Joe Keough (#603)

This is Joe Keough’s rookie card. (I was sure he had a card in the 1968 set, but was unable to find one.) Joe is the younger brother of Marty Keough, who played for the Red Sox, Reds and others from 1956-1966.

Joe was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in the 2nd round of the 1965 draft, right after they selected Rick Monday at #1 (and ahead of Sal Bando and Gene Tenace).   He played for their class A team in 1966 and 1967, then split the 1968 season between Oakland and their AA team.

Look at me – correcting Topps’ mistake with Keough’s bats/throws info back in 1969. 

Keough was drafted by the Royals with the 8th pick in the 1968 expansion draft.

Joe started 12 of the first 14 games in right field in the Royals’ first season, but soon found himself on the bench, and by late-May was back in the minors. He returned to the Royals in mid-July, but was mostly a spare outfielder.

In 1970 he was the 4th outfielder, backing up Lou Piniella and Pat Kelly at the corner spots. He missed the second half of the season due to a broken leg.

Joe was the team’s primary right fielder in 1971, starting 87 games there and another six games in center field.

Richie Scheinblum was acquired in 1972, and took over the right field spot (while also making the All-Star team), pushing Keough all the way down to #6 outfielder.

Joe was traded to the White Sox in February 1973 for outfielder Jim Lyttle, but only appeared in 5 games (with one at-bat) for the Sox. After a full season with Chicago’s AAA team, he was sold to the Twins in October 1973, but retired before 1974.

Keough passed away in September 2019 at age 73.

Frank Johnson (#227)

Frank Johnson had a very short career (1966-71, all with the Giants). The record shows 6 seasons, but in three of them he only played 15, 8, and 7 games. Most of his major-league playing time came in 1968 and 1970.

He's one of several Giants' prospects (along with Bobby Etheridge and Bob Schroeder) who couldn’t  wrest a job away from the likes of Ken Henderson, Hal Lanier, Tito Fuentes, or an aging Jim Davenport.

Johnson joined the Giants' organization in 1961, and played in their farm system from 1961-67, at 3rd base and the outfield. He had a few games with the Giants during September call-ups in '66 and '67.

 The cartoon says he played for the Cubs!

Frank was with the Giants for all of 1968. He played 67 games, often as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner, but also started 30 games at 3rd base (mostly in May and June). He only hit .190 (with 7 RBI) that season, so guess where he was the next year?

Sunny Phoenix! After 7 games with the Giants during the 1st month of 1969, Johnson played 1B, 3B, and OF for the Giants' AAA team for the rest of the year. Not even a token September game with the big club.

Frank got a 2nd chance with the Giants in 1970, playing 67 games (again!). He made 24 starts in left field, backing up Henderson. This time he hit .273 with 31 RBI – much better than in 1968.

Johnson played 32 games during the first half of 1971, then was sent down to the minors for the rest of the season. Some guy named Dave Kingman took his place, and you know the rest.

Frank played in Japan in 1972, then back with the Giants' and Padres' AAA teams from 1973-75.

Ted Kubiak (#281)

Ted Kubiak was a utility infielder for 10 seasons (1967-76), mostly with the Athletics. He had a card in every set from 1968 to 1977.

I am most familiar with his 1968 card, which denoted his position as “INFIELD”. So when I saw this 1969 card naming him as a shortstop, I was all ready to rip Topps for promoting him to one position, until I checked into his record today (see chart below).

Kubiak was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961 and made his major-league debut in April 1967. Early in his career he was mostly a fill-in at 2nd base and shortstop.

Why did the Topps airbrushers use BLACK on many of the Athletics' caps in 1968 and 1969? Was green not available?

In December 1969 he was traded to the Brewers for pitcher Diego Segui and shortstop Ray Oyler.

1970 was Ted’s only year as a full-season regular. He started 156 games, playing almost every game at shortstop until moving over to 2nd base in mid-June.

Kubiak also started 77 of the first 104 games in 1971. Beginning at 2nd base, he moved back over to shortstop in early June. By the end of July he was traded to the Cardinals in a 5-player deal that saw Jose Cardenal and Dick Schofield head to Milwaukee.

