Friday, June 28, 2019

#51 Ernie Oravetz - Washington Nationals


Ernest Eugene Oravetz
Washington Nationals
Outfield

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'4"  Weight:  145
Born:  January 24, 1932, Johnstown, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1955-1956
Died:  December 3, 2006, Tampa, FL (age 74)

Ernie Oravetz was a switch-hitting outfielder who spent two seasons with the Washington Senators and parts of nine seasons toiling in the minor leagues between 1951 and 1963.  A career .311 hitter in the minors, Oravetz spent most of his time within the Senators/Minnesota Twins organization but he also made stops with affiliates of the Phillies and Dodgers.  One of his best professional seasons was also his first, as he hit a league leading .364 with the Class D Orlando Senators in 1951.  He missed the entire 1953 and 1954 seasons while serving in the military.

In his two seasons in the Majors, Oravetz appeared in 188 games, hitting .263 with 36 RBIs.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #3
The Oravetz card was one of the Original 44.  Since I just repeated the full story of how my Dad and I started collecting the set in the Pedro Ramos (#49) post, I won't repeat it here.  Looking at this card today, it's one of the more beat up cards from that original haul.

The Card
Oravetz is both the shortest (5'4") and the lightest (145 pounds) player in the 1956 Topps set, and it's not even really close.  Phil Rizzuto (#113) has two inches (5'6") and five pounds (150) on him, giving him second place in both categories.  Willie Miranda (#103) also weighs in at 150 pounds and a lean 5'9".

Oravetz is one of seven players and eight total cards in the set to feature someone wearing glasses.  The others are William Harridge (#1, and the A.L. President), Earl Torgeson (#147), Clint Courtney (#159), Bill Virdon (#170), Tom Gorman (#246), George Crowe (#254) and Jim Konstanty (#321).

1956 Season
Oravetz was the fourth outfielder for the Senators, behind regulars Roy Sievers (#75), Whitey Herzog and Jim Lemon.  In 88 games, his second and last season in the Majors, Oravetz hit .248 with 11 RBIs.

Phillies Connection
The Chattanooga Lookouts, associated with the Senators between 1932 and 1959, switched their affiliation to the Phillies in 1960.  Oravetz had been a regular with the Lookouts between 1957 and 1959, and when the franchise switched affiliates he somehow stuck with Chattanooga (and the Phillies) instead of moving with the Senators and their new top affiliate in Charleston.

I'm assuming this was some type of loan arrangement as there's no indication Oravetz had officially left the Senators/Twins organization until he was traded to the Dodgers on May 10, 1961.  He came back to the Twins organization for the 1962 and 1963 seasons, his final years playing professional baseball.

1957 Topps #179
 
2006 Topps Heritage
Real One Autographs #ROA-EO
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #51
First Topps Card:  1956 Topps #51
Last Topps Card:  1957 Topps #179
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-EO
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1956-1957

6 - Oravetz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/17/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Friday, June 21, 2019

#50 "Dusty" Rhodes - New York Giants


James Lamar Rhodes
New York Giants
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  178
Born:  May 13, 1927, Mathews, AL
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1952-1957; San Francisco Giants 1959
Died:  June 17, 2009, Las Vegas, NV (age 82)

Never quite a regular in the Giants line-up, "Dusty" Rhodes played in parts of seven seasons with the Giants, compiling a lifetime batting average of .253.  He was manager Leo Durocher's top choice as a pinch-hitter between 1952 and 1955.  He won a World Series ring with the Giants in 1954, hitting a torrid .667 (4 for 6) with two home runs and seven RBIs against the Indians.  His pinch-hit three-run home run off Bob Lemon (#255) in the 10th inning of Game 1 won the game for the Giants.  In Game 2, he collected a key pinch-hit in the fifth to tie the game off Early Wynn (#187) and the Giants took the lead shortly thereafter.  In Game 3, he pinch-hit again - and for the third time for future Hall of Famer Monte Irvin (#194) - getting another clutch hit and driving in a pair of runs.  The Giants completed the sweep of the Indians in Game 4.

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #162
This was one of ten cards I purchased for our 1956 Topps set from the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem.  This card cost me $4, and I wrote about Season Ticket back in March in my post for the Rudy Minarcin (#36) card.

The Card
He's one of 25 players in the set with a nickname in quotes on the front of his card.  I had always been under the impression that Rhodes was a star or at least a semi-star, given his assignment of the "hero number" of #50 in this set.  Turns out, Topps wouldn't get into the habit of assigning hero numbers (cards ending in 10, 50 or 100) for a few more years.  Then again, Topps gave Rhodes the coveted #1 card in its 1955 set, so maybe the #50 assignment was due to the lingering joy Rhodes had brought to New York Giants fans following the 1954 World Series win.

His 1954 World Series heroics are insensitively celebrated in the final panel on the back of the card.

1956 Season
Rhodes appeared in a career high 111 games in 1956, hitting .217 (53 for 244) with eight home runs and 33 RBIs.  61 of those 111 games were starts in either left field (59 games) or right field (2).  Center field at the time was locked down by Willie Mays (#130).  His SABR biography notes he didn't get along with new manager Bill Rigney, who replaced Durocher following the 1955 season.

