#210 Jim Fregosi - Los Angeles Angels

James Louis Fregosi
Los Angeles Angels
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  April 4, 1942, San Francisco, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Angels 1961-1965; California Angels 1966-1971; New York Mets 1972-1973; Texas Rangers 1973-1977; Pittsburgh Pirates 1977-1978
As a Manager:  California Angels 1978-1981; Chicago White Sox 1986-1988; Philadelphia Phillies 1991-1996; Toronto Blue Jays 1999-2000
Died:  February 14, 2014, Miami, FL (age 71)

A six-time All-Star and a Gold Glove shortstop, Jim Fregosi was the first star of the expansion Los Angeles Angels before his trade to the Mets in December 1971 for future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.  Fregosi led the league in triples with 13 in 1968 and won his Gold Glove in 1967.  He held most of the Angels' franchise hitting records until Brian Downing began breaking them in the late 1980s.  Over his 18-year career, Fregosi hit .265 with 151 home runs and 706 RBIs.  He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 1989 and the club retired his #11 in 1998.

Following his playing days, Fregosi was a successful manager, leading the Angels to their first playoff berth in 1979 and the Phillies to the World Series in 1993.  His 15-year managerial career spanned between 1978 and 2000, earning him a career record of 1028-1094.  A baseball lifer, he spent five full decades in the game earning friends at each franchise he joined.  Fregosi was the top advance scout for the Braves in 2014 when a series of strokes led to his passing.

Building the Set
December 7, 2019 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #9
Earlier this month, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held inside the Valley Forge Casino.  After meeting Benito Santiago, Brad Lidge and Ryan Howard and having secured the first five cards for our 1965 Topps set, I continued scanning tables for the final two cards I needed to complete my 1971 Topps set.

1993 Medford Phillies Update - 1993 All-Stars

I found a dealer with organized binders of vintage Topps cards, and I dug in.  Quickly finding the last two cards I needed from 1971 - #662 Mike Hedlund and #715 Horace Clarke,  both in great shape - I started browsing through binders from other years, in search of cards for my 1960s Phillies team sets.  I added five cards (all high numbers) for those sets and then decided to look through the 1965 Topps binder, figuring Doug wouldn't mind if I added a few more cards to our set.  I found four more sharp cards for our set, featuring players who all had some meaning for me personally.  This Fregosi card was the second of those four cards along with Robin Roberts (#15), Juan Pizarro (#125) and Harvey Haddix (#67).  For all 11 cards, the dealer gave me a price of $62, which I felt was fair given I had calculated a price of $75 in my head for the lot.

The Card
File this in the category of things I never knew:  The Los Angeles Angels changed their name to the California Angels on September 2, 1965, with a month remaining in the 1965 season.  Since they were the Los Angeles Angels for most of the 1965 season, that's what I'm going with in these posts.

Fregosi's 140 hits and 72 RBIs were tops on the 1964 Angels team, and he finished second in home runs with 18 behind the 21 hit by Joe Adcock.  Fregosi, at card #39, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of three Angels in the set.  He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.

1965 Season
This was the only season between 1964 and 1970 in which Fregosi wasn't named to the A.L. All-Star team.  As the Angels' starting shortstop, he hit .277 over 161 games with a team-leading 15 home runs and 64 RBIs.  As was the case for much of the 1960s, Fregosi was the team's MVP, but the Angels still finished in 7th place with a 75-87 record for manager Bill Rigney (#66).  1965 was also the Angels' final season sharing Dodger Stadium, and as noted above they changed their name to the California Angels late in the season in anticipation of their move into the new Anaheim Stadium.

Phillies Career
Fregosi was originally hired by the Phillies by his former teammate and friend Lee Thomas (#111) on May 29, 1989 as a special assignment assistant to Thomas, the team's general manager.  He was serving as a minor league pitching instructor and part-time broadcaster for the Phillies when Nick Leyva was fired in early 1991.  Fregosi was named the club's new manager on April 23, 1991, leading them to a third place finish that season, the club's best finish since 1986.  He guided the Phillies from a last place finish in 1992 to the World Series in 1993, only to lose the Series on Joe Carter's dramatic walk-off home run off Mitch Williams in Game 6.  Fregosi was credited with effectively leading a band of veteran cast-offs to an unexpected and improbable postseason run.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill for Fregosi and the Phillies following the 1993 season and the club wouldn't finish above .500 during the remainder of his tenure.  He was fired following the 1996 season, a dismal year in which the Phillies went 67-95 to finish in last place in the division.  In six years as Phillies manager, Fregosi had a 431-463 record and his win total is third behind Danny Ozark (594) and Charlie Manuel (780) for the club since 1970.

1962 Topps #209

1970 Topps #570

1975 Topps #339

1978 Topps #323

2001 Topps #345

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #209
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (27):  1962-1976, 1978-1981, 1986-1989, 1991-1993, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2002 Topps Archives #40

It's early, but Fregosi jumps into the lead of players featured so far on this blog with Topps flagship set appearances.  Between 1962 and 2001, Fregosi's cards can be found within 27 Topps base and update sets.

186 - Fregosi non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/16/19.

Sources:  
1992 Phillies Media Guide
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Prior Card:  #209 Pittsburgh Pirates Team Card

Next Card:  #211 Steve Ridzik - Washington Senators