Gambo and T_Wil1 Photopack

[KenRaffensberger16]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

Don't know that I've ever seen him in color in a New York Giants' uniform.

Burnside had a rough time at four different stops in the majors, so his status as the '50s equivalent of an elite prospect is all but forgotten. So's his education. Burnside had just finished his freshman year at Dartmouth when the Giants signed him in 1949. He not only got his degree in 1952 but after his pitching career ended in Japan in 1965 he got a master's at Northwestern and then proceeded to teach and coach at his old high school until his retirement in the early '90s.

Pete Burnside pitched in the first major league game I ever saw (9/25/1955 at the Polo Grounds, NYC). I believe it was his second or third game in the majors. On the final day of the 1955 season Burnside pitched against and beat Robin Roberts, who was finishing his sixth straight 20-win season. It was Game One of a rainout necessitated double header. Burnside pitched a Complete Game and nearly got a Shutout, but that was spoiled by a late inning Stan Lopata solo home run. Burnside was aided by Willie Mays' 51st home run of the season.The Phillies needed a sweep to finish above .500, but only got a split so they finished at 77-77 (4th place in an 8-team League)..Burnside was unknown to me before the game, but I certainly knew who he was after this brilliant performance.
Ted Kazanski hit a rare home run in Game 2 (he hit only 13 home runs lifetime and this one was an inside-the-park job) to pace the Phillies in Game 2 and Curt Simmons stymied Giants hitters to get the win and the doubleheader split for the Phillies..
There was still more momentous news than what I've already related. In Game 2, the Giants' Bobby Hoffman hit into a Kazanski (SS) to Bobby Morgan (2B) to Marv Blaylock (1B) Triple Play.
Finally, after winning the 1954 World Series, in 1955 the Giants dropped to a 80-74, 3rd place finish. Giants' management was deeply disappointed by this performance and before my parents and I had gotten back home to New Jersey, the news came on the car radio that the NY Giants' manager, Leo Durocher had been fired.

[Merkle923]

Boy, did the Yankees oversell this guy. After consecutive 20+ homer seasons in the minors they forecast the MVP of the 1959 NAIA baseball tournament as the next great outfield slugger in the Bronx (neglecting to note, since the number was rarely included in the stats, that he had struck out 286 times in his previous 263 games).

They gave Roger Repoz 296 plate appearances in New York (66 strikeouts) before dishing him off to Kansas City in '66 in a package for Fred Talbot. A year and five days later the A's called up a minor leaguer named Reggie Jackson, and trundled Repoz off to the Angels for the last three months of the career of Jack Sanford, and in '72 the Orioles traded Jerry Davanon for him and buried him in the minors. Repoz did 122 homers in five seasons in Japan (but still struck out 360 times).

Oddly for all his contact problems, between 1967 and 1970, Repoz set a record for non-pitchers by going 347 games and 894 At Bats without hitting into a double play. He did steal 26 bases in his 831 major league seasons (in 51 attempts) indicating he was no speed demon but not a lead foot.

There are three widely-known color images of him in A's gear - a George Brace image from Comiskey, and his 1967 Topps and Coke/Dexter Press cards. This shot was taken at Yankee Stadium at the end of May, 1967, just before the deal to California.

[SPORTSMEM817]

Cooper played for the Washington Senators in 1948...appreciate anything you would have....thank you

[rico43]

With the Chattanooga Lookouts. I own the negative, so feel free to use as needed.

[rico43]

Hendu seemingly enjoyed the game and life as much as anyone I've ever seen in the gane. Reportedlly died from a heart attack, mere weeks after receiving a life-saving kidney transplant. Tragically linked to the late Donnie Moore, who gave up Henderson's series-changing homer when he was just one strike away from victory.

[rico43]

Passed away Dec. 29 at the age of 85. A Topps Vault favorite: to date, 20 images released. These are not among them:





From the Boston Globe:

Malzone was a six-time all-star who had a career .274 batting average with 133 home runs and 728 RBIs. Malzone was a member of the Red Sox organization all but one of the last 69 years since signing as a free agent in 1947. After ending his 12-year major league playing career with the California Angels in 1966, he returned to Boston as a scout and instructor, and went on to work in Boston’s front office. Beginning in 2008, he served as a Red Sox player development consultant.

“We mourn the loss of a man we all came to know as ‘Malzie,’ who was venerated by Red Sox fans not only for his great glove at third base but for his blue-collar dedication to his craft,” said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.

Malzone lost two seasons of development serving in the United States Army during the Korean War in 1952 and 1953, but made it to the majors two years later in 1955. A full-time big leaguer by 1957, he immediately impressed both defensively and with the bat, finishing second in Rookie of the Year balloting after hitting .292 with 15 home runs and a team-leading 103 RBI.

Malzone hit at least 13 home runs every season from 1957-64, the only American League third baseman to reach double-digits in homers in each of those eight campaigns. In 1959, he had a team-high 34 doubles to go along with 19 home runs. His career-high 21 homers in 1962 led the team and tied the then-club single-season record by a third baseman, a mark that would not be passed for another 15 years.

Malzone played in every game in back-to-back seasons from 1958-59, starting each Red Sox contest from May 21, 1957-June 7, 1960. His 475 consecutive games played in that time remain the team’s longest streak in the live ball era (since 1920).
In 1967, his first season as a Red Sox scout, Malzone is credited with providing crucial advance scouting reports that helped Boston defeat the Minnesota Twins to claim the American League pennant and push the St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the World Series. He also instructed numerous major leaguers, including Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Jim Rice.

“Early on in my minor league career, Frank Malzone and Eddie Popowski would tirelessly work with me on becoming a better third baseman,” Hall of Famer Wade Boggs said. “Not only Johnny Pesky but Frank Malzone was instrumental in my development as a third baseman. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Malzone family at this time.”