1954 Topps #170
 
1955 Topps #1
 
1957 Topps #61
 
2002 Topps
Super Teams #9
2008 Topps Heritage
Real One Autographs #ROA-DR
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #170
First Topps Card:  1954 Topps #170
Last Topps Card:  1957 Topps #61
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DR
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1954-1957

I find it fascinating that Topps created a 1959 Topps card for Rhodes in 2008 so that they could include his card in the Real One Autographs insert set.  Rhodes did not appear in the actual 1959 Topps set, with his final card as an active player appearing in the 1957 Topps set.

45 - Rhodes non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/15/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Friday, June 14, 2019

#49 Pedro Ramos - Washington Nationals


Pedro Ramos
Washington Nationals
Pitcher


Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  April 28, 1935, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1955-1960; Minnesota Twins 1961; Cleveland Indians 1962-1964; New York Yankees 1964-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1967; Pittsburgh Pirates 1969; Cincinnati Reds 1969; Washington Senators 1970

Playing for some awful Senators teams in the mid to late 1950s, Pedro Ramos held the dubious distinction in often leading the American League in losses, hits allowed, and home runs allowed.  He reached the 200-innings pitched plateau six years in a row between 1957 and 1962 and was an All-Star for the Senators in 1959.  Playing in parts of 15 seasons, Ramos was primarily a starter the first part of his career, but then he switched to full time relieving and occasional closing.  He was a crucial member of the Yankees bullpen late in the 1964 season, acquired in a September deal with the Indians.  In his 13 appearances that September with the Yankees, he saved eight games, helping the team clinch the American League pennant.  As the Yankees closer in 1965, Ramos appeared in 65 games and recorded 18 saves.

He was the last pitcher to start a game for the old Washington Senators in 1960, and the first to start a game in 1961 after the team had relocated to Minnesota and re-branded themselves as the Twins.  As a batter, he accumulated 15 career home runs and owned two multi-home run games.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #2
It's been over three years since this story was told in post for Chuck Diering's (#19) card, so I'll repeat myself here.  This Ramos card was one of the Original 44.

Technically speaking, my Dad and I actually began collecting the set in the summer of 1987, but this card (along with the other Original 44) first entered my collection three or four years before that.

I think it was either the summer of 1983 or 1984 when a shoebox of vintage baseball cards, football cards and a few non-sports cards arrived into my world.  The box contained about a hundred cards dating between 1950 and 1956, and for the most part, they were all in excellent shape.  A friend of the family was in the process of cleaning up and moving into her new house when she found the old shoebox and she wondered if the only kid she knew who collected baseball cards (me) would be interested in looking through it – maybe even taking the box off her hands.

She dropped the box off to my parents and asked them to have me look through the box and take what I was interested in. Turns out, I was interested in everything.  Up to that point, the oldest cards in my collection were cards from the early '70s I had obtained through trades or cards that my Dad had picked up for me at yard sales or small baseball card shows.  (My Dad had given me a few dog-earred ’59 Topps cards – Juan Pizzaro and Jim Busby – a few years prior, and I completely forget how or why he had purchased these cards for me.)

My parents asked me to pick out a few cards from the box, and then we’d return the rest to the family friend.  Problem was, I wanted them all.  I really wanted them all.  I diligently and meticulously went through one of my price guides and determined the “value” of the treasure chest. I probably used my Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide No. 4, edited by Dr. James Beckett, and I had no way to value the football or non-sports cards.  My memory is fuzzy, and I can't find the original tally, but I think I came up with the box being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 to $400, which I knew my parents definitely did not have in their discretionary spending budget.  But they could tell how much I wanted those cards, as I lovingly studied each and every one and handled each as if it were some long-lost artifact.

I don’t know the exact details, but I believe my Dad went back to the friend and told her we’d take the whole box, but only if she let him give her some money for it.  I believe she was genuinely shocked that the box of old cardboard pictures had some value, and that someone was willing to give her cash for it.  My Dad shared the list I had created showing the “book value” of the cards and he mentioned how it was going to be close to impossible to get me to pick and choose which ones I wanted.  When all was said and done, the family friend, who had absolutely no intention of making money on this endeavor, walked away with (I think) something in the neighborhood of $100 for the whole lot.

Ramos' page from the 1967 Phillies Yearbook
Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

And so a few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few ’56 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

The Card
This is Ramos' rookie card and he'd go on to appear in Topps' flagship set every year through 1967.  Ramos is listed as a right-handed batter on his card but he was in fact a switch hitter.

1956 Season
In his second full season, the 21-year-old Ramos went 12-10 with a 5.27 for the 7th place Senators.  He appeared in 37 games, starting 18, and pitched 152 innings.  On May 30th, Ramos and the Senators faced off against the powerhouse Yankees in the first game of a double header.  Ramos drilled his future teammate Mickey Mantle (#135) in his first plate appearance, but in his second at-bat Mantle launched a home run that was hit so hard and so far it almost completely exited Yankee Stadium.

