Roger Nelson (#633)

Roger Nelson had a 9 (essentially 6) year career from 1967-76, mostly with the Kansas City Royals.

 

Nelson was signed by the White Sox in 1963, and played 5 seasons in their farm system, culminating with a cup of coffee for the Sox in September 1967, where he pitched 7 innings over 5 games. 

 

After the season Roger was included in the deal that sent Don Buford and Bruce Howard to the Orioles in exchange for Luis Aparicio, Russ Snyder, and John Matias.

Nelson was with the Orioles for the entire 1968 season, but only pitched 19 games. 

 

He and Wally Bunker were not only the 2 youngest pitchers on the 10-man staff, but also made the least amount of appearances as they swung back and forth between 5th starter and occasional reliever. (The O’s had Dave McNally, Jim Hardin, and Tom Phoebus at the front of their rotation, with Gene Brabender and Dave Leonard as the primary swingmen filling the 4th starter’s slot. Eddie Watt, Moe Drabowsky, and Pete Richert were the 3 primary relievers, so there wasn’t much for Nelson or Bunker to do.) 

 

Left unprotected in the October 1968 expansion draft, Nelson was selected by the Royals (as was his O’s teammate Bunker). Together they headed up the starting rotation for the new Royals team. (Nelson made 29 starts, and was the only one of the 16 pitchers used by KC that season who made no relief appearances.) 

 

Injuries limited him to 4 games in 1970 and 13 games in 1971. He returned to full-time duty in 1972, making 19 starts (3rd on the team) and 15 relief appearances while posting a 11-6 record and a 2.08 ERA. 

 

In November 1972 he was traded to the Reds (with outfielder Richie Scheinblum) for pitcher Wayne Simpson and outfielder Hal McRae. Roger pitched for the Reds for 2 seasons, appearing in 14 games each year as a small cog in the Big Red Machine. 

 

Nelson was sold back to the White Sox after the 1974 season, but he was released during spring training the following year. The Athletics took a flyer on him, but after 20 games with their AA team, he was released in early-August.

 

The Royals picked him up in April 1976, and he played most of ’76 and all of ’77 with their AAA team, making his final 3 MLB appearances with Kansas City in September 1976. 

 

Roger played for the Pirates’ AAA team in 1978, and in Mexico in 1979 before retiring. 

 

Dick Drago (#37)

It's April, and time for some spring cleaning on my blogs. Gone are the sidebar lists of "Oldest Living Players Not Blogged" and "Top 20 Players to be blogged". In their place are extended "On-deck" lists of who's next.

I was also reviewing what I had left to post, and found about 50 for my 1969 blog, 30 for 1970, only 12 for 1968, and only 12 combined for my 1967 (wow, I was caught napping there!), 1966, and 1965 blogs. 

So as I rotate through these blogs, the 1969 blog will take a double shift, while the 1965-68 blogs will alternate in each lap. (Those last 4 blogs have all the remaining planned posts listed in the "Final Countdown" sidebars.) Who knows, when I get to the end I may just free-lance as the spirit moves me.


This is Dick Drago's first solo card. (He appeared on a Royals Rookies car in 1969.)

Drago was signed by the Tigers in September 1964. He got into a few games that year in the Florida Instructional League, then pitched the next 4 seasons in the Tigers' farm system.

Unlike many of the youngsters on the 4 expansion teams in 1969, Drago did not get a look-see by his former team in September 1968 before being exposed to the expansion draft.

He was selected by the Royals in the draft and made his major-league debut on April 11, 1969. Drago played the next 13 seasons for various American League teams: 5 with the Royals, 2 with the Red Sox, 1 ½ with the Angels, a half-season with the Orioles, and back to Boston for 3 more years before finishing up with the Mariners in 1981.

As a rookie in 1969, Dick was the Royals' #2 starter behind the veteran Wally Bunker (actually they were both 24 years old). He started 26 games along with 15 relief appearances.

In 1970 he was the staff ace, pitching 240 innings (26 more than the next guy) although slumping to a 9-15 record. Drago rebounded in 1971 to win 17 games, and maintained his spot atop the rotation through the 1972 season.

With the arrival of Paul Splittorff in '72 and Steve Busby the following year, by 1973 Drago slipped to #3 in the rotation. After the season he was traded to Boston for pitcher Marty Pattin.

His role changed in Boston. A swingman in 1974, he converted to full-time bullpen duty in 1975 (and for the rest of his career), collecting 15 saves in 72 innings over 40 games. He also appeared in 2 ALCS games and 2 World Series games.

Drago was traded to the Angels before the 1976 season and to the Orioles in mid-1977. While with the Angels, in July 1976 he gave up Hank Aaron's 755th and final home run.

