Cookie

Here is a player who was popular with the fans:

Card #188 -- Cookie Rojas, Kansas City Royals

Here he is at Spring Training, surrounded by equipment. Check out the player in the background, resting against a chain-link fence.

His given name was Octavio Victor Rojas Rivas...but fans simply know him as "Cookie."

Though signed in 1956, he wouldn't make it to the big leagues until 1962, when he played for the visiting team in the first game ever at Dodger Stadium. His tenure in Cincinnati that year was short; after 39 games and a return to the minor leagues, he was dealt to the Phillies. With the Phillies, Rojas filled in wherever he was needed on the field and finally secured the staring position at second base by 1965. His double-play tandem with shortstop Bobby Wine was often referred to as "The Days of Wine and Rojas."

(For those who didn't know..."The Days of Wine and Roses" was a popular song by Henry Mancini in the early 1960s, and the theme to a film of the same name. I'm mentioning that since the history of popular music of the 1960s is often sparse in the history books before the arrival of The Beatles.)

Rojas' offensive numbers were falling by 1969, so the Phillies sent him to the Cardinals as part of the deal involving Dick Allen and Curt Flood that led to free agency. He struggled in St. Louis and would get traded to the Royals in June 1970. The veteran was able to become a leader quickly in Kansas City, holding down the post at second for the next several years and representing them in the All-Star game every year from 1971-'74.

In 1976, he lost his starting job to Frank White, who is still the only Royal to play more games that Rojas at second base. After two years as a utility player, Rojas signed with the Cubs in '78 but never played in a game for them. After his retirement, Cookie Rojas was a coach and manager at the big-league level, and eventually moved into the broadcast booth. He's currently handling the Marlins' Spanish-language telecasts.

Waiting For the Forceout

Waiting for the throw as Bert Campaneris makes his way to first, Bob Oliver has his glove ready and hopes the throw isn't off:

Card #289 -- Bob Oliver, California Angels

Actually, this picture may have worked better on a horizontally-oriented card. There were certainly worse images in the set that were given that treatment.

At the time this picture was taken, Bob Oliver was a teammate of Nolan Ryan. His son Darren was also a teammate of Ryan's, during the Hall of Famer's final season in 1993. He was a new member of the Angels in 1972, having been traded from the Royals in May. He would stay in California until late in the '74 season, when he was traded to Baltimore. He played with the Yankees in 1975 and then three more years in the minors before retiring.

An original member of the Royals in 1969, Oliver was the first player on that team to hit a grand slam. he also was the first to collect six hits in a nine-inning contest.

Sportin' the Mutton Chops

I've mentioned before that 1970s style is sometimes unintentionally hilarious because of the way its proponents dropped them later on. Long, unwashed hair. Bell-bottom pants. Plaid shirt patterns. Earth shoes. And -- on display here -- the long "mutton chop" sideburns:

Card #216 -- Toby Harrah, Texas Rangers

Plus, I like the fact that his last name is a palindrome.

In 1986, Toby Harrah was the last active major leaguer who had played with the Washington Senators. He first came up with the Senators in 1969 and moved over with the team to Texas in 1972. He remained with the organization through 1978, when he was traded to Cleveland for Buddy Bell. After five seasons with the Indians, he went to the New York Yankees as a platoon player in 1984. He then returned to the Rangers (and a full-time role) for two seasons.

Harrah was the last player to see a pitch as a member of the Senators. He was standing at the plate when Tommy McCraw was thrown out trying to steal in the bottom of the eighth. There was no bottom of the ninth...after the team's fans trashed the field before the game was official and caused a forfeit to the Yankees.

Harrah also participated in two trivial oddities during the 1970s. In 1976, he played an entire doubleheader without taking a single chance. That is a really big deal, considering the fact that he was a shortstop. In 1977, he and Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs. That has never happened before or since, even in the "dead ball" era when heads-down baserunning was the style.

After retiring, Harrah was the Rangers' manager for the second half of the 1992 season. He is currently a hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers.

