Dick Kelley (#203)

Dick Kelley was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, and made his major-league debut on April 15, 1964. In that game he had the misfortune of giving up 4 earned runs while facing 5 batters (2 hits, 3 walks) but recording no outs, so his zero innings pitched resulted in the dreaded ERA of "infinity".

He spent the rest of the 1964 season in triple A, then returned to pitch 2 innings on the final day of the season. His no-hit/no-runs/no-walks performance LOWERED his ERA for the season to 18.00.

Aside from the rocky 1964, Kelley pitched 6 more seasons in the majors (1965-71). In 1966 and 1969 he was primarily a starter, and a reliever for the other years. (He missed the 1970 season.)

Kelley divided his time between the Braves and their AAA team in '65 and '66.

He pitched 98 innings for the Braves in both 1967 and 1968, but that was not enough of an impression to keep him off the expansion draft list. The Padres selected him in the post-1968 draft.

Dick started 23 of his 27 games for the Padres in 1969, and posted career-highs in innings (136) and strikeouts (96). He must have been injured in 1970, because he did not play for the Padres, and only played 1 game for their triple-A team.

Kelley returned to the Padres in 1971 as a reliever, and made 48 appearances (a career high) in his final season.

He pitched 9 games for the Rangers’ AAA team in 1972, before retiring.

Kelley passed away in 2001 at age 51.

Cecil Upshaw (#286)

Cecil Upshaw was the Braves’ top relief pitcher from mid-1967 through the 1972 season.

Upshaw was signed by the Braves in 1964, and made his major-league debut on October 1, 1966.

In 1967, he was recalled from the minors when closer Phil Niekro moved to the starting rotation in mid-July. Upshaw remained in the closer role through the end of the 1972 season, except for missing the entire 1970 season with an injury.

In 1970 he tore ligaments in his hand in a freak accident. I had always heard that his ring finger got caught in a basketball net while attempting to dunk the ball, but on Wikipedia it says he and some teammates were walking down a sidewalk, and jumping up to touch overhanging awnings. Then his ring got caught on the awning and that was that.

In any case, Upshaw led the Braves in saves every season from '68-'72 except for 1970. In each season prior to the injury, his ERA was under 3.00, and he won a career-high 11 games in 1971.

After the 1972 season, the Braves acquired reliever Danny Frisella from the Mets, and the following April Upshaw was traded to the Astros for outfielder Norm Miller.

Cecil played just one season (1973) with the Astros, then was traded to the Indians in November for pitcher Jerry Johnson.

By late-April 1974 he was shipped out to the Yankees in a 7-player deal that saw Fritz Peterson and Chris Chambliss change teams. Upshaw played 1 season in the Big Apple, as the #2 reliever behind Sparky Lyle.

He was traded to the White Sox before the 1975 season. He manned the #10 spot on a 10-man staff in his final season, and was released during Spring Training in 1976.

Upshaw passed away in 1995 at age 52, of a heart attack.

Felix Millan (#241)

Here is Braves' 2B Felix Millan. 1968 is the year he finally nailed down a starting job, after some brief playing time in '66 and '67.

"The Kitten" began the season as the team's starting 2nd-sacker in 1968. By mid-June, last year's starter (Woody Woodward) was traded away to the Reds in the 6-player Clay Carroll-for-Milt Pappas deal, leaving plenty of playing time for Millan, who started 143 games while posting a .289 batting average.

Felix continued his fine play for four more seasons with the Braves. He made the All-Star team every year from 1969-71, and won Gold Gloves in 1969 and 1972. He also hit a career-high .310 in 1970.

After the 1972 season he was traded to the Mets with pitcher George Stone for pitchers Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella. Millan played for the Mets for 5 seasons, the first 4 as their regular 2nd baseman.

His final season was 1977. Felix started the year as the regular 2nd baseman, but by mid-May was alternating with Lenny Randle, Doug Flynn, and Joel Youngblood. Millan started 81 games that year, but at age 33 with his batting average dropping 35 points from the previous season, the Mets decided to go with Flynn for the following season.

Millan played in Japan from 1978-80. After winning the batting title in 1979, he had a bad year in '80 and was released after the season.

Clay Carroll (#412)

Clay Carroll was a relief pitcher for 15 seasons (1964-78), playing mostly for the Braves and Reds.

