1966 Topps, Ken Berry

#127 Ken Berry

Here is a card that I got signed by Ken Berry at Rock's Dugout's bi-monthly card show in Wichita. I got three cards signed by Ken when he was there last summer.

I love going to Rock's shows, but I have not been to one this year. I suppose the main reason I haven't gone is because there have not been any baseball players there this year to sign autographs. On top of that, I have let my SCN account expire. Because of that, I do not have access to addresses and have not had the need to for some vintage cards. That is why all these old cards I am posting that were signed TTM are from two to three years ago.

This is actually the second card of Ken that I have posted on here. The first one was a card that I won from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I sent that card to Ken in 2011 and had it back in just three days. That card can be seen here.

Speaking of Rock's Dugout, his card show is on Sunday. Again, there will not be a ballplayer there. But, Olympic bronze medal boxer, Nico Hernandez, will be there signing items for ten dollars.

1965 Topps, Bill Monbouquette

#142 Bill Monbouquette

Here is a card of former Red Sox pitcher, Bill Monbouquette. I sent this card to Bill in early 2014 and I had it back just seven days later.

Bill pitched in the big leagues for eleven seasons with the Sox, Yankees, Tigers, and Giants. Over that time, he was 114-112 with 3 saves and a 3.68 ERA. He won double-digit games for six straight seasons with the Red Sox, including a career best of 20 in 1963.

Bill made three All Star teams during that stretch, but only pitched in one of them. That was the 1960 Mid-Summer Classic that Bill had the privilege of starting. He pitched just two innings in that game and gave up four runs with dingers by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall .

Bill's biggest feat was throwing a no-hitter in 1962 against the White Sox. In that game, he walked just one while striking out seven White Sox batters.

Sadly, Bill passed away last year.

1965 Topps, Wes Stock

#117 Wes Stock

This is a card that I got signed by Wes Stock through the mail in 2013. I sent this card out the very same day as I did the previous card of John O'Donoghue. Wes was not quite as prompt as John was, but I still got the card back in less than three weeks time.

Wes played in the Major Leagues for parts of nine seasons with the Orioles and the A's. He pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen and compiled a 27-13 record with 22 saves over 321 games. His career ERA was 3.60.

His best season in the Majors was probably the 1964 season. That year was split between Baltimore and Kansas City. He was 2-0 with a 3.92 ERA with the O's before they dealt him to the A's in June. He went on to pitch in 50 games with the A's that season and went 6-3 with 5 saves and a 1.94 ERA. On top of that, he struck out 101 batters in 93 innings of work. Even counting his innings in Baltimore that year, he still finished the season with 115 Ks over 113.2 innings. That was the only season of his career that he had more than a strikeout per inning.

I love the yellow Kansas City uniform on this card!

1965 Topps, John O'Donohue

#71 John O'Donoghue

Here is the next TTM return and this one features another former Kansas City Athletic, which is always a plus. This one is from the journeyman pitcher, John O'Donoghue. I sent this card to John towards the end of 2012 and I had it back about nine days later.

John pitched in the big leagues for nine seasons with the A's, Indians, Orioles, Pilots/Brewers, and Expos. He was a starter his first few seasons in the league before moving to the bullpen for the second half of his career. Over his nine seasons, he accumulated a 39-55 record with 10 saves and a 4.07 ERA.

His best season was probably the season that he pitched for the Seattle Pilots. Pitching exclusively out of the 'pen that year, he got into 50 games and logged 70 innings. While he went just 2-2, he recorded his only sub-3 ERA for a season when he finished at 2.96. He also had a career-best 6 saves.

Surprisingly, there was one other player that pitched in the Majors named John O'Donoghue. He pitched for the Orioles in 1993.

1965 Topps, Bobby Knoop

#26 Bobby Knoop

The first card from 1965 starts with my last card, for now, of a Los Angeles Angels player. The Angels moved to Anaheim in 1965 and rebranded themselves the California Angels. Luckily, the '65 Topps cards of the Angels still had this lovely LA hat with the halo on top. In '65, the team switched to a CA hat and kept the halo on top before dropping the C from the hat in 1971.

