Don Kessinger (#225)

Don Kessinger was one of the best shortstops in baseball during the late-1960s and early-1970s, making 6 All-Star teams in a 7-year span.

Kessinger made his pro debut with the Cubs' double-A team in 1964, and made his major-league debut that same year with 4 games in September.

He began the 1965 season in triple-A, but was recalled in mid-June, starting 104 of the final 115 games at shortstop. (Journeyman Roberto Pena had started the first 49 games there.)

Kessinger was the Cubs' regular shortstop from mid-June 1965 through the end of the 1975 season. Along the way, he was named to the All-Star team every season from 1968-72 and again in 1974. Although his highest batting average was .274 and had virtually no power, he was very good defensively, winning the Gold Glove award in '69 and '70.

After just over a decade with the Cubs, Don was traded to the Cardinals after the '75 season for reliever Mike Garman. Kessinger started 105 games at shortstop in his first season with the Cards, but in early August that job was turned over to rookie Garry Templeton.

Don slid over to 2nd base, starting 29 games there during August, until other rookies were given late-season tryouts at THAT position. In 1977, Kessinger hung on as a utility player until he was traded to the White Sox in August for a minor-leaguer.

Don got his feet wet in the AL by backing up Alan Bannister at SS and Jorge Orta at 2B for the remaining 2 months, then in 1978 he put in a full season (almost) as the ChiSox' regular shortstop. After starting 117 games through the first week of September, he once again fell victim to the "September prospect tryout", this time it was someone named Harry Chappas.

In 1979 Kessinger was named player-manager for the Sox. He managed the team to a 46-60 record, then was fired at the start of August, replaced by Tony LaRussa. Not surprisingly, that was also the end of Don’s playing career.

Kessinger managed the University of Mississippi baseball team for 6 seasons in the 1990s.

His son Keith played briefly for the Reds in 1993.

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.

Final Card: Joe Schultz

This is the first and last card for Joe Schultz (#254), manager of the 1969 expansion Seattle Pilots.

Anyone who has read Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" (and has Schultz's 2 favorite expressions tattooed on their brain), probably remembers Joe as an overmatched boob (a trait somewhat reinforced by this card), but while I was watching replays of the 1968 World Series a few years ago on the MLB Network, I was reminded that Schultz was the 3rd base coach for the 3-time NL pennant-winning (and 2-time World Champion) Cardinals.

That he was in a key coaching position for a team as good as the Cardinals indicates that he had something going for him (unless the good-old-boy network was working overtime).

Joe was a backup catcher during his playing days. He played in the Cardinals' organization from 1932 to 1939, all in the minors. He was with the Pirates from 1939 to 1942, mostly in the minors, but a few games in the majors.

He played in the majors for the St. Louis Browns continuously from 1943-1948 (except for spending most of '44 in the minors).

After his playing career, Joe managed in the minors from 1950-62 (the last 5 seasons in the Cardinals' organization), then joined the St. Louis coaching staff as their 3rd base coach from 1963-68.

After his 1-year stint with Seattle, he coached 3rd base for the 1970 Royals, and the 1971-76 Tigers. He managed the Tigers for the remainder of the 1973 season following Billy Martin's firing.

Joe's father (Joe Sr.) played in the majors from 1912-25. Schultz Jr. passed away in 1996 at age 77.

Final Card: Bruce Howard

This is the last of 6 cards for Bruce Howard (#226). Howard had 4 White Sox cards (including 2 Rookie Stars), followed by an Orioles’ card in 1968, then wrapped up with this Senators’ card.

Bruce was signed by the White Sox in 1962, spent 3 seasons as a starting pitcher in the minors, and had September call-ups in both 1963 and 1964.

Howard spent 3 seasons (1965-67) in the Sox’ starting rotation. After two 9-win seasons, he had a 3-10 stinker in 1967, resulting in a trip to the minors, and a post-season trade to Baltimore. The Sox shipped him (with pitcher Roger Nelson and 2B-OF Don Buford) to the Orioles for shortstop Luis Aparicio and outfielder Russ Snyder.

After only 10 appearances, the Orioles flipped him to the Senators for outfielder Fred Valentine in June. Howard fared no better in Washington for the remainder of the season, and played his last major-league game on 9/7/1968.

He played the 1969 season in the minors with the Senators’ and White Sox’ organizations, including some time in the Florida Instructional League, and retired after the season.

His son David was an infielder for the Kansas City Royals in the 1990s.

Bobby Bonds (#630)

Welcome to the re-booted 1969 Topps Baseball Card blog! This blog was started by Pack Addict back on 3/13/2009, but has been inactive for quite some time. Today, he turned it over to me, so I will be posting some of my 1969 cards that have been burning a hole in their binder for all these years. I will be starting with several stars from the hard-to-find 7th series' high numbers.

Thanks, Pack Addict! Yours is the first blog I found in Google Blogger, about a week before I jumped aboard in late September 2009.


This is Bobby Bonds' rookie card. Although Bonds had been tearing up the minor leagues for several seasons, Topps somehow forgot to include him in the 1968 set. In fact, they forgot a Giants Rookies card altogether. Thankfully, Steve at WhiteSoxCards has rectified that problem.



Bonds began his career in 1965 with the Giants' class-A team at Lexington, NC, and made his major-league debut on June 25, 1968. He took over the Giants' right field job immediately, and also made 23 starts in center field when Willie Mays was given a day off. This RF/CF arrangement continued until May 1972, when Mays was traded to the Mets and Garry Maddox took over the center field job.

Bobby played for the Giants for his first 7 seasons. After the 1974 season he was traded to the Yankees for outfielder Bobby Murcer. The last 7 seasons of his 14-year career were spent playing for 7 different teams. By the time he played his last game on October 4, 1981, he had amassed 332 home runs, 1024 RBI, and 461 stolen bases.

Bonds played in several dozen triple-A games in 1981 and 1982 before hanging up his glove.