Al Raffo (custom)

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 Phillies' bullpen was generally in 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.