Today's entry about my collection of 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball cards is a player who appeared in 5 All-Star Games, including 4 straight in the early 1970's. It is Octavio Victor Rojas Rivas, better known as Cookie Rojas, infielder/outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies. Card number 595 in the 1967 Topps Baseball card set of 609 subjects.
This autograph was obtained with a through the mail request to Cookie Rojas via the Florida Marlins, where he is the Spanish Television Announcer for the Fins, on June 10, 2010. Mr. Rojas graciously returned the card 23 days later with a nice blue sharpie autograph. Thank you, Cookie! This is the 508th autograph in my 1967 Topps collection and the last 100 or so to go are becoming harder and harder to obtain.
Cookie Rojas played 16 seasons in the major leagues from 1962 to 1977. His career started in 1962 with the Cincinnati Reds, then went to the Phillies from 1963 until 1969. After Philadelphia, Rojas played in 1970 for the St. Louis Cardinals and played his final 8 seasons with the Kansas City Royals. A symbol of versatily, Cookie Rojas has played all 9 positions during his career including catching and pitching. Primarily during his career, Cookie played second base, while compiling a career .263 Batting Average, 1660 hits, 593 runs batted in, 54 home runs and stealing 76 bases. He played in two playoff series for the Kansas City Royals in 1976 and 1977 versus the New York Yankees.
Cookie Rojas appeared in five All-Star games during his career, 1965 and 1971 to 1974. In the 1972 Game in Atlanta, he hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning, which was the first time that a non-American-born player ever homered for the American League in the mid-summer classic.
After his playing days were over, Cookie Rojas coached and scouted until he was named manager of the California Angels in 1988. He also managed a game for the Florida Marlins in 1996. To learn more about Cookie Rojas, check out his biography at wikipedia.org.
Looking for great Sports memorabilia, apparel and collectibles, check out Dugoutdug Sports Collectibles for your favorite players and teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment