Bill Dillman (#466)

Bill Dillman had cards in each Topps set from 1967-70. His rookie card was the only 1967 Rookie Stars card with red borders. (All the other 42 Rookie Stars cards had yellow borders.) In addition to having Orioles' cards in the '68 and '69 sets, his final card in the 1970 set shows him with the Cardinals.

I was all ready to write about Dillman being part of the 1967-69 wave of Orioles' pitchers (along with Tom Phoebus, Jim Hardin, and Dave Leonhard) that followed the 1964-66 wave of Dave McNally, Wally Bunker, and Jim Palmer, but when I looked him up in Baseball-Reference.com today, I was surprised to see that he only pitched 32 games for the O's, all in 1967 (when their "main" pitchers were all out with sore arms). 

 

The oddball "red rookie card" in the 1967 set:

In 1968, McNally rebounded to win 22 games, while Hardin and Phoebus won 18 and 15 respectively. With rookie Dave Leonhard joining the team that year, and Bunker sharing the #5 starter job with Gene Brabender, there was no room on the roster for Dillman, so he spent the next 2 seasons pitching for their AAA Rochester club. (It's surprising then that he had a card in the 1969 set.)

 

After the 1969 season he was purchased by the Cardinals, so Topps gave him one more chance. However, early in the 1970 season (having not played for the Cardinals) he was traded to the Expos for Carroll Sembera, and pitched in 18 games for Montreal from May to July, then it was back to triple-A for the rest of that season and all of 1971. 

 

Dillman finished out his career in 1972 with the Mets’ AAA team. 

 

Final Card: Clarence Jones

This is the first and last card for Clarence Jones (#506). For the second consecutive post, we are saying goodbye to a short-time Cubs' first baseman.

Jones was signed by the Phillies in June 1959. After finishing that season in the Phillies' organization, he was out of baseball in 1960. Clarence returned in 1961, and spent the next 5 seasons in the Dodgers' farm system.

After the 1965 season, he was drafted by the Cubs, and finally made it up to triple-A during the 1966 season.

Jones made his major-league debut in April 1967 with the Cubs. He played in 53 games that year, mostly as a pinch-hitter, but also 2 dozen games in right field and a dozen as Banks' backup at 1st base. He also spent mid-May to mid-July back in the minors.

The following season, he was back in triple-A for most of the season, only playing 5 games with the Cubs in September. After the '68 season he was dealt to the Reds, but spent the 1969 season at triple-A Indianapolis.

Jones then played in Japan from 1970 through 1977.

Final Card: Dick Calmus

After reading about all the goings-on at Wrigley Wax Headquarters, I decided to offer up a little-known Cubs card.

After first appearing in the 1964 set as a Dodger, Dick Calmus (#427) dropped off Topps' radar for 3 years, but returned here for his final card. When I first got this card back in 1968, I thought he looked like a young Jack Kennedy!

Calmus was signed by the Dodgers in 1962. After playing 1 season of class-D ball, he spent the entire 1963 season with the Dodgers, appearing in 21 games (all but 1 in relief). He then spent the next 3 seasons in the Dodgers farm system, mostly as a starting pitcher. Calmus was at AA Albuquerque in 1964, and AAA Spokane in 1965 and 1966.


In late April 1967, he was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Fred Norman (who would go on to pitch many years with the Padres and Reds). Calmus spent the entire season at triple-A Tacoma, then made one appearance with the Cubs on September 2nd. It would be his last major-league game.

Dick would play in the minors for 2 more seasons: for the Cubs in 1968 and the Dodgers in 1969.

I wonder why he even has a card here in 1968, since he pitched a grand total of 4.1 innings in 1967, and none in 1968.

Russ Nixon (#515)

Russ Nixon started his career in 1953 with the Green Bay Packers Bluejays, the Cleveland Indians' affiliate in the class-D Wisconsin State League.

After 4 seasons in the minors, Nixon made his Indians' debut on April 20, 1957. He and 36-year-old Jim Hegan each caught about 1/3 of the games, with the rest handled by Dick Brown and Hal Naragon.

In 1958, Russ took over the #1 catching job, while Dick Brown was his backup. The following year, his playing time was decreased, with Brown starting more games.



In 1960, Nixon was twice traded to the Red Sox. In March, the first trade was voided when one of the players refused to report. In mid-June, a second deal involving all different players was completed.
Although not joining the team until mid-June, Nixon managed to start more games than the other Red Sox' catchers.

1960 was the high point of his Red Sox' career, as he slipped to 2nd or 3rd string behind Jim Pagliaroni and/or Bob Tillman during the 1961-1964 seasons.

In 1965, Mike Ryan arrived in Boston to further crowd the catching picture. Prior to the 1966 season, Nixon was traded to the Twins, where he continued as a backup catcher (to Earl Battey and Jerry Zimmerman).

After 2 seasons with Minnesota, Nixon returned to the Red Sox in 1968. He spent part of the season in the minors. After the season, Russ was selected by the White Sox in the rule 5 draft, but was released prior to the 1969 season, ending his 12-year career.

Nixon managed the Reds and the Braves in the 1980s.