Elrod Hendricks (#277)

Here is Orioles’ catcher Elrod Hendricks’ rookie card. Hendricks played from 1968 to 1979. Although mostly an Oriole (in 3 separate stints), he also spent some time with the Cubs and Yankees.

Hendricks was initially signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, but was released after the 1960 season. More than a year later, the Cardinals signed him, but also released him in June 1963. After a stint in the Mexican League, Ellie found his way into the Angels' organization in August 1966.

After the 1967 season, the Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 draft. As a Rule 5 pick, Hendricks was guaranteed a spot on the major-league roster, and made his big-league debut in April 1968. He started 45 games behind the dish as the #2 catcher, working with incumbent Andy Etchebarren and OF-C Curt Blefary.

With Blefary traded away in the off-season, Ellie became the #1 catcher for the next 3 seasons, starting half the games, while Etchebarren and Clay Dalrymple divvied up the rest. Hendricks played in 17 post-season games for the O's from 1969-71, including 6 in the '71 World Series.

Rookie Johnny Oates joined the team in 1972 and caught most of the games that year. In August, Hendricks was traded to the Cubs for Tommy Davis, but after the season was returned to the Orioles.

1973-74 saw Hendricks relegated to #3 catcher behind Earl Williams (acquired in the off-season for Oates) and Etchebarren.

In 1975 Rod moved up a notch to #2 catcher, starting 64 games – 2 dozen less than newly-acquired Dave Duncan.

Hendricks alternated with Duncan for the first 6 weeks of the 1976 season, but was part of a 10-player trade in June that saw pitchers Ken Holtzman, Grant Jackson, and Doyle Alexander accompany him to the Yankees in return for catcher Rick Dempsey and pitchers Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, and Dave Pagan.

After a season and a half of inactivity (the Yankees DID have someone named Munson catching!), including much of '77 in triple-A, Hendricks was granted free agency and signed with ….. the Orioles!

Hendricks only saw action in 12 games in 1978 (mostly as a pinch-hitter), and was released the following Spring.

He was the Orioles' bullpen coach for 28 years (1978-2005), and was activated for 1 at-bat in September 1979.

Hendricks passed away in 2005 at age 64. Since his death, no Oriole has worn his #44.

I think it's comical that Baseball-Reference.com lists him as a "catcher and relief pitcher". Over his 12-year career, he caught 4573 innings, played 1st base for 36 innings, and pitched only 2 innings. 

Final Card: Larry Miller

Here is the final card (#323) for Larry Miller, who I just discovered a few days ago to be the oldest living player (at age 79) having a card from 1966-70 not yet appearing on one of my blogs.

He is also "Back on Topps' Radar", with his first card since the 1965 set. (Miller spent most of '66 and all of 1967-68 in the minors.)

Miller was signed by the Dodgers in 1959, and played in their organization for 3 ½ seasons (plus a 2-year break for military service) before making his major-league debut in 1964. He pitched in 16 games over the second half of the season. He was 4-8 in 14 starts.

After the season he was traded to the Mets for OF-1B Dick Smith. Miller split the 1965 season between the Mets and their AAA team in Buffalo.

Larry was back in AAA for the 1966 season, followed by 4 late- September appearances for the Mets.

He was in triple-A for all of 1967-69, and was traded to the Giants' organization in mid-1967. Since his last big-league game was in 1966, I'm wondering "Why does he have a card?"

Mike Cuellar (#453)

Well, this is the 769th post I’ve made across my 1963 to 1970 blogs, and I’m just now getting around to Mike Cuellar. (That’s just not right!)

I have Cuellar’s ’67, ’68, and ’69 cards, but the 1968 Astros cards are a disaster, so it’s down to his ’67 or ’69 card. I was initially going to post his ’67 Astros card because it’s something of a novelty, but this guy IS an Oriole, so here we go…

Before signing with the Reds in 1957 (I did not know he was with the Reds!), Mike Cuellar pitched for the Cuban Army team, and tossed a no-hitter in 1955. He played his first 5 pro seasons for Cincinnati’s AAA team. From 1957 to early 1960, this was on his home turf of Havana, Cuba.

During the 1960 season, the Havana team relocated to Jersey City, then to Indianapolis in 1961. Mike also played 2 games for the Reds in April 1959.

Cuellar spent the 1962 season pitching for Monterrey in the Mexican League.

He returned stateside in 1963, now playing for the Jacksonville Suns, the Indians’ AAA team. In 1964 Jacksonville became a Cardinals’ affiliate, so Cuellar was now a Cardinal. He was promoted to St. Louis in mid-June, and appeared in 32 games, mostly working out of the Cards’ bullpen.

Cuellar was back in Jacksonville to start the 1965 season, but in mid-June was traded (with pitcher Ron Taylor) to the Astros for pitchers Hal Woodeshick and Chuck Taylor. Mike finished out the season in the Astros’ bullpen, as the rotation was stocked with Bob Bruce, Turk Farrell, Don Nottebart, Larry Dierker, Dave Giusti, and Robin Roberts.

