Lowell Palmer (#252)

Here is the rookie card for "Mr. Cool", Lowell Palmer. I have 3 Palmer cards ('70, '71, '72) and he's wearing shades on all 3 cards. Lest you think he was only photographed in dark glasses, see here.

Palmer was the Phillies' #1 draft pick in 1966, and made his major-league debut in June 1969. He started 9 of 26 games during his rookie season. Lowell spent the entire 1970 season with the Phillies, pitching mostly in relief (along with 5 starts). His 102 innings pitched was 8th among the staff.

In 1971, Palmer was back in triple-A for most of the season, only pitching 3 games for the Phillies, all in late-June.

After the '71 season, he was sold to the White Sox, who kept him long enough for him to get a card in the '72 set. Palmer was released on May 16th, then picked up the same day by the Cardinals. He was up and down with St. Louis for a few months, then claimed by the Indians in mid-September.

Palmer spent the 1973 season in the minors, first with Cleveland then the Yankees. In May 1974, the Yankees sold him to the Padres, where he resurfaced in the majors for 22 games.

Lowell pitched all of 1975 and 1977 in the minors (missing the '76 season) before retiring.


This is the final post in my cross-blog series of the 70 players (with cards) appearing for the Phillies from 1966 to 1969.

Al Raffo

Here is the only known card for Phillies' relief pitcher Al Raffo. Although it appears to be a 1970 Topps card, it is actually a creation of John Hogan from the Cards That Never Were blog.

Raffo was signed by the Phillies in 1962, and toiled in their minor-league system for 7 seasons (mostly as a starter) before making his major-league debut in late-April 1969.

Why it took so long to promote him to the Phillies' suspect bullpen of the mid-to-late 1960s is a mystery to me, given his 12-6 and 11-7 records in '67 and '68. The non-Dick Farrell/Dick Hall portion of the Philles' bullpen was generally a shambles, and it looks like Raffo could have contributed a year or 2 earlier.

Al was called up in late April 1969 and made 45 appearances out of the bullpen. His final line was 1-3, 4.11 ERA, 38 K, 25 BB in 72 innings.

His final major-league appearance was on September 26, 1969, as he found himself back in the minors for 2 more seasons before retiring.

1969 Post-Season Cards

1969 was the first season of divisional play, and Topps expanded their subset accordingly. Both '69 divisional series were 3-game sweeps, as the Orioles' and Mets' pitching easily overmatched their opponents.

The Mets went from last place to World Champions, winning the series with great pitching, timely hitting, and unbelievable outfield defense. They won it all in their 8th year of existence. Hey Pirates, who says rebuilding has to last forever?

The summary stats on the last card are so small as to be unreadable (even holding the card in your hand) so posting it sideways makes no difference.

Phillies Rookies: Joe Lis / Scott Reid

Here is the first of 2 Phillies Rookies cards in the 1970 set (#56). Larry Bowa and Denny Doyle were on the other card, and had significantly longer Phillies' careers than these two.

Joe Lis was signed by the Phillies in 1964, and played in their minor league system from 1964-70, and part of 1972. Except for 1969 and 1970, Lis rarely played the outfield in the minors, and was primarily a 3rd and 1st baseman. I suppose he was converted because the Phillies had many infield prospects (Bowa, Doyle, Don Money, John Vukovich, Greg Luzinski), but not many for the outfield.

Joe made his major-league debut during a September 1970 call-up, then was with the team for all of 1971, and the second half of 1972 as a spare outfielder. After the '72 season, he was traded to the Twins for Cesar Tovar. After 1 1/2 seasons with Minnesota, he was traded to the Indians, but spent most of 1975-79 in the minors.

Scott Reid was drafted by 4 teams between 1965 and 1967, but did not sign with the first 3; finally signing with the Phillies in June 1967.

He played with Phillies' minor-league teams from 1967 to 1973, while also seeing action with the Phillies in 1969 (13 games) and 1970 (25 games). The zenith of his career was the week of 5/28 - 6/3/1970, when he started 5 of 6 games in center field.

Ron Stone (#218)

Ron Stone was, at best, a 5th outfielder, but this being the 1970 Phillies, he was one of the team's regular outfielders. He finished the 1970 season with the 3rd-most playing time in the outfield, as he shuffled between the corner spots, sharing left with John Briggs and right with Byron Browne.

Stone was signed by the Orioles in 1963, and played 2 seasons ('63, '65) in their farm system (missing the 1964 season). In November 1965, he was selected by the Kansas City Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. After 26 games with the A's in 1966 (almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner), he was returned to the Orioles on July 1st, and promptly resumed his minor-league career.

After several more seasons on the farm, Stone was traded to the Phillies in January 1969 for veteran catcher Clay Dalrymple. Ron reported to the Phillies' camp that spring and tore the cover off the ball, earning both the "phenom" tag, and the starting left field job. After 4 games, that experiment was over, and Stone was relegated to bench duty for the rest of the season, although he did start 2 dozen games in left and in right field, and another 5 games at 1st base.

