Another hunk o’ the 1960 set is in my binder.

#207 Bob Boyd

First up today is Bob “Rope” Boyd. I love love love cool baseball nicknames and that is one of the sweetest one I ever heard. Apparently he was called “Rope” after the wicked line drives that he would regularly hit. While we’re on the subject, “frozen rope” happens to be one of my favorite bits of baseball slang, along with “can of corn”. One of the more interesting things about collecting the 1960 set is how many former Negro Leaguers are in it, such as is the case with Bob. He played for the Memphis Red Sox from 1947-49 before being drafted by the Chicago White Sox. I guess in my mind, 50 years later, the Negro Leagues are such an ancient thing, but at the time this set came out it was only 2 years removed from the last Negro American League game.

#336 Ike Delock

I’ve always had an odd sense of admiration for players who spend their entire career with one team. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s easy to mistake players moving around with them casing the biggest paycheck, which I realize is not always the case. Anyway, Ike pitched in 329 games in his career. 322 were with the Red Sox. I wonder if he regrets those 7 spent with the Orioles.

#46 Jack Fisher

“Fat Jack” Fisher was a pretty unspectacular pitcher in his day. He played 11 seasons with 5 different teams, including the Mets from ’64-67. His lifetime record was 86-139, for a .382 Winning Percentage, along with a 4.06 ERA. He was however party to several historical moments in baseball history. On September 28, 1960 he gave up Ted Williams final home run in his final at bat. Almost a year to the day after that, on September 26, 1961, he gave up Roger Maris’ 60th home run to tie Babe Ruths single season record. Then on April 17, 1964, he gave up the very first home run in the history of Shea Stadium to Willie Stargell.

#359 Buddy Gilbert

Buddy Gilbert had one of the shortest Major League careers I can ever remember hearing about. After spending 6 seasons in the Reds Minor League system, he was called up at the end of the 1959 season and played a total of 7 games for Cincinnati. He had a total of 3 hits in 20 at bats, but 2 of those 3 hits were home runs. According to Curt Flood, who was in the monors with Buddy, he would often bring meals out to Flood and other black teammates on the bus so that they wouldn’t have to go to the back door of the restaurant to be served.

#362 Russ Kemmerer

In September of 1958, the Senators became the first team in history to lose four consecutive games by the same score, 2-0. Russ was the losing pitcher in the 4th of those games, giving up both runs. In case you were wondering, that record has since been tied by the San Francisco Giants in 1961. Also if you’re wondering, the 2008 Padres are the only team to win 4 consecutive games by the same score, 2-1. Of course the last 3 of those games were against the Mets.

#265 Rip Repulski

How can you not love a card of a dude named “Rip”? By the way, Rips real name is Eldon John. That would be a little too close for comfort for me.

#162 Sammy Taylor

Sammy Taylor was actually the catcher in the rather bizarre incident I talked about in yesterdays post involving pitcher Bob Anderson. He later went on to play for the Mets during their, shall we say awkward phase in 1963. And speaking of awkward, that’s a pretty strange pose he’s striking in the small black and white photo. It does not hold a candle though to another Sammy Taylor card, which might be my personal favorite awkward card pose ever.

Tags: 1960 Topps, Bob Boyd, Buddy Gilbert, Ike Delock, Jack Fisher, Rip Repulski, Russ Kemmerer, Sammy Taylor
Filed Under: Set Chase by slangon
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