After being granted free agency in October 1977, he re-signed with the Red Sox. (Boston also signed Drago's former Royals teammate Tom Burgmeier in that off-season.)
Dick led the staff in saves in 1979, and was a setup man for Bob Stanley ('78) and Burgmeier ('80) in the other years.

Drago was traded to the Mariners the day before the 1981 season for pitcher Manny Sarmiento. After one season there he was released the following April.

Jim Rooker (#222)

This is Jim Rooker's first solo card, and one of the many nice cards from the '69 and '70 sets featuring the new Royals' uniform.

Although the expansion 1969 Royals pitching staff was led by ex-Oriole veterans Wally Bunker and Moe Drabowsky, Rooker was one of several youngsters (along with Roger Nelson, Dick Drago, Bill Butler, and Tom Burgmeier) forming the foundation of a solid pitching staff.

Rooker was signed by the Tigers in 1960, and was an outfielder in their minor-league system from 1960-64. He has also pitched 10 innings in 1962, but by 1964 was pitching on a regular basis.

In 1965 he pitched 115 innings in 28 games, collecting 95 strikeouts but only compiling a 2-11 record. After another 2 1/2 seasons in the minors, he made his major-league debut with the Tigers in mid-1968, pitching 2 innings on June 30 and 2 more on July 6th, before returning to the minors.

The day after the season was over, he was sent to the Yankees as payment for the earlier acquisition of pitcher John Wyatt. 2 weeks later, he was selected by the Royals in the expansion draft.

Jim was the team's #5 starter the first year, then jumped to #2 in 1970. He was moved to the bullpen in 1971, and spent parts of ’71 and 72 in triple-A. Upon his return to Kansas City in 1972 he was back in the starting rotation.

After the 1972 season he was traded to the Pirates for pitcher Gene Garber. He put in 7 solid seasons (1973-79) in the Pirates' starting rotation, and for the first few years was one of their top 3 starters (along with Jerry Reuss and John Candelaria) He played in the post-season in '74, '75, and '79.

Rooker only pitched 4 games in 1980 (the last on May 2nd) and was released after the season, ending his 13-year career.


After his playing career he was a broadcaster for the Pirates from 1981-1993, and for ESPN from 1994-97.

From Wikipedia:

Rooker's most famous moment as a broadcaster came on June 8, 1989, during a Pirates' road game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. The Pirates scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning, including three on a Barry Bonds home run. 

As the Pirates' cross-state rivals came to bat in the bottom of the first, Rooker said on the air, "If we don't win this one, I don't think I'd want to be on that plane ride home. Matter of fact, if we don't win, I'll walk back to Pittsburgh." 

Both Von Hayes and Steve Jeltz hit two home runs (the latter would hit only five during his Major League career) to trigger a Phillies comeback. In the eighth inning the Phillies, now trailing only 11–10, scored the tying run on a wild pitch, then took the lead on Darren Daulton's two-run single and went on to win 15–11. 

Rooker had to wait until after the season to make good on his "walk home" promise, conducting a 300-mile-plus (480 km) charity walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. 


He now writes childrens' books.

Jackie Hernandez (#686)

Jackie Hernandez was the Kansas City Royals’ first starting shortstop. Earlier, he had played 2 seasons for the Twins, and later wrapped up his career with the Pirates.

Hernandez was signed by the Indians in 1961, and was initially a catcher. He switched over to shortstop during his 2nd pro season, although still catching a few dozen games from ’62 to ’64.

The Indians released him in May 1965, and he was quickly snapped up by the Angels. He made his major-league debut with 1 game in September 1965.

Jackie was with the Angels for all of the 1966 season, but only played in 58 games. He was used as a pinch-runner in 37 of those games (sort of a pre-Herb Washington!) and also backed up the infield positions.

In April 1967, Hernandez was sent to the Twins as the “player to be named” in the Dean Chance for Don Mincher, Jimmie Hall, and Pete Cimino deal. Jackie spent most of the ’67 season in triple-A, but played 29 games for the Twins in August and September.

The Twins traded their starting shortstop Zoilo Versalles to the Dodgers after the 1967 season for a bunch of players, and handed Jackie the starting job for 1968. He started the first 29 games (and 58 of the first 80 games), but was sent down to the minors for most of July and all of August, when the Twins tried Ron Clark and Rick Renick at the position.

In October 1968, Hernandez was selected by the Royals in the expansion draft, and became their everyday shortstop in 1969. He started 139 games, and played in 6 more. His 145 games played tied him with Joe Foy for most games played by a Royal in 1969. He was also 2nd (to Foy) in plate appearances and at-bats. Not a bad turnaround for someone who up until then appeared to be destined to be a utility scrub.

Jackie started off the 1970 season as the starting shortstop, but by mid-June was benched in favor of rookie Rich Severson and the newly-acquired Tom Matchick.

