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.

Lee Maye (#595)

Here is Lee Maye’s 1969 card, where he leans in to dodge a high, hard gray circle whizzing behind his head.

I really liked this card when I got it back in the day. Was it the “windbreaker under the uniform” look? Maybe the 100-year MLB patch on his vest, or the crispness of a high-numbered card? No, I think it was because Topps finally made a card for him with a decent photo, after 2 years of ridiculous, capless photos (see below).

Maye was signed by the Braves in 1954, and played in their farm system from 1954 to 1960. He also played the 2nd half of the 1959 and 1960 seasons with the Braves. Lee started 63 games in right field in his first full season (1961) as Hank Aaron split his time between right and center fields.

The next season, he started 90 games between left and center, as Aaron continued to alternate between center and right. Maye ended up as the #3 outfielder in playing time in both ’61 and ’62.

Maye was the team’s primary left AND center fielder in 1963, and logged more playing time than all outfielders except Aaron. With rookie Rico Carty joining the club in 1964, Lee spent most of his time in center, although he was also Carty’s backup in left field. Lee never made an all-star team, but in 1964 he led the NL with 44 doubles while playing for the Milwaukee Braves.

Lee started the first 8 games of 1965 in center field, but was then relegated to the bench, and was traded to the Astros in late May for pitcher Ken Johnson and outfielder Jim Beauchamp. Maye was the Astros’ regular left fielder for two seasons, playing alongside Jim Wynn and Rusty Staub.

In January 1967 Lee was traded to the Indians for pitcher Jim Weaver, catcher Doc Edwards, and outfielder Jim Landis. Maye alternated in right field with Rocky Colavito in 1967, and was the team’s primary left fielder in 1968, although only starting 65 games there. He started 24 games in left field in 1969, until his mid-June trade to the Senators for pitcher Bill Denehy.

Maye was the Nats’ primary right fielder in ’69 and ’70, but was released in early September 1970. He was picked up by the White Sox, where he played until he was released the following July, then played for the Padres' AAA team in Hawaii for the remainder of 1971 and in 1972, before retiring.

Maye passed away in July 2002 at age 67.

Final Card: Chuck Cottier

This is the final card for infielder Chuck Cottier (#252), who looks more like an early-1960s' test pilot or astronaut than a baseball player. Chuck was last seen in the 1964 Topps set; perhaps thanks to expansion, he's back for one more year.

Cottier was signed by the Orioles in 1954, and played 5 seasons as a 2nd baseman in the minors before making his big-league debut with the Milwaukee Braves in April 1959. He played most of the season at triple-A Louisville, and split the 1960 season between Louisville and Milwaukee. With the Braves in '60, he shared the 2nd base job with veteran Red Schoendienst.

After the 1960 season, he was traded to the Tigers, but after playing in only 10 games for Detroit in 1961, he was flipped to the Senators in June for pitcher Hal Woodeshick.

Chuck was Washington's regular 2nd baseman from June 9, 1961 to June 25, 1963, losing his starting job when the Sens acquired veteran Don Blasingame from the Reds. Cottier hung on with the Senators in 1964 as the backup 2nd baseman, then spent the 1965 to 1967 seasons in the minors, switching to the Angels' organization at the start of the '67 season.

In 1968 he spent most of the season in triple-A, then was recalled by the Angels in early August, playing 33 games for the remainder of the season. 1969 was the end of the line for Cottier. He had 2 at-bats that season (4/30 and 5/9) before calling it a career.

Chuck later managed the Seattle Mariners from late 1984 through early 1986.

Deckle #31 Willie McCovey

I recently picked up a small lot of deckles on eBay last week to bring my deckle set completion over 50%. I found a nice surprise on the back...

..a McCovey decal had been applied. Little did I know that they used the same photo for the deckle and the decal, which are different from the base card!