#190 Gene Woodling

Gene Woodling  Baltimore Orioles

Career: Ohio kid Gene Woodling signed with the Indians in 1940 but it took him a decade to establish himself in the majors. Along that trail to the '49 Yankees (and the first of five consecutive Series titles) Woodling led four different minors leagues in hitting. He also toured the Pacific in the Navy and played ball with Bob Feller and many others. Woodling went from the Indians' chain to the Pirates and then to the PCL's San Francisco Seals before landing with the Yanks. 

He had gotten a few looks at major league pitching but it wasn't until the Yankees stuck him into their outfield that he became an established big-leaguer.  In those five Series with the Bombers he hit .318 and added three homers.

From New York Woodling carried his potent bat (and underrated glove) to Baltimore, back to Cleveland, to Baltimore for another stay, to the Senators, and finally in 1962, to the Original Mets. That was his last season as a player. He retired with a career .284 average (he hit over .300 five times). He was still swinging well at 39 with the Mets in '62 as he hit .274 in 80 games after coming over from the Senators.

In 1960: He played every day, mainly in left, at age 37, and hit over .280 in his final season in Charm City. He even picked up a few MVP votes.


Off The Charts: He was involved in one of the biggest (in terms of numbers) trades in history in November 1954 when he was dealt to the Orioles. Here is the summary per Baseball-Reference:

November 17, 1954: Traded by the New York Yankees with players to be named later, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Willy Miranda, Hal Smith and Gus Triandos to the Baltimore Orioles for players to be named later, Billy Hunter, Don Larsen and Bob Turley. The New York Yankees sent Bill Miller (December 1, 1954), Kal Segrist (December 1, 1954), Don Leppert (December 1, 1954) and Theodore Del Guercio (minors) (December 1, 1954) to the Baltimore Orioles to complete the trade. The Baltimore Orioles sent Mike Blyzka (December 1, 1954), Darrell Johnson (December 1, 1954), Jim Fridley (December 1, 1954) and Dick Kryhoski (December 1, 1954) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.

That's seventeen players in total. There will not be a quiz later.

Woodling coached for the Orioles through 1967 and earned a sixth ring for the 1966 Orioles' title. He later scouted for the Yanks and Indians.

#142 Bill Short Sport Rookie Star

Bill Short   New York Yankees

Career: Six seasons, six teams. Short took a long time to make his way up through the Yankees system. He signed in 1955 and debuted out of Spring Training in 1960. His first game was a win over the Orioles as he went seven innings in a 3-2 win. He dodged a few bullets by allowing five hits and walking six. But a debut win is a debut win.

He was back in the minors in 1961 and was taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft and pitched for them in 1962 and 1966. In between, he was banging around the Orioles chain. He was traded to the Red Sox in August 1966 and missed out on a shot at pitching in the Series.

From there it was a tour of the NL with stops in Pittsburgh, back in NYC with the Mets, and finally with the Reds in 1969.  His career mark was 5 wins and 11 losses.

In 1960: Game logs for 1960 indicate that he came and went between the Yanks and AAA all season. He was with the team through May but after that he was he got the call to make spot starts and had decent enough results. He took a tough 2-1 loss to the Orioles the week after his debut but his problem was as before: six walks. He finished 3-5 with an ERA of 4.79 in 47 innings.

Short was much better with Richmond. His work there was curtailed a bit by elbow issues, but he had a fine stat line.

Off The Charts: Hard to pin down exactly how this timeline falls, but on his SABR page we find this: Short wrote, “Paul Krichell, scout of the Yankees, signed me after I finished high school, but before I signed I had to go to Watertown, N.Y. to play a year of semi-pro.” That's Night Owl's hometown.

The Card: Love the first line of the write-up on the back...'Bill looks a little like Whitey Ford...'. Really? Then I look a little like Elston Howard.

Seriously, this is another "I remember this card" card. In 1960 I was just branching out from under my Dad's 'umbrella' and finding my own teams. But I was, well, not a 'fan' exactly, but a Yankee 'follower' since they were all over every sports page, and we got three newspapers and listened to Stan Lomax every night before dinner. It was hard NOT to know everything about them. Not to mention that getting a Yankee on a card was a big deal among the couple of friends I had in the year or two we lived on Long Island.

