Quote:
Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com
Hello awhile back, I believe it was in Baseball-Birthdays site. It might have been FatJack that had shown it. It was a 1968 Pre-Expansion roster of the Seattle Pilots. In search of this roster but can not find. If anyone knows if it is in any site or has a way to put it on this site. Would greatly appreciate. THANKS.
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Pretty sure this request should have come in another thread, but not sure which. That said, this was an old old eBay listing. The Pilots had a "fan club" or "official" newsletter (as many clubs do). Theirs was called "Pilots' Log". This was the inaugural issue from August 1968. IIRC, the eBay offering ultimately sold in the $200 range. They were supposed to have a regular schedule (every other month or something like that) but, like everything else with the club, they sort of ran out of money. They moved from the glossy stock to regular newsprint and I don't recall how many issues there ended up being (at least 4).
The August '68 edition was more about selling season tickets than anything else, but it did contain what likely qualifies as the first Pilots' roster ever published. It's mostly made up of their draft picks from the '68 draft and the few veterans they had under contact prior to the Expansion Draft (which had yet to be held). FWIW, Jim Mahoney disputes that he was ever property of the Pilots.
Personally, I'm amused by the "Mystery Man" article. As this was also before the '68 World Series, the Pilots' manager had not yet been named. I'll have to go back to the books to find when, exactly, Joe Schultz (then a Cardinals coach) was chosen, but he was chosen before the World Series and it was one of the worst kept secrets in the history of baseball. Pound that Budweiser (but don't drink and drive).
(Click on the image for the full sized version)