Wilbur Wood (#585)

Wilbur Wood pitched for 17 seasons (1961-1978), mostly with the White Sox. I learned today that he originally played for the Red Sox in the early 1960s.

Wood was signed by Boston in 1960, and played in their farm system from 1961-63. He also played a few games with the Sox in ’61 and ’62.

Wilbur began the 1963 season with the Sox’ AAA team in Seattle, but was recalled in early June and pitched in 25 games over the final 2/3 of the season.

Wood opened the ’64 season in Boston, but was sent back to Seattle in mid-May, where he remained until the Pirates purchased his contract in September. He made a few appearances with the Bucs in the season’s final weeks.

1965 was his last season with Pittsburgh. He pitched in 35 games (all but 1 in relief) but only compiled a 1-1 record. After little success in 1965, Wood spent the entire ’66 season with the Pirates’ AAA team, compiling a 14-8 record in 31 games as a starter. For his efforts, he was traded to the White Sox after the season for pitcher Juan Pizarro.

Upon joining the Chisox, their resident knuckleball guru Hoyt Wilhelm convinced Wilbur to throw only the knuckleball, and Wood’s career took off. He was a reliever during his first 4 seasons with Chicago (leading the league in games in ’68, ’69, and ’70, and notching double-digit saves in those 3 years.

Beginning in 1971 he joined the starting rotation. Wood won 20 or more games for 4 straight seasons, and led the AL with 24 wins in both ’72 and ’73. He also pitched more than 300 innings in each of those 4 seasons, topping out at 376 innings in 1972. Wilbur made the All-Star team in 3 of those 4 seasons, and finished in the top 3 in Cy Young voting in ’71 and ’72.

Wood was still a workhorse in 1975 (pitching 291 innings), but slipped to a 16-20 record. He missed much of the 1976 season after a line drive broke one of his knees. Wilbur returned for 2 more seasons, but without his earlier effectiveness. His final game was in August 1978.

Wood was granted free agency after the 1978 season, but had no takers.

Tommy John (#72)

At long last, Tommy John gets his day on this blog. This is my first-ever Tommy John card, from the coarse-burlap-grained 1st series, bought around April 1968.

John’s 1967 card is one of the 4 cards from that set that I still don’t have. It’s from the high-numbered (7th) series, and in fact is the final card in the set (#609). Popular lore says that the first and last cards in a set are the hardest to find in good condition, because kids put a rubber band around their cards and it dug into the edges of the first and last cards. To that I say bah! There’s no rubber band large enough for a 609-card stack of cards. But I digress… 


Tommy John had a 26-year career as a starting pitcher from 1963 to 1989, for six teams, most notably the White Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees. He missed the 1975 season (while out with “Tommy John” surgery – go figure!). Over his career, he started 700 of his 760 games, and compiled a 288-231 record with 2245 strikeouts. He also made 4 all-star games and appeared in 14 post-season games between 1977 and 1982.

John was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1961, and played in the minors for 3 seasons before making his debut with 6 games in September 1963. Tommy began the 1964 season in the minors, but also pitched 25 games for the Indians from early-May to mid-July, then again in late-September.

Before the 1965 season, John was sent to the White Sox in an 8-player, 3-team deal. He immediately landed in the Sox’ starting rotation along with Joel Horlen, John Buzhardt, and Gary Peters. At age 22, Tommy compiled a 14-7 record in his first season on the South Side.

In 1966 he led the team in wins (14), starts (33) and innings pitched (223), and had a 2.62 ERA. Although Tommy remained one of the White Sox’ top 3 starters for the next several seasons, he slumped to 10 wins in ’67 and again in ’68, then 9 wins in ’69. His 1967 ERA of 2.48 was 4th-best in the league. If he could have shaved it down below 2.38, the White Sox would have had the top 3 ERA leaders that season.

He bounced back somewhat in 1970 with 12 wins, and was the team’s top starter that season. (Horlen had a huge off-year at 6-16, and Peters had been traded away to Boston after 1969.) John maintained a similar record in 1971, although Wilbur Wood and his 22 wins led the staff that season.

After the 1971 season, Tommy was traded to the Dodgers for first baseman Dick Allen. John had 3 solid seasons in LA before missing the entire 1975 season following surgery that would eventually bear his name.

He bounced back and had 3 more good years with the Dodgers, including a 20-win season in 1977, followed by 17 wins in ’78. He was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1976, and appeared in the NLCS and World Series in both ’77 and ’78.

