Larry Stahl (#494)

Larry Stahl had the misfortune of playing on some bad teams during his career: Kansas City Athletics (1964-66), Mets (1967-68), and Padres (1969-72). He finally received some payback by wrapping up his career with the 1973 Reds, and appeared in the 1973 NLCS, going 2-for-4 in spot duty.

Stahl was signed by the Athletics in 1960, and labored in the minors for 5 seasons before making his major-league debut in September 1964.

He played briefly for the A’s in 1965 (June and September), then was with the team for all of 1966, playing in 119 games. It’s odd that with all that playing time, he was left out of the 1967 Topps set. (Meanwhile, a stiff like Bruce Brubaker and his previous grand total of ZERO major league games got a card that year.)

Stahl was picked up by the Mets after the 1966 season, and played most of 1967 with them (except for mid-May to mid-June, and for the 2nd half of the 1968 season. Unfortunately for him, the Mets had guys like Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, and Ron Swoboda patrolling the outfield, so Larry was left exposed to the expansion draft and was selected by the Padres, thus missing out on the Mets’ 1969 miracle season.

Even with the fledgling Padres, Larry was no better than 6th outfielder, behind starters Ollie Brown, Cito Gaston, and Al Ferrara, along with Tony Gonzalez and Ivan Murrell. Stahl stuck around with the Pads for 4 seasons (except for spending the first 2 months of 1970 in triple-A).

To his credit, by 1971 he had advanced to being a co-starter in left field (along with Murrell and Leron Lee), and was actually 3rd among outfielders in innings played (behind Brown and Gaston), although he spent some time in right field as well.

In one of his final games with the Padres in September 1972, the Cubs’ Milt Pappas had retired the first 26 batters, only to walk Stahl, blowing a perfect game.

After the 1972 season, the Reds purchased his contract, and he spent his final season as the Reds’ 7th outfielder, being one of 5 players the Reds used in right field (along with Bobby Tolan, Andy Kosco, Johnny Bench, and Ken Griffey Sr).

Final Card: Walt Hriniak

Here is Walt Hriniak's first solo card (#392), which is also his final card. In fact, his major-league career was over in 1969.

Hriniak began in the Braves' farm system in 1961, and played in the minors for 8 seasons, mostly as a middle infielder. He didn’t begin catching on a regular basis until 1968.

After 8 seasons as the Braves' starting catcher, Joe Torre was traded to the Cardinals after the 1968 season. Torre had shared the starts with journeyman Bob Tillman 60/40 in 1968, with Hriniak making 6 starts during his September call-up.

In 1969 the Braves seemed determined to go with 2 rookies behind the plate, as indicated by this high-numbered card in 1969:

However, with no prior major-league experience, Bob Didier won the catching job in 1969, starting 108 games while Tillman stayed on as the backup, catching 52 games. Hriniak started 2 games in early-June (showcased?), then was traded to the Padres a week later for outfielder Tony Gonzalez.

Walt started 17 games behind the plate for the Padres in 1969, and appeared in another dozen games as a pinch-hitter. It was his final season in the majors.

He spent all of 1970 with the Padres' AAA team, mostly as a 2nd baseman. Just before the start of the 1971 season he was traded back to the Braves, who released him in July. A month later he was picked up by the Expos, but played the entire season, as well as '72 and '73, in the minors.

For someone with such a short and insignificant playing career, Hriniak became a well-respected hitting coach.  He began coaching in 1974, first for the Expos, then the Red Sox. Initially a base coach or bullpen coach, by the mid-1980s, he became Boston's hitting coach, working with players like Carl Yastrzemski, Wade Boggs, and Dwight Evans.

After 12 seasons with the Red Sox, Hriniak coached the White Sox for 7 season, then opened up his own hitting school.

Preston Gomez (#513)

And now, the eighth consecutive expansion-team post on this blog: Padres' manager Preston Gomez.

Gomez' major-league career consisted of 8 games (4 as a pinch-runner, 4 as a middle infielder) in 1944 for the Senators. He played minor-league ball from 1944 to 1954, then switched to managing.