Carroll was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961, and made his major-league debut in September 1964 pitching in 11 games (20 innings) with an ERA of 1.77.

He began the 1965 season with Milwaukee, but by early June was sent down to their AAA team in Atlanta, returning to the Braves in mid-August. As in 1964, all but 1 of his appearances were in relief.

Clay became a full-time big-leaguer in 1966, leading the NL with 73 games pitched (only 3 starts) and compiling a 8-7 record in 144 innings as the team’s closer, with 11 saves and a 2.37 ERA.

I wonder if all that work in '66 took its toll, because in 1967 his workload dropped to 42 games and 92 innings. His record also fell to 6-12, his ERA ballooned to 5.52, and he spent a short time back in triple-A ball.

By 1968 Cecil Upshaw had inherited the closer role, and Carroll along with pitcher Tony Cloninger and 2nd baseman Woody Woodward were dealt to the Reds for pitchers Milt Pappas and Ted Davidson, and infielder Bob Johnson.

Clay led the Reds' bullpen in saves or wins (or both) every season from 1968 to 1974, was a 2-time All-Star ('71, '72) and led the NL in games and saves in 1972. He also pitched in the post-season in '70, '72, '73, and '75.

In 1975 at age 34, he still maintained the same workload in terms of games and innings, but the save opportunities went to youngsters Rawly Eastwick and Will McEnaney.

After the 1975 season he was traded to the White Sox for pitcher Rich Hinton. A year later, it was on to the Cardinals for pitcher Lerrin LaGrow. Toward the end of the 1977 season he was returned to the White Sox, this time in exchange for 3 players.

Carroll was released by the White Sox in spring training 1978, and was quickly picked up by the Pirates. He played most of that season for the Bucs’ AAA team, only pitching 2 games for the Pirates in the season's final 3 weeks.

Released after the season, he was signed by Milwaukee (this time the Brewers) in April '79 but only played for their AAA team that season.

Carroll is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Pat Jarvis (#134)

Pat Jarvis pitched for the Braves for 7 seasons (1966-72) before wrapping up his career in 1973 with the Expos.

Jarvis was signed by the Cubs (I did not know that) in 1960 and after one season on their farm he moved on to the Tigers’ organization. After the 1963 season, he went to the Braves in a minor-league deal for pitcher Bruce Brubaker.

Pat made his major-league debut in August 1966, and was a key member of the Braves' starting rotation from 1967-70, winning 15, 16, 13, and 16 games in those seasons, and leading the staff in wins during the ’68 and ’70 seasons. He also started one game in the 1969 NL playoffs.

In 1971 he slumped to a 6-14 record, and was relegated to the bullpen for 12 of his 35 appearances. He bounced back in 1972 with a 11-7 record, but it was almost all as a reliever.

Before the ‘73 season, Jarvis was traded to the Expos for pitcher Carl Morton. This was to be his final major-league season, pitching only 39 innings (all in relief) while compiling a 2-1 record. His final game was on September 23rd.

Pat was dealt to the Rangers in December, but was released in March 1974, ending his 8-year career.

NL / ML Rookies (#579, 569, 539)

Topps' custom for Rookie Stars cards from 1964 to 1972 was that by the time they got to the 7th series, if there weren't at least 2 remaining rookies for the same team, they would group them on "NL Rookies", "AL Rookies", or "ML Rookies" cards.  (I'm not sure why they just didn't put Ivan Murrell and Jim Ray on a "Houston Rookies" card.)


Larry Hisle was handed the Phillies' starting center field job to begin the 1968 season, but flopped miserably, and after only 7 games was sent down to AAA for much-needed seasoning. He returned the following spring as the #1 center fielder, and after a great rookie season, slumped in 1970 and split 1971 between the Phillies and the minors. He later played 5 years with the Twins (including a career year in 1977) and 5 years with the Brewers.

Mike Lum played 8 full years with the Braves (1968-75), and was then a part-time player for the Reds (1976-78) and Braves (1979-81). He was the Braves’ regular right fielder in ’71 and ’72, the years when Hank Aaron played 1st base.