[SPORTSMEM817]

Major League First Baseman Everett Eppy Eppie Barnes Played For:Pittsburgh Pirates 1923-1924 any photo would be a help. Again thanks to those like Cusick and Rico for posting photos of Cal Cooper and Hal Toenes it was greatly appreciated

[rico43]

George Case, who spent more than 40 years playing or working for the Senators/Twins, was a major league coach with the Twins only one season, 1968. Here in spring training camp, he passes along some of his knowledge to young Twins Ted Uhlaender and Jackie Hernandez.
Photo from the Lexibell files.

[rico43]

At the onset of the1969 season, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst poses with his three Memphis-bred players: Ron Willis, Phil Gagliano and Tim McCarver, who would later have a baseball stadium in Memphis bear his name. UPI wirephoto from the Lexibell files.

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by SPORTSMEM817

Major League First Baseman Everett Eppy Eppie Barnes Played For:Pittsburgh Pirates 1923-1924 any photo would be a help.

The attached photo of Eppie Barnes is from the book 2000 CUPS OF COFFEE, by Marc Okkonen. Two additional photos of Barnes were posted on this thread back in 2012 by Dto7 on the following webpage:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...opack-857.html

[SPORTSMEM817]

Thank you for all your help...from his yearbook photo I was able to make this....thanks again

[rico43]

Found in the Lexibell files is this photo from July, 1955, of Orioles bonus baby Bruce Swango, one of nine signed between 1954-57 by GM Paul Richards. An 18-year-old Oklahoma prodigy, the Orioles (according to an accompanying Chicago Tribune story) outbid seven other teams for the right-hander, who signed for a reported $36,000. He averaged 17 strikeouts per game in high school, and once struck out all 21 batters he faced over a seven-inning game.
He was placed on the major league roster (hence the Sharman question), but he never played a game with the Orioles, or with any major league team. The problem: wildness, so bad that he could not even throw batting practice for the Orioles. When he was released after only nine weeks with the club, the team indicated he was intimidated by crowds -- which Swango denied.
The Yankees signed him in 1956 and tried unsuccessfully to move him to the outfield for a year. But he seemed back on the pitching track in 1958 when he went 10-4 with a no-hitter, but never rose above AA. Swango was in their system until early in the 1961 season, when he was loaned to the Twins. That off-season, the Twins officially acquired him in the Rule V draft, and he spent 1962-63 in AAA. But his career ended there.

[rico43]

The popular mantra for the 1948 NL champion Boston Braves was "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." Well, the answer to the trivia question of who exactly did fill out the Braves' rotation is answered here. Left to right, Braves staters Bill Voiselle (13-13), Johnny Sain (24-15), Vern Bickford (11-5) and Warren Spahn (15-12). The Braves were 91-62 for the season.
Lexibell file from Baseball Birthdays.

[Buccos]

I'm looking for a nice color shot of LHP Juan Pizarro, from 1974.

He was with the Pirates, with the polyester uniform and mustard-yellow cap.

Thankew,
J

[Merkle923]

Good luck. We came up empty in our searches for that in November.

[ssacc98]

Kinda small, but hope it works

[rico43]

Duane Richards, 1955 bonus baby signee for the Cincinnati Reds, appeared in only two major league games, both in 1960 (three innings, three earned runs). He was in the Reds' system from 1955-63, then wrapped up his career with the Mets the latter part of 1963 and 1964. He threw over 1,200 innings in his minor league career.

[Merkle923]

Richards, here, nearly five years ago: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3112491

[rico43]

He wears the uniform well, his delivery seems adequate, but Harry Ruby was approaching his 56th birthday when he "tried out" for the St. Louis Cardinals. While he aspired to be a big league ballplayers while growing up, he found his niche in the music industry as a songwriter: "Baby Face," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," "Hooray for Captain Spalding" and "Three Little Words" among them. I wonder if he was helping promote the move by the same name as the last song, which came out the year before. While Red Skelton played Ruby in the movie, the songwriter himself had a cameo -- as a big league catcher! Ruby was named to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.



Some fans gathered to discuss Ruby's delivery, including Stan Musial, Cardinals club president Fred Saigh, Solly Hemus and a player not ID'd, who might be Tom Poholsky.



Photos from the Lexibell files. They close for good on January 16th.

[Merkle923]

This was my first "favorite new player" when the Yankees promoted him and stuck him into the line-up on September 17, 1967. The following weekend against the first place Minnesota Twins - though billed as a speed-and-defense guy - Shopay hit a three-run homer off Dave Boswell in his second major league at bat and kept Minnesota from expanding their lead from one half game to a game-and-a-half. Since Minnesota lost the pennant by one game, Shopay's homer was of unexpected importance.

He hit another one a week later and the Yankees thought they'd found their next left fielder. But he went into military service for 1968, and when he came back the Yankees decided he was at best a platoon outfielder (26 career plate appearances against LHP compared to 283 against righties) and such a non-prospect that they not only let him go in the 1969 Rule V draft, but when the Orioles didn't keep him on the 1970 major league roster, New York did not reclaim him.

Shopay went on to a surprisingly lengthy run (off-and-on for seven seasons) as a pinch-hit specialist for the O's, and was used four times (without success) in the 1971 World Series. Just to top it off, by pure chance I attended a Yankee game when I was 10 years old and found myself seated behind his wife. They were from a town deep in the wilds of Connecticut called Bristol, which I had never heard of till then but which came up again later in a very different context.

By the way, after his homers on September 23 and September 30, 1967, his next in the majors came on April 24, 1977, against Dave Roberts of the Tigers. If that isn't a record drought for a non-pitcher, it's close enough.