Mike McCormick (#400)

Now that we've finished with the Topps All-Rookie Team, let's check out the stars with '00' card numbers. Topps made a curious selection for some of their superstars (some folks refer to them as "hero cards"). 

#100 - Bob Gibson - of the world champion Cardinals 
#200 - Orlando Cepeda - see Bob Gibson 
#300 - Rusty Staub - huh? 
#400 - Mike McCormick - see below 
#500 - Frank Robinson - yeah, Robby won the triple crown in 1966, but what about the 1967 triple crown winner, who also won the AL MVP with 98% of the vote? 

Carl Yastrzemski was relegated to #250, while veterans Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were #50 and #280 respectively.


In December 1966, Mike McCormick was traded by the Washington Senators to the Giants for pitcher Bob Priddy and outfielder Cap Peterson. Because Priddy and McCormick's 1967 cards were in the first series, they were still shown as members of their former teams, although some versions of their cards include a traded note on the back.

What did Mike do after escaping the DC Zoo? He led the NL with 22 wins in 1967, and was named the NL Cy Young Award winner, getting 18 of the 20 first place votes. The Sporting News also named him the NL Comeback Player of the Year.

McCormick was signed by the New York Giants in 1956, after posting a 49-4 record in American Legion ball, and as a "bonus baby", went straight to the parent club. He made his major-league debut at age 17 on September 3rd, and pitched 6 innings over 3 games that year. In 1957, he appeared in 24 games, working mostly in relief.

When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, Mike joined the starting rotation, and won in double-digits for the next 4 seasons. He led the NL with a 2.70 ERA in 1960, and made the all-star team in '60 and '61.

After a down year in 1962, McCormick was traded to the Orioles with reliever Stu Miller and catcher John Orsino for pitchers Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft, and catcher Jimmie Coker.

After 2 uneventful seasons with the Orioles (including spending much of 1964 in triple-A, his first taste of the minor leagues), Mike was dumped on the Senators for a minor-league pitcher and cash. He played in 40-plus games in each of his 2 seasons with the Senators, starting 50% in '65 an 75% in '66.

Returning to the National League in 1967 worked wonders for McCormick. He, Juan Marichal, and Gaylord Perry formed the big 3 in the Giants' rotation until Mike's July 1970 trade to the Yankees.

1971 was a traveling year for him: released by the Yankees in March, signed by the Royals in April, then released again on June 2nd. His final big-league game was on May 22, 1971.

Mike was signed by the Giants the following spring, but spent the 1972-73 seasons in the minors, before retiring.

Dick Hughes (#253)

Today I’m featuring the last of the 1967 Topps All-Rookie selections. Normally, 10 players were selected (including 1 left and 1 right handed pitcher). In the 1968 set, Topps not only left the cool trophy off 3 of the cards, but they decided that Dick Hughes would share the right-handed pitcher slot with Tom Seaver. (Imagine!)


Hughes was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, but was a late-bloomer, pitching 9 seasons in the minors before reaching the majors in September 1966 at age 28.

He had a phenomenal rookie season for the World Champion Cardinals in 1967, compiling a 16-6 record in 37 games (including 27 starts), while leading the staff in wins and innings pitched. (Bob Gibson missed a month of the season with a broken leg.) Dick finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Seaver.

Hughes spent most of the 1968 season in the bullpen, starting just 5 of his 25 games, and finishing at 2-2 in only 63 innings of work. What a difference a year makes! In the 1967 World Series, Dick started 2 games. In ’68, he pitched 1/3 of an inning in relief against the Tigers.

I’m guessing he had arm troubles, because he spent the 1969 season playing in the single-A Florida State League, then was out of baseball at the ripe old age of 31.

Rich Nye (#339)

For some unknown reason, three of the players on the 1967 Topps all-rookie team do not have trophies on their card. I have previously posted the card for outfielder Rick Monday, leaving only pitchers Rich Nye and Dick Hughes to complete the subset.

Rich Nye was the lefthanded pitcher chosen for the 1967 Topps all-rookie team. Nye pitched from 1966-70, although his primary years were 1967-69 for the Cubs.