After cups of coffee with the Astros from 1963-68, Ivan Murrell was drafted by the expansion Padres in 1969 and played 3 full seasons in San Diego as a part-time outfielder. Murrell bounced up and down between the Padres, Braves, and their minor-league teams from 1972-75, then played in Mexico from 1976-83.

Les Rohr pitched in the Mets’ farm system from 1965-70, and saw action in 6 games with the Mets between 1967 and 1969.

Jim Ray pitched a few games for the Astros in ’65 and ’66, then was a bullpen mainstay from 1968-73. He finished his career in 1974 with the Tigers.

I was surprised today to see how short Mike Ferarro’s MLB career was. Although he played in the minors from 1962-75, he only made brief appearances with the Yankees (10 games in ’66, 23 in ’68) and Seattle Pilots (5 games in ’69) before his only season as a regular in 1972 (124 games for the Brewers). He also managed the Indians in 1983 and Royals in 1986.

Felipe Alou (#55)

Felipe Alou played 17 seasons (1958-74) for 6 teams, mostly the Giants and Braves. Although mostly an outfielder, he played about half his games at 1st base from 1965-67 with the Braves and from 1971-73 with the Yankees.

Felipe is the oldest of the 3 Alou brothers, who all began their careers with the Giants. Felipe's son Moises also played in the majors from 1990-2008.

Alou was signed by the Giants in 1955, and played 2 ½ seasons in the minors before making his big-league debut with the Giants in June 1958. Felipe backed up rookie Willie Kirkland in right field for the remainder of the season.

1959 was more of the same for Alou, backing up Kirkland in right field. In late July, rookie Willie McCovey joined the Giants, which caused incumbent 1st baseman Orlando Cepeda to play about half his games in left field for the next few seasons. With Willie Mays in center field, all other outfielders would have to vie for playing time in right field.

In 1960 Alou was the regular left fielder for the 50+ games when Cepeda would move in to 1st base. From 1961 to 1963, Felipe was the Giants' regular right fielder, often backed up by his brother Matty. His youngest brother Jesus joined the Giants in September 1963, Felipe's last few weeks with the Giants. All 3 Alou brothers played in the same outfield only once – on September 15th.

After the season, Felipe was traded to the Braves (with pitcher Billy Hoeft, catcher Ed Bailey, and infielder Ernie Bowman) for pitchers Bob Shaw and Bob Hendley, and catcher Del Crandall. Alou began the '64 season as the Braves’ starting center fielder, but by mid-June had lost that post to Lee Maye, and spent the remainder of the season as the 4th outfielder.

Felipe began playing 1st base in 1965, and spent the next 3 seasons dividing his time between 1st, left field, and center field. He also was quite good with the stick. In 1966 he finished 2nd among NL batters with a .327 average (right behind his brother Matty). In 1968 he finished 3rd (behind Pete Rose and Matty) with a .317 average.

After Mack Jones was traded away following the 1967 season, Alou spent the next 2 seasons as the Braves' regular center fielder.

After the '69 season, he was traded to Oakland for pitcher Jim Nash. Alou only spent one full season with the Athletics. At age 35, he played in an outfield that included Rick Monday and Reggie Jackson, both 24. Felipe played in left field, and also 70 games in right (mostly when Jackson played center in Monday's absence).

Felipe started the first 2 games of the 1971 season, then at week's end was traded to the Yankees. He played the rest of '71, all of '72, and most of '73 in the Big Apple. He was a regular in 1971, playing RF/CF/1B. For the next 2 seasons he shared the first base job with Ron Blomberg.

In September 1973 Alou hit the road again, this time for Montreal. He played 19 games for the Expos during the season's final month, then was sold to the Brewers in the off-season. After 3 games with Milwaukee, he was released in April 1974.

Alou became a manager after his playing career, with stops in Montreal (1992-2001) and San Francisco (2003-06).

Woody Woodward (#476)

News flash: I found this great site today, documenting baseball events that happened each year (game events, personnel moves, etc): www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology


William “Woody” Woodward was a 2B-SS for the Braves from 1963 to 1968, and a shortstop for the Reds from 1968 to 1971. His greatest playing time came during 1966-67 with Atlanta.

Woodward was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1963. After playing shortstop with their triple-A Denver Bears for most of the season, Woody made his major-league debut that September.

Woodward stuck with the Braves for the entire 1964 season, backing up 2nd baseman Frank Bolling and shortstop Denis Menke.

