The Current Bosox Skipper

At the beginning of this year's baseball season, this guy took the manager's position of the Boston Red Sox:

Card #502 -- Bobby Valentine, California Angels

This picture is airbrushed, as Valentine spent his entire career through 1972 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. You can pay an artist to paint red and blue stripes on the uniform and white out the Dodgers' distinctive jersey features, but it was apparently to much to ask somebody to crop out the rest of the Phillies player sitting in the lower right corner.

Starting with California in 1973, Valentine got off to a .302 average, but was injured by the outfield chain-link fence while trying to rob Dick Green of a home run. During the attempt, his spikes were caught and he suffered multiple fractures in his leg. Not only did that injury end his season, it robbed him of his speed, As a result, he never stayed long with his teams as a player. He moved to the Padres in 1975, the Mets in 1977 and the Mariners in '79. He retired that year and moved on to coaching.

In 1985, Valentine was tapped to be the Rangers' manger. A few days before his 35th birthday, he was the youngest non-playing manager in years. He remained with the team through 1992. After a short stint as a manager in Japan, Valentine was named the New York Mets' manager in 1996 and guided them to the 2000 World Series. He was fired by the team after 2002, and he returned to Japan to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines again. He moved to the ESPN broadcast booth in 2009, where he remained until the Red Sox called.

Bobby Valentine is regarded a smart baseball man. Hopefully he's smart enough to keep ESPN executives on his speed dial. Especially if you hear what Red Sox fans have been saying about him.

Riddleberger

This guy had already played his last major league game before this card was printed:

Card #157 -- Denny Riddleberger, Cleveland Indians

1972 was Denny Riddleberger's only year with the Cleveland Indians. He spent part of 1973 in the minors but retired during the season. Originally signed by the Pirates in 1967, he came up with the Senators late in 1970 and pitched with them in 1971 as well. After the team moved to Texas, they traded him to Cleveland before he even would have had time to unpack.

There really isn't a lot of information about Denny Riddleberger to be found Online, so I'll talk about this little fact: though he was a left-handed pitcher, he batted righty. That is an interesting distinction...did he get forced to do that, or was it simply because he learned to bat the same way his friends did? I don't know, I'm just asking.

A Future Yankee...and a Future Yankee Killer

This player bookended his career as a Cub but was better remembered for the other two teams he played with:

Card #501 -- Larry Gura, Chicago Cubs

Larry Gura first came up with Chicago in 1970, but was used sparingly through 1973. An occasional starter, he also worked the bullpen. He was traded to the Rangers, and then the Yankees before the 1974 season. Beginning in 1975, the Yankees used Gura as a member of the starting rotation.That said, they should have known what they were doing when they sent him to the Royals in 1976.

Gura's best years were in Kansas City. He particularly irked his former team, going 11-6 against them and seeing them four out of five years (1976-'78, '80) in the ALCS. In 1978-'81, he won every game against them where he had a decision, including two ALCS games. He was a member of the team that went to the '80 World Series; ironically, he was released by the team in 1985, the same year they finally won a championship.

1985 would be Gura's final year. He went back to Chicago, and the Cubs also released him before the year was over.

Not the Spanish Painter

There was an artist in Spain during the 1700s with the same name. However, this blog doesn't pretend to embrace high art, so we'll focus on this player instead:

Card #47 -- Luis Melendez, St. Louis Cardinals

This Luis Melendez was nicknamed "Torito," the Spanish term for "baby bull." He came up to the Cardinals in 1970 and was solid enough with his glove to be regular for a couple of seasons. However, Bake McBride came up in 1974 and Willie Davis was brought to the team the next year. With Lou Brock and Reggie Smith already playing out there, it was getting crowded, and with more talent coming up through the farm system, it was clear that something needed to be done.

As a result, it was decided to convert Melendez into a shortstop. That proved disastrous, however, and Melendez moved back into the outfield. In 1976, he was traded to San Diego, where he served largely as a late-inning fill-in. He stayed with the Padres through 1977. The next year, he signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent, but never made the big league squad.

After his retirement as a player, Melendez returned home to Puerto Rico and eventually became a successful manager. He also managed in the minors in spurts since the late '80s, winning a South Atlantic League championship in 2004.

Great Job!