Rich was drafted by the Astros in 1965, but did not sign. He was signed by the Cubs in 1966, while pitching for UC Berkeley. Nye pitched for the Cubs' rookie and class-A teams that summer, then joined the big club in September.

After 2 relief appearances in 1967, Nye joined the starting rotation on April 30th, after other starters went by the wayside. He finished his rookie season with 13 wins and 119 strikeouts in 205 innings. All three of those numbers placed him 2nd on the staff, behind sophomore Fergie Jenkins. Topps apparently took notice (despite the missing trophy).

Nye slipped to 7-12 in 1968, and dropped to #5 in the rotation, behind Jenkins, Bill Hands, Ken Holtzman, and Joe Niekro. 1969 was worse yet, as he was relegated to the bullpen, making only 5 starts among his 34 appearances.

After the season, he was traded to the Cardinals for outfielder Boots Day. (Philly trivia: As a Montreal Expo in 1971, Boots was the first batter in Veterans Stadium history.) After 6 relief appearances (totaling 8 innings), Rich was sold to the Expos on May 15th, where he made 6 starts and 2 relief appearances. He was also used as a pinch-runner twice, and spent time with the Expos' AAA team in Winnipeg.

He played for three AAA teams (Expos, Indians, Pirates) in 1971, before his career was ended by a torn rotator cuff.

After his playing career, Nye began working as a civil engineer, before becoming a veterinarian.

A Rich Nye story here

 

Reggie Smith (#61)

Since I posted Walt Williams' card some time ago, I'm skipping ahead to center fielder Reggie Smith.

Reggie Smith was the starting center fielder for the AL champion Red Sox during his rookie season. His rookie card appears in the 1967 set. My guess is that it's the 3rd most valuable rookie card (after Tom Seaver and Rod Carew) because unlike most Rookie Stars cards that include a hit and a miss (or 2 misses), it portrays 2 starting position players for the AL champs.

Smith was signed by the Twins in June 1963, and played 65 games as a shortstop for their rookie-level team. After the season he was selected by the Red Sox in the first-year player draft.

Reggie played 3 seasons in Boston's farm system, as an outfielder for 430 games, but also saw time at 3rd base (66 games) and 2nd base (37 games). He made his debut with the Red Sox in September 1966, playing in 6 games.

Smith began the 1967 season as the starting 2nd baseman, but after 6 games he was moved to center field (replacing Jose Tartabull) and went on to start 139 games in Center that season. Reggie finished 2nd to Rod Carew in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and was 6-for-24 with 2 homers in the '67 World Series.

Reggie was a starting outfielder for the Sox from 1967 through 1973, usually the center fielder, except for the first half of 1971 (Smith played right, with Billy Conigliaro in center) and all of 1972, when he was the regular right fielder (with Tommy Harper in center). He also made the '69 and '72 all-star teams, and led the AL in doubles in '68 and '71.

After the 1973 season, Reggie was traded to the Cardinals (with pitcher Ken Tatum) for pitcher Rick Wise and outfielder Bernie Carbo. His stay in St. Louis lasted 2 1/2 seasons. In '74 he was the right fielder, and in '75 split his time between RF and 1st base. Smith made the NL all-star team in both his full seasons with the Cards.

He was traded to the Dodgers in June 1976 for catcher Joe Ferguson. Smith was with the Dodgers for 5 1/2 seasons, making the all-star team 3 more times (for a total of 7 appearances).

His final major-league season was spent with the Giants in 1982 as their first baseman.

Smith played 2 more seasons in Japan before retiring.

Bobby Etheridge (#126)

Third baseman Bobby Etheridge joins his Giants' teammate Dick Dietz on the 1967 Topps All-Rookie team.

Etheridge was signed by the Giants in 1964, and played in their farm system from 1964-68. He joined the Giants in mid-July 1967, and played 40 games in his rookie season, mostly in July and August. (In late August, Jim Ray Hart moved back in to 3rd base from left field, and Etheridge rarely played in September.) Somehow, Bobby got the all-rookie nod, over other rookie 3rd basemen like Aurelio Rodriguez and Sal Bando.

