Focused on Vintage During Lock-Out

While the owners continue to lock-out the players, and with the first week of spring training games now canceled, I wanted to publish a post to (a) say I'm still here, anxiously awaiting the 2022 Phillies season and (b) remind readers my other three blogs are going strong with now daily posts from the 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, the 1956 Topps set and the 1965 Topps set.  I don't how much longer daily posting on these blogs is feasible, but for now I've settled into a schedule of a new Diamond Stars card on Sunday, a 1956 Topps card on Friday and a 1965 Topps card all other days of the week.

Here's a look at Curt Simmons' card from the 1965 Topps set, from a post originally published a few weeks ago.  As we wait for live baseball to resume, I hope you'll enjoy taking a look back at some great older baseball cards as much as I've enjoyed writing about them.

1965 Topps #373 Curt Simmons - St. Louis Cardinals

Curtis Thomas Simmons
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Born:  May 19, 1929, Egypt, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1947-1950, 1952-1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1960-1966; Chicago Cubs 1966-1967; California Angels 1967

Curt Simmons will forever be associated with the beloved Whiz Kids, the 1950 Phillies club that made it to the World Series for the first time since 1915.  Simmons was a 17-game winner for the Phillies in 1950 and formed a solid one-two punch atop their starting pitching rotation with Robin Roberts (#15).  He missed the 1950 World Series against the Yankees after being drafted to serve in the Korean War.  Simmons was a three-time All-Star with the Phillies in 1952, 1953 and 1957.  He won at least 12 games with the club in six different seasons.  Released by the Phillies in May 1960, Simmons signed with the Cardinals where he enjoyed a career resurgence.  His best seasons actually came during his time in St. Louis as he went 15-9 in 1963 with a 2.48 ERA and was 18-9 for the team in 1964 when they upset the Phillies in the final week of the season to advance to the World Series.  Simmons pitched well in his Game 3 and Game 6 starts, and while he was the losing pitcher in Game 6, he compiled a 2.51 ERA over 14 1/3 innings.  The Cardinals would win the series in seven games over the Yankees.

2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards

A competent fielder as well, Simmons had errorless seasons in 1950, 1952, 1957 and 1963.  Simmons would finish up his 20-year big league career with a few seasons with the Cubs and Angels, retiring in 1967.  At the time, along with Smoky Burgess (#198), he was the last person to retire who had played in the majors in the 1940s.  Simmons had a lifetime record of 193-183 with a 3.54 ERA over 569 games pitched.  His career strikeout total of 1,697 is currently 149th on the all-time list.  Hank Aaron (#170) named Simmons as one of the toughest pitchers he faced during his career.

Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #399
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show.  If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May.  If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July.  Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time.  I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.

Looking to kill some time while we were waiting for our number to be called for Doug's autograph from Jim Thome, I found a bargain bin of 1965 Topps cards at Uncle Dick's and I texted Doug that I'd be standing at the table where the dealers were wearing neon green shirts.   This Simmons card was one of 15 from that first batch of purchases, totaling $40, and it was a little less than $3 after the dealer discount.  After getting the Thome autograph, and grabbing a slice of pizza from the "food court" upstairs, I'd settle in at Uncle Dick's for my second and biggest haul of the show.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Simmons' veteran status and his lengthy major league career up to this point allowed no room for anything other than statistics.

1965 Season
Simmons, and the entire Cardinals team, came back down to Earth in 1965, with Simmons going 9-15 with a 4.08 ERA over 34 appearances, including 32 starts.  Only Bob Gibson (#320) with 36 made more starts than Simmons with the lefty pitcher crossing the 200-inning threshold for eighth and final time in his career.

Phillies Career
The Phillies signed Simmons as a bonus baby in 1947 for $65,000, one of the highest amounts received to date by an amateur player.  He made his debut on September 28th that season and he'd be a fixture in the Phillies' starting pitching rotation for the next decade.  He was the National League's starting pitcher in the 1952 All-Star Game, hosted at Shibe Park, and he pitched three shutout innings while striking out three.  With the Phillies entering a rebuilding phase, Simmons was released by the club on May 17, 1960.  He'd return briefly to the franchise in 1970 as a member of the Phillies' minor league instructional staff.

