Oddball Billy Pierce

It's just a coincidence that today I'm posting a Billy Pierce item that features him as a SF Giant. This card comes from the 1981 TCMA set that celebrates the '62 Giants club. That team won the National League title by taking the Dodgers two games to one in a playoff series made necessary when the two clubs tied for first place during the regular season. 

Billy Pierce drew the start in Game One at Candlestick Park on Monday, October 1. He rose to the occasion and held the Dodgers to three hits for an 8-0 win. He returned to the mound in the deciding Game Three and pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to get the save in the Giants come-from-behind 6-4 win. 

Pierce also pitched well in the World Series against the Yankees. Though the Yanks took the title in seven games Pierce made two good starts going 1-1 while allowing only 8 hits in 15 innings.

The TCMA set contains 25 cards or so but I was only interested in the Pierce. I had looked for it for quite awhile but I finally gave in and picked up the set. I may have to pass it on to a deserving Giants' fan.

Three Billy Pierce Vintage cards

1964 Topps Billy Pierce. he's a San Francisco Giant and it just seems odd. Love the card though. Typical Pierce with that grin. Nice team-related colors and the blue sky sets off the uniform well.

The back is a different story. I'm OK with the 'wall of stats'. In fact I enjoyed reading through these numbers on veteran players' cards when I was a kid. What I didn't like (and still don't) is the orange on white format. I have a hard time reading these things. Funny, the cardback takes on a darker hue when the scan shows up on my screen. Holding the actual card next to the image shows quite a contrast. The image onscreen is waaay easier to read.

1963 Topps '62 World Series subset Game #6

That's Pierce out there working in the Candlestick Park wind, mowing down Yankees left and right. In Game Six the Giants were against the wall trailing the Series three games to two and they called on Pierce to even it up. Which he did. He had lost Game Three in Yankee Stadium despite a fine effort through six innings (see this post from last week for details). Back for his second try Pierce didn't disappoint as he scattered three hits in the 5-2 win. Pierce was perfect until Roger Maris touched him for a homer with one out in the fifth. The Yanks collected their second run in the eighth on a Clete Boyer double and Tony Kubek single.

Even with a rested bullpen Alvin Dark kept Pierce in the game and he was rewarded as Pierce retired Bobby Richardson to end the threat and in the ninth he got Tommy Tresh and Mickey Mantle on flyouts and whiffed Maris to send the Series to a Seventh Game.

For about $5 shipped I was glad to add these two cards as I close in on finishing my Billy Pierce collection.

And finally, a late edition to the collection that was waiting for me when I got back home on Sunday night. The 1962 Post Billy Pierce. I nabbed this as part of a small lot that included a couple others that I'm shipping off to someone who may like them. The Post cards from the early 60s bring back some good memories for me. I collected these with a fervor back then. I made sure I went on my mother's grocery trips so I could have 'input' on which boxes we bought. But I'd never have as many as a family down the end of the block that had about five boys and went through cereal boxes like there was no tomorrow. Those kids had Post Cereal cards to burn.

Three Crafty NL Managers from the 1960 Topps set

Three more from the 1960 Managers subset. First up this time we see the Dodgers longtime skipper, Walt Alston. 

Alston has one at bat in the majors. One. On September 27th of 1936, as a member of the Cardinals,  Alston entered the game at first base after Frankie Frisch pinch hit for the ejected Johnny Mize. He came up to bat later and fanned. Made and error at first as well. Never saw the field in a major league game again, as a player at least.

 That didn't deter him from having a standout Hall of Fame career in the Dodgers' dugouts in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He took over the Dodgers from Charlie Dressen in 1954 and held the job for 23 seasons. His clubs won for World Series' titles and seven NL pennants. he managed 3658 games and won 2040 for a '558 winning percentage. Only four times out of those 23 seasons did the Dodgers finish in the second division of the NL.

The serious and studious looking Alston never signed more than a one year contract as manager of the Dodgers. As always he appears on his card looking like your favorite old uncle. 

Danny Murtaugh on the other hand played in the big leagues for nine seasons as an infielder for the Phils and Pirates and, for a handful of games, the Braves. He took two years to serve his country during WWII. He played almost half those seasons as a regular with his best year being 1948. He led the league in several defensive categories as a 2nd baseman and hit .290 with 71 RBI.

