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 - Bill Stafford

Here is the final card for Yankees’ starting pitcher Bill Stafford (#281). Stafford was one of the top 10 Yankees pitchers during the 1960s, in terms of playing time. For the others, see here.

Stafford was signed by the Yankees in 1957, and pitched from 1957-60 in their farm system. He made his debut with the Yankees in August 1960 and went 3-1 in 11 games in his rookie season, joining the rotation of Whitey Ford, Art Ditmar, Ralph Terry, and Bob Turley. He also pitched 6 innings in relief in the World Series vs. the Pirates.

In ’61 and ’62, Bill was among the team’s top 3 starting pitchers (with Ford and Terry), finishing with a 14-9 record in both seasons. He also compiled a 1-0 record in the World Series each year.

Stafford began the ’63 season as a starter, but by mid-season he moved to the bullpen, as Jim Bouton (21-7), rookie Al Downing (13-5), and Stan Williams (9-8) joined the rotation that year.

In 1964 he only made 1 start, as he spent the season in the Yankees’ crowded bullpen.

In 1965 Bill was back in the rotation, as the #5 starter behind Mel Stottlemyre, Ford, Downing, and Bouton. He finished up with a poor 3-8 record, and that would be his last season in pinstripes.

Stafford found himself back in the minors to start the 1966 season, and in mid-June was traded (with pitcher Gil Blanco and outfielder Roger Repoz) to the Kansas City Athletics (where else?) for pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Bill Bryan. He started 8 games for the A’s in June and July, but did not play in August or September.

After beginning the ’67 season in the minors, he relieved in 14 games for the Athletics in August and September. That was the end of his MLB career.

Stafford continued in the minors for 2 more seasons, playing for Oakland’s and the Angels’ AAA teams in 1968, and for the Giants’ and White Sox’ AAA teams in 1969. The addition of 4 expansion teams could not get him back to the majors.

Bill Stafford passed away in 2001 at age 63.

Final Card - Tony Kubek

Staying with my plan to feature only those players whose final card is in the 1965 set, today we have Yankees’ shortstop Tony Kubek (#65). 

Kubek was signed by the Yankees in 1954, and made his major-league debut in April 1957. He was a regular for each of his 9 seasons (1957-65) with the Yanks, although he missed much of the 1962 season while in military service. Normally the starting shortstop, he played all over the diamond in ’57 and ’59.

With veteran Gil McDougald holding down the shortstop job in 1957, Kubek started several dozen games at SS, 3B, and LF, and hit .297 in 475 plate appearances as a rookie. That was good enough to land the AL Rookie of the Year award, snaring 23 of the 24 1st place votes. He was also 8-for-28 (.286) with 2 homers and 4 RBI in the 1957 Fall Classic, although they lost to the Braves.

In 1958 McDougald moved to 2nd base, opening up shortstop for Kubek. His playing time soared to 597 plate appearances, and although his batting average dropped to .265, he made his first of 3 All-Star games. The Yankees returned to the World Series and won the re-match with the Braves. Kubek however, only hit .048 in the post-season.

Tony started almost half the team’s games at shortstop in 1959, while also making a few dozen starts at each outfield position, and at 3rd base. He made his 2nd All-Star team, but the Yankees did not make the post-season (for only the 2nd time in that decade).

Kubek played almost exclusively at shortstop for the remainder of his career. In 1960 he reached double-digits in home runs (14) and in ’61 made his 3rd and final All-Star team. He also played in the World Series 4 more times (1960-63).

In 1962 Tony played only 45 games, as he spent most of the year in the military. It was the only year he hit over .300 (.314).

A few years ago I was watching a replay of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and the Cardinals. I was surprised to see that Kubek did not play in any of the games (must have been injured). Kubek had been the leadoff batter all season, and I thought it was odd that Kubek’s replacement (the light-hitting Phil Linz) was kept in the leadoff spot for the World Series.

Tony retired after the 1965 season, due to a back injury. He became a TV broadcaster with NBC for 24 years, often paired with Curt Gowdy or Bob Costas. He also broadcast the Toronto Blue Jays games from 1977-89.