Ted finished up the season with St Louis but was traded to the Rangers in November for pitcher Joe Grzenda. By mid-season in 1972 he was heading back to Oakland. As he bounced from team-to-team, he never again saw the regular playing time he had in 1970 and early 1971.

His final move was in May 1975, dealt to the Padres for pitcher Sonny Siebert. Ted was primarily a 3rd baseman with San Diego, a position he had rarely played previously. He played every day for his first month with the Padres, then returned to a utility role until retiring following the 1976 season.


Except for the transition from 1968 season to 1969 card, Topps was pretty accurate with the positions on Kubiak’s cards:

Final Card: Jose Herrera

This is the only card for Expos' outfielder Jose Herrera (#378). He had a very brief career (essentially just a few dozen games in '68 and '69). If I wasn’t on a mission to feature all the "final cards" in the 1969 set I probably would have passed over him.

Herrera was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1964. After 5 seasons in the minors (he did play 5 games in 1967 and 27 games in Aug/Sept 1968 for the Astros), the Expos selected him in the expansion draft.

Jose did not make the fledgling Expos' squad at the start of the 1969 season, but did play 47 games with them over the 2nd half of the season. This included 30 starts in the outfield and some pinch-hitting appearances.

1970 was a bust for him. He got one at-bat on Opening Day, then spent the rest of the season in the minors. In mid-June he was traded to the Brewers for pitcher John O'Donoghue.

In May 1971 Milwaukee shipped him out to the Tigers (with pitcher John Gelnar) for pitcher Jim Hannan. Herrera finished out the '71 season with the Tigers' AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

He wrapped up his career playing in Mexico from 1972-75.

Although he only had one Topps card, I found this custom card today on Pinterest:

Bob Watson (#562)

This is Bob Watson’s rookie card. It’s his only card that includes “catcher” as a position. (The back tells us he is transitioning from a catcher to an outfielder.)

Watson was signed by the Astros in 1965, and played 2 seasons (1965-66) in class-A ball as a catcher/outfielder. In 1967 and 1968, he played first base and outfield for the Astros’ AA and AAA teams. It’s surprising to see now that his card describes him as a C-OF, since he did no catching in either 1967 or 1968. 

Watson played 1 game with the Astros in 1966 and 6 games in 1967, but didn’t get significant playing time with the Astros until playing 45 games from mid-May to the end of July 1968, mostly as the starting left fielder.

Then it was back to AA and AAA ball for the rest of 1968 and most of 1969, where he was primarily a catcher. He did get into a few games in April 1969, and again during a September call-up.

Bob made the team at the outset of the 1970 season, but didn’t get regular playing time until mid-June, when he took the regular 1st base job away from Joe Pepitone. Watson started about 2/3 of the remaining games at 1st base, with rookie John Mayberry starting the rest.

Watson was a regular for all of 1971, except for missing a few weeks in July. He started half the games in left field, and a few dozen more at 1st base.

With the acquisition of Lee May from the Reds, Watson was strictly the left fielder from 1972-74. After May's departure, Bob moved back to 1st base permanently beginning in 1975.

During his time with the Astros, Bob made two All-Star teams ('73, '75) and hit a career-high 22 home runs in 1977.

Watson's last start for the Astros was on May 25, 1979. A few weeks later he was traded to the Red Sox for 2 minor-league pitchers. He played the remainder of that season with Boston, and after being granted free agency at season's end, signed with the Yankees.

Bob played 2 seasons (1980-81) as the Yankees' 1st baseman, including a combined 17 games in the post-season. In April 1982 he was traded to the Braves for a minor-leaguer, and played his final 3 seasons as a backup 1st baseman for Atlanta.

After retiring, he was a hitting coach, and then the GM for the Astros and Yankees from 1993-97. He then worked in the commissioner’s office until 2010.

Ed Kirkpatrick (#529)

Here is Royals' outfielder Ed Kirkpatrick, in his brand-new KayCee garb that we first saw in the final 2 series of the 1969 Topps set.

Kirkpatrick spent most of the 1960s in the Angels' organization. Signed before the 1962 season, he was primarily a catcher for his first 2 minor-league seasons, before switching over to the outfield in 1964.