After managing in Mexico from 1957-58, he was a minor-league skipper from 1959-64 for the Reds, Dodgers, and Yankees.

Preston joined the Dodgers' coaching staff as their 3rd base coach from 1965-68, including 2 trips to the World Series.

Ex-Dodgers' executive Buzzy Bavasi hired him to be the Padres' first manager in 1969, where he lasted until late-April 1972.

Gomez moved on to the Astros, coaching in '73 and managing from '74-'75.

After 4 seasons as a coach for the Cards and Dodgers, Preston landed his 3rd and final big-league managing job in 1980, for the Cubs. He was fired in mid-season, with his team in last place.

His last stop was with the Angels, where he coached and scouted from 1981-2008.

Gomez died in January 2009 at age 85, after being hit by a car 10 months earlier.

Nate Colbert (#11)

Nate Colbert was the first star for the fledgling San Diego Padres, leading the expansion squad in homers (24) and RBI (a paltry 66). (Regardless of how you feel about the borders, the 1970 cards have some nice photos, particularly for the 4 recent expansion teams who were poorly represented (photographically) in the 1969 set.)

Colbert was signed by the Cardinals in 1964, and played in the minors for 5 seasons before becoming the regular 1st baseman for the 1969 Padres.

Between those two years, he spent 1966-68 in the Astros’ farm system, banging 28 homers in 1967. Nate played 1st base in A-ball in 1966, but split his time between 1B and the outfield in double-A in 1967, since 1st baseman Bob Watson was also on his team. In 1968 Colbert exclusively played outfield in triple-A, because the Astros also had 1st base prospect John Mayberry on the same team.

Colbert played a few games with the Astros in ’66 and ’68, but was clearly expendable, with Watson and Mayberry ahead of him on the path to Houston. The Padres selected him in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season.

Nate had 5 solid seasons with the Padres from 1969-73, twice hitting 38 home runs and making the All-Star team 3 times. In 1972 he hit FIVE home runs in a doubleheader on August 1st, as the Padres swept the Braves.

After slumping to .207 in only 119 games in 1974, Colbert was traded to the Tigers for shortstop Ed Brinkman. By mid-June 1975 he moved on to the Expos, where he lasted until the following June.

A week after his June 2nd release, the Athletics signed him, but he spent the rest of the ’76 season in the minors, save for 2 games at the end of the season. Colbert was with the expansion Blue Jays in spring training in 1977, but did not make the team.

In his 10-year career, he hit 173 homers and collected 520 RBI, but NEVER played for a team that didn’t finish in last place (not counting the 2 games he played for Oakland at the end of the 1976 season).

He was inducted into the Padres’ Hall of Fame in 1999, its inaugural class.

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.

Ed Spiezio (#718)

Here's the last of the five 1970 cards (all high numbers!) I received from Deans Cards a few months ago. Poor Ed Spiezio - he went from back-to-back trips to the World Series with the Cardinals in '67 and '68, to the expansion Padres in 1969. At least he was getting some playing time now!

Spiezio was signed by the Cardinals in 1963, and spent 4 seasons in the minors. Beginning in 1965, he began to play a good number of games in the outfield, as well as his usual 3rd base position. Ed also played in several dozen games with the Cardinals from 1964 to 1966.



In 1967, Ed finally made the team for the entire season. He was primarily used as a pinch-hitter, but also saw action at 3rd base or the outfield, especially when the regulars were injured or away on National Guard duty. (He was rarely brought into a game in late innings for defensive purposes, that was Phil Gagliano's job.) Ed also appeared in the 1967 World Series against the Red Sox.

Spiezio played the same role in 1968, but less often. His playing time that year was about half of his 1967 action. Once again, he appeared in the World Series, this time against the Tigers.

After the season, Ed was traded to the expansion Padres for pitcher Dave Giusti. Spiezio was the team's starting 3rd baseman from day 1 until he was replaced by Garry Jestadt in late August 1971.

In July 1972, Ed was traded to the White Sox, and retired after the season.

Ed's son Scott was an infielder for the Athletics, Angels, and others from 1996-2007.