The subject line has noting at all to do with this player. He's in front of an empty seating section, and it looks like the police officer in the background can rest easy to know he's doing a great job:

Card #113 -- Jerry Grote, New York Mets

Actually, the title line would be an adequate description of Jerry Grote, as well. He was one of the best defensive backstops of his era. I've always said that catchers should get more credit than they do -- there's a reason so many of them are managers -- and he was a big part of the Mets teams that went to the World Series in 1969 and 1973. He also backed up three World Series-bound Dodgers teams late in his career.

When Grote came up to the big leagues, he was with the other "new" team of 1962, the Houston Colt 45s. After taking over behind the plate for the team in 1964, he went back to the minors for '65 and then was traded to the Mets during the offseason. He immediately took his place in Shea, and became the director of pitches for a talented young staff that would soon include Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman and Tug McGraw.

Known for his habit of rolling the ball back to the far side of the mound when a strikeout ended the inning so the opposing pitcher would have to walk a few extra steps, Grote was a competitive player who helped to get the team out of its "lovable loser" routine after showing up. His presence was a big factor in 1969, when the team rallied to win the World Series against the heavily favored Orioles. He played every inning of that Series and his pitch-calling helped hold the O's to a .146 batting average.

Injuries began to slow Grote down and limit his time in 1972-'74, and then Duffy Dyer and John Stearns began to take over. In 1977, Grote was dealt to the Dodgers, where he was a backup to Steve Yeager on two straight pennant-winning clubs. Though he retired after the 1978 season, he was enticed by the Royals to return in 1981. He split that season with the Royals and the Dodgers before retiring for good.

After his retirement, Grote spent a few seasons managing in the minors, and also raised cattle on his Texas farm. He's also a color commentator for his local minor league team.

Sporting the Chops -- The New Guy Edition

All three of the guys here are sporting sideburns. It was the 1970s, what else were they going to wear? Once again, not all of these guy were truly "rookies":

Card #602 -- 1973 Rookie Pitchers

In Mel Behney's case, he had already appeared on a Reds' rookie card in 1972. Those were his only cards, which was interesting because his only major league action came in a two-week trial in 1970. He went 0-2 and never made it back out of the minors. In fact, during Spring Training of 1973, Behney had been traded to the Red Sox and was playing his final season.

Ralph Garcia also didn't make the majors in 1973, reaching the Padres for short stints in 1972 and '74. He stayed in the minors through 1975, and then went to Mexico, where he became a star. This would be his only appearance on a Topps card.

Doug Rau managed to stay around until 1981 and had several more cards in the process. The was a Dodger from 1972-'79, missed all of 1980 due to rotator cuff surgery, and then went to the California Angels in 1981. He was initially a reliever and worked his way into the starting rotation by 1974. He was a capable pitcher, but is perhaps best remembered by a mound conference with Tommy Lasorda during the 1977 World Series that isn't suitable for a family broadcast but lives on thanks to the Internet.

An Early Hobby Lesson

Early on in my hobby pursuit, when I was a little less knowledgeable about what was available, I picked up two totally different 1974 Topps cards of this guy:

Card #539 -- Tom Murphy, Kansas City Royals

One showed him with the Cardinals, while one explained that he had been traded to the Brewers, and even added a "T" to the card number to update it. I was 11 years old (it was 1984) and was pretty sure I'd picked up something unique out of the same dime box. I was soon introduced to the separate "Traded" series of 1974 as I looked through a book about cards.

That has nothing to do with Tom Murphy, though. From 1968-'79, he appeared with six different clubs, so his appearance on a Traded card really wasn't going to be unique. He came up with the Angels, where he stayed through early in the '72 season. He was then traded to the Royals (as seen above) and then spent 1973 in St. Louis. His trade to Milwaukee after the season led to the card I found. In 1976, he traveled to Boston and then joined the Blue Jays for their inaugural season in 1977. He remained with the Jays until the end of his major league career. While he started with California, Murphy was almost exclusively a reliever on his other stops.

In 1974, he was one of only two American League pitchers to collect a hit (Fergie Jenkins was the other). It was the year after the implementation of the designated hitter, and there was an occasional tweak that placed pitchers in the lineup. That's pretty cool, but when I see him, I immediately think of his place in my own Hobby history.