#19 Felix Mantilla

Felix Mantilla   Milwaukee Braves

Career: SABR says the key word in describing Felix Mantilla is versatility. In 11 seasons, 6 with the Braves, he played everywhere except pitcher and catcher. He was a member of the '57-'58 Braves and won a ring. He was also a member of the 'Original Mets' club in 1962 and so in the course of four years, he saw the sublime and the ridiculous in the game. He finished his career with the Red Sox and Astros. He made his only All-Star squad with Boston in 1965 as the starting second baseman.

In 1960: Mantilla hit .257, his best in a full season with the Braves, while playing in 63 games. He split time in those between second and short with some outfield time as well.

WikiFacts: Even decades after his days with the Braves, Mantilla is doing good things for young people in the Milwaukee community and in his native Puerto Rico.

The Card: While I prefer the backs that have 'Seasons Highlights' there is nothing much I don't like about this one. It features one of the better color combos and Mantilla looks happy. Why shouldn't he be wearing the wonderful Braves' cap and uni?

#187 Jay Hook

Jay Hook, New York Mets

Career: Jay Hook split eight seasons and 160 big league appearances pretty evenly between the Reds (who signed him in 1957) and the Mets (who acquired him in the '61 expansion draft). His 29-62 career mark is pretty much matched by his other numbers, a career 5.39 ERA and 1.43 WHIP.

In 1960: Hook had his best and busiest (in terms of IP) year. He was 11-18 as a regular member of the Reds' rotation. Of his five full or nearly full seasons in the majors this one featured his best ERA and WHIP.

WikiFacts: From Wikipedia.... Hook won the first game in Mets franchise history. On April 23, 1962, he pitched a five-hit 9–1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, giving his team its first regular-season victory after nine defeats. In that season he compiled an 8–19 mark for the Mets, and led the team in complete games (13) and games started (34)....After receiving a master's degree in thermodynamics, Hook retired in 1964 at age 28 to take a job with Chrysler Corporation.

The Card: Looks like Wrigley Field to me....ivy walls, the roll-up door, the houses across Waveland. Hook was a Chicago native so he probably had family there. The cartoon mentions his attending Northwestern which is just up the Lake Michigan shoreline in Evanston. He was probably 23 in this photo. He looks about 15.

The first Season's Highlight notes his first big league win, a complete game against the Cubs. That came at Wrigley. Topps sure liked to use black elements on the cards of Cincinnati players back then.

#194 Bobby Gene Smith

Bobby Gene Smith  Philadelphia Phillies

Career: Seven seasons in the majors with five different clubs. He had two stints with the Cardinals and was mainly a back-up and pinch hitter throughout his career. He's one of the Original '62 Mets having been chosen by them off the Phils roster in the expansion draft after the 1961 season. He was with them for less than a month though as he was traded to the Cubs at the end of April that year. He was traded to the Cards (a return to St. Louis, his original team) after six weeks with the Cubs.

In 1960: He had his busiest and best year. He appeared in 96 games for the Phils and got 217 at bats. He had career highs in nearly every batting stat category. He hit .286 with 27 RBI.

WikiFacts: The Mets-centric Centerfieldmaz blog featured Smith earlier this year: "He would hit .300 twice in the minors making the Cardinals as a reserve outfielder for three seasons (1957-1959). He hit a HR in first career game but didn’t hit too many more as the season went on. 

He was labeled the ultimate six o’clock hitter by teammate Bill White, meaning he would hit HRs in batting practice but rarely in the real game."

The Card: Looks like Topps used the same pic for the main photo and the 'action' shot. It was the same one used on his '59 card while pictured with St. Louis. I'm guessing it's the Polo Grounds. Here is his '59 card:

Keith Olbermann, on again off again sports/political commentator and noted collector has a few interesting facts about this card. He notes in this blog post that the card was 'mocked up' as #66 in the set but was issued as #194.