This card of Bobby Knoop was mailed to him in early 2014 and I had it back about two weeks later.

Bobby played in the Major Leagues for parts of nine seasons with the Angels, White Sox, and Royals. He was a second baseman with a good glove and a decent bat at times. I say at times because he was just a .236 hitter for his career. But, he had a monster season in 1966 when he had 17 home runs and 72 RBI. Though he hit just .232 that season, that was the only time that he ever reached double digit home runs and the 72 RBI were about 25 more than he would ever have in any other season. He was rewarded for his efforts that season by making his lone All Star team. He went 0-2 in the game with a strikeout to Jim Bunning.

Bobby won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 1966-68.

That autograph on this card is a little hard to make out because of where he signed. But, with the close-up face shot, there are not any good spaces for a large signature like that.

1964 Topps, Bud Daley

#164 Bud Daley

Here is the final card from the 1964 Topps set that I have to post. This one is of the former Yankee, Bud Daley. This is the second card of Bud that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in July and that one can be seen here. Both cards were sent to Bud in early 2014 and they both came back signed about a week later.

When I posted that first card of Bud, I had completely forgotten that I sent this card along with that one. So I said about all that I could possibly say about that TTM experience in that post. Rather than cut this post super-short, I am going to be lazy and just copy and paste the first post. Come back tomorrow and I will have a new, and original, post up.

Bud played in the Bigs for ten years, never playing for a team for more than three and a half seasons. He both started and relieved throughout his career, getting the bulk of his starts during the middle of his career with Kansas City. Over the 248 games that he pitched in, he had a 60-64 record with 10 saves and a 4.03 ERA. His best season was with the A's in 1959 when he went 16-13 with a save, a 3.16 ERA, and 125 strikeouts.

Bud made two All Star teams as an A and pitched in two World Series with the Yankees. He racked up three strikeouts in 1.2 All Star innings, ringing up the likes of Ernie Banks, Vada Pinson, and Orlando Cepeda. In the Fall Classics, he pitched eight scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher in game five of the '61 series.

1964 Topps, Orlando Pena

#124 Orlando Pena

Here is the next card from the '64 Topps set that I got signed through the mail. I sent this card to Orlando at the end of 2012 and I had it back two weeks into 2013.

Orlando played in the Major Leagues for parts of fourteen seasons with eight different teams- the Reds, A's, Tigers, Indians, Pirates, Orioles, Cardinals, and Angels. Over that time, he appeared in over 400 games, starting just 93 of them. He played his first Major League game in 1958 and his final one in 1975 and finished with a 56-77 record with 40 saves and a 3.71 ERA.

Orlando had a lot of average seasons in the Major Leagues, so it is hard to pinpoint his best season. But, if I had to pick one, I would go with the 1973 season with the Cardinals. Orlando was thirty-nine years old that season and he responded with a career-best 2.18 ERA over 62 relief innings. He finished the year 4-4 with 6 saves and 38 strikeouts.

Orlando hit two home runs in his career. His first one happened to be a grand slam off of the Senators Claude Osteen.

1964 Topps, Don Lock

#114 Don Lock

Here is the second card of Don Lock that I have posted in the past month. This one, like the previous one, was obtained at Rock's Dugout bi-monthly card show in 2013. This one, unlike the previous one, came out looking really good as Don's Sharpie had not crapped out quite yet. Just check out the previous card of Don to see what I mean.

Don spent eight years in the Major Leagues, spending the first five with the Washington Senators. During that time, Don had two really good seasons in DC. That was in 1963 and '64, Don's second and third season in the Majors. Over those two seasons, he averaged a .250 average, 27.5 home runs, and 81 RBI. Even though he did not make the All Star team either year, he did collect some MVP votes for the '64 season. That year, he was clearly the best position player on a bad Senators team that finished the season 62-100.

For his career with the Senators, Don was a .240 hitter with 99 home runs and 286 RBI.