John was granted free agency after the 1978 season, and signed with the Yankees. His first 2 seasons in New York were superb, compiling 21-9 and 22-9 records. After an off-year in ’81, John was traded to the Angels in August 1982. He remained with the Angels until they released him in June 1985.

Tommy was picked up by the Athletics a month later, and finished out the season with Oakland. Granted free agency after the season, the Yankees signed him in May 1986, and he manned their starting rotation for the next 3-plus seasons, until his final release on May 30, 1989.

As mentioned earlier, John had a 26-year career, 11 ½ prior to his surgery, and 13 ½ afterwards.

Final Card: Fred Klages

Here is the final card for White Sox' pitcher Fred Klages (#229). He also appeared on a White Sox Rookie Stars card in the 1967 set.

Klages is from the sports hotbed of southwestern Pennsylvania, specifically Ambridge in Beaver County*, which is also the hometown of 1960s Detroit Lions middle linebacker Mike Lucci.

Fred was signed by the White Sox in 1962, and was a starting pitcher in their minor-league system for 8 seasons (1962-69), the last four in triple-A.

His brief major-league career started in September 1966, when he made 3 starts. In 1967, he made one start on June 14th, then another 10 appearances (mostly starts) from July 31st to the end of the season. His last major-league game came on September 11th - the one-year anniversary of his debut.

After 2 more seasons with the Sox' triple-A team, he played part of the 1969 season in the Mexican League.


* After clicking on the "Ambridge" link above, you can navigate to other sports stars from Beaver County, PA, including Joe Namath, Babe Parilli, Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Po James, Tito and Terry Francona, Doc Medich, Hal Woodeshick, Joe Verbanic, Pete Maravich, and Norm Van Lier.

Final Card: Eddie Stanky

This is Eddie Stanky's last card (#564). 1968 would be the last year in a 3-year gig as the Sox' manager.

Stanky was born in Philadelphia in 1915 (and became known as "The Brat from Kensington", later shortened to "The Brat"). Eddie played minor-league baseball from 1935-1942, and made his big-league debut in 1943 as the Cubs' regular 2nd baseman. He split the 1944 season between the Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers, then held down the starting 2nd base job for the Dodgers (1945-47), Boston Braves (1948-49), and New York Giants (1950-51).  In 1945 he led the National League in runs and walks.

After the '51 season, he was traded to the Cardinals, spending 2 seasons there as a player-manager before becoming the full-time manager in 1954 and 1955.

After leaving the Cards' manager post in 1955, he spent one season managing the Giants' AAA team in Minneapolis in 1956, then spent several years in a player-development role for the Cardinals. He resurfaced in 1965 as a minor-league manager for the Mets.

Stanky was hired by the White Sox before the 1966 season, and remained there until his firing after 79 games in 1968. The team finished in 4th place in his first 2 seasons, and were in 8th place (18 1/2 games back) at the time of his firing.  They should have kept him, as the team finished the season 36 games behind the Tigers.

After his firing, he coached college baseball in Alabama, then made a 1-game interim manager appearance for the Texas Rangers in 1977.

Final Card: Dick Kenworthy

This is the only Topps card for Dick Kenworthy. The back says that he was sent to the Mets in the off-season as the player to be named later in the Ken Boyer trade. Interesting. Baseball-Reference.com makes no mention of Kenworthy ever being sent to the Mets. In fact, it says the White Sox sent J. C. Martin to the Mets on 11/27/67 to complete the trade. Since this is card #63, it must have been printed sometime in late 1967, so maybe Topps was acting on some preliminary scuttlebutt regarding Kenworthy.



Kenworthy was signed by the White Sox in 1961, and played in their minor-league system for 10 seasons, before moving over to the Reds' farm system for 1971 and 1972. He was a 2nd baseman for his first two seasons before switching to 3rd base for the balance of his career.

Dick's major-league experience consisted of a few cups of coffee from 1962 to 1966. Then in 1967 and 1968, he played over 50 games each season with the White Sox, about half of them as the starting 3rd baseman.

Since he played for the White Sox in both '67 and '68, it looks like Baseball-Reference.com is right and Topps was wrong. Maybe a White Sox fan can clarify this.

Walt Williams (#172)

From the previous post, we move across Chicago to the White Sox and Walt "No Neck" Williams. This is the 2nd year in a row that a White Sox' outfielder was named to the Topps All-Rookie team. (Tommie Agee was named the previous year. I wonder if it was Williams' fine play that enabled the Sox to move Agee to the Mets after the 1967 season?)

