Final Card: Dick Simpson

This is the final card for Dick Simpson (#608), a fringe outfielder for 6 teams over 7 years, and who was once traded for Frank Robinson (well, not straight-up).

Simpson was signed by the expansion Los Angeles Angels prior to their inaugural 1961 season, and played for 5 seasons (1961-65) in their farm system, working his way through class D, C, and AAA ball. He also appeared in a few games for the Angels in '62, '64, and '65.

After the 1965 season, he was traded to the Orioles for veteran 1st baseman Norm Siebern. Exactly one week later, the O's flipped him to the Reds along with 2 others for Frank Robinson. After 2 seasons as the Reds' 5th outfielder, he was traded to the Cardinals for bad-apple Alex Johnson.

I hope Simpson didn't spend too much time unpacking, because he split 1968 between the Cardinals and the Astros, then after the season was traded to the Yankees for reliever Dooley Womack. By May, the Yankees has seen enough, and sent him to the Seattle Pilots for outfielder Jose Vidal. (The aforementioned Dooley Womack would soon join him in Seattle, after the Astros dealt him for pitcher/author Jim Bouton.)

Simpson's last major-league game was on 8/27/1969. After the 1969 season, the Pilots traded him and outfielder Steve Whitaker to the Giants for pitcher Bob Bolin, but Simpson spent the next 2 seasons in triple-A, before retiring.


I'm working my way through the "Final card in 1969" list. There are 86 cards altogether, but Dick Simpson was the last one with at least 7 years in the majors.  The remaining 29 "final cards"  are either players with less than 7 years in the majors, or manager cards.

Freddie Patek (#219)

Here is the rookie card for Pirates' shortstop Freddie Patek. (Often referred to back in the day as "Pint-sized Freddie Patek", since he was five-foot-six). Wait, there's also "He put the 'short' in shortstop", and... ok, that's enough.

Patek was signed by the Pirates in 1965, and played in the minors during the '66 and '67 seasons, and the first part of 1968. Although incumbent Pirates' shortstop Gene Alley made his 2nd consecutive all-star appearance in 1968, his stats had dropped significantly from 1965-67. Patek was called up in early June, and started 49 games at shortstop over the rest of the season, including most of the games in August and September. He also played some in the outfield.

In 1969, Patek became the full-time shortstop, starting 141 games. (Alley assumed a utility role, starting 20 games at SS, 47 games at 2B, and 4 at 3B.) Patek never missed more than 2 consecutive starts all season, except for the stretch between 5/25 and 6/11.

1970 was just the opposite, with Alley regaining his old position (105 starts), leaving Patek with just 57 starts, the bulk of them coming in May. (Although Freddie had played a little outfield during his rookie season, he played nowhere but shortstop for the rest of his career, until his final season in 1981.)

After the 1970 season, Patek was traded to the Royals (with pitcher Bruce Dal Canton and catcher Jerry May) for pitcher Bob Johnson, catcher Jim Campanis, and shortstop Jackie Hernandez. Patek held down the Royals' shortstop job from opening day 1971, until he was replaced by U.L. Washington at the end of August 1979. Along the way, he teamed with 2nd basemen Cookie Rojas (1971-75) and Frank White (1976-79), and was a 3-time all-star.

Patek was granted free agency after the 1979 season, and signed on with the Angels, where he shared the starting shortstop job with Bert Campaneris in 1980, and was a little-used infield reserve in 1981.

Patek was released by the Angels on opening day 1982, ending his 14-year career.

Final Card: Fred Whitfield

This is the final card for first baseman Fred Whitfield (#518). Fred was best known as the Indians' 1st baseman from 1963-67, but also played for several other teams.

Whitfield was signed by the Cardinals in 1956, but didn't begin playing until 1958. In his 4 full seasons in the minors (1958-61) he hit 99 home runs.

Fred began the 1962 season in the minors, then made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in late May. He appeared in 73 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter, although he did start 30 games at 1B (to Bill White's 132 starts), After the season he was traded to the Indians for (future Astros' and Mets') pitcher Ron Taylor.

During his first 2 seasons in Cleveland, Whitfield shared the first base job with Joe Adcock (1963) and Bob Chance (1964). He was the regular first baseman in '65, '66, and the first part of 1967. After the Tribe acquired young Tony Horton from Boston on June 4th, Whitfield and Horton shared the post for several weeks, but by late July Fred was relegated to the bench.

He and pitcher George Culver were dealt to the Reds after the season for outfielder Tommy Harper. Fred spent the next 2 seasons as a pinch-hitter and occasional 1st baseman for the Reds, then was released after the 1969 season.

The Expos signed him just before the 1970 season, but he played most of the season at triple-A Winnipeg, only playing 4 games for the Expos.

Whitfield passed away in January 2013 at age 75.

