Hank Aaron (#250)

Most know that Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record.  Many know he also played in the Negro Leagues, but lesser known is that he was offered a contract by the Boston Braves and the New York Giants, but chose the Braves (because they offered him $50 per month more than the Giants), thus missing out on playing in the same outfield as Willie Mays.

While still in high school, Aaron had a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and played in the Negro Leagues with the Mobile Black Bears. In 1952 he played in the Negro League World Series with the Indianapolis Clowns. That same year, he was signed by the Boston Braves.

He was a 2nd baseman in the minors, playing in class C (1952) and class A (1953) before making his major-league debut in April 1954 at age 20. Aaron started 11 of the first 14 games in right field, then moved to left field, where he started 102 games. After August 25th, he only made 1 start, and was primarily used as a pinch-hitter.

Hank finished 4th in the 1954 Rookie of the Year voting (to Cardinals’ outfielder Wally Moon, Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks, and Braves’ pitcher Gene Conley).

“Hammerin’ Hank” only hit 13 homers as a rookie, but his power kicked in beginning in 1955. He hit 20 or more homers in each of the next 20 seasons, while making the all-star team each season, and leading the league in homers 4 times (3 times with 44) and in RBI 4 times (at least 126 RBI each time). He also led the NL in batting twice (once with a .355 average), and was the NL MVP winner in 1957.

Hank hit .393 and .333 in the ’57 and ’58 World Series, and hit .357 in the 1969 NLCS against the Miracle Mets.

Usually the Braves’ right fielder, he played center field for half of the ’57, ’61, and ’62 seasons. Hank was also the Braves’ regular 1st baseman for the 2nd half of 1971 and all of 1972, before returning to the outfield in 1973.

Aaron finished the 1973 season one home run short of tying Babe Ruth’s record of 714 career homers. He tied the record on opening day 1974 in Cincinnati, and broke the record during the Braves’ first home game.

After 21 seasons with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in November 1974 for outfielder Dave May. Hank played his final 2 seasons as the Brewers’ DH (full-time in ‘75, and part-time in ’76). He finished with 755 career home runs.

After his playing career, Aaron became a front-office executive with the Braves.

Hank's younger brother Tommie was his teammate from 1962 to 1971.

Willie McCovey (#480)

It's hard to believe I haven't gotten around to Willie McCovey yet on any of my blogs. Plus, the Giants are under-represented here, so I'm killing 2 birds with one stone.

Willie "Stretch" McCovey was a fan favorite in San Francisco (even more so, I've heard, than the transplanted New Yorker - Willie Mays). Back in the 60s and 70s, I heard more than a few pitchers say that McCovey was the most feared hitter they ever faced.

Willie was signed by the New York Giants in 1955, and after 4 1/2 seasons in the minors he made his big-league debut in late-July 1959. He started 49 of the final 55 games at 1st base (pushing Orlando Cepeda to left field) and won the NL Rookie of the Year award that season.

In 1960 McCovey picked up where he left off, but by early June he found himself riding the bench most of the time, and even spent the 2nd half of July back in the minors.

During the '61 and '62 seasons, Willie was used as a pinch-hitter and part time fielder. He shared the 1st base job evenly with Cepeda in 1961 (playing there when Orlando was in left field), then in '62 Willie's primary position was left field, where he started 42 games to Harvey Kuenn's 82 games. He was also 3-for-15 in the 1962 World Series, with a triple and a home run.

McCovey became an everyday player beginning in 1963. Playing in 152 games (including 130 starts in left and only 14 at first base), Willie led the NL with 44 home runs (the first of 3 times he would do so) and made his first all-star team.

His workload was cut back in 1964, playing only 130 games. with only 75 starts in left field and 21 at first base.

Willie took over as the Giants' everyday 1st baseman at the start of the 1965 season. Injuries relegated Cepeda to 34 at-bats over 33 games that year, so McCovey started all but 12 games at 1st base. The following season, Cepeda was traded to the Cardinals in early May, so Willie had a permanent home in the infield.

Between 1965 and 1970, McCovey hit over 30 homers every season, and led the NL in home runs and RBI in '68 (36, 105) and '69 (45, 126). He also bat .293 and .320 in those seasons. He finished 3rd in the 1968 MVP voting, and won the award in 1969.

Willie remained with the Giants through the 1973 season, then was traded to the Padres. After the better part of 3 seasons in San Diego, he was sold to the Athletics in August 1976, where he finished out the season.

In November 1976 he was granted free agency, and returned to the Giants. Willie was the team's primary (not everyday) first baseman for the next 3 seasons.

In 1980, he started 11 of the first 12 games at 1B, but then slipped into a part-time role alongside Mike Ivie. McCovey played his last game on July 6, 1980.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

Roberto Clemente (#400)

Today is the 40th anniversary of Roberto Clemente's death.

In the 1967 set, Topps assigned #400 to his card, one of the "superstar" numbers (ending in "00"). The others were:
100 - Frank Robinson
200 - Mickey Mantle
300 - Willie Mays
400 - Bob Clemente
500 - Juan Marichal
600 - Brooks Robinson

In addition to the "00" number status, each player had their "floating head" appear on the checklist containing their base card. (Jim Kaat appeared on the 4th series checklist. Maybe his card number was 350?)  


Roberto Clemente was playing ball in Puerto Rico when the Brooklyn Dodgers signed him, and sent him to their AAA team in Montreal. After 1 season as a bench player, the Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 draft, and the rest is history.