He managed in the Pirates chain after his playing days, coached with the big club and then took over the helm in Pittsburgh in the middle of 1957. Through the years Murtaugh had four separate terms as Pirate skipper totaling 15 years. He won the World series in 1060 (thanks to Bill Mazeroski's dramatic homer) and in 1971 when Roberto Clemente and friends knocked off the Orioles.

In just over 2000 games Murtaugh's Pirate clubs won at a .544 clip.

Danny looks pretty managerial on his card. He's posing as if giving the home plate ump the 'what for' over balls and strikes. Note the batting helmet he's wearing. As I understand it Branch Rickey wanted every member of the team to wear a helmet at all times during a game. Even the pitchers. That's why you frequently see Pirate cards that show someone like Ron Kline wearing a helmet.

Here is the late, great Chuck Thompson's call of the Maz homer.

Now Bill Rigney really looks like a manager. Arms crossed and leaning on the dugout (wood???) rail. Mouth clenched, eyes hard. I bet he's hacked because when he asked his star Willie Mays to sign a ball for his grandkid Mays never looked up and then rolled the signed ball across the table at him. Hey, it's possible likely.

Rigney played all around the infield for the New York Giants from 1946 to 1953, four of those years as a regular. He made the '48 All Star game and drew a walk after subbing in for Red Schoendienst. He began managing with the Giants in New York in 1956 and was a fixture in dugouts in both leagues right through 1976 when he returned after four years as an exec to manage the Giants a second time. 

In addition to his six seasons with the Giants he managed the Angels for nine and the Twins for three. His 1970 Twins team won the AL West title but fell to the Orioles in the playoffs. After managing he served in the front office of the A's and was a broadcaster.

1969 Willie Mays

It's my original 1969 Topps Willie Mays card. And if you can look past the horrendous crease down the middle,the soft, frayed corners and the fact that it is seriously mis-cut, I think you'll agree it's a beautiful card.

Willie looks sooo Willie-like on this one. His patented smile (OK, he doesn't smile at signings much these days but he used to be known for it), the history laden Giants' home shirt, the way his glove, even though mostly out of the frame, it tilted towards the sky, ready for a Mays 'basket catch'. Topps obviously didn't have their design people spend months on the 1969 set. It's pretty ho-hum, and the color of the backs is pretty bad, but some cards are classic. I think this is one.

And the back, with it's 'wall of (amazing) stats', made for endless study for a stat maven like I was back in the day. The one text line heralds the fact that, at that moment in time, Willie was #2 to the Babe in career homers!

From third grade onward I was best friends with a Giant fan who came from a family of Giants' fans. So I saw Mays play at Shea on several occasions. I also saw the Giants play the Mets at the Polo Grounds in either '62 or '63. I don't recall a lot other than the place seemed huge (even to a kid who was used to the vast Yankee Stadium), and it seemed dark. But I saw Willie Mays play, in the place he made his most iconic catch. I know because I checked and he made every game in New York in those two seasons.

Upper Deck Marichal Sweet Spot

There's a TriStar card show coming to Houston next weekend. I still call them 'card' shows but I guess the proper term is 'memorabilia' shows. They are big and dominated by dealers selling other things than just cards. By the size of the lines and what the promotional flyers that I get tell me, autographs are the big draw.

I'm not complaining. I collect all kinds of sports 'stuff' and there are still enough card dealers to satisfy my wants in that area as well. Other than when I looking for '59s I never have a 'game plan' for the shows. I buy on impulse.

At the last show I attended there was a dealer who had a big box of game used cards that he was selling for a few dollars each. I think the highest price he had one any was $5. I'm still new enough in my return to modern card collecting that the 'shine' of these things hasn't worn off.

I bought a handful of these and paid maybe ten or twelve dollars. I was really impressed that I could have a piece of a Juan Marichal uni. I loved watching him pitch when he was in his glory days. Saw him a bunch, too. My best friend was a Giant fan, as was his father. We'd hit up the Giants are Shea frequently. Marichal wasn't my favorite Giant, Jim Ray Hart held that distinction, but he sure was fun to watch.