All-Star Cards

Here are the All-Star cards... those players selected as All-Stars in 1968 by The Sporting News. As with the All-Star cards in the 1968 set, the players getting the cards were not necessarily the starters.

In the actual game, the NL had Don Drysdale, Jerry Grote, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron starting at P, C, CF, and RF respectively. The AL lineup included Luis Tiant, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Fregosi, and Frank Howard starting at P, 1B, SS, and RF. Otherwise, the starters were those you see in the 2 large blocks of cards below.

For the NL, Curt Flood started out of position in left field. Pete Rose and Bob Gibson were on the team, but did not play. (I assume they may have been injured.) Johnny Bench only played the 9th inning, so maybe he was banged up as well. Jerry Koosman pitched the final 1/3 inning of the game.

For the AL, Carl Yastrzemski started in center field, while Ken Harrelson, Bert Campaneris, and Tony Oliva all played later in the game. Denny McLain pitched the 5th and 6th innings, and Sam McDowell pitched the 7th.

The Sporting News selected a lefty and a righty in each league. Here are the lefthanders, who didn't fit into the Brady-Bunch-style collage above.

The backs of these 20 cards formed 2 photos - Pete Rose and Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz also made the puzzle in the '68 set.) Contrary to what I would have thought, the 2 puzzles were not made exclusively from the player cards from Rose's or Yaz' own league. (My scanner bed is not large enough to hold all 10 cards, hence the cut-off tops.)

RECAP:
3 Cardinals
3 Reds
3 Tigers
2 Cubs
2 Red Sox
2 Twins
1 each from Giants, Mets, Athletics, Orioles, Indians
.

Final Card: Dan Osinski

Here is Dan Osinski's final baseball card (#622). Dan had 7 baseball cards (1963-69), 2 each with the Angels, Braves, and Red Sox, before wrapping up with the White Sox.

Osinski was signed by the Indians way back in 1952. After 5 seasons in the Tribe's farm system, he was released, and was out of baseball for 2 years.

Dan came back in 1959 as a member of the White Sox organization. After 3 seasons with Chicago's minor-league teams, he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics, and made his big-league debut in April 1962. By mid-season, and with an ERA over 17.00, Osinski was traded to the 2nd-year Los Angeles Angels. He settled down in the second half, fashioning a 6-4 record with a 2.82 ERA in 33 relief appearances.

Dan spent two more seasons with the Angels, then one with the Braves before beginning the 1966 season with the Red Sox.

Dan pitched for the Red Sox during 1966 and 1967, and appeared in 2 games in the 1967 World Series. The Red Sox released him one week before the 1968 season.

By the end of April, he was picked up by the White Sox, but spent the remainder of the season in the minors (a place he had avoided since 1962). Osinski spent the entire 1969 season in the White Sox' bullpen, pitching in 51 games.

He was purchased by the Astros in December, but didn't make it past mid-April in the majors. After 3 games with Houston, he spent the rest of the year in triple-A (where one of his teammates was Jim Bouton) before retiring.

Joe Rudi (#587)

Final Card: Gary Geiger

After being omitted from the 1968 set, Gary Geiger returns for one final card (#278). Geiger played outfield with the Red Sox from 1959-65, then finished his career with 2 seasons each with the Braves and Astros.

Geiger was signed by the Cardinals in 1954, and played 4 seasons in their minor-league system. After the 1957 season, he was selected by the Indians in the Rule 5 draft, and started 35 games as the backup center fielder to veteran Larry Doby.

After 1 year with the Tribe, Geiger was traded to Boston (with little- used 1st baseman Vic Wertz) for center fielder Jim Piersall, who had been a regular outfielder for the Sox since day 1 in 1953.

(Geiger is incorrectly listed as a right-handed batter on this card.)

In 1959, Gary split time in center field with Marty Keough, then moved to right field the next year, where he shared the position with Lou Clinton. Geiger took over as the every-day center fielder at the start of the '61 season, a post he held until 1963, when he shared center with Roman Mejias.

Gary only played 5 games in 1964, as he was recovering from ulcer-related surgery. He also missed most of the 1965 season, due to a broken hand. After the season, he was selected by the Braves in the Rule 5 draft.

Geiger spent the next 2 seasons in Atlanta, backing up center fielder Mack Jones. He spent all of 1968 with the Cardinals' AAA team, then (after his THIRD Rule 5 selection) made a comeback (of sorts) with the Astros in 1969, playing in 93 games as a backup corner outfielder and pinch-hitter.

Gary spent most of 1970 with the Astros' AAA team, but played his last 5 major-league games in late-June/early-July. He returned to the Cardinals' organization for his final pro season (1971), playing 100 games with double-A Tulsa.

Geiger passed away at age 59 on April 24, 1996.