1967 Topps Al Downing New York Yankees

Today's entry for my blog is best remembered for a home run that he gave up, but Al Downing had a nice career that lasted 17 seasons. Card number 308 in the 1967 Topps Baseball card set of 609 cards.

This autograph was obtained by a through the mail (TTM) request to Al Downing at his home in California. I mailed Mr. Downing the card on November 3, 2008 and he graciously returned the card to me 14 days later. He signed the card with a nice blue sharpie autograph. Thank you, Mr. Downing.

Al Downing's career started in 1961 with the New York Yankees and pitched for the Yankees until 1969. He also pitched for the Oakland A's, Milwaukee Brewers, and his last 7 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His career statistics include 123 wins versus 107 losses, 3.22 earned run average and 1639 strikeouts. Al Downing led the American League with 217 strikeouts in 1964, made the 1967 All-Star team and pitched in 3 World Series. In 1971, Al Downing won the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award while pitching for the Dodgers.

On April 8, 1974, Al Downing gave up Hank Aaron's record breaking 715 home run. See photo below.

To learn more about Al Downing's career, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.

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