Phillies Career
On December 10, 1966, the Phillies acquired Ramos from the Yankees for Joe Verbanic and cash.  Ramos was used sparingly in late April and throughout the month of May, appearing in six games and tallying eight innings pitched.  The Phillies lost all six games in which he appeared.  On June 5, 1967, Ramos and his 9.00 ERA were released and he spent the remainder of the 1967 season pitching in Vancouver for the Kansas City Athletics' Triple-A team.  Still, his short stint with the club earned him a Phillies card in the 1967 Topps set and I've included his page from the team's 1967 Yearbook above.

1957 Topps #326
1959 Topps #78
1963 Topps #14
1966 Topps #439
1967 Topps #187
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #49
First Topps Card:  1956 Topps #49
Representative Phillies Card:  1967 Topps #187
Last Topps Card:  1967 Topps #187
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1956-1967

59 - Ramos non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/14/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Friday, June 7, 2019

#48 Jim Hegan - Cleveland Indians


James Edward Hegan
Cleveland Indians
Catcher


Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
Born:  August 3, 1920, Lynn, MA
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1938 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1941-1942, 1946-1957; Detroit Tigers 1958; Philadelphia Phillies 1958-1959; San Francisco Giants 1959; Chicago Cubs 1960
Died:  June 17, 1984, Lynn, MA (age 63)

Interrupted by three years of military service during World War II, Jim Hegan played 17 seasons in the big leagues as an All-Star catcher and then as a dependable back-up catcher in his later years.  With the Indians in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was named to five All-Star Games and received A.L. MVP votes in 1948 and 1954, the two seasons in which the Indians advanced to the World Series.  His best season came in 1948, helping the Indians to a World Series ring, and hitting career highs in both home runs (14) and RBIs (61).

Hegan appeared in 1,666 games and was a career .228 hitter.  He more than compensated for his low average with his work behind the plate, expertly handling the early 1950s Indians starting pitching rotation consisting of Bob Feller (#200), Bob Lemon (#255), Early Wynn (#187) and Mike Garcia (#210).

Following his playing days, Hegan served as a Yankees coach for 16 seasons from 1960 to 1973 and then again from 1979 to 1980.  His son Mike Hegan made his Major League debut with the Yankees in 1964, and the two Hegan's were together for parts of four seasons with the team.

Building the Set
July 31, 1993 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #116
This is one of five 1956 Topps cards I purchased at the Ocean City baseball card show during the summer of '93.  My notes indicate we paid $9 for the card, and like the other 1956 Topps cards we purchased that day this card is flawless.

I wrote about the summer of '93 and the first of five cards purchased in my post for Frank House (#32).

The Card
That's Hegan, wearing #4 and coming in spikes high at a play at second base.  Given where the fielder's glove is, I'm assuming the umpire was about to call Hegan safe.  The portrait photo is the same photo used on Hegan's 1954 and 1955 Topps cards.

The back of his card pays tribute to his status as one of the best defensive catchers in the league.  Hegan's record of having caught three no-hitters was later broken by Jason Varitek and Carlos Ruiz, who both caught four no-hitters.  (I commemorated Ruiz's record here over at The Phillies Room.)  Hegan was on the receiving end of no-hitters from Don Black in 1947, Lemon in 1948 and Feller in 1951.

1956 Season
1956 was to be Hegan's final year as a regular catcher, appearing in 122 games for the Indians at the age of 36.  He hit .222 with 6 home runs that season.  Prior to the 1958 season, with rookie Russ Nixon ready to take over regular catching duties for the Indians, Hegan was traded to the Tigers.

Phillies Career
On July 27, 1958, the Tigers traded Hegan to the Phillies for minor leaguer John Turk and cash.  The 1958 Phillies were going nowhere fast and they'd ultimately finish 8th in the National League with a record of 69-85.  Hegan appeared in 25 games for the Phillies, serving as a back-up to Stan Lopata (#183) along with fellow catchers Joe Lonnett and Jimmie Coker.  Hegan appeared in 25 more games for the Phillies in 1959 before being sold to the Giants on June 14th.  His Phillies career consisted of 50 games, where he hit .209 (23 for 110) with no home runs and 14 RBIs.

His 1959 Topps card features him with the Phillies, and the card holds a special place in my collection.  I wrote about it here, and this was my first truly "vintage" Phillies baseball card.  At the time of its acquisition, I remember marveling that something this old was now in my small but growing collection.  This is Hegan's one and only Phillies baseball card, and his last card as an active player.

1949 Leaf #28
1951 Topps Red Backs #12
1959 Topps #372
1973 Topps #116
1976 Topps #69
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Leaf #28
First Topps Card:  1951 Topps Red Backs #12
Representative Phillies Card:  1959 Topps #372
Last Topps Card (as a player):  1959 Topps #372
First Topps Card (as a coach):  1973 Topps #116
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1951-1959, 1973, 1976

92 - Hegan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/13/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.