After the 1970 season, Hernandez (along with pitcher Bob Johnson and backup catcher Jim Campanis) were traded to the Pirates for shortstop Freddie Patek, catcher Jerry May, and pitcher Bruce Dal Canton.

Hernandez spend the next 3 seasons as a backup to Gene Alley. He started quite a bit over the last 6 weeks on the 1971 season, and also started all the games in the NLCS and all but 1 game in the World Series (maybe Alley was injured?)

Jackie was traded to the Phillies in January 1974 for catcher Mike Ryan, but was released in late April, without having played for the Phillies. The Pirates resigned him the same day, but he played the entire season for their triple-A team,

Hernandez finished out his career playing in Mexico from 1975-76.

Ellie Rodriguez (#402)

Ellie Rodriguez was the starting catcher for some bad teams from 1969-75, thus staying pretty much under everyone's radar.

He was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1964. After 1 season in the minors he was drafted by the Yankees and played 3 full seasons on their farm.

Ellie made his big-league debut for the Yankees in 1968, playing 9 games (mostly in late-May and early-June), but spent most of the ’68 season with triple-A Syracuse, where he alternated at catcher with journeymen Hawk Taylor and Merritt Ranew.

Rodriguez was selected by the Kansas City Royals as the 13th pick in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season. He was their primary catcher in 1969 (making the All-Star team as a rookie), and split the catching chores in 1970 with ex-Angel Ed Kirkpatrick.

After the 1970 season Ellie was traded to the Brewers, and once again became his team’s #1 backstop. He was the regular for 2 seasons, and made the All-Star team in ’72. In 1973 he split the catching with rookie Darrell Porter, who had played briefly with Milwaukee in the previous 2 seasons. Porter started slightly more games than Rodriguez.

With Porter entrenched behind the plate, E-Rod was dealt to the Angels in the off-season. Accompanying him to California were outfielders Ollie Brown and Joe LaHoud, and pitchers Skip Lockwood and Gary Ryerson. In return, the Brewers acquired pitchers Steve Barber and Clyde Wright, outfielder Ken Berry, and catcher Art Kusnyer.

Rodriguez continued the pattern that was his career – two seasons as his team’s #1 catcher, then time to move on. However at this stop (Angels) there was to be no All-Star selection, despite 1974 being his best season with the bat (7 homers, 36 RBI).

Ellie’s final major-league season was in 1976, where he was a backup for the Dodgers. LA released him in May 1977 (having not played so far) and he spent the remainder of 1977 with the Pirates’ AAA team.

He also played in Mexico from 1978 to 1982 before retiring.

Final Card: Jerry Adair

Here is the final card for Jerry Adair (#525), not counting his appearance as a coach on Athletics’ manager Dick Williams’ card in 1973. Adair had his own card every year from 1961 through 1970.

Adair was a 2nd baseman for the Orioles, White Sox, Red Sox, and Royals from 1961 through 1969. He had a few cups of coffee from 1958-60, and played a few games in his final season of 1970 before getting his release in early May.

Jerry was signed by the Orioles in September 1958 out of Oklahoma State University, and with the minor league season already completed, he played 11 games with the Orioles that month.

In ’59 and ’60 he played 1 season in AA and AAA (respectively), mostly as his team’s regular shortstop. Coincidentally, he made 638 minor-league plate appearances each season, and played a few games with the O’s each year.

Adair made the Orioles' squad at the start of the 1961 season, and started 96 games at 2nd base, to Marv Breeding’s 62 starts. (Breeding had been the incumbent for the previous season, starting 151 of the team’s 154 games.)

In 1962 he slid over to shortstop, starting 103 games there because Ron Hansen missed much of the season due to military service. Jerry still managed 29 starts at 2B.

The Orioles acquired shortstop Luis Aparicio from the White Sox prior to the 1963 season, so Adair was back to his 2nd base home for 100 starts, with Bob Johnson (newly-acquired from the Senators) starting 45 times.

Jerry started almost every game for Baltimore in 1964 and 1965. In 1966, rookie Dave Johnson won the 2nd base job out of spring training, and Adair (having only played 17 games so far) was shipped out to the White Sox in mid-June for pitcher Eddie Fisher. With regular shortstop (and former Orioles’ teammate) Ron Hansen missing the 2nd half of ’66 with a back injury, Adair once again filled in for Hansen.

In June 1967 he was traded to the Red Sox for reliever Don McMahon, and helped Boston get to the World Series, filling in for shortstop Rico Petrocelli, 3rd baseman Joe Foy, and 2nd baseman Mike Andrews. Jerry started 78 games over the 2nd half of the season, and started the first 4 games of the World Series.

Adair played all of 1968 with the Red Sox, but in a utility infield role. His only extended string of starts came in August, filling in for Petrocelli for several weeks. After the season, he was left unprotected for the expansion draft and was selected by the Royals.

