Cookie Rojas (#507)

As usual, playing catch-up on the weekend...


This is the last card for Cookie Rojas as a Phillie. After the season, he would be traded to the Cardinals (with Dick Allen and pitcher Jerry Johnson) for Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, ace reliever Joe Hoerner, and backup outfielder Byron Browne.

After rotting on the St. Louis bench for 2 months, Cookie was traded to the Royals in mid-June, and had a 2nd career as the regular 2nd baseman for the upstart Royals, until the position was transitioned to Frank White during the 1975 season.

Rojas was born in Havana Cuba in 1939, and signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1956. He played 7 seasons in the Reds' minor-league system, including two (1959-60) with his hometown Havana Sugar Canes. Some of his teammates on the Havana squad included future major-leaguers Mike Cuellar, Vic Davalillo, Chico Cardenas, Joe Azcue, Orlando Pena, and future Phillies' teammate Tony Gonzalez. During the 1960 season, the team was relocated out of Cuba to Jersey City, NJ.

Rojas began the 1962 season with the Reds, alternating at 2nd base with veteran Don Blasingame until late May, when Rojas was relegated to the bench. Cookie was sent down to triple-A in mid-July, and returned in September. After the season he was traded to the Phillies for pitcher Jim Owens.

Cookie was in the majors to stay in 1963. He played in 64 games primarily as a pinch-hitter and backup 2nd baseman. From 1964-66, Rojas primarily played outfield and 2nd base (with his games at 2B increasing as time went on), but he played other positions as well. He filled in as the team's emergency catcher, and also pitched in a game in 1967, completing his 9-position resume.

By 1967, he was almost exclusively the Phillies' regular 2nd baseman, having won the job away from long-time regular Tony Taylor. Rojas continued as a fixture at 2B through the 1969 season, although missing several stretches of playing time in 1969.

After the 1969 season, the Phillies continued with their roster turnover, parting ways with Rojas, Allen, Johnny Callison, and Turk Farrell. Rojas soon found himself in Kansas City, stabilizing the infield for the 2nd-year Royals, and made the all-star team 4 times while in KC.

Cookie remained the starting 2nd baseball for Kansas City until Frank White joined the team and shared the 2B job in 1975. He played 2 more seasons with the Royals as a backup infielder, retiring after the 1977 season.

After his playing career, Rojas coached for several teams, and managed the Angels in 1988. He is currently the Marlins' Spanish-language broadcaster. His son Victor was an anchor on the MLB Network for several seasons.

John Morris (#111)

Here is the first Seattle Pilots' card to be featured on this blog. John Morris was one of several pitchers who came up through the Phillies' farm system in the mid-1960s, but only got a cup of coffee there before being shipped elsewhere. (Guys like Morris, Joe Verbanic, and Fergie Jenkins - you know, pitchers of that ilk!)

Morris was signed by the Phillies back in 1960, and was a starting pitcher in their farm system for 5 seasons (missing the '63 season with injuries). In 1966 he was converted to a reliever, and made his major-league debut in July that season.

John appeared in 13 games (for 13 innings) during the second half of the season, then it was back to triple-A San Diego for the entire 1967 season. On 12/15/67, Morris was sent to the Orioles as the player to be named later for pitcher Dick Hall, who was acquired by the Phillies one year to the day earlier.

John languished in triple-A for the 1968 season, then was taken by the Pilots as the 52nd pick in the expansion draft. He pitched in 6 games for Seattle in April, but still was evidently not ready for prime time, and spent most of the season at double-A Indianapolis. Morris spent the entire 1970 and 1971 seasons with the (by now) Milwaukee Brewers, and was one of the team's top 3 relief pitchers in '71.

After the '71 season, John was traded to the Giants for 2 minor-leaguers. He spent the next 3 seasons up and down (mostly down) with the Giants and their AAA team in Phoenix. The Giants released him in March 1975, ending his career.

Morris also had cards in 1971 (Brewers) and 1975 (Giants).

Final Card: Bob Chance

As with my 1966 and 1968 blogs, I'm down to the last half-dozen (+/-) players whose final card is in this set.

Bob Chance (#523) was a 1st baseman for the Indians and Senators in the mid-1960s. After being out of the majors (and Topps' lineup) in 1968, he returned in 1969, playing 5 games with the Angels.