In 1966, Cuellar joined the rotation in late-April, and cruised up the depth chart past all those pitchers, leading the staff with 227 innings pitched, and finished up with 12 wins. Mike was also the staff ace in ’67, winning 16 games and making his first of 4 all-star teams.

After an off year in 1968 (8-11, 170 innings), Cuellar was traded to the Orioles for outfielder Curt Blefary. He joined a starting rotation that also featured Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, and helped power the Orioles teams in the 1969-74 era. Cuellar won the Cy Young award in his 1st season with the O’s, and in 1970 his 24 wins tied him for the AL lead (with teammate McNally). He also led the AL with 21 complete games.

In his first six seasons with Baltimore, he won 23, 24, 20, 18, 18, and 22 games. During this span, the Orioles made the post-season 5 of 6 years, and won the World Series in 1970. Mike hit a grand-slam in the 1970 ALCS, the only pitcher ever to do so.

Cuellar came back to Earth in 1975, fashioning a 14-12 record. After a disastrous 1976 season, where he compiled a 4-13 record in only 107 innings, he was released that December.

Mike hooked on with the Angels in January 1977, but appeared in only 2 games. He was released on May 16th, ending his 15-year career.

Cuellar passed away in 2010 from cancer at age 72.

Don Buford (#478)

At age 78 years 8 months, Don Buford is the oldest living player from the 1966-70 era that I have not yet featured on one of my blogs.

He played his first 5 seasons as the White Sox’ 2nd or 3rd baseman, but may be better known for his 5 years as the Orioles’ left fielder during their late-60s/early-70s glory years.

Buford was signed by the ChiSox in November 1959, and played 4 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut with the Sox in September 1963. He started the final 8 games at 3rd base, replacing Pete Ward, who had started every game at 3rd up to that time.

Don began the 1964 season starting 15 of the first 17 games at 3rd base, then moved over to 2nd base, where he split the job evenly with Al Weis. Both Weis and Buford were switch-hitters, so I don’t know what determined who was starting on a given day.

1965 started out the same as the previous season (splitting 2B with Weis, with a few starts at 3rd base), but Buford was the 2nd baseman for every game from July 17th onward.

Don played 2nd base for the first 2 months of 1966, but in June the White Sox acquired veteran 2nd basemen Jerry Adair and Wayne Causey, moving Buford over to 3rd base for 115 of the final 127 games (including 67 consecutive starts – surprising given how many mix-and-match infielders the Sox had!)

In his final season in Chicago (1967) Don started only 94 games at 3rd, and 39 at 2nd base. The Sox had acquired veteran 3rd-sacker Ken Boyer from the Mets in mid-season, and were also auditioning rookie Dick Kenworthy at the hot corner.

In November 1967, Buford and pitchers Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson were traded to the Orioles for shortstop Luis Aparicio and outfielder Russ Snyder. The O’s already had Brooks Robinson at 3rd base and Dave Johnson at 2nd base, so Buford rode the bench for 2 months in 1968 until finally working his way into the lineup with frequent starts at 2nd base, center field, or left field.

He was the team’s regular left fielder for his final 4 seasons (1969-72). Buford played in the post-season in ’69, ‘70, and ’71, hitting a combined 5 homers with 11 RBI. Although his ALCS batting average was .357, his World Series average was only .207.

After his February 1973 release he played in Japan for 4 years, retiring after the 1976 season.

His son Damon Buford was an outfielder for several teams from 1993-2001.

Earl Weaver (#516)

Here is long-time Orioles' skipper Earl Weaver. Weaver never played in the big leagues, but had a long career as a minor-league 2nd baseman with the Cardinals (1948-53), Pirates (1954-56), and Orioles (1957-60).

He eased into managing during his final seasons as a player (1956-59), then was a full-time manager in the Orioles' chain from 1961 to 1967.

Earl took over the reins in Baltimore midway through the 1968 season, replacing Hank Bauer. The Orioles had won the World Series in 1966, but struggled for the next 2 seasons, mostly because of injuries to their starting pitchers.

The O's returned to glory in Earl's first full season, winning the AL Pennant in 3 straight years (1969-71), and winning it all in 1970. Earl also guided the team to the 1979 pennant, but narrowly missed the 1983 World Championship, as his 1st tenure as manager ended after the 1982 season.

Weaver returned to the skipper's chair for most of 1985 and all of 1986, before retiring again. Earl was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

Weaver passed away on January 19, 2013 (the same day as Stan Musial's passing) while on an Orioles' cruise in the Caribbean. He was 82.  Fellow blogger John Hogan from the "Cards That Never Were" blog marked the occasion with a custom 1968 card of Weaver.

Let's Go O's!

Here's some old-school mojo to help get the Birds past the evil empire.

 
Here's their first foray into the post-season.