He was the primary 2nd baseman for the upstart Royals in 1969, starting 105 games from day 1 until mid-September, when ex-Dodger Luis Alcaraz (who had spent most of the season in AAA) took over.

Jerry missed much of spring training 1970 with family issues, so the Royals began the season with Alcaraz at 2nd base. Adair started a few games in late April but was soon released, ending his 13-year career.

He played in Japan in 1971, then coached for the Athletics and Angels from 1972-75.

Adair passed away from cancer in 1987, at age 50.

Bob Oliver (#567)

Bob Oliver is the left fielder for our “Hangin’ at the Bat Rack” team. This is Bob’s 2nd card, as he appeared on one of the 4 Royals Rookie Stars cards in the 1969 set. He looks deep in thought, probably choosing a weapon to go yard on a sub-par Pilots' pitcher!

Bob was signed by the Pirates in 1963, and played 5 seasons in their farm system, mostly as a first baseman, but he also played a significant amout in the outfield, and at 3rd base and 2nd base. His major-league debut came with 3 games during a September 1965 call-up with the Pirates.

After the 1967 season, he was traded to the Twins for veteran reliever Ron Kline. After a full season with Minnesota’s triple-A team in Denver (playing almost exclusively as an outfielder), Oliver was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the October 1968 expansion draft.

Bob began the 1969 season with the expansion Royals. He was the starting right fielder for the first 2 games, then was out of the lineup for 2 weeks – perhaps a short trip to the minors. He also missed a week or so in August, but otherwise was a regular for the ’69 team. He started 44 games in center, 41 games in right (he and Pat Kelly made most of the starts in both center and right). Bob also started a half-dozen games each at 1B, 3B and left field.

The following season, he moved to the infield. After starting 46 of the first 58 games at 3rd base, on June 16th Oliver moved across the diamond and started all but 3 games at 1st base for the remainder of the season. Bob hit a career-high 27 homers in 1970.

In 1971, he started 39 of the first 50 games at 1st base, but made only 5 starts there for the rest of the season, Instead, he was moved out to right field, which he shared with Joe Keough during the second half of the season.

Bob was the team’s right fielder for the first 16 games of 1972, then was traded to the Angels on May 5th for pitcher Tom Murphy. Oliver started 124 games at 1st base for the Angels that season, replacing 3-year regular Jim Spencer. This was the 2nd and last time he reached the 20-homer plateau.

Oliver had a full workload in 1973 (544 at-bats), but he split his time between 1B, 3B, and RF, but was not the primary fielder at any position.

In 1974 he was a part-time 1st and 3rd baseman, sharing 3rd base with Paul Schaal and Dave Chalk, and 1st base with John Doherty. Bob didn’t start more than 45 games at either position. In mid-September he was traded to the Orioles for pitcher Mickey Scott.

He was purchased by the Yankees after the ’74 season, and only played 18 games for them prior to his July 1975 release, ending his major-league career.

Bob was on the sidelines for the rest of 1975, then spent the 1976-78 seasons in the Phillies’, Pirates’, and White Sox’ organizations. Oliver also played in Mexico during 1978 and 1979.

Final Card: Juan Rios

In the last post, I commented that Juan Rios’ card also had an “at the bat rack” pose, because I could see that card in my mind’s eye, since it was one of the few cards from this set that I had back in 1970. 

When I went to my 1970 binder to pull the card for this follow-up post, I noticed a total of NINE players (including Tony Taylor) who Topps snapped at the bat rack. That’s enough for an entire lineup, so… since you’ve already met the 2nd baseman (Taylor), here now is Juan Rios, the shortstop for the “Hangin’ at the Bat Rack” team! 


Juan Rios (#89) had a brief major-league career – 87 games for the 1969 expansion Royals, to be exact. By the time this card came out, Juan was back in the minors, where he would stay until retiring after the 1974 season. This is his final baseball card.  He also appeared on a Royals Rookie Stars card in 1969.

Rios was signed by the Mets in 1965, but didn’t begin playing until 1966. He was a shortstop in the Mets’ chain for 3 seasons, until he was selected by the Montreal Expos in the December 1968 Rule 5 draft.

The following March, he was sold to the Royals. Juan was with Kansas City for the entire season, as the backup middle infielder behind 2nd baseman Jerry Adair and shortstop Jackie Hernandez. Rios managed to start 43 games (2B-30, SS-10, 3B-3), and played in another 44 as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement.

In 1970, that role was filled by rookie Rich Severson, so Rios returned to the minors, where he played for the Royals’, Brewers’, Yankees’, Twins’, and White Sox’ organizations. He also pitched in 3 games during the 1973 season.

Rios passed away in August 1995, at age 53, in his birthplace of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.