With the Phillies, he was 115-110 with a 3.66 ERA in 325 games.  Simmons was inducted onto the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1993, and he was by far the best left-handed pitcher in franchise history until Steve Carlton (#477), Chris Short and Cole Hamels all came along.  Simmons still ranks in the top ten among all Phillies pitchers in games started (263), shutouts (18), wins (115), innings pitched (1,939 2/3), and strikeouts (1,052).

1949 Bowman #14

1952 Topps #203

1957 Topps #158

1963 Topps #22

1967 Topps #39

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #14
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1952, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-CS

92 - Simmons non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

2006 Topps Phillies Team Set

#602 Phillies Team

#286 Charlie Manuel MG

#650 Burrell & Lieberthal CPC

#20 Bobby Abreu

#412 David Bell

#396 Pat Burrell

#83 Endy Chavez

#41 Rheal Cormier

#163 Flash Gordon

#398 Ryan Howard

#408 Jon Lieber

#33 Mike Lieberthal

#97 Kenny Lofton

#364 Ryan Madson

#139 Jason Michaels

#432 Brett Myers

#205 Jimmy Rollins

#182 Aaron Rowand

#306 Danny Sandoval

#359 Chase Utley

#141 Randy Wolf

#265 Ryan Howard AW

#259 Bobby Abreu GG

Updates & Highlights

#UH233 Chase Utley AS

#UH266 Tom Gordon AS

#UH273 Ryan Howard AS

#UH283 Ryan Howard HRD

#UH210 Ryan Howard LL

#UH212 Ryan Howard LL

#UH292 Howard & Gordon TL

#UH20 Jeff Conine

#UH25 David Dellucci

#UH145 Cole Hamels

#UH139 Scott Mathieson

2005 Topps Phillies Team Set / 2007 Topps Phillies Team Set

Game 54 - Phils Limp Out of May, 4 Games Under .500

2006 SP Legendary Cuts
When It Was a Game #WG-JK

Reds 11, Phillies 1
Game 54 - Monday Afternoon, May 31st in Cincinnati
Record - 25-29, Tied for 3rd Place, 5 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  For a Phillies fan, this game was miserable, as the team couldn't do anything right in an 11-1 loss to the Reds.

What It Means:  We entered the long holiday weekend looking forward to our son's first travel baseball tournament of the year.  When those games were all rained out, we pivoted to looking forward to a relaxing weekend with three Phillies afternoon games on the schedule.  The Phillies and the weather didn't cooperate, but at least there was plenty of relaxing which is somewhat unusual for us for a Memorial Day weekend.  When this game got out of hand early, our youngest son Ben and I retreated to the nearby park's tennis courts to spend a little time in the sun.

What Happened:  Vince Velasquez pitched like pre-2021 Vince Velasquez, getting knocked out after allowing six runs over three innings.  Phillies relievers Chase Anderson (3 innings, 2 runs) and David Hale (1 2/3 innings, 3 runs) couldn't stop the bleeding.  The offense went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.  In postgame press conferences the common theme from manager Joe Girardi's and first baseman Rhys Hoskins' comments was that the team just needed to weather the storm.  A few trades at this point probably wouldn't hurt either.

Featured Card:  Riding back from the tennis courts towards the end of this game, radio announcer Scott Franzke hoped the Phillies weekend play hadn't ruined too many fan's weekends.  In talking about this game and the weekend, television analyst John Kruk said, "I'm just trying not to swear."

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Remembering Dick Allen (1942-2020)

This post, featuring 1965 Topps #460, was originally published on my Collecting 1965 Topps blog in October.  As a result of the pandemic, the Golden Days Committee postponed its Hall of Fame vote until next year.

 
Richard Anthony Allen
Philadelphia Phillies
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  187
Born:  March 8, 1942, Wampum, PA
Signed:  Signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1960 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1963-1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Los Angeles Dodgers 1971; Chicago White Sox 1972-1974; Philadelphia Phillies 1975-1976; Oakland Athletics 1977

2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards

A seven-time All-Star and the A.L. MVP in 1972, Dick Allen was one of the most feared sluggers of the '60s and '70s.  He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1964, hitting .318 and leading the league in runs scored (125) and triples (13) the year the Phillies heartbreakingly collapsed down the stretch.  The first black superstar for the Phillies, he dealt with racism throughout his climb up the team's minor league system and experienced a tense relationship with the media and fanbase during his years with the club.  Still, he was a prolific power hitter, landing in the top ten for home runs in National League in five seasons with the Phillies between 1964 and 1969.