His playing time increased in 1970, as Johnny Callison was gone, Richie Allen was gone (meaning an end to Deron Johnson's days as an outfielder), and Ron blended into the mix of average outfielders including John Briggs, Byron Browne, and rookie Oscar Gamble.

Just the opposite occurred in 1971. With Willie Montanez joining the team as the everyday center fielder, and newly-acquired Roger Freed becoming the almost-everyday right fielder, Stone, Gamble, Browne, and others were all vying for time in left field. (Rookie Greg Luzinski was called up on September 1st, and although he started the last 27 games at 1st base, Greg would move out to left field at the start of the 1972 season, putting an end to the pretenders that had played there from 1969-71.)

Stone began the 1972 season in Philly, but spent all of July and August in the minors. His September call-up would be his last time in the majors. He spent all of 1973 with the Phillies' and Royals' AAA teams, before retiring.

(The Phillies did additional outfleld housecleaning after the 1972 season, sending suspects Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed to the Indians for starting center fielder Del Unser.)

Billy Wilson (#28)

Billy Wilson was one of several so-so pitchers promoted by the Phillies from their farm system in the 1969-71 time period. This is Wilson's first solo card, but he appeared on Phillies Rookie Stars cards in the 1967 and 1969 set.

Wilson was signed by Philadelphia in 1961 (wow, I didn't realize he went that far back!) and played minor-league ball for EIGHT seasons before making his major-league debut in April 1969. Billy was a starting pitcher from 1961-63, but was converted to a reliever in 1964. He didn't reach the triple-A level until 1966, then regressed to AA in '67 before spending the entire 1968 season back in triple-A.

Wilson played his entire major-league career (1969-73) with the Phillies, pitching in 179 games (all in relief) and compiling a 9-15 career record. Along the way, he spent about a dozen games back in the minors in 1970 and in 1971.

In 1971, he played 1/3 of an inning at 3rd base, as manager Frank Lucchesi brought in another pitcher to face 1 batter before returning Wilson to the mound. (The Phillies made a similar move in 2011 with Cliff Lee.)

Following the 1973 season, Wilson was traded to the Brewers for veteran reliever Frank Linzy, but  was released by Milwaukee in spring training. He caught on with the Phillies' AA team in Reading, PA for his last pro season in 1974.

Wilson passed away on 8/11/1993 at age 50.

Terry Harmon (#486)

Terry Harmon was the Phillies' good-field/no-hit backup infielder from 1969-1977. (He also made a few pinch-running appearances in 1967.) This is Harmon's first solo card. In the 1969 set, he appeared on one of the last-series "National League Rookies cards.

As far as I know, Harmon is one of only 3 players to have played their entire career (of at least 10 seasons) with the Phillies (along with Mike Schmidt and Larry Christenson). Jimmy Rollins will join that group, unless he gets off-loaded to another team in the next few years.

Harmon was signed by he Phillies in 1965, and played in the minors during the 1966-68 seasons. Terry was called up to the Phillies for a few games in mid-1967 while Johnny Briggs was on the DL, and appeared only as a pinch-runner. It appears he was "loaned out" to the Buffalo Bisons in the Washington Senators' organization for the 1968 season.

During his rookie season in 1969, Harmon started 36 games at shortstop for the Phillies, including all 24 games between June 13th and July 4th, in place of regular SS Don Money. Terry also started 12 games at 2nd base and saw action in another few dozen games.

In 1970, hotshot rookies Larry Bowa (SS) and Denny Doyle (2B) joined the team, further cementing Harmon's status as a backup. Still, he started 18 games at short and 10 at 2nd base.

Terry caught a break in 1971, as Doyle only played in 95 games, enabling Harnon to start 49 games in his place. 1972 was more of the same, with Terry starting 41 games at 2B along with 5 at shortstop.

With Cesar Tovar (and Billy Grabarkiewitz in mid-season) joining the Phils in 1973, both Harmon and Doyle had their playing time cut back at 2nd base, although Harmon was still the #2 man behind Doyle. Over at shortstop, rookie Craig Robinson took most of the starts that Bowa didn't make.

Terry played four more seasons with the Phillies, but with his starts cut way back. Dave Cash was the team's regular 2nd baseman from 1974-76, making a backup all but unnecessary. Harmon retired after the 1977 season.

Billy Champion (#149)

Yes, this now seems like an all-Phillies blog, and will be for just the next 8 posts, as I complete my multi-blog  "Phillies players from 1966 to 1969" series...

Billy Champion was one of the many pitchers not named Steve Carlton who haunted the Phillies' pitching staff in the early 1970s.