Ed made his major-league debut in September 1962, but played most of the '62, '63, and '65 seasons in the minors. He had significant playing time with the Angels during 1964, sharing the left field starting assignments with Willie Smith and Jimmy Piersall.

Kirkpatrick was recalled from the minors in September 1965, and made most of the starts in right field the rest of the way. He stuck with the Angels for all of 1966, becoming the primary right fielder (69 starts) along with a dozen starts in left field.

The acquisitions of Jimmie Hall and Roger Repoz in 1967 made the outfield fairly crowded, so Ed played back in triple-A that season, save for 3 games in July.

Kirkpatrick returned to the Angels for 1968, his last before a pre-season trade in 1969 which sent him to the Royals for pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.

Freed from the logjam in the Angels' outfield, Ed was a fulltime regular for the Royals from 1969 to 1973. Most of his time from 1970-72 was spent behind the plate, sharing the job with Ellie Rodriguez (’70) and Jerry May (’71), and starting 104 games behind the dish in 1972.

In 1973, Fran Healy and Carl Taylor took over the backstopping, moving Kirkpatrick back to his old right field position, which he divvied up with Hal McRae.

Ed was traded to the Pirates after the 1973 season for pitcher Nelson Briles. He shared the first base duties with Bob Robertson in 1974, but when Willie Stargell moved to 1st base in 1975, Ed spent the next 2 seasons as the 5th or 6th outfielder.

Ed played for the Pirates, Rangers, and Brewers in 1977, then following his March 1978 release, he split the '78 season between the Angels' AAA team and the Mexican league, before retiring.

Kirkpatrick was in a car accident in 1981, and suffered a heart attack during brain surgery. This left him in a coma for several months, and permanently paralyzed. He died in 2010 at age 66.

Bill Melton (#481)

Bill Melton was the White Sox' 3rd baseman from 1969 to 1975. He also played for the Angels and Indians. This is his rookie card.

Melton was signed by Chicago in 1964, and played in their farm system from 1964-68. Oddly enough, he also spent part of 1968 playing for the Yankees' AAA team. (I guess the Sox had two 3rd base prospects, and wanted each of them to get regular playing time?)

Bill made his major-league debut with 17 games in May 1968 (presumably that's what the card back is referring to), and another 17 games in September.

Melton held down the hot corner from mid-September 1968 through the 1975 season, except for missing the final 3 ½ months of the 1972 season.

His peak power years were 1970 and 1971, hitting 33 home runs in both seasons. Bill also made his only All-Star team in 1971.

After the 1975 season he was traded to the Angels for 1st baseman Jim Spencer. He was a spot player for California, splitting the DH duties with Tommy Davis and occasionally playing at the infield corners.

Melton moved on to the Indians after just 1 season with the Angels. He only got 133 at-bats over 50 games with the Tribe in 1977, his last appearance coming on August 30th.

He was granted free agency after the season, but did not play again.

The 1969 Royals

The Kansas City Royals entered the league in 1969, two years after the Athletics departed for Oakland. They were the quickest of the 1969 expansion class to find success, starting with their first season!

In their infinite wisdom, the American League put both expansion teams (Royals and Pilots) in the same division, guaranteeing that one of the 4 expansion teams would not finish last. Not only did the Royals not finish last, they outplayed the Chicago White Sox, to finish in 4th place in the 6-team division.

In their first 7 seasons, the Royals finished in 4th place 3 times and in SECOND place 3 times. Beginning in 1976, they finished in FIRST place 3 consecutive years, and in 4 of 5 years.

Contrast that to the Padres, Expos, and Pilots:
Padres: Finished in last place for their first 6 seasons, and no higher than 4th until 1984.
Expos: Finished 6th or 5th (thank you Phillies!) in their first 4 seasons, and no higher than 4th until 1979.
Pilots/Brewers: Finished 6th or 5th in 8 of their first 9 seasons (finishing in 4th place in 1970!), but no higher than 4th until 1978.