Woody began the 1965 season with the triple-A Atlanta Crackers, but was called up to the Braves in late-May to fill in at shortstop for Menke, who was out of the lineup for 5 weeks. Even when Menke returned, Woodward remained the primary shortstop, starting 92 of the final 132 games.

1966 found Woodward back as the swing-man between 2nd base and shortstop, but this time he was the primary 2nd baseman, starting 69 games to Bolling’s 57 starts. Woody also started 67 games at shortstop. He collected a career-high 43 RBI this season.

Frank Bolling was jettisoned after the 1966 season, clearing the way at 2nd base for Woodward, but Woody had someone else to worry about now – rookie 2nd baseman Felix Millan. Woodward started 114 games at 2nd base, while Millan started 37, mostly in late-April and the final 19 games of the season. Woody also made 15 starts at SS, all in September, with Menke again out of the lineup after 9/6.

1968 brought a change in the Braves’ keystone combo. With Millan starting first 64 games at 2B and newly-acquired SS Sonny Jackson (coming from the Astros for Menke in the off-season) starting the first 35 games at short, Woodward was the odd man out.

After a few starts at shortstop in May, Woody was traded to the Reds (with pitchers Clay Carroll and Tony Cloninger) for pitchers Milt Pappas and Ted Davidson, and infielder Bob Johnson. Soon after the trade, Woodward started 16 consecutive games at SS filling in for Chico Cardenas, then settled in to a backup role.

The Reds traded Cardenas to the Twins prior to the 1969 season, and after experimenting with Darrel Chaney and Chico Ruiz for 92 games, Woodward took over the starting shortstop job on 7/25, and started the rest of the way.

In 1970 Woodward shared the SS job with rookie Dave Concepcion. (Uh-oh, can anyone guess where Woody’s career goes from here?) He also hit his only career home run in 1970.

1971 was his final season as a player. He started 65 games at shortstop, but that was 20 less than Concepcion. Woody also started 7 games each at 2B and 3B.

After his playing career, Woodward worked as a Reds’ TV commentator for a short time, then was the head baseball coach at Florida State University (where he had played before turning pro) from 1975-78.

Woody then worked in the front office for several teams. He was the Reds’ assistant GM from 1981-84, Yankees’ GM from 1985-87, Phillies’ GM for the first half of 1988, and the Mariners’ VP of Baseball Operations from July 1988 through the 1999 season.

Claude Raymond (#166)

Since October, I’ve been playing catch-up with the teams that haven’t been represented as much as others on my blogs. On the 1968 blog, all teams have at least 4 posts except the Braves…until now.

Claude Raymond had a 12-year career (1959, 1961-71) as a relief pitcher. In 449 games, he only made 7 starts – all in 1965 for the Astros. A French-Canadian from Quebec, he would play his final 2 ½ seasons with the fledgling Montreal Expos, becoming the ultimate hometown favorite.

Raymond was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1955 and played in their farm system from 1955 to 1962. His minor-league stint was briefly interrupted when the White Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft in December 1958. He began the 1959 season on the White Sox roster, but after pitching in 3 games, he was returned to the Braves in May.

Claude split the 1961 and 1962 seasons between Milwaukee and triple-A, then played the entire 1963 season with the Braves. Raymond was drafted by the Houston Colt .45s in October 1963 in a “special draft”. (A few months ago, I read somewhere that the Colt .45s and Mets were allowed to select additional players after their 2nd year, in an attempt to beef up their struggling rosters.)

For 3 ½ seasons, Raymond labored in Houston’s bullpen, along with veterans Jim Owens and Hal Woodeshick. In 1966, Claude advanced to the closer’s spot, leading the team with 16 saves.

In June 1967, he was returned to the Braves in exchange for pitcher Wade Blasingame (not that one). In his only full season with the Braves (1968) he collected 10 saves, 2nd-most on the staff.

Raymond was sold to the expansion Expos in August 1969, and immediately became a fan favorite, due to his French-Canadian heritage. He led the staff with 23 saves in 1970, but in his final season (1971) he took a back seat to Mike Marshall.