1964 Topps, Pete Ward

#85 Pete Ward

Here is a quick post of a card signed by Pete Ward. This is the second card of Pete that I have posted on here and the second one that was signed through the mail. I originally sent Pete his 1968 Topps card to sign in 2011. I obtained that card from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I was content on only having that card signed until I came upon this card at the bi-monthly Wichita card show. When I saw that beautiful Topps rookie trophy on this card, I knew I had to get it and send it to Pete to get signed. So, I did just that and sent it to him in early 2013. I had it back seven days later.

Speaking of the Topps Diamond Giveaway, I really miss that promotion. They need to bring something similar to that back.

To see the '68 Topps card that Pete signed for me, click here. You will see how much better this card looks compared to his '68.

1964 Topps, Wayne Causey

#75 Wayne Causey

Here is the next TTM success. This one is from the former Kansas City A's, Wayne Causey. I sent this card to Wayne with a couple of days left in the year 2012 and I had it back two weeks into 2013.

In addition to playing for the A's, Wayne also played for the Orioles, White Sox, Angels, and Braves during his eleven year career. During that span, Wayne manned all of the infield positions except for first base, seeing more time at third than any other position. He was a .252 hitter for his career that clubbed 35 home runs and knocked in 285 runs.

Wayne's best season came with the A's in 1964. That year, he played in 157 games and had a career-high 604 at-bats. He responded to the increased playing time by having career-highs in average (.281), runs (82), RBI (49), and tying his home run mark of 8. His .281 average was the best on an A's team that lost 105 games that season and finished in the American League cellar.

1964 Topps, Duke Carmel

#44 Duke Carmel

Here is the second of two cards that Duke Carmel signed for me through the mail in 2013. I posted the first card two months ago and it can be seen here. That card was Duke's 1960 rookie card with the Cardinals. I was also able to pick up this sweet-looking Mets card of him at the same card show to include in the TTM.

Duke, a New York native, played for the Mets for only the second half of the 1963 season after St. Louis traded him there at the end of July. He got into 47 games as a Met, playing center field and first base. Over those 47 games, Duke hit .235 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 18 RBI.

He spent all of '64 in the minors, but resurfaced in the Majors in '65 as a Yankee. He played in just six games with them and went 0-8 at the plate. That was the last time he would play in the Majors. For his career, Duke hit .211 with 4 home runs and 23 RBI.

This is the oldest signed Mets card that I own.

1963 Topps, Don Lee

#372 Don Lee

Back-to-back Angels cards? Make that back-to-back Los Angeles Angels cards. That night never happened on here ever again.

This one is of the former Tiger, Senator, Twin, Angel, Astro, and Cub, Don Lee. I mailed this card to Don on the last day of 2012 and I had it back eight days later.

Don pitched in the Majors for nine seasons. He both started and relieved, but appeared in more games as a reliever. He was 40-44 with 11 saves and a 3.61 ERA for his career. His best season was probably with the Halos in 1964. That year, he was 5-4 with 2 saves and a career-best 2.72 ERA. Plus, he racked up 73 strikeouts in 89.1 innings, which was his best season for K/9.

Unfortunately, the halo on Don's hat is about as hard to see as it is on the last post of Buck Rogers. Maybe I need to find a card to get signed where that Halo is a bit more prominent.

1963 Topps, Bob Rogers

#280 Bob Rogers

Here is the second of two cards that Buck Rogers signed for me in 2013. I posted the first one, an '81 Donruss, later that year and it can be seen here.

When I found Buck's address and saw that he signed TTM, I kept an eye out for a card from his playing days the next time I attended the Wichita card show. This was the only one I found, but I was pleased to find it as it is always fun to get a Topps rookie cup card signed. It is even more fun to get an old one signed with the original trophy. I am pretty sure that this is the oldest rookie cup card that I have signed.

Buck spent his entire playing career with the Angels. He played nine seasons with them and hit .232 with 31 home runs and 288 RBI. His best season was his rookie campaign in which he hit .258 with 6 dingers, 34 doubles, and 61 RBI.

In this photo, you can just barely see the halo on the top of Buck's hat.