Final Card: John Roseboro

This is the last card for long-time Dodgers' catcher John Roseboro (#655). John was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952, and played in their minor-league system from 1952 to 1957, except for missing the 1954 season while in military service.

Roseboro made his major-league debut in June 1957. He got into 35 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers, as the 3rd-string catcher behind veterans Roy Campanella and Rube Walker. John took over the #1 spot for the 1958 season (the team's first season in Los Angeles) due to Campanella's automobile accident. Roseboro remained a fixture behind the plate for 10 seasons in Los Angeles, making the all-star team 3 times as a Dodger.

After the 1967 season, John was traded to the Twins (along with relief pitchers Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller) for pitcher Jim Grant and shortstop Zoilo Versalles. After 2 seasons as the Twins' starting catcher (and another all-star appearance), John was released after the 1969 season.

The Senators picked him up in the off-season, and 37-year-old Roseboro spent 1970 as the Sens' 3rd-string catcher behind Paul Casanova and Jim French. His last game was on August 11, 1970, and he was released a week later, ending his 14-year career. Besides catching 1476 games, he also played 6 games at 1st base, 2 at 3rd base, and 5 in the outfield.

Expos Team (#509)

Topps didn't issue team cards in the 1969 set (maybe because they didn't know what to do with the 4 expansion teams?), but all 24 teams returned in the 1970 set. Here is the very first Montreal Expos team card. I assumed it was the 1969 team pictured on the card, but since this is a relatively high-numbered card, it could be a photo from spring training 1970.


(I wonder if Staub and Stoneman were given hefty raises for leading the team in just about every category!)

For the first 5 years of their existence, the Expos generally battled the Phillies for last place in the NL East.


Here are some other blog posts about the Montreal Expos:

1969 NL expansion

Check out the 5th comment in this post
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Roberto Clemente (#350)

Look! Topps finally relented after 15 years and acknowledged his first name to be Roberto, not Bob.



Clemente was a fixture in the Pirates' outfield since 1955. His only season in the minors was 1954 with the Montreal Royals (the Brooklyn Dodgers' triple-A team). According to Baseball-Reference.com, Roberto was signed by the Dodgers before the 1952 season, but didn't play until 1954.

The Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 draft following the 1954 season. I wonder if the Dodgers ever stopped kicking themselves for that mistake?

Clarence Gaston (#604)

This is the first "full" card for Clarence "Cito" Gaston. He previously appeared on a 1969 Padres Rookies card. Topps didn't begin referring to him as Cito until he became a manager.

Gaston was signed by the Braves in 1964 and spent 5 seasons playing in their minor-league system. His only big-league experience with the Braves was 9 games in September 1967.



Cito was the Padres' last (30th) pick in the October 1968 expansion draft. His minor-league days were now behind him, as Gaston made the Padres at the start of the season, and took over the starting center field job from Tony Gonzalez in game #4.

Cito's best season was 1970, when he hit 29 homeruns, batted .318, and was named to the all-star team. He was the team's regular center fielder for 3 seasons, then slid over to right field for 1972 and 1973. His final season with the Padres was 1974, which he spent as a pinch-hitter and part-time right fielder.

In November 1974 Cito was traded back to the Braves for pitcher Danny Frisella. He spent his last 4 seasons ('75-'78) as a pinch-hitter and outfield backup for Atlanta. On September 22, 1978 he was sold to the Pirates, and played 2 games for them before retiring after the season.

Gaston had greater success as a manager, piloting the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989 to 1997, and again from 2008 to 2010. His team finished in 1st place 5 times, including World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.

Back on Topps' Radar: Fred Norman

This is Fred Norman's first appearance in the Topps set (#427) since he appeared on a Cubs Rookies card in the 1965 set. His rookie card was a Cubs Rookies card in the 1964 set. (I first became aware of him back in the day when I got his 1972 card. By that time, he was with the Padres.)

Fred was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961, and spent 3 seasons as a starting pitcher in their minor league system. He also pitched 2 games for the Athletics in each of 1962 and 1963. After the 1963 season, he was traded to the Cubs for outfielder Nelson Mathews.

Norman spent the 1964-66 seasons as a starter in the Cubs' organization, while pitching a few games for Chicago in 1964 and 1966. He began the 1967 season with the Cubs, but after only one appearance, he was traded to the Dodgers on April 26th for pitcher Dick Calmus.



