Final Card - Don Blasingame

This is the final card for Don Blasingame, strange because he was the Senators' regular 2nd baseman in 1965, collecting 449 at-bats in 129 games, and was their primary 2nd baseman for the first half of 1966.

Blasingame was signed by the Cardinals in 1953, and played 3 seasons in the minors.

He was the team's regular shortstop for the first two months of 1956. In mid-June the Cards acquired shortstop Al Dark from the Giants, so Blasingame moved over to 2nd base to replace Red Schoendienst, who had departed in the Dark trade.

Don was a fixture at 2nd base for the next 3 seasons, starting every game in 1957, 133 games in '58, and 148 in '59. He also made the 1958 All-Star team.

After the 1959 season he was traded to the Giants for veteran shortstop Daryl Spencer and outfielder Leon Wagner. Blasingame played one season with the Giants, then was traded to the Reds in April 1961.

Don was Cincinnati's everyday 2nd baseman in '61 and '62. He started 9 games in April 1963, but was replaced by a young upstart named Pete Rose. After riding the bench for the first half, Don was traded to the Senators on July 1st for pitcher Jim Coates.

As mentioned at the top, he was the Nats' 2nd baseman through the start of the 1966 season. In the first half he split time at 2nd base with Ken Hamlin. By mid-season the team decided to play Rule 5 pickup Bob Savarine regularly in the 2nd half, so Don was sold to the Athletics in early-August. He was released a month later.

Blasingame played in Japan from 1967-69.

He passed away in 2005 at age 73.

Final Card - Mel McGaha

Mel McGaha (#391) never played major-league baseball, but he did play NBA basketball for the New York Knicks during the 1948-49 season.

He was an outfielder in the Cardinals' organization from 1948-52, and the Indians' organization from 1953-58.

He managed in the Indians' farm system from 1954 to 1960. He was also the head basketball coach at Arkansas A&M in 1953-54 and 1954-55.

Mel joined the Indians as a coach in 1961, then was promoted to manager for the 1962 season. He was fired 2 games before the end of the season. (Why do teams do that? It’s not like they are going to start a turnaround in the final week of the season.)

McGaha was hired as an Athletics' coach in 1963, and became the team's manager in June 1964, with the A's mired in last place. They improved slightly, but still finished the year in last place. After a 5-21 start in 1965, he was canned by owner Charlie Finley.

Mel moved on the the Astros, as a minor-league manager in 1966-67, and a base coach from 1968-70.  I first became aware of McGaha during his time with the Astros.

McGaha passed away in 2002 at age 75.