1967 Topps, George Altman

#87 George Altman

Here is the second 1967 Topps card that I acquired through the Topps Diamond Giveaway. This one features the former Cub, Cardinal, and Met, George Altman. I sent this card out the same day as the Ken Berry card I last posted. This one didn't quite make it back as quick as Ken's did, though. This one made it back in about twelve days, which is still a good turnaround. It's just impossible to compete with Ken's three day return.

George played in the Majors for nine seasons and all but two of them were with the Cubs. He had some solid numbers in the first half of his career which included back-to-back All Star teams in '61 and '62. He hit over .300 in both of those seasons and had 27 home runs and 96 RBI in '61.

After the '62 season, George was traded to St. Louis and his numbers started to slip. His average fell to .274 that season and his home run total dipped to just 9. He was traded to the Mets after just one year with the Cards and his numbers fell even more. With the Mets, he hit just .230 and they gave up on him after one season like St. Louis had done the previous year.

The Mets traded George back to the Cubs and he played out his final three seasons with them. His production continued to decline and, as a result, so did his playing time. By 1967, George was splitting time between AAA and the Cubs and not hitting so hot at the Major League level. Rather than call it quits, he went to play in Japan. He re-sparked his career there and he hit .309 with 205 homers in eight seasons overseas.

George made an appearance at All Star Fanfest this past summer. Unfortunately, this is the only card I have of George and it was already signed when Fanfest took place. He was a late addition to the show and I was unable to find a card of him, so I had to skip his line.