Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Bill Fischer - #409


Bill Fischer had a nine year career as a player in baseball. He started his career with the White Sox in 1956. Bill appeared mostly as a middle reliever, compiling a 45-58 career mark over his 9 seasons. After 2 years in Chicago, Bill was traded to the Tigers in 1958. The Senators then claimed him off waivers in 1958, keeping him for 2 years before trading him back to the Tigers. In 1961, the Tigers sent Bill to the KC Athletics, where he remained until the Twins drafted him in the Rule 5 supplemental draft of 1963. After the '64 season, the White Sox signed him back as a free agent, but Bill never saw another game in the big leagues.

Currently, Bill is a minor league development coordinator in the Royals organization after spending years as a pitching coach with the Reds, Red Sox, Rays and Braves.

Claim to fame: While not an overpowering pitcher, Bill had great control. He is the current AL record holder for the most consecutive innings pitched without giving up a walk. Bill went 84.1 innings with Kansas City in 1962 before he issued a free pass.


Comic answer: Carl Weilman - 6 times

Card condition: Off center. Lot of scratches on the card front and dinged corners. Back has some staining.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Rookie Stars Indians - #146


Robert "Bob" Chance spent six years in MLB, spliting time with the Indians, Senators and the Angels. He then went over to Japan for two year before spending his last two years in Puerto Rico. Mostly a first baseman, his best year was in '64, hitting .279 with 14 long balls. After being traded to the Senators, he mostly played fill in roles for the rest of his career. After baseball, he returned to Charleston, WV and worked with the government recreation department and passed away 6 months ago (Oct 3, 2013) from cancer.

Tommy John made a few spotty appearances with the Indians, but he career really started when he was traded to the White Sox after the '64 season. After 7 fairly successful seasons in Comiskey, Tommy was sent to the Dodgers for Dick Allen in 1972. Tommy had 2 and a half stellar seasons with the Dodgers, until a devastating injury to his elbow but a halt to his 1974 season. After surgery that kept him out of the '75 season, John came back and continued his career with the Dodgers and then with the Yankees, appearing in 3 World Series. John left baseball with a career win total of 288 victories, 164 of them coming after the surgery that was feared to have ended his career. John currently sits 7th on the wins list of left handed pitchers.

Claim to fame: While Bob Chance is not remembered much in baseball circles, the surgery that repaired John's elbow has taken on his name and been used many times to extend the careers of numerous ball players.


Comic answer: No comic on the back of the Rookie Stars cards.

Card condition: Minor bumps on the corners. Slight crease below the word "outfield". Slightly miscentered on the back, and cut at a small angle.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Bob Duliba - #441


After serving 3 years in Korea, Bob made his major league debut on Aug, 11, 1959. Bob spent seven years in the big leagues with St. Louis, Los Angeles, Boston and the Kansas Athletics. Mostly a  reliever, Bob's best season came in 1964 with the Angels, appearing in 58 games and finishing the year with a 6-4 record and 9 saves. Currently, Bob lives in Wyoming and works as a coach in their local baseball program.

Claim to Fame: Bob was pitching when Mickey Mantle hit his 450th home run.


Comic answer: Sammy White - Boston. 3 times in 1953.

Card condition: Front centering is off a bit. Corners are slightly dinged. Minor swirl scratches on the face. Back centering is poor, though there is no loss of information, nor bleed from the adjoining cards of the panel.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Welcome!

Welcome to 1964 Topps. I did some look/see, and while I did find a blog that ended a about a year ago over on Wordpress, no one seems to have put together a blog on the 1964 set here at Blogger. And since I am attempting to build the set I figured I would document the journey.

For my set, condition will not be too much of an issue. While the '64 set is fairly inexpensive to build, as there are not a lot of high priced rookies in the set, it would still be a challenge to build on a tight budget. I an hoping for cards that would rate good to very good. If I can find something of higher quality at a small price, I'll take it. But mostly, I am building this set via cheap set building cards found in discount bins when possible. I'll add something beat up if the price is right, but only as a place holder until I find a card I am more pleased with.

In the technical set, 1964 would be the last Topps set released when I didn't roam this planet. There is something I like in the simplicity of the set. I can't quite explain it. I have no goal on when the set will be finished. I'll just go along and when I have all 567 cards, then it's complete. 

So come along on this journey. I'll randomly scan cards, in no particular order, and talk a little about each one.