#80 Gus Triandos - Baltimore Orioles

Gus Triandos
Baltimore Orioles
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  205
Born:  July 30, 1930, San Francisco, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1953-1954; Baltimore Orioles 1955-1962; Detroit Tigers 1963; Philadelphia Phillies 1964-1965; Houston Astros 1965
Died:  March 28, 2013, San Jose, CA (age 82)

A slugging catcher who enjoyed his best seasons in the late 1950s, Gus Triandos was a three-time All-Star who hit 167 career home runs over his 13-year career.  Triandos enjoyed his best years with the Orioles between 1955 and 1962, hitting at least 17 home runs in five seasons.  His best season statistically came in 1958 when he hit a career high 30 home runs and drove in 79 runs.  That was also the season he was named the starting catcher for the A.L. All-Stars, ending the eight-year reign of the Yankees' Yogi Berra (#110).  It was the Yankees who had originally traded Triandos away to the Orioles in November 1954 as part of a blockbuster 17-player trade.  I first wrote about that trade with the Bob Turley (#40) card here.

Triandos was also known for his defense behind the plate, leading the A.L. in the caught stealing category in both 1957 and 1959, and finishing in the top ten for fielding percentage as a catcher in three different seasons.  After a year with the Tigers in 1963, he was traded to the Phillies where he shared catching duties with Clay Dalrymple.  After a 24-game stint with the Astros in 1965, Triandos retired and served as a part-time scout for the Dodgers in the mid-1970s.  He was elected into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1981, the fifth member enshrined following Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Dave McNally and Boog Powell.

Christmas Eve 2004

Building the Set
December 25, 2004 from San Diego, CA - Card #257
This is the fifth of six cards my Dad gave me for Christmas in 2004, and I've already covered the cards for Andy Carey (#12), Bob Kennedy (#38), "Windy" McCall (#44) and Johnny O'Brien (#65).  My Dad never told me how much he paid for the six cards he ordered from Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  Kit Young was a favorite of my Dad's, and I can picture him making the long distance call to California with a dollar amount in mind for this purchase.

And only after researching and composing this post did I realize I've been saying Triandos' name wrong my whole life.  I've always pronounced his last name "Trinidos" like the country Trindad, completely omitting the "A."

The Card
Triandos had his rookie card in the 1955 Topps set, and this card borrows the same main picture.  The action shot shows Triandos in a Yankees uniform, wearing the #26 he wore in 1953 and 1954 with his original team.  Triandos wore #11 during his time with the Orioles.

With Hal Smith (#62) the regular catcher for the Orioles, Triandos moved to first base in 1955 after being acquired from the Yankees.  He played 103 games at first, and still managed to catch 36 games as the back-up to Smith.  He ran away with the team lead in home runs with 12, with Dave Philley (#222), Cal Abrams and Hoot Evers finishing a distant second place, all tied with six.  His 65 RBIs topped the 52 from Smith.

1956 Season
Triandos resumed his duties behind the plate in 1956 and the Orioles traded away Smith on August 17th.  In 131 games, Triandos hit .279 with 21 home runs and a career high 88 RBIs.  Working with manager Paul Richards, Triandos became one of the best catchers in the league, both from a defensive and offensive standpoint.

Phillies Career
On December 5, 1963, Triandos was traded to the Phillies from the Tigers along with Jim Bunning for Don Demeter and Jack Hamilton.  It turned out to be a fairly lopsided trade in favor of the Phillies as Bunning would go on to add to his Hall of Fame career numbers.  Triandos was behind the plate on Father's Day 1964 when Bunning threw his perfect game, collecting a pair of hits, driving in two runs and scoring a run.  Wearing #9, Triandos quickly got out of the way following the final strikeout of Bunning's masterpiece as his teammates mobbed the mound.

He shared catching duties in 1964 with Dalrymple, with Dalrymple starting 110 games to Triandos' 52.  Following the historic Phillies collapse of 1964, Triandos was back as Dalrymple's back-up to start the 1965 season.  When the Phillies decided they wanted to get a better look at young catching prospect Pat Corrales, Triandos was sold to the Astros on August 20th.  In 103 games with the Phillies, Triandos hit .226 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs.

