#278 Stan Williams

 

 

 

Stan Williams  Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: Stan Williams, a Denver native, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 and worked his way up through their system over the next three seasons. In '58, with the club now on the West Coast, Williams had a fast start at the AAA level and was called to Los Angeles early in the summer. He made 21 starts and went 9-7 and he carved out a place for himself among the Dodgers' top shelf staff.

 

Williams, who at 6'3" 225 lbs was an imposing figure on the mound, won 43 games between 1959 and 1961 for the Dodgers. He averaged 163 strikeouts over that span.

In 1959 Williams lost his regular rotation spot in the second half of the season but got a huge win with three hit-less innings to wrap up the second playoff game over the Braves. He was traded to the Yankees for Moose Skowron in November of 1962 and was in the Bronx for two seasons, one as a starter and the next primarily out of the bullpen.

 

Williams moved on the the Indians, Twins, Red Sox and Cardinals before hanging up his glove and turning to coaching in the early 70s.

 

Williams served as a pitching coach for 14 MLB seasons, with the Red Sox, Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. He was also an advance scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Washington Nationals.

In 1960: Williams went 14-10 and made the NL All-Star squad. He was credited with a Hold in the second ASG of that year with two scoreless innings.

Off The Charts: Williams pitched very well in all of his postseason appearances. With the '59 Dodgers (World Series), the '63 Yankees (World Series, and the '69 Twins (ALCS) he totaled 11 innings over four games, allowed only three hits, no runs, and fanned eight. You can probably add the '59 playoff game since it was essentially a post-season game.

The Card: The yellow/blue/white combo and the Memorial Coliseum backdrop make for an attractive card.

#255 Jim Gilliam

Jim Gilliam  Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: Jim 'Junior' Gilliam was a baseball junkie from his youngest days. He left school at 14 to play ball for some semi-pro clubs around his native Nashville, Tennessee. He soon found himself signed and playing for the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League. It was there that veteran George Scales got him into switch-hitting, a tool that helped make him so valuable in later years.

Gilliam signed with Brooklyn in 1951 after four years with the Elite Giants and he reported to the AAA Montreal Royals. Wikipedia reports that he wasn't sent to the AA Ft. Worth Cats because black players were not welcome in the Texas League. No mention of that in Gilliam's SABR bio which is usually pretty thorough. SABR does, however, tell us that Gilliam was 'loaned' to the Cubs organization in 1950 by the Elite Giants on a conditional deal but the Cubs were not impressed enough to sign him. His Baseball-Reference stats don't show and numbers with either of the Cubs' farm teams mentioned so perhaps it was a winter ball sort of thing.

But, anyway, Gilliam had solid two minor league seasons in Montreal and made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 1953. He made a real splash in Brooklyn and won the NL Rookie of the Year Award easily over Harvey Haddix of the Cardinals. He was an iron man, playing second, left, and right and rarely missing a game it seems. He had over 700 plate appearances, a plateau that he reached several times both in the majors and minors. He also led the NL in triples.

Gilliam played his entire fourteen-year career with the Dodgers. Many years he rotated through the starting nine, playing second, third, and two or all three outfield slots.

He was a part of seven World Series clubs and took home four rings. His Series average was only .211 but he hit two homers in his first, the 1953 Series against the Yankees. He was a two-time All-Star and homered in front of the hometown Los Angeles crowd in the second ASG in 1959.

Gilliam coached for the Dodgers after he finally retired (he had been a player/coach at the end). He had hoped to become a manager (there had, of course, been no black managers in the majors at that point) but the opportunity never came his way. He stayed with the Dodgers as a coach until he passed away in 1978.


In 1960: His .248 average was the lowest of his career to that point but his OBP remained fairly high due to his ability to draw walks. His other numbers, RBI,  runs, extra-base hits, etc. remained on a par with his previous few seasons.

Off The Charts: Gilliam was named the Dodgers' first base coach in 1965 as his skills were on the decline. But struggles by his intended replacement at third, John Kennedy, inspired the Dodgers to push Gilliam back to full-time playing status. He responded with a .280 season and a key defensive play in the '65 Series. SABR relates this story of the meeting where he was asked to return to the field...

Buzzie Bavasi called a meeting of the front office and dugout management. According to Bavasi: “We talked over several possibilities… Finally, I said, ‘Let’s reactivate Old Slowfoot.’ Gilliam, attending the meeting as a coach, looked at me out of the corner of his eye. We were playing the Cardinals that night. He said, ‘You picked a fine day to bring me back. We’re going against [Bob] Gibson tonight. Wait until tomorrow.’”

Here are a few quotes from the same SABR bio:

“Junior played to win ballgames,” Fairly said. “He didn’t care who was the player who won the game so long as the Dodgers won the game. Jim didn’t worry about personal things like that.”

The difficult to please and proud of it coach Leo Durocher, said of him, “He never – and I mean never – misses a sign. He does everything right. He’s a double pro.”

Added Gilliam’s long-time skipper, Walter Alston: “He doesn’t make any mistakes…He gives you 100 percent, day in and day out. He never moans. He’s a good team man. If I had eight like him, I wouldn’t have to give a single sign.”

The Card: Nice shot of Gilliam at the Polo Grounds. This color combo (blue/yellow/black/red/black) is the most common one in the '60 set. It appears 50 times and is the 'standard (most used) for the Indians, Braves, and Dodgers.

