#74 Red Sox Rookie Stars - Rico Petrocelli / Jerry Stephenson

Americo Peter Petrocelli
Boston Red Sox
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  June 27, 1943, Brooklyn, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, July 2, 1961
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1963, 1965-1976

Jerry Joseph Stephenson
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  185
Born:  October 6, 1943, Detroit, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, June 17, 1961
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1963, 1965-1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Los Angeles Dodgers 1970
Died:  June 6, 2010, Anaheim, CA (age 66)

Rico Petrocelli was a two-time All-Star who spent his entire 13-year big league career as the regular shortstop or third baseman for the Red Sox.  In his biggest game with the club, he hit two home runs in Game 6 of the 1967 World Series, leading the Red Sox to the win and forcing a Game 7 against the Cardinals.  He helped the Red Sox reach the World Series in both 1967 and 1975, but his best personal season came in 1969.  That year, he batted .297 with a career high 40 home runs and 97 RBIs as the most dangerous bat in a Red Sox line-up that also consisted of Carl Yastrzemski (#385) and Reggie Smith.  He bettered his RBI mark in 1970 with 103.  Over his career, he earned three top ten finishes in the American League for home runs and four top ten finishes in RBIs.  A fine fielder too, Petrocelli's .970 fielding percentage as a third baseman is currently 8th all-time.  In 1,553 career games, he batted .251 with 210 home runs and 773 RBIs.  Petrocelli was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997.  

Jerry Stephenson pitched in parts of seven seasons with three different clubs, appearing the most with the Red Sox between 1963 and 1968.  In 67 career games, including 33 starts, he went 8-19 with a 5.70 ERA.  His lone big league save came on August 19, 1967 during a crucial win in the middle of the Red Sox' Impossible Dream season.  His best professional season came with the Triple-A Spokane Indians in 1970, the Dodgers top farm team managed by Tommy Lasorda.  Stephenson went 18-5 with a 2.82 ERA over 28 starts with the Indians that year.  Following his playing days, he spent 36 years as a scout for the Dodgers (1974-1994) and Red Sox (1995-2009).

Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Marco Island, FL - Card #181
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged.  Hunting specifically for first series cards, this is one of 5 cards I added from eBay seller Super Bowl Auctions from Marco Island, Florida.  With the exception of a league leaders card featuring Mickey Mantle, this was the most expensive card in the lot of 32 cards added as it set Santa back $15.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Petrocelli's #38 is peaking through on his back, and he'd switch to his more familiar #6 beginning in 1966.  This is his rookie card, and his 1966 Topps solo card would feature the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy.  This is also Stephenson's rookie card, and he'd appear in four more Topps flagship sets through 1971.

1965 Season - Petrocelli
This was Petrocelli's first full season with the Red Sox, after spending all of 1964 in the minors.  He was named the Red Sox opening day shortstop, and ended up switching out at the position with Eddie Bressoud (#525) throughout the season.  Petrocelli started 93 games at short to Bressoud's 69.  After a failed experiment as a switch-hitter, Petrocelli reverted to a full-time right-handed hitter and watched his average steadily improve.  In 103 games, Petrocelli hit .232 with 13 home runs and 33 RBIs.  His first big league home run came on June 20th against the White Sox pitcher Gary Peters (#430).  

1965 Season - Stephenson
Stephenson appeared in 15 games for the Red Sox with sporadic appearances between May and September.  He was on the big league roster the entire season, but as told by his SABR biography he was the last pitcher manager Billy Herman (#251) would consider using.  He went 1-5 in 8 stars and 7 relief appearances, with a 6.23 ERA over 52 innings pitched.

1966 Topps #298

1967 Topps #528

1970 Topps #680

1975 Topps #356

1977 Topps #111

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Petrocelli
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #74
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1965-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-RP

167 - Petrocelli non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/26/20.

Sources - Petrocelli:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Stephenson
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #74
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1965-1966, 1968-1969, 1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #488

18 - Stephenson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/26/20.