After the 1958 season, Clemente joined the US Marine Corps Reserve. His 6-month stint in basic training was credited with improving Roberto's strength and conditioning (which had been affected by a car accident during his rookie season).

Clemente and the Pirates won the World Series in 1960. That year he began a string of 6 consecutive seasons as an all-star. Roberto led the NL in batting during the '61, '64, '65, and '67 seasons, and won the MVP award in 1966.

In 1968, his batting average dipped to .291, which would be his only season under .300 (and only all-star absence) after 1959. He bounced back with 4 more "Clemente" seasons.

Roberto led his team to a World Series victory in 1971, and collected his 3000th hit in the next-to-last game of his final season (1972).

He was 38 when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico, en route to Nicaragua on a humanitarian mission on 12/31/1972.


Also check out Clemente's 1970 card.  

Maury Wills' Rookie Card

Two days ago marked the 6th-month anniversary of this (my first) blog, and this is my 100th post. For the occasion, I'm posting my most recent acquisition - the 1st Maury Wills card from Topps. Yes, after 8 years, Wills finally got his "rookie" card. It's only taken me 43 years to get it!


Maury Wills (#570) was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and played 7 seasons in their minor-league system before even advancing to triple-A (in 1958). After a year and a half in triple-A, Maury made his major-league debut on June 6, 1959. Don Zimmer had been the Dodgers' starting shortstop, but from July 4th on, Wills was making most of the starts there. (They each started 70 games at shortstop that season.)



From 1960 to 1966, Wills started 140 or more games at shortstop for the Dodgers each season (except 1963). The Dodgers inexplicably started Dick Tracewski at shortstop for long stretches of games in 1963, while Wills was either starting at 3rd base or was out of the lineup. (Maybe an old-school Dodgers fan can shed some light on that?)

In 1962, Wills actually started 164 of the Dodgers' 165 regular-season games that year! That season, he set a record with 104 stolen bases, and won the MVP award. He also led the league in plate appearances, at-bats, and triples that season.

After the 1966 season, Wills was traded to the Pirates for third baseman Bob Bailey and minor-league shortstop Gene Michael. He played 3rd base during his 2 seasons in Pittsburgh.

Maury was selected by the Expos in the expansion draft following the 1968 season, and after starting 46 of the Expos' first 50 games at shortstop in 1969, he was traded to the Dodgers (with outfielder Manny Mota) for outfielder Ron Fairly and infielder Paul Popovich. The Dodgers, who had been getting by with Ted Sizemore and Billy Grabarkiewitz at shortstop, returned Wills to his familiar post. Maury started all but 6 games at short for the rest of the season.

Wills was the Dodgers' starting shortstop until April 28, 1972 when Bill Russell took over the position. Wills remained with the team for the rest of the season as a backup, and was released in late October.

He later managed the Seattle Mariners for parts of 1980 and 1981.

11/10/2018 edit: Here is the No card for Wills story.

Carl Yastrzemski (#355)

Carl Yastrzemski made his major-league debut on opening day 1961, and started 146 games in left field that season. He replaced Ted Williams, who had retired after the 1960 season. (Williams had been Boston's leftfielder since 1939, except for the seasons he missed for military service.)

In 1967, Carl led the Red Sox to the American League pennant, although they lost the series to the Cardinals. Yaz won the triple crown that season, just 1 year after Frank Robinson had done the same. No player in either league has won the triple crown since.



The popular notion is that the Red Sox only had 3 regular leftfielders from 1939 to 1987 (Williams, Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice). Actually, there were several breaks in that string. In 1964, rookie Tony Conigliaro was the regular leftfielder, while Yaz played centerfield all season.
There was also a blip from 1972 to 1974: Yaz started only 83 of his 125 games in leftfield in 1972. The following season, he was the regular first baseman, and played more games at THIRD base (33) than in left field (15). Tommy Harper was the regular leftfielder that year. In 1974, Yaz and Harper each played about half the games at 1B and LF.
In 1975, Rice took over in left, but was limited to fulltime DH duties in 1977, so Yaz was back out in left for one more season.

Yastrzemski played for 23 years (all with the Red Sox), retiring after the 1983 season. He was a regular to the end. He never had less than 535 plate appearances in a season until his final four seasons, and even then he had over 390 plate appearances per season - a real workhorse!

Final Card: Dick Groat

For the next several days, my 3 card blogs will take on a Phillies and Yankees flavor, as we gear up for the World Series.


Dick Groat is best remembered as the Pirates shortstop of the 1950s and early 1960s (including appearing in the 1960 World Series). He never played minor-league baseball, as the Pirates signed him right out of Duke University in June 1952, and immediately put him on the roster.

(Groat was a star basketball player at Duke. In 1952, he played for the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons.)

After the 1962 season, he was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Don Cardwell and infielder Julio Gotay. After 3 seasons with the Cardinals (including another World Series championship in 1964), he was traded to the Phillies along with 1B Bill White and C Bob Uecker for P Art Mahaffey, OF Alex Johnson, and C Pat Corrales.



This is Groat's final card. He spent the early part of 1967 on the Phillies' disabled list, and in late June was sold to the Giants, where he finished out the season.

Groat accumulated over 2100 hits in 18 seasons. Good thing he could hit, because his career fielding percentage was only .961, including 5 seasons of 30 or more errors.