The Royals finished with a 69-93 record in their first season. They found a few good players that first year:
Lou Piniella led the team with a .282 batting average, and won the Rookie of the Year award.
Joe Foy improved upon his previous season with the Red Sox, leading the team with 71 RBI.
After 2 bad seasons with the Orioles, Wally Bunker regained his old form (if only for 1 season) and posted 12 wins.

Although this is the 1970 card, the photo is most likely of the '69 team.


Here is the pitching staff, in order of innings pitched:

Wally Bunker, Dick Drago, Bill Butler, and Roger Nelson were the top 4 starters, each pitching 190+ innings. Bunker and Drago both had double-digit wins, while Butler led the staff with 156 strikeouts. Drago also appeared in 15 games in relief.

Jim Rooker started 22 of his 28 games as the #5 starter. Mike Hedlund was a swingman, pitching 34 games, but making only 16 starts.The remaining hurlers each pitched less than 100 innings, and made no starts (except for 4 by Steve Jones, and 2 each by Dave Morehead and Chris Zachary). Moe Drabowsky was the team’s closer, notching 11 saves. Tom Burgmeier was the top southpaw in the bullpen.

Rounding out the bullpen were Dave Wickersham, Steve Jones (pictured on a Rookie Stars card below), and Dave Morehead. Pitching less than 25 innings were Don O’Riley, Galen Cisco, Chris Zachary, Jerry Cram, and Al Fitzmorris.


The Starting Eight:

Ellie Rodriguez started 83 games behind the plate. Mike Fiore shared the first base job with Chuck Harrison, with Mike getting 88 starts. Jerry Adair started 105 games at 2nd base and another 8 at shortstop. Jackie Hernandez started 139 games at shortstop, the most for any player at one position.

Joe Foy started 107 games at third base. ROY Lou Piniella started 122 games in left field. The other 2 outfield spots were a mix-and-match. Bob Oliver started 44 games in center field and 41 in right. Pat Kelly also started 44 games in center, and 60 in right. Others below also made several dozen starts in the outfield.


The subs, in order of at-bats:

Ed Kirkpatrick was the fourth outfielder, starting between 20 and 30 games at each of the 3 spots. He also caught 8 games. Paul Schaal made 45 starts at 3rd base, mostly in July and August. Chuck Harrison made 50 starts at first base, with 20 of them in May when Fiore was out of the lineup. Rookie Buck Martinez join the team in mid-June, and was the backup catcher until rosters were expanded in September.

Juan Rios was the backup middle infielder, starting 30 games at 2B and 10 at shortstop. Joe Keough started 17 games each in center and right fields, but spent 6 weeks in June and July back in the minors. Hawk Taylor was primarily a pinch-hitter, only starting 2 games behind the plate in mid-April. Topps decided to call him “Bob” on his 1969 card. Jim Campanis was the early-season backup catcher. He played in 26 games (18 starts) through June 1st, then was sent down in favor of Martinez.

Luis Alcaraz spent the season in triple-A, then after his September call-up started 18 of the last 21 games at 2nd base. Fran Healey also played in AAA for the season, then played 6 games (3 starts) in September. Billy Harris also played in triple-A for most of the season, but made 5 pinch-hitting appearances for the Royals – 2 in June and 3 in September. Joe Gordon led this bunch to an unexpected fourth-place finish, then resigned after the season. He had previously managed the Indians, Tigers, and Athletics from 1958-61.


These had Royals cards but did not play for them in 1969:

Dennis Ribant was sold to the Cardinals during spring training. Jon Warden pitched in 28 games for the Tigers in 1968, but never played in the majors after that. He pitched for the Royals’ AAA team in 1969 and their class-A team in 1970.

Dave Nicholson’s last regular major-league action was with the Astros in 1966. He also appeared in 10 games for the Braves during a September 1967 call-up, but spent all of 1968 and 1969 in triple-A. Steve Whitaker was traded to the Pilots in pre-season for Lou Piniella.


Rookie Cards:

Every one of these 15 players appeared for the Royals in 1969. Steve Jones appeared in 16 games (mostly in relief) then was sent down to AAA in mid-June, returning in September. George Spriggs appeared in 23 games in April and September, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Don O’Riley pitched 18 games in relief, from late-June to late-July, and again in September. Dennis Paepke played in 12 games (7 starts) in June. Fred Rico played in 12 games (9 starts) in September.