Sources - Stephenson:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

1966 Topps

1968 Topps #519

1969 Topps #172

1971 Topps #488

Previous Card:  #73 Dennis Ribant - New York Mets

Next Card:  #75 Deron Johnson - Cincinnati Reds

#477 Cardinals Rookie Stars - Fritz Ackley / Steve Carlton

Florian Fritz Ackley
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  202
Born:  April 10, 1937, Hayward, WI
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1963-1964
Died:  May 22, 2002, Duluth, MN (age 65)

Steven Norman Carlton
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 22, 1944, Miami, FL
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, October 8, 1963
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1965-1971; Philadelphia Phillies 1972-1986; San Francisco Giants 1986; Chicago White Sox 1986; Cleveland Indians 1987; Minnesota Twins 1987-1988
Hall of Fame Induction:  1994

2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards

After almost 10 years in the minor leagues, Fritz Ackley finally got his chance with the White Sox in 1963, making it into a pair of games and impressing with a 2.08 ERA over 13 innings pitched.  That same year, Ackley was named the International League Pitcher of the Year after going 18-5 with a 3.21 ERA for the Indianapolis Indians.  He had three more appearances in Chicago in 1964 before he was sold to the Cardinals before the 1965 season.  Ackley never pitched for the Cardinals, and after three more seasons in the minors, he retired in 1967. Ackley's counterpart on this Rookie Stars card made out slightly better with his big league career.  

Steve Carlton was one of the best left-handed pitchers in the history of the game.  He found early success with the Cardinals, making three All-Star squads and earning his first World Series ring in 1967.  After the Phillies acquired him in February 1972 for Rick Wise (#322), he took his career to the next level.  Lefty led the league in strikeouts five times, wins four times and he clinched an ERA title in 1972 with a 1.97 mark to go along with his 27-10 record and 30 complete games.  That was also the year he won the first of his four Cy Young Awards, winning the honor again in 1977, 1980 and 1982.  His pitching helped the Phillies win their first World Championship in 1980.  

Carlton currently ranks 11th on the all-time wins list (329) and 4th on the all-time strikeouts list (4,136) with only Warren Spahn (#205) with more wins in baseball history (363) among all left-handed pitchers.  He briefly held the top spot for all-time strikeouts before being ultimately overtaken by Nolan Ryan in 1984, and along with Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens he's one of only four players with over 4,000 strikeouts in major league history.  That mark also puts him atop the all-time National League leaders list for strikeouts.  His #32 was retired by the Phillies in 1989, and he was an easy first ballot Hall of Famer in 1994.

Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Prospect, KY - Card #180
Growing up, I could always count on Santa to bring me one "big" card each and every Christmas and I've enjoyed keeping that tradition going now that I have kids of my own.  I was happy to see our oldest son Doug genuinely surprised and happy to find the Steve Carlton rookie card under the tree on Christmas morning, along with his new collection of PlayStation games.  To complement the rookie card, Doug also received a Carlton signed Phillies Wall of Fame baseball which he later listed as one of his favorite presents along with the Spider-Man: Miles Morales game.  Santa purchased this card from eBay seller somersetvelvet, located in Prospect, Kentucky.

It was a strange Christmas as we kept extended family interactions to a minimum with either masked up short visits or FaceTime calls, but it was wonderful nevertheless as our family continues to be safe and healthy.  From a collecting standpoint, I did a little surrogate shopping for my wife Jenna and she along with our boys ended up giving me the rest of the cards needed to complete the first series of our 1965 Topps set.  Including this Carlton rookie card, we added 33 cards to our 1965 set on Christmas day, putting us over the 200-card mark and giving us a little over 35% of the set.

I hope your Christmas was healthy and enjoyable and that you found a few cards under your trees as well!

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
I clearly remember seeing this card for sale at various baseball card shows throughout the 1980s and thinking (a) that card looks really old and (b) there's no way I'll ever own such an iconic card.  I know my family doesn't quite understand it, but it's awesome to me that I've now added this historic rookie card to our collection.

