Final Card - Duke Carmel

Like Jim Duffalo, Duke Carmel (#261) had a much shorter career than I realized. (I thought he was similar to Bob Cerv.)

Carmel played minor-league ball in the Cardinals' organization from 1955 until he was traded to the Dodgers in June 1960. In September 1959, he appeared in 10 games for the Cards.

Between June 1960 and the start of the 1962 season, Duke went back-and-forth between the Cardinals and Dodgers FOUR TIMES, and then to the Cleveland Indians! A year later, Cleveland returned him to the Cardinals. (He wasn’t so much a baseball player as he was a professional traveler.)

Not sure why this card says "Duke is a long ball threat" when he only hit 4 homers in 104 games 2 years earlier, and wasn't even in the majors in 1964! 

Carmel got his first extended major-league time in 1963, with the Cardinals. He played 57 games during the first 4 months of the season, then was traded to the Mets at the end of July and played 47 games over the rest of the season.

After playing the entire 1964 season in the minors, Duke was selected by the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. (By the way, why does he even have a card in the 1965 set?) After 6 games with the Yanks, he was returned to the Mets and spent the rest of 1965 and all of 1966-67 in the minors before retiring.

Final Card - Ken McBride

Ken McBride was one of the top starting pitchers for the Los Angeles Angels in their first 3 years in the league. He was the team’s #1 starter in their inaugural season, and would later be joined by Bo Belinsky and Dean Chance.

McBride began his pro career in the Red Sox’ chain in 1954. After 5 seasons in the low minors, he was purchased by the White Sox in 1959, and made his major-league debut in August, pitching in 11 games over the final 2 months (mostly in relief).

Ken was back in triple-A in 1960, but returned to Chicago in September, pitching in 5 games.

McBride was drafted by the Angels in the December 1960 expansion draft, and spent the next 3 seasons in their starting rotation, winning in double-figures each season for the new team.

He was also selected for the All-Star team 3 times (1961-63). Although he didn’t play in the ’61 or ’62 games, he was the AL’s starting pitcher in the 1963 game, pitching 3 innings.

McBride has an off-year in 1964, compiling a 4-13 record. (Teammate Dean Chance picked up the slack by going 20-9 and winning the Cy Young award.)

McBride pitched sporadically in 1965 - only 1 game in May, 3 in June, and 2 each in July and August. With a record of 0-3 and a 6.14 ERA, he seemingly just ran out of gas.

Final Card - Ted Wills

Here is the final card for Ted Wills (#488). I wonder why he even had a card in this set, since his last action was in 1962. His only MLB experience after 1962 was 15 games in the first 2 months of 1965, but that was with the White Sox, not the Reds.

Wills was signed by the Red Sox in 1955, and after winning 15 games in 3 seasons (’55, ’56, ’58), he made his major-league debut with Boston in late-May 1959. He pitched in 9 games (8 starts) through the middle of July that season.

Ted split the ’60 and ’61 seasons between the Red Sox and their AAA team. He pitched in 15 and 17 games for the Sox those years, all in relief.

Wills only appeared in 1 game for the BoSox in 1962, pitching in 1 game. Because he gave up 1 earned run but got no outs (thus zero innings), his record shows an ERA of "infinity". He was traded to the Reds in early May, and appeared in 26 games for Cincinnati. 1962 was his only season NOT in the minors.

Wills spent the next 2 years playing for the Reds’ AAA team. After appearing briefly with the White Sox in early, he pitched the remainder of that season for the Indians’ and Cardinals’ AAA teams.