Allen requested and received a trade following the 1969 season, and he played for two seasons with the Cardinals and Dodgers before landing with the White Sox in 1972 and experiencing another power surge.  He hit .308 for the 1972 White Sox and led the league in home runs (37) and RBIs (113) en route to winning the league's MVP honors.  Allen was coaxed out of retirement following the 1974 season and re-joined the Phillies in 1975.  He saw his first and only postseason action with the club in 1976, teaming with Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski to form a formidable middle of the line-up.

Over 15 big league seasons, Allen hit .292 with 351 home runs and 1,119 RBIs, and he's widely acknowledged as one of the best players in the history of the game not yet in the Hall of Fame.  He'll get another shot at the Hall in December when The Golden Days Committee is scheduled to vote again.  On August 13, 2020, the Phillies announced they would be retiring Allen's #15, reversing a long-time policy of the club not to retire the number of any player not yet in the Hall of Fame.

Building the Set
August 18, 2020 from Morton Grove, IL - Card #140
I went searching on eBay for this card the day the Phillies announced they would be retiring Allen's #15 during a September 3rd ceremony, marking the 53rd anniversary of Allen's big league debut.  This is the fourth time I've decided to purchase a card no matter what, given the circumstances of a specific day.  Here's the list so far:

• Don Larsen (#389) - Purchased on New Year's Day 2020 after the pitcher's passing.
• Jim Kaat (#62) - Purchased in February at the Philly Show as the pitcher was one of the show's autograph guests.  I wanted to buy the card there and have Kaat sign it.
• Al Kaline (#130) - Bought on April 6th after the Hall of Famer had passed away.
• Richie Allen (#460) - Shopped for and purchased on August 13th, the day of the Phillies' announcement.

I honestly didn't expect the Allen card to be as pricey as it ended up being, but this continues the recent trend of prices going up for these vintage Topps cards.  I still suspect the pandemic has had the unexpected side effect of bringing people to or back into the hobby.  I looked through quite a few cards and took my time with my decision before settling on a card for sale from the exotically named eBay seller, psychedelicart69.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
This is a beautiful baseball card with the golden All-Star Rookie trophy perfectly positioned.  Flipping to the back, Allen's two home run day came on October 4th, after the Phillies had already completed their collapse.  Topps then summarizes the highlights of Allen's stellar rookie year.

While not a reprint, Allen received a card in the style of the 1965 Topps set in the 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set.

1965 Season
Allen again served as the team's regular third baseman, starting 160 of the team's 162 games.  He hit .302 with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs, with his numbers dipping slightly from the prior year.  He originally refused to report to spring training, requesting a hefty raise following his rookie campaign and eventually coming to terms with then general manager John Quinn for $20,000.  Allen hit the first ever regular season home run at the Astrodome on April 12th and hit a home run that reportedly went 510 feet off the Cubs' Larry Jackson (#420) on May 29th.

Prior to the game on July 3rd and according to various accounts, Frank Thomas (#123) and Allen got into a fight.  Different reports have Thomas using racial slurs or swinging a bat in Allen's direction after Allen had taken a swing at him.  Whatever truly happened marked the end of Thomas' Phillies career as he was put on waivers following the game and sold to the Astros on July 10th.  There's a great article, linked here and authored by Frank Fitzpatrick, that appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2015 to mark the 50th anniversary of the fight.

At the All-Star Game on July 13th, Allen was the starting N.L. third baseman and went 1 for 3 with a single off Pete Richert (#252).

Phillies Career
In his nine seasons with the Phillies, Allen hit .290 with 204 home runs and 655 RBIs.  He currently ranks second in club history with a .530 slugging percentage (behind Chuck Klien's .553) and 10th on the team's all-time home run list.  He was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1994.

He also joined the team's front office in 1994 as a fan representative and the 2020 Phillies Media Guide lists his current official title as Club Ambassador.

1964 Topps #243

1966 Topps #80

1968 Topps #225

1975 Topps #400

1976 Topps #455

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #243
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #15

226 - Allen non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/17/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database