 |
 |
Joseph Paul DeMaestri
Kansas City Athletics
Shortstop
Born: December 9, 1928, San Francisco, CA
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1951; St. Louis Browns 1952; Philadelphia Athletics 1953-1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955-1959; New York Yankees 1960-1961
Died: August 26, 2016, San Rafael, CA (age 87)
At the start of his professional career, Joe DeMaestri bounced around with three different organizations before finding a permanent home with the Athletics, first in Philadelphia then in Kansas City, between 1953 and 1959. With the basement-dwelling Athletics in need of an All-Star representative in 1957, DeMaestri got the nod although he didn't appear in the game. The Athletics' regular shortstop throughout the 1950s, he led the league twice in fielding percentage for shortstops in 1957 and 1958. In December 1959, he was dealt with Kent Hadley and Roger Maris to the Yankees for Hank Bauer (#177), Don Larsen (#332), Norm Siebern and Marv Thorneberry. DeMaestri would play his final two big league seasons in the Bronx, earning only 11 starts but appearing in 79 games overall as a late-inning defensive replacement or as a pinch-runner.
The Yankees advanced to the World Series in both 1960 and 1961, and DeMaestri was in the dugout when the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski hit his walk-off home run off Yankees' pitcher Ralph Terry in Game 7 of the 1960 series. He didn't appear in the postseason in 1961 when the Yankees defeated the Reds in five games. In 1,121 career games, DeMaestri batted .236 with 49 home runs, 114 doubles and 281 RBIs. He retired with a career .967 fielding percentage as a shortstop.
Building the Set
August 29, 1996 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #146
I attended college at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On humid days, or after a heavy rain, the air was heavy with the faint smell of tobacco. I absolutely loved my time as a Demon Deacon and I realize how lucky I was to be able to attend such a phenomenal college.
There was a baseball card store called Season Ticket on Silas Creek Parkway I discovered half-way through my senior year, and I'd frequent the store whenever I had a little extra spending money - which honestly wasn't very often. Given the timing of this purchase, I don't remember if my Dad was with me or not. Save for a visit north for the 1996 All-Star Game, I spent the summer of 1996 living in Winston-Salem and this might have been a pre-start of the semester purchase that I made on my own. I paid $10 for a lot of four cards needed for our 1956 Topps set, which included this DeMaestri card. $10 would have bought a lot of Taco Ball back then (and it still would now) but adding four more cards to our set was worth the sacrifice. Joining the DeMaestri card were the cards of Carlos Paula (#4), Jim Owens (#114) and Bobby Avila (#132).
I haven't been back to North Carolina in over 20 years and whenever I get around to taking my wife and my sons on a road trip to visit my old campus, I'd love to see if Season Ticket is still there.
The Card / Athletics Team Set
This is the fourth straight card of a player not to appear in the 1954 and 1955 Topps sets due to (presumably) an exclusive deal with Bowman. DeMaestri received a 1952 Topps card and this is his first appearance in a Topps set since then. The cartoonist for the back panels does his/her best to cover DeMaestri's career to that point, as he honestly didn't have much in the way of career highlights yet. His steady fielding, his call-up to the White Sox in 1951 and his arrival to the Athletics are all featured.
1956 Season
The Athletics once again suffered a 100-loss season, going 52-102 to drop to the basement of the American League. DeMaestri was the club's opening day shortstop and appeared in 133 games, making 125 starts at short. Rookie Mike Baxes spelled DeMaestri occasionally and made 27 starts at shortstop. DeMaestri batted .233 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 39 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #286
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1952, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JD
41 - DeMaestri non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/11/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
 |
| July 9, 1996 - All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium |
August 29, 1996 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #146
I attended college at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On humid days, or after a heavy rain, the air was heavy with the faint smell of tobacco. I absolutely loved my time as a Demon Deacon and I realize how lucky I was to be able to attend such a phenomenal college.
There was a baseball card store called Season Ticket on Silas Creek Parkway I discovered half-way through my senior year, and I'd frequent the store whenever I had a little extra spending money - which honestly wasn't very often. Given the timing of this purchase, I don't remember if my Dad was with me or not. Save for a visit north for the 1996 All-Star Game, I spent the summer of 1996 living in Winston-Salem and this might have been a pre-start of the semester purchase that I made on my own. I paid $10 for a lot of four cards needed for our 1956 Topps set, which included this DeMaestri card. $10 would have bought a lot of Taco Ball back then (and it still would now) but adding four more cards to our set was worth the sacrifice. Joining the DeMaestri card were the cards of Carlos Paula (#4), Jim Owens (#114) and Bobby Avila (#132).
I haven't been back to North Carolina in over 20 years and whenever I get around to taking my wife and my sons on a road trip to visit my old campus, I'd love to see if Season Ticket is still there.
The Card / Athletics Team Set
This is the fourth straight card of a player not to appear in the 1954 and 1955 Topps sets due to (presumably) an exclusive deal with Bowman. DeMaestri received a 1952 Topps card and this is his first appearance in a Topps set since then. The cartoonist for the back panels does his/her best to cover DeMaestri's career to that point, as he honestly didn't have much in the way of career highlights yet. His steady fielding, his call-up to the White Sox in 1951 and his arrival to the Athletics are all featured.
1956 Season
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #286
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1952, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JD
41 - DeMaestri non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/11/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
No comments:
Post a Comment