#181 Billy Loes

Billy Loes  San Francisco Giants

Career: Loes was signed by the Dodgers in 1949 as a local kid from Long Island. He spent only one season in the minors before serving in the military and then jumping into a regular role with the powerhouse Dodgers of the era. Loes won double-digit games in each of his four seasons and had 50 wins for Brooklyn. He pitched in three World Series.

After one disastrous start in 1956 he was sold to the Orioles. In 1957 he had his best season since his rookie year and made his only All-Star team (three scoreless innings, btw). He finished up his career with the Giants and retired after the 1961 season.

In 1960: He made 31 relief appearances for the Giants and nailed down six saves and a 3-2 record. But while he pitched only 45 innings, the lowest of his career, he pitched well enough to earn a spot as a starter in '61.

Off The Charts: Loes is best described as 'eccentric' but to fully appreciate him you need to read his SABR bio. He was a strange guy, no doubt. A sample: On the eve of the 1952 World Series, Loes found himself in a mini-controversy when reporters asked him to clarify his prediction that the New York Yankees would beat his Dodgers in six games. Claiming that he was misquoted, Loes responded, “I never told that guy the Yanks would win it in six. I said they’d win it in seven.”

The Card: There is nothing attractive about this card. Not even the nifty Yankee Stadium locale can save it.

#128 Bill Harris Sport Rookie Star

Bill Harris  Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: Harris had a long minor league career before he made it onto a Topps card. He had debuted as a pro in 1951. Harris was able to pitch once for the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1957 and once for them in Los Angeles in 1959. Both appearances came in the last days of the season. He hung around pitching in the minors until 1965 enduring bottom rung, 'B' classification, independent ball at one point.

In 1960: Back in the day some bigger organizations had more than one AAA-level farm club. Harris pitched for both of the Dodgers' teams, Spokane and Montreal. He was a combined 8-6 with an ERA in the mid 3.50s.

Off The Charts: Harris (in his first game) was the starter in the last game caught by Roy Campanella on September 29, 1957. Campy pinch-hit on the 29th and never played again after his accident that following winter.

The Card: He was 29 when the 1960 season opened and was among the oldest of the Rookie Stars in this set. It's his only Topps card.

#153 Bobby Thomson

Bobby Thomson  Boston Red Sox

Career: Thomson famously hit the "Shot Heard 'Round The World', the pennant-winning homer off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca in the third game of the 1951 playoff series between the Giants and Dodgers. He's known for that, the most iconic homer in baseball history, but he was a durable, versatile, and dependable player for many years. Playing for the Giants, Braves, and Cubs in the NL and briefly for the Red Sox and Orioles as well, Thomson had 264 homers and a .275 career average. He was a three-time All-Star in a league loaded with All-Star talent in the outfield.

In 1960: This was Thomson's swan song. After being traded to the Red Sox the previous December by the Cubs, he played in 40 games, was hitting .263, and was released on July 1st.  He signed three days later with the Orioles but barely saw the field before being sent on his way at the end of the month. He then went to work as a sales executive in the NY area and spent much of his life re-telling the story of his famous home run.

Off The Charts: Odds and ends from various sources on the web...

• Willie Mays was the on-deck hitter when Thomson hit that homer off Branca.
• He hurt his ankle in the spring of 1954 which opened up and opportunity for Hank Aaron to gain a foothold in the Braves' lineup.
• Thomson and Ralph Branca became close friends in the years following their playoff meeting.
• The Shot game placed second on ESPN's SportsCentury ranking of the Ten Greatest Games of the 20th Century, behind the 1958 NFL Championship Game. Sports Illustrated ranked Thomson's home run fifteenth on its list of the 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History

On the off chance someone hasn't seen/heard this already, here is a mashup of Russ Hodges' famous call on top of the game video.

#408 Carl Furillo

Carl Furillo  Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: Known for a consistent, high average bat and strong throwing arm Carl Furillo enjoyed a 15 year career with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and L.A. He held down an outfield spot for 13 seasons as a starter and finished with a .299 career average and 192 homers. He was a two time All Star and won the NL batting crown in 1953. He led the NL outfields in assists twice.

In 1960: This was the end of the line for Furillo. He started a couple of games and pinch hit in a few more before suffering a torn muscle and being released by the Dodgers in May. Before the year was out he had sued the Dodgers on the grounds that he had been cut while he was injured and, oddly, was hired by them as a spring training instructor. His lawsuit was upheld and he was granted a slightly higher monthly pension. It was also reported that he was blackballed and for that reason he never was hired as a coach or scout.

WikiFacts: from his New York Times obit:

His best season was in 1953 when he led the National League in batting with a .344 average. He won the title despite being sidelined with a broken finger incurred in a brawl. Furillo had been hit by a pitch from the New York Giants' Ruben Gomez, and then charged the Giant manager, Leo Durocher.
"We hated the Giants," he recalled years later. "We just hated the uniform."

I think I've heard Night Owl say the same thing.

The Card: If I didn't know any better I'd say that was my Uncle Joe pictured on that card. hard to say where this photo was taken. I could make a case for Wrigley (is that the scoreboard?), the Polo Grounds (are those the apartment buildings?) or the Coliseum in LA.

The back is unique in that it list just two Season's Highlights and those both recall postseason exploits for Furillo. I think that's pretty cool.

BTW...Furillo to me is a Brooklyn Dodger, not a Los Angeles Dodger. Seeing him in a cap with 'LA' on it is always odd.