In 1966, 1968, and 1969, Topps used the same color-coding for each team's cards. Each color was used for one AL and one NL team. Coincidently, both the White Sox and Cubs were orange.


Williams was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1963. After one season in their farm system, he was picked up by the Cardinals and played 3 seasons with their minor-league teams, until he was traded to the White Sox in December 1966 (along with pitcher Don Dennis) for catcher Johnny Romano.



Walt spent the next 6 years in the White Sox' outfield (although he was in the minors for a good part of the 1968 season). He was a backup in the corner outfield spots as a rookie, but after returning to full-time status in 1969, he became the regular right fielder.

In 1970, Walt shared the right field job with Bill Melton. (Melton had been the regular 3rd baseman before and after 1970, but divided his time between 3rd and left in 1970.)

The following year, it was Pat Kelly who kept Williams from playing full-time in right field, as they shared the position evenly. In 1972, Kelly's playing time in right field increased to about two-thirds, while Walt's decreased further.

After one season as the Indians' backup left fielder, Walt was traded to the Yankees prior to the 1974 season. Williams spent his final 2 seasons with the Yankees, but rarely played the outfield.

Jack Fisher (#444)

Jack was a starting pitcher for 4 different teams between 1959 and 1969.

He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1957, and played 2 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut with the Orioles in April 1959. For most of the season he was with the Orioles, but spent some time in the minors.

Fisher latched on to one of the starter jobs during the 1960-62 seasons. This was prior to the McNally/Bunker era, when Fisher's partners in crime included Milt Pappas, Chuck Estrada, and Steve Barber.



After the 1962 season, Jack was traded (along with pitcher Billy Hoeft and catcher Jimmie Coker) to the Giants for pitchers Mike McCormick and Stu Miller, and catcher John Orsino.

After only 1 season in San Francisco, Fisher was acquired by the Mets. Jack played for the Mets for 4 seasons, and was the one constant in the starting rotation during those seasons. He got them into the "Tom Seaver era" (1967). He was the Mets' #1 starter for his first 3 seasons, before moving down to #2 in 1967, behind Seaver.

After the season, he and Tommy Davis were traded to the White Sox for outfielder Tommie Agee and second baseman Al Weis, 2 players who would have major roles for the Mets in the 1969 World Series.

Jack played only one season with the White Sox, and would move to the Reds in exchange for catcher Don Pavletich. After the 1969 season, the Reds traded him to the Angels, but he was released prior to the 1970 season.

His final card was in the 1970 set.

Ken Boyer (#259)

Ken Boyer was the long-time star third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals.

He began his minor-league career in 1949 with the Cardinals' organization. After 3 seasons in the minors, he missed the 1952-53 seasons while in military service, but returned to the minors in 1954.

His major-league debut came in April 1955, and he spent the next 11 seasons as the Cardinals' everyday third baseman, never playing less than 142 games in a season. (The exception would be in 1957, when oddly enough, Boyer was the team's regular centerfielder.) Along the way, he made 7 all-star teams, won 5 gold glove awards, and was the National League MVP in 1964. The Cardinals won the 1964 World Series, defeating the Yankees, who employed Ken's brother Clete as their third baseman.



After the 1965 season, Boyer was traded to the Mets for pitcher Al Jackson and third baseman Charlie Smith. He continued as the Mets' regular third baseman in 1966.

In July 1967, Ken was traded to the White Sox (along with Sandy Alomar) for backup catcher J. C. Martin. [This trade seems like an insult to Boyer.]

The following May, he was released by the White Sox, but signed with the Dodgers a few days later. Boyer would continue with the Dodgers until the end of the 1969 season.

After his playing career Boyer stayed in the game as a manager. After managing in the minors from 1970-1978, he was the Cardinals' manager from 1978 to 1980.

Wayne Causey (#522)

Wayne Causey was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as a bonus baby in June 1955. As such, he would remain on the Orioles roster for 2 years before spending any time in the minor leagues.

He started 56 games at third base for the Orioles, more than any of the other 5 players the Orioles used there. In 1956, he lost the starting 3B job to George Kell, who was acquired from Detroit during the season. (Kell would be replaced in 1958 by Brooks Robinson.)

After spending most of 1957 and all of 1958-60 in the minors, Causey was traded to the Athletics prior to the 1961 season, along with 4 other players for outfielders Whitey Herzog and Russ Snyder.



