Final Card - Casey Stengel

Here is the final card for long-time New York manager Casey Stengel (#135).

Casey hailed from Kansas City (hence the nickname “Casey”) and later was known as “The Old Perfessor”.

Stengel was an outfielder for the Dodgers, Pirates, Phillies, Giants, and Braves from 1912-1925. He was a regular in 1913-17, 1920, and 1924. In 1914 he hit .316 and led the NL with a .404 on-base percentage.

After retiring as a player, Casey managed the Brooklyn Dodgers (1934-36) and Boston Braves (1938-43), before moving on to the scene of his greatest triumphs.

Stengel managed the Yankees from 1949 to 1960. In those 12 seasons, the Yankees won the AL pennant TEN times and were World Champs 7 times (including 5 straight from 1949-53).

The Yankees fired him after losing the 1960 World Series to the Pirates, and he hooked on with the expansion Mets 2 years later (probably more for name recognition and ticket sales than anything else. He was 71 years old when the Mets hired him.)

Stengel retired as Mets manager in August 1965, after breaking a hip.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame (as a manager) in 1966, and passed away in 1975 at age 85.

Final Card - Nellie Fox

Snowed-in today. Good time to catch up on some blogging… 

Here is the final card for Nellie Fox (#485), the long-time White Sox’ 2nd baseman. He was a player-coach in his final season.

Fox was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1944, and worked his way up through the minors (with a detour into military service in 1946), while playing a few games with the A’s in ’47 and ’48.

Nellie made the Athletics for good at the start of the 1949 season, and after riding the bench for 2 months, was their starting 2nd baseman for almost every game after mid-June. After the ’49 season he was traded to the White Sox.

Fox was the White Sox’ every-day 2nd baseman from 1950 through the end of the 1963 season. He was an All-Star every season from 1951-61, and again in 1963. Fox also won the AL MVP award in 1959, the year the Sox made it to the World Series. He led the AL in hits 4 times, and in triples once. He also led the league in at-bats 5 times.

After the 1963 season, he was traded to the Houston Colt .45s for pitcher Jim Golden and outfielder Danny Murphy. (Murphy later converted to pitcher and played for the Sox in ’69 and ’70.) Fox was the Colts’ 2nd baseman in 1964, until losing the job to September call-up Joe Morgan.

Nellie was released after the 1964 season, and joined the coaching staff. In 1965 he was activated from May 12th to July 31st, and played in 21 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter but also at all 3 bases.

He continued coaching for the Astros though the 1967 season, then coached for the Senators/Rangers from 1968-72.

Fox passed away in 1975 (from cancer) at age 47.

He received 74% of the vote in his final year of eligibility on the ballot, but was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans’ Committee in 1997.

Final Card - Dick Sisler

After a long playing career, Dick Sisler (#158) had a very short career as a manager for the Reds. He split the managing duties with the ailing Fred Hutchinson in 1964, then put in a full season in 1965 before he was dismissed following the season.

Sisler (whose father George was a Hall of Fame 1st baseman for the St. Louis Browns in the 1910s and 1920s, and was the AL MVP in 1922) was signed by the Cardinals in 1939, and played for St. Louis in ’46 and ’47.

He may be best known as an outfielder for the Phillies’ “Whiz Kids” teams from 1948-51, playing alongside Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis. (Actually, he played 1st base in ’48 and ’49).

After the 1951 season, he and others were traded to the Reds for catcher Smoky Burgess and others. After 11 games, he returned to the Cardinals, where he played through the 1953 season.

After his playing career, he managed in the minors, then became a coach for the Reds from 1961 until his appointment as manager. He later returned to coaching for the Cardinals, Padres, and Mets.

His brother Dave was a pitcher for several teams from 1956-62.

Disk Sisler passed away in 1998 at age 78.

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.

Final (Baseball) Card - Dave DeBusschere

Here is the last of Dave DeBusschere's three baseball cards (#297). Although his only solo cards are in the ’64 and ’65 Topps sets, he spent those 2 seasons pitching in triple-A.

Dave was signed by the White Sox in April 1962 and was pitching in Chicago later that same month. He appeared in 12 games for the Sox in his rookie season, but was sent to the minors in June.

DeBusschere returned to the White Sox for all of the 1963 season, starting 10 of his 24 games and fashioning a 3.09 ERA in 84 innings. He pitched for the Sox’ AAA team in Indianapolis for the next 2 seasons, before hanging up his glove and focusing solely on basketball.

Other MLB players (including Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, and Ron Reed) also played in the NBA, but none to the level of DeBusschere.

Dave began his NBA career the same time as his MLB career (1962-63), but after his 2 seasons with the White Sox, his b-ball career really blossomed. He played 7 seasons with the Pistons and 6 with the Knicks, retiring from the NBA after the 1973-74 season. He was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1983.

DeBusschere passed away in 2003 at age 62.