Bobby was back in the minors for all of 1968, then returned to the Giants for the entire 1969 season, this time playing in 56 games (with 34 starts at 3B).

That was it for Etheridge, both as a Giant and as a major-league player. After the season, he was traded to the Padres along with pitcher Ron Herbel and catcher Bob Barton for pitcher Frank Reberger.

Bobby played in the minors though the 1973 season, with the Padres', Cardinals', and Mets' organizations.

Tim Cullen (#209)

Moving around the horn, we come to Tim Cullen, the Topps all-rookie shortstop in 1967.

Cullen was signed by the Red Sox in 1964 out of Santa Clara University, and reported directly to triple-A Seattle. After his first season (as a 3rd baseman), he was drafted by the Senators, and played another season and a half in triple-A (now as a shortstop), before he was called up in early August 1966. Tim played 18 games with the Sens over the rest of the season.

Tim made the Senators at the start of 1967, and was a spot-starter at 2B and 3B early in the season. On July 5th, he wrested the starting shortstop job away from light-hitting Ed Brinkman, and started 62 of the final 84 games there.

That was good enough to snag the Topps All-Rookie post, but prior to the 1968 season, Cullen was traded to the White Sox (with pitchers Bob Priddy and Buster Narum) for shortstop Ron Hansen and pitchers Dennis Higgins and Steve Jones.

Chicago had also re-acquired shortstop Luis Aparicio from the Orioles in the off-season, so Cullen was installed at 2nd base. Tim held a regular job from day 1 until mid-June, then was relegated to the bench in favor of Sandy Alomar.

By early August, Cullen was returned to Washington in exchange for Hansen. (Cullen and Hansen are the only 2 players to ever be traded for each other twice in the same season.) For the remainder of 1968, and for 2 more seasons, Tim shared the starting 2nd base job with Bernie Allen.

In 1971, he split his starts between 2nd base and shortstop, as the Senators were easing rookies Lenny Randle (2B) and Toby Harrah (ss) into the starting lineup. Cullen followed the team to Texas in 1972, but was released by the Rangers in spring training.

A month later, the Athletics picked him up, and he began his final season in triple-A, before the A's recalled him in late June. Tim and ex-Indians' shortstop Larry Brown split the 2nd base job for the bulk of the season, as veteran A's 2nd-sacker Dick Green missed most of the '72 season.

Rod Carew (#80)

I've already posted 1st baseman Lee May's all-rookie card, so let's skip ahead to 2nd base.

Rod Carew checks in as the 2nd baseman on Topps' 1967 All-Rookie team (which makes sense, since he was the AL Rookie of the Year). This was my first Carew card, as to this day Rod's 1967 rookie card is one of 4 cards I need to complete that set.

Carew was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1945, but grew up in New York City. He was signed by the Twins in 1964, and played a half-season in rookie ball in '64, then 2 seasons in class-A ball before making his major-league debut at the start of the 1967 season. (Carew hit .303 in his 1st season in class A. I wonder why the Twins didn't promote him to double A for 1966. Maybe it was his 28 errors at 2nd base?)

Rod assumed the starting 2nd base job on opening day 1967, and started 131 games there (missing 17 consecutive games in mid-August). Carew was a slam-dunk for Rookie of the Year, getting 19 of the possible 20 votes (Red Sox' center fielder Reggie Smith received 1 vote). He also made his first of 18 consecutive all-star teams.

Carew played his first 12 seasons with the Twins. During that time, he led the AL in batting 7 times, and hit over .330 in 2 other seasons.

He switched to 1st base in 1976, and continued his torrid hitting. Rod was the AL MVP in 1977, while leading the league in runs, hits, triples, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS. He also collected 100 walks that season.

In February 1979, Carew was traded to the Angels for pitchers Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens, catcher Dave Engle, and outfielder Ken Landreaux. His league-leading days were over, although he hit over .300 in his first 5 seasons in California, including .339 in 1983.

Injuries limited him to 93 games in 1984, although he hit .295 that season. Carew's final season was 1985, the only year he didn't make the all-star team.

Rod appeared in the post-season 4 times: '69 and '70 with the Twins, and '79 and '82 with the Angels.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, with 90% of the vote.