September 30, 2013 Al Monchak

Al Monchak
is one of the oldest living major leaguers as he was born in 1917. He played with the Phillies in 1940 and then was a manager and coach in the minor leagues. In 1971 he was a coach under Chuck Tanner with the White Sox and then followed Tanner as a coach to the Oakland A's (1976) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1977–1984).

September 25, 2013 Gino Cappelletti and Gil Santos

Gino Cappelletti and Gil Santos
appeared at Doug Keating's Cardboard Promotions show last weekend in Massachusetts and I made some customs for Doug to use. Gino Cappelletti has been with the Patriots since the beginning as a player and announcer and Gil Santos was a broadcaster for 36 years calling Patriots games.

September 21, 2013 Keith Olbermann Used My Custom Card On His Show Last Night

Keith Olbermann used a custom 1975 Topps Rookie Pitchers baseball card I made for him on his ESPN show last night and surprised Rick Sutcliffe.......

September 20, 2013 Joe Cunningham

Joe Cunningham
played first base for the St Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators from 1954 -1966.
He had his best year hotting when he hit .345 to finish second in the National League in hitting behind Hank Aaron.

September 18, 2013 Jack Dittmer

Jack Dittmer
played second base for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves from 1952-1956 and finished with the Tigers in 1957. He is also in the University of Iowa Hall of Fame for playing baseball, football and basketball.

September 16, 2013 Lloyd Merritt

One return today....

Lloyd Merritt
pitched in 44 games for the St Louis Cardinals in 1957 with a record of 1-2. He started in the Yankees organization and in 1953 won 20 games, with 5 losses, in the minor leagues with the Norfolk Tars. Both photos I used were black and white and colored using Photoshop.

September 14, 2013 Dennis Saunders

Dennis Saunders
pitched in 8 games for the 1970 Detroit Tigers, all in relief, with a 1-1 record.He went to the NY Mets organization and finished his career in the Chicago Cubs organization in 1972.

September 13, 2013 Four Returns Today

Frank Baumann
pitched with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs from 1955 to 1965. His best season was in 1960 when he went 13-6 and led the American League in ERA.

Gary Nolan
pitched with the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1977. I remember him as a really good pitcher who had a lot of injuries.He had a pretty good record of 110-67 as a Red.

Ron Theobald
was originally signed as a free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 1964 and was then drafted by the Twins. He never played for the Twins but finally made the major leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers. He played most of the games at second base in 1971 and 1972 for the Brewers.

Eddie Bressoud
played with the NY/SF Giants, Boston Red Sox, NY Mets and St Louis Cardinals from 1956 to1967. He got into 2 games in the 1967 World Series.

September 12, 2013 Dick Smith and Tippy Martinez

Dick Smith
is one of three Dick Smiths to play in the majors. This Dick Smith played with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1950s and the other two played in the 1960s, one with the 1969 Senators and the other with the Mets and Dodgers. After his last year with the Pirates in 1955 he played several more years in the PCL.

Tippy Martinez
came up to the Major Leagues with the NY Yankees in 1974 and in 1976 was traded to the Orioles with Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor. He pitched in 546 games from 1974-1988

In 1983, Tippy Martinez picked off three Blue Jays in one inning:

According to WIKI:
       Martinez may be best known for picking off three Toronto Blue Jays at first base in one inning during an August 24, 1983 game at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The Orioles, having replaced both their starting catcher and his backup while rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning, entered the tenth with reserve infielder Lenn Sakata in the game at catcher. Three consecutive Blue Jays hitters reached first base and each one, thinking it would be easy to steal a base on Sakata, took a big lead. Martinez picked off all three base runners, then became the winning pitcher when the Orioles won the game on Sakata's home run in the bottom of the tenth.

I think I remember seeing that on This Week in Baseball.

 

 

September 9, 2013 Virgil Jester and Jim Lyttle

Got two returns today......