Bunning's perfect game - Triandos is behind the plate wearing #9

He's listed as a Phillie on his 1964 Topps card, but he's pictured wearing a Tigers uniform.  His 1965 Topps card is his sole mainstream baseball card to actually picture him in a Phillies uniform.

1955 Topps #64

1959 Topps #330

1962 Topps #420

1964 Topps #83

1965 Topps #248

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #64
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #64
Representative Phillies Card:  1965 Topps #248
Last Topps Card:  1965 Topps #248
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1986 TCMA All-Time Baltimore Orioles #6
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1955-1965

75 - Triandos non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/30/19.

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.

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Set Order: #79 Sandy Koufax - Brooklyn Dodgers / #81 Wally Westlake - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #65 Johnny O'Brien - Pittsburgh Pirates / #160 Billy Pierce - Chicago White Sox

#28 Bobby Hofman - New York Giants

Robert George Hofman
New York Giants
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  October 5, 1925, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1944
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1949, 1952-1957
Died:  April 5, 1994, Chesterfield, MO (age 68)

Known primarily for his pinch-hitting, Bobby Hofman enjoyed a seven-year career with the Giants which was interrupted for two seasons while he served in the Army during World War II.  He made it out onto the field in 205 of his 341 career games, playing mostly at second base but also seeing time at third and first base.  He also caught in 26 games.  At the time of his retirement following the 1957 season, Hofman was tied with Cy Williams for the most career pinch-hit home runs with nine.

Hofman would go on to serve as a coach with the Athletics (1966-1967, 1969-1970, 1974-1975, 1978), Senators (1968) and Indians (1971-1972).  He was the scouting director for the Yankees during the tumultous years of 1980 through 1984, and their director of player development from 1985 to 1988.

Building the Set

May 20, 1989 in Sea Isle City, NJ - Card #71
For 45 years, my grandparents owned a house in Sea Isle City on 37th Street.  As a result of the Storm of 1962, which wiped out the block of houses in front of them, their house became beach front property until the construction of the Spinnaker Condominiums in 1972.  We were lucky enough to spend most of our summers in Sea Isle, and the five-minute walk to the beach was accomplished by climbing up a ramp in back of the Spinnaker, crossing over the concrete promenade and walking down a few steps to the sand.

For several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a complete dive of a snack shop called Joe's Sno-Cone located in the Spinnaker at the top of that ramp.  The menu at Joe's was limited to the usual beach fare - hot dogs, soft pretzels, bags of chips, candy and yes, snow cones.  During a visit to Joe's on the weekend before Memorial Day in 1989, I noticed the shop's owner (Joe presumably) had set up a small display of baseball cards for sale.  This Hofman card was available for $3 and another 1956 Topps card, Ernie Johnson (#294), was also available for $3.  I purchased both cards and most likely added a cherry snow cone to my order before heading next door to the arcade to drop several quarters into the Rolling Thunder game.

The Card
Due to the fact that I purchased this card at a place called Joe's Sno-Cone, the border isn't nearly as white as it should be.  Rather, it's more a beige color but in otherwise decent shape.

The head shot is the same as was used on Hofman's 1954 and 1955 Topps cards.  The action shot features Hofman in action as a catcher, despite the fact that his position is listed as "infield" on the card.  In 1955, Hofman appeared in 19 games behind the plate, playing a position he had never before played in a professional baseball game.  As the back of the card mentions, this emergency duty was necessitated due to an injury to regular catcher Ray Katt.

The vital statistics on the card's back give Hofman an extra inch in height and 15 extra pounds in weight over the information presented on his Baseball Reference page.  Hofman was referred to as Bob on his 1952, 1953 and 1954 Topps cards and as Bobby on his 1955 and 1956 Topps cards.

1956 Season
Hofman played in his second to last season in 1956, hitting .179 over 47 games.  He appeared in just two games with the Giants in 1957, spending the bulk of that season with the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers.

1949 Bowman #223

1952 Topps #371

1994 Topps Archives 1954 #99

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #223
First Topps Card:  1952 Topps #371
Last Topps Card:  1956 Topps #28
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #99
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1952-1956

21 - Hofman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/9/17

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.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #27 Nelson Burbrink - St. Louis Cardinals / #29 Jack Harshman - Chicago White Sox

Order Collected: #135 Mickey Mantle - New York Yankees / #294 Ernie Johnson - Milwaukee Braves