1967 Topps Bud Harrelson New York Mets

Today's entry for my collection of 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball cards is about a player, coach and manager who is known as a light hitter with a bat, but a big hitter during a fight. It is Bud Harrelson of the New York Mets, card number 306 in the 1967 Topps Baseball card set of 609 subjects.

This autograph from Bud Harrelson was obtained with a through the mail request to his residence in New York on December 11, 2008. Eleven days later, I received the card back from Mr. Harrelson with a beautiful blue sharpie signature. Thank you, Bud! As of September 6, 2010, I have accumulated 510 different signatures for the collection.

Darrel "Bud" Harrelson played 16 seasons of Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1980. The majority of his career (1965-1977) was played for the Mets. After the Mets, Bud was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and played there until 1979, then was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he played his last season, 1980. Known as an excellent fielding shortstop during his career, Bud had a .969 career fielding percentage and won the Gold Glove in 1971. As a hitter, Bud's career batting average was .236 with 1120 hits, of which 7 were home runs, drove in 267 runs and stole 127 bases. Bud Harrelson was named to the 1970 and 1971 National League All-Star teams and won two World Series rings, in 1969 as a player for Amazin' Mets and in 1986 as a coach for the Mets.

Always a fiery competitor, Bud Harrelson let his emotions get the better of him in the 1973 National League Championship Series against Pete Rose and the Cincinnati Reds. During game three of the series, Pete Rose slid hard into Harrelson at second base while trying to break up a double play. Bud Harrelson took exception to the aggressive slide and a fight ensued between Rose and Harrelson and the benches from both teams joined the fray. The Mets fans were so upset by the fight, they started throwing objects onto the field and the game was almost called off. It took several members of the New York Mets to calm the crowd and let the game resume.

After his playing days were over, Bud Harrelson became a coach for the Mets for several seasons and finally got his chance to manage the Mets in 1990 and 1991. He posted a career managerial record with 166 wins versus 151 losses. He was never given another opportunity to manage in the Major League after the firing. To learn more about Bud Harrelson, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.

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Jim Fregosi 1967 Topps California Angels

 

Today's entry for the 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card collection is Jim Fregosi, shortstop for the California Angels. Card number 385 out of 609 different cards in the set.

Jim Fregosi signed this card at his home in Florida after I sent him the card through the mail on July 6, 2009. He returned the card signed with a blue autograph 10 days later. Thank you Mr. Fregosi. Looking to send items to be signed by players, to go sportscollectors.net for current addresses.

Jim Fregosi played 18 seasons in the major leagues from 1961 to 1978. His career started with the Los Angeles/California Angels where he was a 6 time all-star. In the trade bringing future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan to the Angels, Fregosi went to the New York Mets in 1972. He also played for the Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1967, Jim Fregosi won a Gold Glove Award in 1967 as a shortstop. Jim Fregosi's career statistics include .265 career batting average, 151 home runs and 706 runs batted in. Jim Fregosi is one of 28 players (including Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and George Brett) in major league history to have a hit for the cycle more than once. Hitting for the cycle means having a single, double, triple and home run in the same game. He accomplished the feat on July 28, 1964 and May 20, 1968.

As the California Angels were looking for a manager in 1978, the Pittsburgh Pirates released Fregosi and he became manager at age 36. Jim managed the Angels until 1981, then he also managed the Chicago White Sox from 1986 to 1988, led the Philadelphia Phillies from 1991 to 1996, winning the 1993 National League Pennant, and the Toronto Blue Jays from 1999-2000. His career managerial record is 1028 wins versus 1095 losses.  To learn more about Jim Fregosi, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.
 
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1967 Topps Ron Hansen Chicago White Sox

The mailbox today yielded no new additions to my set of 1967 Topps Autographed baseball cards. Therefore, I went back into my collection to share this card. It is Ron Hansen, shortstop, of the Chicago White Sox. Card number 9 in the 1967 Topps Baseball Card set of 609 cards.

This autograph was obtained through the mail. I sent the card to Ron Hansen at the home in Maryland on December 11, 2008 and I received it back signed on December 18, 2008. A very quick turnaround and a beautiful blue sharpie autograph.

Ron Hansen's career lasted 15 seasons with stints with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Ron battled back injuries most of his career and missed part of several seasons. He also served 6 months as a Marine in 1962 as part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His career statistics include a .234 batting average, 106 home runs and 501 runs batted in. His best season was 1960 as he made the All-Star team and was named American League Rookie of the Year as a Baltimore Oriole.

Ron was part of two notable trades. In 1963, he was traded with future Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm from the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio. His other notable trade was a curious move, in 1968, Hansen was sent to the Senators at pre-season in a deal for infielder Tim Cullen. Then on August 2, he was shipped back to the White Sox for Tim Cullen, making them the only two players in MLB history to be traded for one another twice in the same season. To read more about Ron Hansen, go to 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.

1967 Topps Dick Groat Philadelphia Phillies Duke Blue Devils

Dick Groat is one of the original two sports stars, long before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. He excelled at basketball with the Duke Blue Devils, where he won the National Player of the Year award in 1952 and baseball where he was a 5 time all-star, won 2 World Series and was named National League Most Valuable Player in 1960.

Card number 205 in the set of 609 displays Dick Groat as a shortshop for the Philadelphia Phillies. This card was the 1st autograph that I obtained that started my desire to collect the 1967 Topps autographed set. Purchased on ebay in October 2008, I originally planned on giving it to my friend, Philip, who is a long time Phillies fan and a alumni at Duke University. However, I fell in love this the idea of collecting this set and could not part with it. I have subsequently purchased another Dick Groat autograph for my friend. Now that I collected 439 autographed for the set, this will always be the first!.

During Dick's 16 year baseball career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. He won World Series with the Pirates in 1960 and the Cardinals in 1964, both defeating the New York Yankees.

Dick was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and his #10 uniform has been retired by Duke University. To learn more about Dick Groat, go to wikipedia.com.

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