Joe Sparma (#505)

Joe Sparma was the forgotten man for the Tigers in the 1968 post-season. The team's #4 starter, he was relegated to the bullpen for the post-season, since teams used a 3-man rotation in those days. He did pitch 1/3 of an inning in the Series.

Joe went to the same Massillon, Ohio high school as former Athletics' outfielder Mike Hershberger, although Joe was 3 years younger than Mike. Joe was also a quarterback at Ohio State in 1961 and 1962. He and teammate Paul Warfield led Ohio State to the Big 10 championship in '61.

Sparma was signed by the Tigers in 1963. After 1+ seasons in the minors he was called up in late-May 1964 and remained with the Tigers for the rest of the season, making 11 starts and 10 relief appearances.

Although Joe spent some time in the Tigers' bullpen in 1966 and 1969, he was primarily a starter during his years with Detroit. His best season came in 1967, when he collected 16 wins in 37 starts, while striking out 153 batters in 217 innings (all career highs for him. Sparma was pitching a no-hitter against the Pilots on 5/31/1969 when Don Mincher got a hit with one out in the 9th inning.

After feuding with manager Mayo Smith for more than a year, Joe was traded to Montreal in December 1969 for pitcher Jerry Robertson, who was 5-16 in his rookie season for the expansion Expos.

Sparma compiled an 0-4 record in 9 games (all by May 12th), and was promptly sent down to the minors for the rest of the 1970 season. He pitched for the Tigers' AAA team in 1971, before retiring.

Joe suffered a heart attack and died following bypass surgery on May 14, 1986 at age 44.

Don Wilson (#77)

Like Gary Nolan, Don Wilson was a notable rookie in 1967 that was not included in the 1967 Topps set.

Wilson was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1964, and pitched 3 seasons in the minors, making his big-league debut on September 29, 1966.

Don joined the Astros' starting rotation as a rookie in 1967, compiling a 10-9 record in 31 games. He was a top-4 starter in each of his seasons with the team (1967-74). Early on, Wilson was behind veterans Mike Cuellar, Dave Giusti, and Larry Dierker.

By the end of the 1960s, Cuellar and Giusti were gone, leaving Dierker and Wilson at the top of the rotation. 1971 was Don's best season, going 16-10 with 180 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA in 268 innings. He also made his only all-star appearance that season, pitching 2 innings. [Interesting note: both teams only used 4 pitchers in the '71 all-star game.]

Wilson tragically died in January 1975, at age 29 of carbon monoxide poisoning. The incident occurred at his home, and also claimed the life of his son. This was one of several deaths of current or former Astros players.

Cap Peterson (#188)

Charles Andrew "Cap" Peterson had an 8-year career in the 1960s as an outfielder, primarily for the Giants and Senators (Topps' two "green" teams, coincidently).

Cap was signed by the Giants in 1960, and spent 4 seasons in their farm system, the first 3 as a shortstop. After a cup of coffee at the end of the 1962 season, and 22 games in May, June, and September 1963, Peterson spent the entire 1964 season with the Giants, where he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter. (The Giants' starting outfield was Willie McCovey. Willie Mays, and Jesus Alou. Even their bench was well-stocked with outfielders Harvey Kuenn, Matty Alou, and an aging Duke Snider, so there wasn't much room for Peterson.)

In 1965, McCovey had moved to 1st base, Snider retired, and Kuenn was pushed to the back burner, so there was more time in the field for Peterson. He played in 60 games, and was the team's 5th outfielder, making 20 starts in left field.

Cap found himself with a semi-regular job in 1966. With rookie Ollie Brown now in right field, Jesus Alou moved over to left field, which became a 3-way job-share with Peterson and last year's regular left fielder, Len Gabrielson. After the season, Cap was traded to the Senators along with pitcher Bob Priddy for pitcher Mike McCormick.



Cap began the 1967 season as the starter in right field. After sharing the job with previous Nats' right fielder Jim King for about a month, King was traded away, giving Peterson more playing time. During the second half of the season, Cap shared right field with Fred Valentine, who would move over from his regular center field spot to give Ed Stroud or Hank Allen some starts in center.

1968 was the beginning of the end for Cap's career. Rookie Del Unser started 154 games in center field, moving everyone else (Fred Valentine, Ed Stroud, Hank Allen, and rookie Brant Alyea) over to the right field melting pot with Peterson. Cap made 37 starts in right, another 11 in left, but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter.

After the 1968 season he was traded to the Indians, where he played for 1 season as a pinch-hitter and backup left fielder.

Peterson played in triple-A for 3 more seasons before retiring. He passed away on May 16, 1980 from kidney disease at age 37.

Danny Frisella (#191)

This is the rookie card for Danny Frisella, a relief pitcher for the Mets and others from 1967 to 1976.

Frisella was signed by the Mets in June 1966. During his time in the Mets' minor-league system (1966-1970) he was a starting pitcher. He compiled a record of 11-5 during the first half of 1967 (in A and AAA ball), and then made his major-league debut on July 27th, starting 11 of his 14 games during his rookie season.

In 1968, he started 7 games in triple-A, and appeared in 19 games with the Mets, this year mostly in relief. Danny spent most of 1969 in the minors, so he missed all the "Amazin' Mets" hoopla. (I don't know if he was on the post-season roster. The Mets only used 6 pitchers in the NLCS, and 6 pitchers in the World Series, and he wasn't one of them.)


Frisella started 13 games for the Mets' triple-A team in 1970, and rejoined the Mets' bullpen, where he appeared in 30 games as the setup man for closers Ron Taylor and Tug McGraw. He won 8 games in each of 1970 and 1971, and became the right-handed closer in 1971, leading the team with 12 saves.

In 1972, his record slipped to 5-8, and his saves dropped to 9, as lefty Tug McGraw picked up most of the team's saves that season. After the season, Danny was traded to the Braves (with pitcher Gary Gentry) for 2nd baseman Felix Millan and pitcher George Stone.

Frisella spent 2 seasons in the Braves' bullpen, and was traded to the Padres for outfielder Cito Gaston in the off-season.

He was the Padres' closer in 1975, and although he compiled a 1-6 record, he led the team with 9 saves. After only one season, he was traded to the Cardinals on April 8, 1976. Two months later, after only 22 innings pitched, he was shipped to Milwaukee, where he became the Brewers' closer, again leading his team in saves.

On January 1, 1977 Danny Frisella was killed in a dune buggy accident in Arizona at age 30.

Here is a message board on the Ultimate Mets Database site, where fans (and Frisella's widow) have posted their comments.
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