Chance was was signed by the Giants in 1961, and played outfield for their class-D team in El Paso. After the season, he was selected by the Indians in the minor-league draft. Bob played 1st base and outfield for the next 2 seasons with the Tribe's Charleston WV team, which was class A in '62 and double-A in '63. He made his big-league debut on 9/4/63, and started 14 games in right field that month.

He made the jump from AA to the majors at the start of the 1964 season. This was Bob's only full season in the majors, and he made the most of it. After starting most of the games in right field during the month of June, he moved to 1st base and started most of the games there for 2nd half of the season, replacing the incumbent Fred Whitfield.

After the season, Bob and utilityman Woodie Held were traded to the Senators for outfielder Chuck Hinton. Chance spent the next 3 seasons alternating between Washington and the minors (was there a difference?).

In '65, he split the 1st base duties with veteran Joe Cunningham for the 1st half of the season, until he was replaced by Dick Nen, and sent to the minors for July and August. In 1966, Bob was Nen's backup, but after the Senators acquired 1st baseman Ken Harrelson in late June, Chance was back to the minors for the rest of the season.

His 1967 resume with the Senators included only the first month, and then again in September. He spent all of 1968 in the minors, then was selected by the Angels in the Rule 5 draft. Bob's last major-league games was on April 29, 1969. The next day, he was traded to the Braves for catcher Dave Adlesh.

The remainder of the '69 season was split between the Braves' AAA team and the Japanese League. He also played in Japan during 1970.

Johnny Callison (#133)

This is the last card for Johnny Callison as a member of the Phillies. The team's long-time right fielder was traded to the Cubs after the season for pitcher Dick Selma and outfield prospect Oscar Gamble. The Phillies later sent minor-league pitcher Larry Colton to the Cubs to complete the deal. Callison was one of my favorite Phillies' players in the 1960s (although I missed out on his 1964-65 exploits).

Johnny was signed by the White Sox in June 1957. He played the remainder of that season at class-C Bakersfield, then jumped to AAA Indianapolis in 1958. Recalled by the White Sox in September, he started the final 18 games in left field for the Sox.

Callison began the 1959 season as Chicago's starting left fielder, starting 10 of the first 12 games there. For the month of May, he was replaced by former Phillie Del Ennis, but returned to the starting lineup on May 27th and started 14 of the next 21 games in left. Johnny was sent back to triple-A at the end of June, but returned for a few games with the Sox at the end of September.

After the 1959 season, Callison was traded to the Phillies for 3rd baseman Gene Freese. Johnny spent the next 10 full seasons in the Phillies outfield. He played all 3 positions in 1960, logging the 3rd-most innings among Phillies' outfielders. The next year he played more than any other Phillies outfielder, while splitting time 70/30 between left and right.

In 1962, he became a fixture in right field, starting 146 games there, with only 1 start in left field. Johnny's big years were 1962-1965, as he made 3 all-star appearances during that time (winning the '64 game with a walk-off homer), and led the league in triples in 1962 and 1965. Callison finished 2nd in the 1964 MVP voting to the Cardinals' Ken Boyer.

His production (but not playing time) began to slip in 1966, with his home runs dropping from 32 to 11, although he led the NL with 40 doubles. His game tailed off in the 2nd half of 1968, as he was platooned in right field with Don Lock for the month of July, and only made 11 starts after August 7th. Callison missed 3 weeks in July 1969, but managed to play 134 games in right field, putting up similar numbers to 1968, although he raised his batting average 20 points to .265.

After the season he was shipped to the Cubs, and was their regular right fielder for 1 1/2 seasons. By mid-1971, he was sharing the position with Jim Hickman. Johnny was traded to the Yankees in January 1972, and shared the Yankees' right field job with Rusty Torres (1972) and Matty Alou (1973) until he was released on August 18th.

Callison played 1886 games over 16 years, never making it to the post-season. After baseball, he ran a bowling alley in suburban Philadelphia for many years. He passed away on October 12, 2006.

1969 Topps Decals

Here are some of my 1969 Topps decals, that were inserted in several series during the year. It looks like I mounted AL players on one side of the page, and NL players on the other side.

