1967 Topps Chris Zachary Houston Astros

Today marks the second day that the mailbox did not contain any new additions to my 1967 Topps Autograph Baseball card set. Nevertheless, I went into my collection and pulled out a card of a player with roots to Knoxville, Tennessee, my current hometown. It is of Chris Zachary, pitcher for the Houston Astros. Card number 212 in the 1967 Topps Baseball card set of 609 cards.

This autograph was purchased at the sports card show in Detroit, Michigan by my good friend, Jim Zylstra. It has a nice signature with a black sharpie. Chris Zachary passed away in 2003 at age 59 in Knoxville, his hometown.

Chris "Zach" Zachary's career lasted 9 seasons and he played for the Houston Colt 45's/Astros, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and finally, the Pittsburgh Pirates. His career statistics include 10 wins, 4.57 earned run average and 184 strikeouts. He appeared in 108 games during his career, mostly in relief. Chris Zachary once described himself as being "a pretty decent 10th-man on a 10-man staff." He is a member of the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. To learn about Chris Zachary, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.

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1967 Topps Maury Wills Pirates Dodgers

The mailbox did not have any new surprises today. Therefore, I went back into my collection of 1967 Topps Autographed baseball cards and found this card of Maury Wills, third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Card number 570 out of the set of 609. This card is particularly difficult to find because it is from the 7th and last series of cards distributed in 1967.

This autographed card was purchased from a dealer on ebay in November 2009 with a certificate of authenticity. Maury Wills signed the card with a nice blue sharpie.

Maury Wills played 14 years in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos. He played shortstop for the majority of his career where he won 2 Gold Glove Awards, the 1962 Most Valuable Player award, appeared in 5 All-Star games and won 3 World Series Championships. His career batting average was .281 with 2134 hits and 586 stolen bases, which was Maury's specialty, leading the league 6 times.

During the 1962 season, Maury Wills stole 104 bases, which set a major league record at that time, a record held by Hall of Famer Ty Cobb since 1915. In fact, Wills stole more bases by himself than each of the other team's entire totals. The next highest total for a team was 99 by the Washington Senators. He won the National League Most Valuable Player award for his efforts. To learn more about Maury Wills, read his biography at wikipedia.org.