Pilots Team (#713)

Today we will take a closer look at the Seattle Pilots' team card, which I first posted as part of my Pilots Team Review on my 1969 blog back in January.

I got this card last Fall, the first baseball card I acquired in about 2 years (except for some 1964 Topps Giant cards). After accumulating all the 1970 Phillies cards sometime in the 1980s, I began collecting the full 1970 Topps set in 2010, and now need about 40 to complete the set. Like most of the remaining 40, this Pilots Team card is in the high-numbered last series.

The team only played in Seattle for the 1969 season. In the off-season, the team was put up for sale, which was not finalized until sometime in March. They went to spring training 1970 as the Pilots, and broke camp as the Milwaukee Brewers. For continuity, Topps showed all the players as members of the Seattle Pilots, even cards that went to press after the move.

The statistical leaders of the team were:

Don Mincher - Slugging 1st-sacker from the Angels, who was the Pilots' only all-star representative. He was the Pilots' first selection in the expansion draft.

Tommy Harper - Drafted from the Indians with their 2nd pick, this ex-Reds' corner outfielder split his 1969 season between 2B and 3B.

Tommy Davis - Selected from the White Sox with their 8th pick, but traded away in the closing weeks of the season.

Gene Brabender - He was acquired from the Orioles a few days before the start of the season, and topped most pitching categories.



I read my brother's copy of Ball Four during a cross-country trip in the summer of 1971.  Last year I found an updated edition, which I began reading but haven't picked up for several months.  Now that the Phillies' season is going down the chute, I may get back into that book so that I can find some baseball entertainment this summer.