I have another several dozen decals that back in the day I mounted each on half of a 3x5 card (and even made a checklist card!), but I didn't realize that I had this large card of decals until unpacking stuff after my recent move. Here's some more old stuff I found recently.

I haven't determined yet if I have a complete set of the decals from among this large group and all the individual cards. (Nor can I remember why I left gaps between certain decals here.)

Final Card: Bill Short

This is the final card for Bill Short (#259). He had a card each year from 1960-62, then again from 1967-69. In 6 cards, he was featured on 5 teams. That's a journeyman!

Bill pitched in 6 seasons between 1960 and 1969, mostly a few games here and there, except for his 34-game stint with the Mets in 1968. Short (no relation to Chris Short, or to Dale Long, for that matter) was signed by the Yankees in 1955, and pitched in the minor leagues every season from 1955 to 1967.

For his first 7 seasons, he was the property of the Yankees, and was on the farm the entire time except for making 10 starts for New York in 1960. After the 1961 season, the Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 draft, but he only played 5 games for Baltimore in 1962, and 6 games in 1966. In-between, it was 5 more seasons pitching in triple-A (on top of his final 3 seasons in the Yankees chain stuck in triple-A).

In mid-August 1966, the Red Sox purchased his contract and kept him on the big club, where he made 8 relief appearances for the next month and a half. He was sold to the Pirates in the off-season, and found himself back in the minors for most of 1967, save for 6 games with Pittsburgh.

For the 2nd straight off-season, Bill's contract was sold - this time to the Mets. Short found himself in the majors for the entire 1968 season (the only year that would occur). He worked 34 games out of the bullpen for the Mets as their #10 pitcher on a 10-man staff, but at least he stayed out of the minors.

It wasn't enough to keep him in New York though, as in December he went to the Reds in the Rule 5 draft. After 4 relief appearances, Bill and his 15.43 ERA were sent down to Indianapolis, where he spent the remainder of the 1969 season before retiring from baseball.

Grant Jackson (#174)

[I was going to feature Johnny Callison here today, but I can't find his card on my computer. That's ok, this card has a red, white & blue look to it.]

Grant Jackson began his career with 4 full seasons in Philly, before moving on to the Orioles, Pirates, and others.

Jackson was signed by the Phillies in 1961, and was a starting pitcher for 5 seasons (1962-66) in the minors. He pitched in 6 games for the Phillies in September 1965, and 2 games in 1966 before making the majors to stay at the start of the 1967 season.

During his true rookie season of 1967, Grant was the only lefty in a bullpen headed up by veterans Turk Farrell and Dick Hall. Jackson made 43 appearances (including 4 starts), striking out 83 batters in 84 innings. His role was the same in 1968. Although his record was 1-6, his ERA was below 3.00. Jackson was a switch-hitter, with 3 hits in 10 at-bats in 1968.

In 1969, veteran ace Chris Short missed all but 2 games with a back injury. Jackson slid into Short's spot in the starting rotation and became the workhorse of the staff, pitching 253 innings and collecting 180 strikeouts while compiling a 14-18 record and a 3.34 ERA. He was also selected to his only all-star game that season.

Jackson remained in the Phillies' starting rotation in 1970, but had an off-year. Short had returned from injury, the team re-acquired Jim Bunning, and Rick Wise emerged as the #1 starter, leaving Jackson at #4. His record fell to 5-15 while his ERA ballooned to 5.25. After the season he was traded to the Orioles for outfield prospect Roger Freed.

Grant worked out of the O's bullpen for 5 1/2 seasons, and appeared in the post-season in '71, '73, and '74. In June 1976 he was part of a 10-player trade, going to the Yankees with catcher Elrod Hendricks and pitchers Doyle Alexander, Ken Holtzman, and Jimmy Freeman for catcher Rick Dempsey and pitchers Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, and Dave Pagan.

Jackson remained with the Yankees only for that season, but pitched in three games in the post-season. In November 1976 he was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft, who traded him to the Pirates a month later for shortstop Craig Reynolds.

Jackson spent the next 5 seasons in the Pirates' bullpen, and faced his old Orioles team in the 1979 World Series.

In September 1981, he joined the Expos during their playoff push, but was shipped out to the Royals in January. Jackson was released by Kansas City in July 1982, and was picked up by the Pirates on September 8th. He pitched his last game that day, and was released following the season.