Orlando Cepeda (#200)

Card #200 in the 1968 set is Orlando Cepeda. Good choice! Cepeda was the 1967 NL MVP, led the league with 111 RBI, bashed 25 homers, and bat .325 during the season (although only .103 in the World Series).

Orlando was signed by the New York Giants in 1955. After 3 seasons in the minors, Cepeda began the 1958 season with San Francisco, and started 147 games at first base, en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award (only the 2nd player to win unanimously).

In late-July 1959, the Giants called up rookie Willie McCovey, moving Cepeda to left field for the rest of the season. Cepeda played most of 1960 in left field, but when McCovey spent the 2nd half of the season in the minors and on the Giants' bench, Orlando reclaimed the 1st base job.

He split the 1961 season between 1B and LF, and led the NL in home rums (46) and RBI (142). Cepeda returned to his old 1st base job for the 1962-64 seasons, but missed most of the 1965 season with a knee injury.

Orlando was traded to the Giants in May 1966 for pitcher Ray Sadecki. He spent 3 seasons in St. Louis (including his MVP season in '67 and World Series appearances in '67 and '68).

During spring training 1969, he was traded to the Braves for catcher Joe Torre. He had another big power season in 1970 (34, 111), then was traded to the Athletics in July 1972 for pitcher Denny McLain.

Cepeda only played 3 games with the A's when a knee injury ended his season. Released after the season, he hooked on with the Red Sox when the AL instituted the DH before the 1973 season. He DH'ed in 142 games, but never played the field or pinch-hit that season.

He was released after the 1973 season, and spent most of 1974 playing in Mexico, until the Royals signed him for the final two months of the season.

Cepeda was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Veterans Committee.

NL Batting Leaders (#1, #3, #5)

A (long) while back, I posted the NL Pitching Leaders cards. Today we have the NL Batting Leaders. Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron each appear twice among these cards (backing up the voters' choices in a recent poll).


Roberto Clemente led the NL in batting for the 4th and final time (also in '61, '64, and '65). Tony Gonzalez began the 1967 season as a platoon player, but stepped up midway through, and batted .339 overall. Matty Alou picked up where he left off the previous season.

Orlando Cepeda powered the Cardinals to the 1967 World Series. "Bob" Clemente makes his 2nd appearance here, along with Hammerin' Hank.

Hank Aaron continued his assault on Babe Ruth's record, winning his 4th and final NL home run crown with 39 homers. (His other three titles were all won with 44 home runs.) Only Harmon Killebrew hit more home runs in the 1960s. Next we have Jim Wynn (now playing for "Houston"), followed by Ron Santo and Willie McCovey tied for 3rd place.

All-Star Cards

After a 5-year absence, Topps re-introduced All-Star cards in their 1968 set, featuring players selected as 1967 All-Stars by The Sporting News. These choices differed somewhat from the actual 1967 All-Star lineup (which was still voted on by the players that season).

In the actual game, the NL had Juan Marichal, Joe Torre, Bill Mazeroski, and Richie Allen starting at P, C, 2B, and 3B respectively. The AL featured Dean Chance, Rico Petrocelli, and Tony Conigliaro starting at P, SS, and RF. Otherwise, the starters were those you see in the 2 large blocks of cards below. Surprisingly, Joe Morgan, Ron Santo, and Ken Holtzman were not even on the actual All-Star roster in 1967, yet all were picked for the first team by The Sporting News.

Four of the six outfielders started at their natural position, while Hank Aaron and Tony Oliva each started in centerfield.



Oh, The Sporting News selected 2 pitchers in each league, 1 lefty and 1 righty, so...


The backs of these 20 cards formed 2 photos - Orlando Cepeda and Carl Yastrzemski. Contrary to what I would have thought, the 2 puzzles were not made exclusively from the player cards from Cepeda's or Yaz' own league. (My scanner bed is not large enough to hold all 10 cards, hence the cut-off tops.)