Scott Northey was one-and-done in 1969, making 16 starts in center field during his September call-up. Unlike the other six in this last section, Al Fitzmorris had a long career (10 years), starting with 4 games in September.

Transactions from team inception until the end of 1969: 

08/14/68 - Purchased Galen Cisco from the Red Sox.
09/08/68 - Purchased Orlando Pena from the Pilots.

10/15/68 expansion draft:
From the Red Sox: Joe Foy, Dave Morehead, Jerry Adair
From the Yankees: Jim Rooker, Ellie Rodriguez, Steve Whitaker
From the Orioles: Roger Nelson, Mike Fiore, Wally Bunker, Moe Drabowsky
From the Senators: Steve Jones, Ike Brookens
From the Indians: Billy Harris, Mike Hedlund, Fran Healy
From the Tigers: Jon Warden, Bill Butler, Dick Drago
From the White Sox: Al Fitzmorris, Hoyt Wilhelm, Scott Northey
From the Twins: Bob Oliver, Pat Kelly, Jackie Hernandez, Jerry Cram
From the Athletics: Joe Keough, Don O’Riley
From the Angels: Paul Schaal, Tom Burgmeier


10/16/68 - Purchased George Spriggs from the Pirates.

10/18/68 - Purchased John Gelnar from the Pirates.
10/18/68 - Purchased Chuck Harrison and Dave Nicholson from the Braves.

10/21/68 - Purchased Luis Alcaraz from the Dodgers.
10/21/68 - Purchased Dave Wickersham from the Pirates.
10/21/68 - Purchased Chris Zachary from the Astros.

12/02/68 - Drafted Fred Rico from the Orioles in the rule 5 draft.
12/02/68 - Drafted Hawk Taylor from the Angels in the rule 5 draft.
12/02/68 - Drafted Rich Severson from the White Sox in the minor league draft.

12/12/68 - Traded Hoyt Wilhelm to the Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.

12/15/68 - Acquired Jim Campanis from the Dodgers.
12/15/68 - Purchased Dennis Ribant from the Tigers.

12/16/68 - Acquired Buck Martinez from the Astros.

03/25/69 - Purchased Juan Rios from the Expos.

03/29/69 - Sold Dennis Ribant to the Cardinals.

04/01/69 - Traded John Gelnar and Steve Whitaker to the Pilots for Lou Piniella.
04/01/69 - Acquired Bill Kelso from the Reds.

06/05/69 - Traded Bill Kelso to the Twins.

08/12/69 - Purchased Billy Sorrell from the Mets.

10/21/69 - Traded Dave Wickersham to the Braves for Ron Tompkins.

12/01/69 - Drafted Ken Wright from the Red Sox in the rule 5 draft.
12/01/69 - Drafted Aurelio Monteagudo from the Cardinals in the minor league draft.

12/03/69 - Traded Joe Foy to the Mets for Bob Johnson and Amos Otis.

Final Card: Larry Shepard

This is the 2nd and final card for Pirates' manager Larry Shepard.

Shepard only had a 2-year managing career, from 1968-69 with Pittsburgh. The Bucs finished in sixth place in 1968, and third (of 6) in 1969. He was let go with 5 games remaining in the 1969 season.

I first became aware of Shepard in 1967, the year I started following major-league baseball. He was the Phillies' pitching coach for that one season. (I wonder if he had any input into the trade that sent Jim Bunning to the Pirates in the 67/68 off-season?)

Larry never played major-league ball, but he pitched in the minors in 1941 and from 1946-58. He started out with the unaffiliated class-C Three Rivers (Quebec) Renards, then after missing 4 seasons during World War II, he hooked on with the Brooklyn Dodgers and pitched in their farm system from 1946-51. He was also the team's manager from 1948-51.

He moved on to the Pirates' organization, pitching for their various class-A teams from 1952-56, while also serving as manager from 1953-56.