Phil Niekro (#257)

Phil Niekro was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1958. Phil played 4 seasons in the minors (1959-62), as a reliever, then missed the 1963 season while in military service. He made the Braves’ team to begin the 1964 season, but after 10 relief appearances, he was sent down to triple-A Denver in mid-May for the remainder of the season. During that time, he became primarily a starting pitcher.

Niekro returned to the Braves for all of 1965, although he was back in the bullpen for all but 1 of his 41 games. In 1966, Phil appeared in 28 games (all in relief), but spent all of June and July in the minors.

"Knucksie" started the 1967 season in the bullpen, but joined the starting rotation on June 13th, where he would remain for the next 16 seasons. Niekro led the NL with a 1.87 ERA in 1967, and would win in double figures for the next 20 seasons (except the strike-shortened 1981 season). He led the NL in strikeouts in 1977 (262), and wins in 1974 (20) and 1979 (21). He also won 23 games in 1969.

After compiling a record of 11-10 in 201 innings in 1983, the Braves released Niekro. He was quickly signed by the Yankees, winning 16 games in each of his 2 seasons with New York. Phil was released by the Yankees during spring training in 1986, but played for the Indians for the next year and a half. Niekro was traded to the Blue Jays in August 1987, then was released at month’s end. He re-signed with the Braves for the final week of the season, then retired.

Phil pitched in 864 games during his 24-year career. His 318 career wins are the most by a knuckleball pitcher. (As kids, he and his brother Joe learned to throw a knuckleball pitch from their father.)

Niekro was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1997. His #35 (which he wore for his entire career) was retired by the Braves in 1984, 3 seasons before his retirement.

Among his other post-retirement activities, he coached a women’s professional baseball team.

Final Card: Sandy Valdespino

Sandy Valdespino (#304) appeared on Topps cards in 1965 and 1966, but since he spent most of 1966 in the minors, he didn't have a card in 1967. Now he's back for one last card.

Sandy was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1957. He spent 8 seasons in Senators'/Twins' minor-league system (including the last 5 in triple-A) before making his major-league debut with the Twins on April 12, 1965.

In his rookie season, Valdespino was 10th in at-bats among Twins players, which was tops among non-starters. (For all practical purposes, the Twins had 9 "starters" that season, because of the triangle of Don Mincher at 1B, Rich Rollins at 3B, and Harmon Killebrew at 1B-3B.) Valdespino was used primarily as a pinch-hitter and backup left fielder.

In 1966, Sandy's value to the team plummeted, as rookies Ted Uhlaender, Cesar Tovar, and Andy Kosco all found more playing time than Valdespino. In fact, he played more games at triple-A Denver (72) than he did with the Twins (52).



Sandy spent the entire 1967 season with the Twins, but was relegated to the bench. Although he played in 99 games, only 9 of them were outfield starts. The rest were pinch-hitting appearances or backup duty in left field. After the season, the Braves selected him in the rule 5 draft.

1968 was his only season with the Braves, but he played 2/3 of his games that season with triple-A Richmond. After the season, Atlanta traded him to the Astros for pitcher Paul Doyle, a 10-year minor-league veteran with no major-league experience.

After splitting the season between Houston and triple-A Oklahoma City, Sandy was traded to the Seattle Pilots on August 30, 1969 (with Danny Walton) for Tommy Davis. Valdespino played 20 games with the Pilots at the end of 1969, and although he played 8 games with the relocated Milwaukee Brewers in 1970, he spent most of that season in the minors, first in Portland Oregon, then in Omaha (after being sold to the Royals in July).

Sandy saw some brief action with the Royals in 1971, but spent most of that season and all of 1972 with the Royals' triple-A team in Omaha.

His final major-league games was on September 28, 1971, but he never appeared on a baseball card after 1968.

Tommie Aaron - Why does he have a card?

Tommie Aaron (#394) didn't have a baseball card in 1967 - and with good reason. He had no appearances with the Braves in 1966. Likewise, he appeared in a total of zero major-league games in 1967, yet here he is with a 1968 card. Where's the logic?



However, Tommie does hold the distinction of being one half of the greatest brother home-run tandem in history, with 768 homeruns (Hank - 755, Tommie - 13)!

Notice Topps' new airbrushing style of completely obliterating the front of the cap with black, a technique used with reckless abandon on the Athletics and "Houston" (Astros) cards in 1968.


Why does he have a card?