Kuckleballing Workhorse

This player defined "workhorse," being one of the last pitchers to regularly throw 300 innings a season:

Card #150 -- Wilbur Wood, Chicago White Sox

One of the more dominant hurlers of the early 1970s, Wood finished second to Gaylord Perry in a very close race for the Cy Young award.

Wood came up in 1961 with the Red Sox. Primarily a reliever at first, he had a career record of 1-8 with the BoSox and Pirates before getting traded to Chicago in 1966. After arriving there, Hoyt Wilhelm showed Wood how to throw a knuckleball and encouraged him to use it exclusively. In 1971, he was converted to a starting pitcher by White Sox skipper Chuck Tanner.

Despite his reluctance to join the rotation, he soon became a feared and respected pitcher. He was called upon to do things that weren't seen since the "Dead Ball" era. He started 49 games in 1972 -- no other pitcher had started that many since 1904 -- and was even on the mound for both games of a doubleheader in 1973.

Unfortunately, a line drive by Ron LeFlore back to the mound in 1976 shattered Wood's kneecap. He had surgery and was able to return, but he never was the same. He stuck it out until 1978 before retiring.

A Cup of Coffee, But Still Holds a Distinction...

Here's another card that was given the airbrush treatment:

Card #567 -- Bob Fenwick, St. Louis Cardinals

In 1972, Bob Fenwick played with the Houston Astros as a utility man. The card mentions on the back that he had been traded to the Cardinals during the offseason.

Incidentally, but the time this card appeared in the later series wax packs, his major league career had ended. He played his final game on May 8, 1973 and spent the rest of the season (and all of '74) in the minor leagues. He actually changed team affiliations three times in 1973.

One interesting bit of trivia: Fenwick was born in Okinawa in 1946 while that island was under American military occupation. He's the only major leaguer with that distinction.

Post/Card #200

This is the 200th post...so here's card #200:

Card #200 -- Billy Williams, Chicago Cubs

Interestingly, I'm in Chicago today for the National Sports Collector's Convention. That makes this post a nice coincidence.

Billy Williams was a lot of things to Cub fans during the 1960s and early 70s. He was an Iron Man, and he hit for average as well as power. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961. He was a six-time All-Star. As it turned out, the only thing he wasn't able to do in Chicago was play in the postseason...so they traded him to Oakland after the '74 season.

Williams spent two years in Oakland as one of the early beneficiaries of the new DH rule. In 1975, he finally made his first postseason, but the A's fell to the Red Sox in three games. After retiring, he became a major league coach.

Billy Williams was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987. While few fans debate his place in Cooperstown, his name and that of Fergie Jenkins are often brought up as reasons why Ron Santo hasn't been able to get in as well. Which I've never really understood.

Fun With Roman Numerals

This player has a name that almost looks like a Roman numeral:

Card #483 -- Dal Maxvill, Oakland A's

(T. Sean Shannon...a reader of this blog, stand-up comic and a Facebook friend of mine said that on one of his homemade videos. I couldn't find the one with Maxvill in it...but here's one he did for the 1973 Topps set.)

Dal Maxvill had only come to the A's in September 1972 after having spent his entire career in St. Louis. This is a photo that may have otherwise been airbrushed. Thankfully, Topps had a photographer contact in the Bay Area, as it seems a lot of cards had pictures taken in San Francisco and Oakland. He would end up in Pittsburgh during the 1973 season, but returned to the A's in '74. Thanks to his years on the Cardinals and A's, he won four World Series rings between 1964 and '74.

Maxvill was a great infielder, but a notoriously weak-hitting batter. In 1970, he set a record for players with at least 150 games played by accumulating only 80 hits all year. He also went 0-for-22 in the 1968 World Series, which is still a record for futility in a single Series. In fact, during his time in St. Louis, it was said that Bob Gibson should take the eighth spot in the batting order, since he was more valuable as a hitter.

After retiring, Maxvill became an executive, and served as the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1984-1994.