Wayne was the Athletics' starting third baseman in 1961, and the backup SS-3B in 1962. His best seasons in Kansas City were from 1963 to 1965, as he started more than 125 games at shortstop in each of '63 and '64, and made 40, 59, and 33 starts at 2B, SS, and 3B in 1965.

I wonder if this versatility was his ticket out of Kansas City, because in May 1966, he was traded to the White Sox for Danny Cater, who had been Chicago's regular left fielder for the previous season.

With the White Sox, Causey's playing time was diminished since Chicago's roster was already filled with non-first-base infielders (Al Weis, Don Buford, Jerry Adair, Pete Ward, Ron Hansen, Lee Elia, Gene Freese) all looking for (and getting) playing time. Wayne managed to start 40 games at 2B in 1966, and 75 games at 2B in 1967.

In mid-July 1968, Causey was traded to the Angels for infielder-outfielder Woodie Held, and 1 week later was sold to the Atlanta Braves. For all 3 teams in 1968, he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter.

Although Causey's last game was on September 20, 1968, he did have one more Topps card in 1969.

Back on Topps' radar: Jerry McNertney

Here's one for WhiteSoxCards:

Jerry McNertney (#14) started his career in 1958 with the White Sox organization as a first baseman and outfielder. It wasn't until 1961 that he began catching.

"Nert" made the big club in 1964 as the 3rd string catcher. In July, catcher Cam Carreon was injured and missed 2 months of the season, giving more playing time to McNertney, as the backup to veteran
J. C. Martin.

(Jerry appeared on an "American League Rookies" card in 1964, but I guess his 186 at-bats that season weren't enough to convince Topps to keep him around, as his next card wasn't until 1968.)

It was back to the minors in 1965, as Johnny Romano was acquired from the Indians and caught about 2/3 of the games, and newly-acquired Jimmie Schaffer filled the #3 spot. In 1966, Schaffer was out and McNertney was back, but still as the 3rd-string receiver.

His status remain unchanged in 1967, though rookie Duane Josephson had replaced the aging Johnny Romano. In 1968, Jerry worked his way up to 2nd-string catcher!

Jerry's big break came following the 1968 season, as he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots (To most players and fans, that hardly seems like good news!) Nert became the undisputed starting catcher for this collection of castoffs that was documented in great detail by Pilots' pitcher Jim Bouton in his book Ball Four.

The following season, the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers, and McNertney became the 2nd-string catcher, this time behind Phil Roof. After the season, he was traded to the Cardinals. Jerry bounced around to the Athletics and Pirates, until getting his release from the Pirates in mid-1973.

Here's a road map to the White Sox' catching department back in the day:

Final Card: Rocky Colavito

Here is the last card for Rocky Colavito (#99), one of the great American League sluggers of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Colavito started his minor-league career in the Indians' organization back in 1951, and played in such locations as Spartanburg SC, Reading PA, and San Diego (which were all Phillies' minor-league teams by the mid-1960s). He made his major-league debut in September 1955.

He was the Indians' regular rightfielder from 1956 to 1959. (For the first 3 years, Roger Maris was his backup!) In '56 and '57, he was 2nd on the team in home runs (after 1B Vic Wertz). In '58 and '59, he crashed more than 40 homers each year, leading the team.



In April 1960, Colavito was dealt to the Tigers for outfielder Harvey Kuenn. He played 4 years in Detroit, followed by 1 season with the Athletics, before returning to Cleveland in February 1965 in a complicated 3-team deal that went this way:

Rocky Colavito - Athletics to Indians
Cam Carreon - White Sox to Indians

Tommie Agee - Indians to White Sox
Tommy John - Indians to White Sox
Johnny Romano - Indians to White Sox

Mike Hershberger - White Sox to Athletics
Jim Landis - White Sox to Athletics
Fred Talbot - White Sox to Athletics

He continued slugging homers in his 1st 2 seasons back with the Indians. In 1967, his production dropped off greatly, and he was traded to the White Sox at the end of July for outfielder Jim King. (This was King's 2nd trade of the season.)

Colavito did not play for the White Sox in 1968, having been sold to the Dodgers in spring training. (This 1st-series card was already printed and in stores by then.) After playing in 40 games, the Dodgers released him in mid-July. The Yankees picked him up a few days later, and he appeared in 39 games before being released at the end of the season, bringing his 14-year career to a close.

Rocky also pitched 3 innings in 1958 and 2 innings in 1968!