In what is now becoming a familiar pattern, Fred spent 3 seasons (1967-69) back in the minors, this time alternating between triple-A Spokane and double-A Albuquerque. He wouldn't resurface in the majors until 1970, and would remain topside for the rest of his career, except for a brief stint in triple-A during 1971.

Norman spent the entire 1970 season in the Dodgers bullpen - well almost. After pitching 62 innings over 30 games for LA, on September 28th he was claimed by the Cardinals, and pitched 1 inning for them. His time in St. Louis was short though, as in addition to a brief trip to the minors in 1971, he was dealt to the Padres in mid-June for pitcher Al Santorini.

Fred pitched in the Padres rotation from June 1971 to June 1973. During his only full season in San Diego (1972) he was the Padres' #3 starter, and the only lefthander in the rotation. Midway through 1973, he was traded to the Reds, where he enjoyed his greatest success.

Norman pitched for the Reds for 6 1/2 seasons, and finished with double-figure wins every year. He was always in the rotation, early-on with Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, and ex-Padres teammate Clay Kirby, then in later years right behind the newly-acquired Tom Seaver.

Fred became a free agent after the 1979 season, and signed with the Expos. He spent his final season (1980) in Montreal's bullpen, and was released during spring training 1981.

Danny Murtaugh (#532)

Danny Murtaugh returns to the Topps card set for the first time since 1964.

Murtaugh was a 4-time manager, all with the Pirates. He managed Pittsburgh for 7 1/2 years, from midway through the 1957 season through the end of 1964, including skippering the 1960 World Champs.

Danny returned to finish out the 1967 season, when Harry Walker was fired after 83 games. After a 2-year experiment with Larry Shepard, Murtaugh was back at the start of the 1970 season, and piloted the team to first-place finishes in 1970 and 1971, and won the 1971 World Series.



He retired following the Series, and the Pirates hired their former center fielder Bill Virdon to manage the team in 1972, but Murtaugh was back at the helm in September 1973, and for 3 additional seasons beyond that. In Danny's last 3 full seasons, the Pirates won their division twice (losing the NLCS both times), and in 2nd place once. He retired for good after the 1976 season.

Prior to managing, Murtaugh was an infielder for the Phillies and Pirates from 1941 to 1951, except for his military service in 1944-45.

Reggie Jackson (#140)

Although 1970 would be Reggie Jackson's 4th year in the majors, this was only his 2nd card. Somehow, Topps failed to include Jax in the 1968 set (even on an "Athletics Rookie Stars" card). This despite being the 2nd overall pick in the 1966 draft, and spending the latter part of 1967 with the Kansas City Athletics. Not to worry though, our friend Steve at WhiteSoxCards has taken care of that problem.



Reggie was "the straw that stirred the drink" long before Darryl Strawberry arrived on the scene. He and Rick Monday were among the first wave of stars for the Oakland A's, and after a long career, he returned to Oakland for his 21st and final season as a DH, teaming up with Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Bob Garibaldi (#681)

I never knew of Bob Garibaldi's existence until I got his card last year. This is due to him not having a card in the sets I collected back in the day (67, 68, 69, 72). After seeing his early-1960s stats on the card back, I was all ready to title this post "Back on Topps' radar", until learning tonight that this is Garibaldi's rookie card.

Bob was signed by the Giants in 1962 (right out of nearby Santa Clara University) and went directly to the majors, making his debut on July 15th. After fashioning a 5.11 ERA over 12 innings that season, Garibaldi spent the 1963 through 1970 seasons as a starting pitcher with the Giants' AAA teams (first in Tacoma, then in Phoenix), with only cups of coffee with San Fran in '63, '66, and '69.



After the 1970 season, Garibaldi was traded to the Kansas City Royals for catcher Fran Healy (who now has a sports-interview show on TV). At the start of the 1971 season, Bob was traded to the Padres for a minor-league pitcher.

Not only did he not see Kansas City, he didn't see San Diego either, spending the 1971-72 seasons with the Padres' AAA team in Hawaii. Oh well, if you get sent to the minors, I suppose Hawaii is the place to be. Bob's only other baseball card was in 1971.