He was out of baseball in 1957, but returned as the Pirates' triple-A manager from 1958-66, with his team finishing in first place 3 times. Shepard never played above class-A until pitchng in 18 games in 1958, his last as a player.

After a season as the Phillies' pitching coach, he returned to the Pirates for 2 seasons as the big club’s manager.

Shepard was also Sparky Anderson's pitching coach for the Big Red Machine from 1970-78, and for the Giants in 1979.

He passed away in 2011 at age 92.

Final Card: Ramon Webster

This is Ramon Webster's 3rd and final Topps baseball card (#618). He did not have as much playing time with the Athletics as I had expected before writing this.

Ramon was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963. After 4 seasons in the minors he made his major-league debut in April 1967.

There were no Athletics' first basemen included in the 1967 Topps set, except for the two featured on Athletics' Rookies Stars cards (Webster and Randy Schwartz). Schwartz had cups of coffee in September 1965 and 1966, but was never heard from again. Webster had no prior major-league experience until appearing in April 1967.

The Athletics began the '67 season with Webster alternating at first base with Danny Cater. In June they reacquired Ken Harrelson (who was their 1st-sacker for much of 1965-66) from the Senators. When manager Al Dark was canned in late-August, Harrelson soon followed, and Webster had the position to himself for the rest of the season.

Ramon started 49 games in the first half of 1968, but played the 2nd half of the season in triple-A, only returning to Oakland in September.

He faded further in 1969, only starting 9 games while most of his 64 games were pinch-hitting appearances. He also played in the minors for most of May.

During Spring Training in 1970 he was traded to the Padres for shortstop Roberto Pena. After playing 95 games for the Padres in 1970, bizarre things started happening. He was sold back to the Athletics in October 1970, only to be repurchased by San Diego in April 1971, who then returned him to Oakland 3 weeks later.

The following month he was acquired by the Cubs, and played in 16 games (all but 1 as a pinch-hitter), the last coming on 8/21/71.

Webster played for the Athletics' AAA team from 1972-75, and in Mexico during 1976. After not playing for 2 years, he played briefly for Panama in the Inter-American League in 1979.

Final Card: Dan Schneider

What's this? The Topps airbrusher missed a spot on this Astros' cap!

No, by late-summer 1969, Topps had resolved their differences with the Astros, or Monsanto, or whomever that caused them to identify the Astros as "Houston" on all the 1968 and 1969 cards, and airbrush the '68 and most '69 cards into oblivion. All the late-1969 cards show the player in their full uniform, but I guess they kept the “Houston” label for continuity.

Not only is this a high-numbered card (#656), but his 1967 card was also in the high-numbered series.

I have been meaning to post Dan Schneider's card for about a year now, but there was always someone else cutting in line for one reason or another.

Schneider was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in June 1962, fresh off being named to the College All-American Team while playing for the University of Arizona. He started his pro career in triple-A, and by the following season was with the Braves, pitching 30 games beginning in mid-May.

He spent most of 1964 in the minors, but did pitch in 13 games for the Braves, mostly in June and September. (He also appeared in a 14th game as a pinch-runner.)

After playing all of 1965 in the minors, Dan found his way back to the Braves (now in Atlanta) for 14 games in June and July 1966. After the '66 season he was traded to the Astros with pitcher Tom Dukes and 2nd baseman Lee Bales for a trio of minor-leaguers.

Dan appeared in 54 games out of the Astros' bullpen in 1967, leading the staff in appearances.

Surprisingly, he spent all of the following season in the minors. Injury rehab? I don't think so – he pitched in 48 games. Oddly enough, he played for the Pirates' AAA Columbus team, and must have been on loan because he was back with the Astros for part of 1969.

Schneider only pitched 6 games for Houston in 1969, the last on April 27th. Sporting a 13.50 ERA by that time, he was quickly sent down to the minors, and at some point was traded to the Cardinals.

He never made it back to the majors after that season, retiring after 1970.

50 Years Ago - 1969 Opening Day Lineups (AL)

Here are the opening day lineups from half a century ago. Teams are shown in order of their 1969 finish.

East Division:

After a 2-year hiatus (because of injuries to the pitching staff and Frank Robinson) the Orioles are once again kings of the American League.

