or pinch-runner (three games). As a batter, he was 0 for 6 with a run scored and as a pitcher he had a 9.82 ERA over 3 2/3 innings pitched. In the minors, Darwin batted .160 in 21 games for the Spokane Indians and was 0-6 with a 6.49 ERA in 17 games pitched. Given how poorly his year went, it's amazing the Dodgers would continue to work with him right up until his trade to the Twins in October 1971.
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Other Notable Baseball Cards - Darwin
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1969, 1973-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1977 Topps #617
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Darwin:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1969, 1973-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1977 Topps #617
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Darwin:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
1969 Season - Miller
Miller spent only 18 games with the Spokane Indians, the Dodgers' Triple-A team, batting .452 (28 for 62) and seemingly forcing the Dodgers to keep him on their roster. While he only appeared in 26 games for the Dodgers, those appearances were spread out over every month of the season between April and September. He batted just .211 (8 for 38) in the majors, with the lone home run in his final big league at-bat.
Miller spent only 18 games with the Spokane Indians, the Dodgers' Triple-A team, batting .452 (28 for 62) and seemingly forcing the Dodgers to keep him on their roster. While he only appeared in 26 games for the Dodgers, those appearances were spread out over every month of the season between April and September. He batted just .211 (8 for 38) in the majors, with the lone home run in his final big league at-bat.
1969 Season - Dean
On April 17, 1969, the Dodgers traded Dean and Leon Everett to the Padres for Al McBean (#14). Dean would immediately replace shortstops Rafael Robles (#592) and Jerry DaVanon (#637) who had both started at short in the franchise's inaugural week of play. As mentioned above, Dean batted only .176 for the season.
On April 17, 1969, the Dodgers traded Dean and Leon Everett to the Padres for Al McBean (#14). Dean would immediately replace shortstops Rafael Robles (#592) and Jerry DaVanon (#637) who had both started at short in the franchise's inaugural week of play. As mentioned above, Dean batted only .176 for the season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Miller
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1): 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 6 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Miller:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1): 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 6 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Miller:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Dean
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-TD
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 14 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Dean:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #641
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-TD
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 14 in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/23.
Sources - Dean:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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#640 Fergie Jenkins - Chicago Cubs / #642 John Hiller - Detroit Tigers
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