In 13 seasons with the Orioles, Dave McNally compiled a 184-119 record in 424 games. He was a 20-game winner every year from 1968-71, and tied teammate Mike Cuellar for the AL lead with 24 wins in 1970.

Jim Palmer pitched 19 seasons, all with the Orioles. His career record was 268-152 in 558 games. Jim won 20 or more every season from 1970-73, and 75-78.

Wally Bunker was 44-27 during his 6 seasons with the O's, and won 19 games as a rookie in 1964, while finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting. He shut out the Dodgers in game 3 of the 1966 World Series.

After Bunker was lost to the Royals in the post-1968 expansion draft, Baltimore traded for Mike Cuellar. His record as an 8-year Oriole was 144-88 in 290 games. Cuellar won 23 games and the Cy Young award in 1969. The next season, he (and McNally) co-led the AL with 24 wins, while also leading the league with 21 complete games. In the next 4 seasons, he won 20 or more games twice and 18 twice.

Final Card: Vic Roznovsky

This is the final card for backup catcher Vic Roznovsky (#368). Vic's major-league career consisted of 200 games over a 5-year period, playing for the Cubs, Orioles, and Phillies.

He was signed by the Pirates in 1958, and played 2 seasons of class-D ball in their organization. Before the 1960 season he was dealt to the Giants, and spent the next 4 seasons in their farm system, as a catcher-outfielder (along with 29 games at 3rd base in 1963).

In December 1963 the Cubs selected him in the minor-league draft, and after spending some time in triple-A, Vic made his major-league debut on June 28, 1964. He played in 35 games (15 starts) as the 3rd-string catcher behind Dick Bertell and Jimmie Schaffer.

It looks like the Cubs used the catcher-by-committee system in 1965. Bertell began the season as the starter, but was traded to the Giants in late May for catcher Ed Bailey and others. Meanwhile, Roznovsky and rookie Chris Krug were getting a lot of starts. The final tally behind the plate: Roznovsky - 44 starts, Krug - 46, Bailey - 45, Bertell - 29 (yes, they played 164 games that year).

Playing in 71 games in 1965 was the high point of Roznovsky's career, as the Cubs acquired Randy Hundley in the off-season and sent Vic packing to the Orioles for outfielder Carl Warwick. There, he backed up rookie Andy Etchebarren for most of the season, while also finding himself back in triple-A for 19 games. 1967 was a repeat of 1966, except that Roznovsky swapped slots in the pecking order with 1966's 3rd-string catcher Larry Haney.

Things got worse for Vic in 1968, as he spent the entire season at triple-A Rochester, rescued only by an April 1969 trade to the Phillies, who sent their '68 third-string backstop John Sullivan to the O's for Roznovsky. (There's some debate as to which was the better team - the 1969 Phillies or the AAA Rochester Red Wings.)  :D

Vic wrapped up his career gathering dust on the Phillie bench, as he was on the team for the entire season, but only played 13 games (14 plate appearances) and caught a grand total of 4 innings as the 3rd-stringer behind Mike Ryan and rookie Dave Watkins.

Clay Dalrymple (#151)

Clay Dalrymple had two cards in the 1969 set - both #151. Unlike Donn Clendenon, who also had 2 cards in 1969, Dalrymple's cards used different photographs.

Clay began playing minor-league ball in 1956. He played 4 seasons in the minors, mostly with the unaffiliated Sacramento Solons in the Pacific Coast League. In 1959, Sacramento became part of the Milwaukee Braves farm system. After the 1959 season, the Phillies selected him in the Rule 5 draft.





As a Rule 5 pick, he remained on the roster for the entire 1960 season as the 3rd-string catcher behind fellow rookie Jimmie Coker and journeyman Cal Neeman.

Clay took over the starting job from day 1 of the 1961 season, making 107 starts behind the plate (88 more than the #2 catcher). He also started 107 games in 1962, and increased his playing time in 1963 (135 starts). Clay's best offensive seasons were 1962 and 1963. After that, his playing time and production would begin to taper off, then plummet in his last 2 seasons in Philadelphia.

The Phillies acquired veteran catcher Gus Triandos in the Jim Bunning trade prior to the 1964 season. Triandos had been the Orioles' regular catcher from 1955-61, and started 1/3 of the Phillies games in 1964, leaving 2/3 of the starts to Dalrymple.

Clay lost more playing time in 1965, as rookie catcher Pat Corrales joined the team as the #2 catcher. Eventually, Dalrymple was platooned, with Bob Uecker in 1966 and the start of 1967, with Gene Oliver for the 2nd half of 1967, and with the newly-acquired Mike Ryan in 1968. Ryan was a great defensive catcher who barely hit .200, but by that time Dalrymple's average had dropped to the Mendoza line as well.

In January 1969, Clay was traded to the Orioles for rookie outfield prospect Ron Stone. He would play for 3 seasons as Baltimore's 3rd-string catcher, and went 2-for-2 in the 1969 World Series. He retired after the 1971 season.