Champion was signed by the Phillies in 1965, and was a starting pitcher for their class-A teams for 4 seasons, followed by a half-season in triple-A before making his major-league debut in June 1969. Champion's minor-league seasons were so-so, except for 1968 (15-5, 2.03 ERA) and 1969 (7-1, 1.66 ERA).

In 1969, long-time veteran Chris Short was the opening day starter, but after 2 starts he was lost for the season. The team carried on with 4 starters until Champion was recalled in early June, becoming the 5th starter. Billy responded with a 5-10 record and a 5.01 ERA in 23 starts.

He found himself back in the minors for most of 1970, while also pitching 7 games for the Phillies (14 innings and an ERA over 9.00) in August and September. Somehow, that won him a fulltime job with the team for 1971, when he was used mostly as a reliever.

The 1972 season opened with Steve Carlton as the new man on the staff, and I must have gotten swept up in the euphoria, because I remember thinking to myself back then that Champion "just might" give the Phillies a 1-2 punch along with Carlton. (If only we had Baseball-Reference.com back then, I might have avoided such nonsensical thoughts!)

The 1972 season was a disaster for every Phillies' pitcher not named Carlton. On the bright side, the team cleaned house in the off-season, getting rid of suspects like Champion, Ken Reynolds, and Jim Nash, along with the aging Short and Woodie Fryman, and brought in Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Dick Ruthven, Larry Christensen, and Wayne Twitchell, so that Carlton didn't have to account for half the team's wins again.

Champion was shipped to the Brewers along with 3rd basemen Don Money and John Vukovich for Lonborg, Brett, and others. He pitched for 3 full seasons in Milwaukee, with the high point coming in 1974 when he compiled an 11-4 record in 31 games (23 starts).

Billy began the 1976 season with the Brewers, but played his last major-league game on June 5th, 7 years and 1 day after his debut. He was released in late June and spent the remainder of the '76 season with the Braves' AAA team in Richmond. His final season was in 1977, back with the Phillies' AAA team.

John Briggs (#564)

John Briggs was first of several young outfielders developed by the Phillies' farm system in the mid-1960s (along with Alex Johnson, Adolfo Phillips, and Larry Hisle). Although Briggs' Phillies' career began before, and ended after, the other three players, like all of them he found his greatest success after leaving the Phillies.

Johnny was signed by the Phillies late in 1962, and spent just one season (1963) at class-A Bakersfield before becoming a full-time major-leaguer at the start of 1964. Briggs was primarily used as a left-handed pinch-hitter during his rookie season, but also played 20 games in the outfield. He accumulated 66 at-bats in 61 games that season.

His role expanded in 1965, as he shared the starting center field duties evenly with another lefthander, Tony Gonzalez. Briggs ended up with the 4th-most innings played by the outfielders, due to Gonzalez' significant playing time in left field.

1966 was more of the same for Briggs, although in addition to Gonzalez, he was now sharing center field with veteran Jackie Brandt and, to a lesser extent, utilityman Cookie Rojas.

In 1967 Briggs moved over to left field, and began the season in a strict platoon with rookie SS-OF Gary Sutherland. By mid-season, he had moved back to center field, and platooned with Don Lock, while Lock's former platoon partner Gonzalez became the full-time left fielder.

1968 brought some change to the familiar Phillies' outfield routine. Richie Allen, fresh off a wrist injury that ended his 1967 season (and never a defensive whiz at 3rd base anyway) moved to left field fulltime for 1968. With veteran Johnny Callison in right, this threw everyone else (Briggs, Gonzalez, and Lock) into the center field mish-mash. Previously always a center fielder or left fielder, Briggs also spent most of July as the starting 1st baseman (replacing veteran Bill White) and part of August as the regular right fielder, since Callison missed several weeks in late summer.

The logjam worked itself out in 1969, as White was dealt back to the Cardinals, Gonzalez was lost in the expansion draft, and Allen moved in to play 1st base. With rookie Larry Hisle scheduled to take over the center field job, that left Briggs in sole possession of left field. Well, that plan was sidelined by rookie Ron Stone, who tore up the Grapefruit League in March. Stone began the season in left field, sending Briggs to the bench. The spring phenom's inevitable cool-off sent Briggs back to left, until he was replaced by Deron Johnson. Only Johnson's trip to the DL, followed by Allen's month-long suspension in mid-summer got Briggs back into the left field starting job.

Briggs and Stone shared the left field job during 1970, then Johnny was traded to the Brewers in April 1971 for 2 minor-leaguers.

He was a full-time regular with Milwaukee for 4 seasons, hitting 21, 21, 18, and 17 homers during that time. After playing 1st base for all of 1971, he moved out to left field to make room for George Scott. John began the 1975 season as the Brewers' left fielder, and after a mid-June trade to the Twins, he finished out the season (and his MLB career) as Minnesota's 1st baseman.

Briggs played the 1976 season in Japan, before retiring.