The 1968 World Champs finished in second place the next year. By mid-season, Mickey Stanley was back in the outfield.

Opening Day was Tony C’s first game since getting beaned in August 1967.

The Senators had Ted Williams at the helm in 1969. At least he got Ed Brinkman to hit over .200.

The Yankees embarked on their first season without Mickey Mantle since 1950. This was Bobby Murcer’s rookie season. By mid-season, they settled on Jerry Kenney at 3B, with Murcer in the outfield.

Topps never made a baseball card for Tony Horton. This custom card is by John Hogan at the Cards That Never Were blog.


West Division:

Graig Nettles split the Twins’ left field job with Bob Allison. The next season Nettles was traded to the Indians and began a long career as a third baseman.

This was the Athletics’ second year in Oakland. Once again, the Topps photographers were caught napping.

After 2 years in Japan, Dick Stuart returned to the States to play for the Angels. After playing 22 games in the first 2 months, his career was over.

In their infinite wisdom, the American League put both expansion teams in the West division, guaranteeing that at least 1 of the 4 new teams would not finish last. The Royals' one bright spot was Lou Piniella, who won AL Rookie of the Year.

YOU FINISHED BEHIND AN EXPANSION TEAM, MAN!

Jim Bouton’s favorite team! By mid-season, Tommy Harper moved to 3B, John Donaldson was at 2B, and rookie Wayne Comer was playing center field.  In Spring training the Pilots traded disgruntled rookie Lou Piniella to the other expansion team. (That’ll teach him to be an upstart! heh heh) All he did was win the ROY. Just one of many bad moves by the Pilots.


NL Opening Day lineups are here.

50 Years Ago - 1969 Opening Day Lineups (NL)

Here are the opening day lineups from half a century ago. Teams are shown in order of their 1969 finish.

East Division:

The Mets finished in 10th place five times and 9th place twice in their first 7 seasons, then jumped to World Series champions in their 8th season. Looks like RF Ron Swoboda had the day off.

The Cubs were in first place until the Mets passed them on September 10th.  After 3 seasons with Adolfo Phillips in center field, rookie Don Young started just over half the games there in 1969.

The Pirates started rookies at the infield corners in 1969 (rookie Al Oliver was the primary 1st baseman), and 2nd-year man Fred Patek took over for veteran Gene Alley.

The Cards were NL Champs in '67 and '68.  They replaced 1st baseman Orlando Cepeda with Joe Torre and RF Roger Maris with Vada Pinson, but finished in 4th place.

The Phillies started three rookies in 1969 (Don Money, Ron Stone, and Larry Hisle).  Money and Hisle had All-Rookie seasons.  Stone?  Not so much. The best month of his career was March 1969.  (Yes, it was Spring Training.)

Surprise!  The expansion Expos finished in last place, 48 games back but only 11 games behind the Phillies. Naturally they were mostly a collection of castoffs, but acquired Rusty Staub in a pre-season trade.


 West Division:

The Braves traded long-time catcher Joe Torre to the Cardinals for 1st baseman Orlando Cepeda, and used rookie catcher Bob Didier for most of the season. Left fielder Rico Carty missed all of 1968 with tuberculosis, but regained his starting job in June 1969 and hit .342.

The Giants' lineup was overflowing with sluggers (Mays, McCovey, Bonds, Hart).

The classic pre-Big Red Machine lineup. Pete Rose and Bob Tolan switched positions in late-June.

In his final season, Don Drysdale made his first Opening Day start since 1965. Regulars Wes Parker (1B) and Willie Davis (CF) were not in the lineup on day 1.

Unlike their fellow 1962-expansion Mets, the 1969 expansion did not help the Astros, as they finished in their customary next-to-last position. This was their regular lineup, except that Jim Wynn started 148 games in center field, with Miller and Alou on the corners.

The Padres brought up the rear.  5-time Topps Rookie Stars selection Bill Davis FINALLY made it to a starting major-league position, but it was temporary.  After 2 weeks as the starting 1st baseman, rookie Nate Colbert took over and Davis rarely played again.


AL Opening Day lineups are here.