1965 Topps, Billy Bryan

#51 Billy Bryan

Here is another card from the A's reunion. Obviously, the best part about this card is the colorful uniforms. You just don't see enough teams wearing yellow from shoulders to toes anymore. I think that both the A's and Padres are missing the boat on this one right now.

All kidding aside, those are some ugly uniforms. I think I would have a hard time watching a game with nine guys dressed like that out in the field. I guess that there wouldn't be any confusion as to who was on which team, though.

In the '60s, the A's were going through a bit of an identity crises. In 1960, they were wearing the navy and red uniforms that they had been wearing since they moved to Kansas City. Then, in 1961, they dropped the red from the unis, only to bring it back in '62. Then, they switched to the yellow uniforms in 1963. According to Dressed to the Nines, they wore this uniform in both their home and away games that season. That's something you don't see anymore. In '64, they wore the yellow unis at home and white ones on the road. They then reversed themsleves in '65 and wore the yellows on the road and the white uniform at home. They basically stayed that way through '67 before leaving for Oakland.

It appears that this photo was taken in 1963 since that was the last season that Billy wore 18.

Billy played in the Majors for eight years with the A's, Yankees, and Senators. 1965 was the only season that he played in more than 100 game and had career highs that year in every offensive catagory. He finished his career a .216 hitter with 41 home runs.

Billy must have batted in front of the pitcher most of the time. That is the only way a .169 hitter is going to get five intentional walks during the '63 season.