Virgil Jester
played with the Boston Braves in 1952 and in 1953 when the Braves moved to Milwaukee. He had a 3-5 record in 1952.

Jim Lyttle
came up to the major leagues with the Yankees in 1969. He later played with the White Sox, Expos and Dodgers and played several years in Japan.

September 7, 2013 Mejias, Coluccio and McMullen

Sounds like a law firm....

Roman Mejias
was born in Cuba and signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1953. He played with them from 1955 to 1961. He was taken by the Houston Colt 45s in the Expansion Draft and led them with 24 home runs in 1962. He was then traded to the Red Sox for Pete Runnels and played in Boston in 1963 and 64.

Bob Coluccio
was originally drafted by the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and was the the starting outfielder for the 1973 and 1974 Milwaukee Brewers, hitting 15 homers in 1973. He was then traded to the White Sox in 1975.

Ken McMullen
played in the 1960s and 70s with the Dodgers, Senators, Angels, A's and Brewers. I remember him as a pretty good fielder.

September 6, 2013 Four Returns Today

Nothing better than come home from work and finding 4 returns waiting to be opened......

Tom Patton
played in exactly one game for the 1957 Baltimore Orioles. In a game against the White Sox, he came in to replace Joe Ginsburg and batted twice with no hits. Mr Patton sent me a nice email and letter requesting copies as he has never seen a color photo of him in uniform.

Jack Damaska
played in 5 games for the 1963 St Louis Cardinals with a hit in 5 at bats. He had a long career in the minor leagues playing 17 years. Mr Damaska also wrote saying he was the player to get the last hit off Satchel Paige which is pretty cool.

Wes Stock
pitched with the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Athletics from 1959 to 1967. After playing he became a coach withe A's, Brewers and Mariners. He was the pitching coach on the great 1970s Oakland A's teams.

Hal Hudson
pitched for the St Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox in 1952 and 1953 with a 0-0 record.

September 5, 2013 Pete Koegel and Gary Sutherland

Got back two responses today........

Pete Koegel
played in the majors with the Brewers and Phillies from 1970-1972 but was originally drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in 1965.

Former Brewers pitcher Ray Peters, who has been getting in touch with former teammates and opponents got in touch with his former catcher, Mr Koegel, and we made up some cards with the help of Keith from NYC. These are the ones I made up. A few sets for Mr Koegel and a set each for Keith and I.

Gary Sutherland
played infield for the Phillies , Expos, Astros, Tigers, Brewers, Padres and Cardinals from 1966 - 1978

September 3, 2013 Twelve Back Today

Hector Torres
It was a big surprise when I opened the envelope today and saw this return as I mailed it out in August of 2012 and it came back a year later. Hector Torres was a shortstop who played for the Astros, Cubs, Expos, Padres and Blue Jays. He was also a Little League World Series hero for Mexico, winning the title in 1958

Joe Landrum
pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and 1952 with a combined 13 record. He is also thr father of former Major League pitcher, Bill Landrum.

George Lerchen
was an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers in 1952 and Cincinnati Reds in 1953

Rocky Krsnich
was a third baseman for the Chicago White Sox in 1949, 1952-53.

Bill Koski
pitched in 13 games for the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates with a 0-1 record.

Len Matarazzo
pitched in exactly one game in his major league for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1952. In addition to the signed cards , he included an authentic 1950s Philadelphia Athletics decal. Cool !!

Darcy Fast
pitched in 8 gamed for the Chicago Cubs in 1968 with an 0-1 record.

Ted Kazanski
was an infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1953-1958

Bob Kuzava
pitched for many teams in his career but is best known for getting the saves in the final games of the 1951 and 1952 World Series.

Rick Renick
was a back up infielder for the Twins from 1968 to 1972.

John Rutherford 
pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952 going 7-7 in 22 games. He also included a 1953 Archives card.

Mike Sadek 
was the back up catcher for the San Francisco Giants from 1973 -1981