Ackley is wearing a White Sox jersey in his photo.  As the back of the card mentions, he was optioned down to Jacksonville at the start of the 1965 season and way before this card reached collectors' hands.  Carlton's 10-1 mark came as a member of the Rock Hill Cardinals in 1964.

Of the reprint versions of this card available, only one features Ackley - the 1985 Baseball Cards Magazine Repli-Cards Reprint version.  The Carlton half of the card has been reprinted as part of the 1996 Phillies All-Star Game FanFest promotion set and the 2001 Topps Archives releases.

1965 Season - Ackley
Ackley spent the entire season with the Jacksonville Suns, the Cardinals' top farm team.  In 41 games (22 starts), he went 8-11 with a 3.92 ERA with 101 strikeouts and 71 walks over 163 innings pitched.

1965 Season - Carlton
Carlton made his debut with the Cardinals on April 12th and he'd appear in a total of 15 games for the club, going 0-0 with a 2.52 ERA over 25 innings pitched.  His first career start came on June 14th against the Pirates, and he lasted 4 1/3 innings before getting pulled in a tie game.

Phillies Career - Carlton
Carlton put together a Hall of Fame career as the greatest left-handed pitcher in Phillies team history.  He was an All-Star in 1972, 1974, 1977 and 1979 through 1982.  Carlton was the winning pitcher in the World Series clinching game against the Royals in 1980.  He's the franchise's all-time leader in games started (499), wins (241) and strikeouts (3,031).  A statute of Carlton stands at Citizens Bank Park, the current home of the Phillies, along with statues of the other members of the franchise's Mount Rushmore - Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt.

1964 Topps #368

1978 TCMA The 1960s I #27

1996 Phillies All-Star Game FanFest #4

2001 Topps Archives #271

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Ackley
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #368
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1964-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #27

9 - Ackley non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/25/20.

Sources - Ackley:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Carlton
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #477
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22):  1965, 1967-1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Update Decades' Best #DB-39

1,978 - Carlton non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/25/20.

Sources - Carlton:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

1967 Topps #146

1972 Topps #751

1977 Topps #110

1980 Topps #210

1987 Topps Traded #19T

Previous Card:  #476 Billy O'Dell - Milwaukee Braves

Next Card:  #478 Wilbur Wood - Pittsburgh Pirates

#68 Del Crandall - San Francisco Giants

Delmar Wesley Crandall
San Francisco Giants
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  March 5, 1930, Ontario, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1949-1950; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1963; San Francisco Giants 1964; Pittsburgh Pirates 1965; Cleveland Indians 1966
As a Manager:  Milwaukee Brewers 1972-1975; Seattle Mariners 1983-1984

An often overlooked but important member of the Braves' line-up throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Del Crandall was an 11-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove winner and he won a World Series ring with the Braves in 1957.  Crandall's work behind the plate was impressive.  He led the league in runners caught stealing five times and had the league's top fielding percentage for a catcher four times.  His receiving aided the careers of Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (#205) along with Lew Burdette (#64) and Bob Buhl (#264).  He hit at least 15 home runs or more every season between 1953 and 1960 and drove in over 50 runs in six of those seasons.

Following the 1963 season, and with Joe Torre (#200) waiting in the wings to take his place, Crandall was part of a seven-player deal that sent him to the Giants.  He finished his career as a back-up catcher with the Giants, Pirates and Indians between 1964 and 1966.  Crandall caught three no-hitters and batted .254 over 1,573 games.  He later managed the Brewers (1972-1975) and Mariners (1983-1984) compiling a managerial record of 364-469 with none of his teams finishing above fifth place.  He also spent time as both a broadcaster with the White Sox and Brewers and as a minor league manager for various organizations.

November 24, 2020 - Last day of in-person school
(The experiment lasted 3 days.)

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #179
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this Crandall card cost $2.75.  It's strange to me that the card for a former perennial All-Star like Crandall cost less than some of the other cards purchased in this lot.  The Dick McAuliffe (#53) card was $5.50 and the George Thomas (#83) card was $3.  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Giants Team Set
This is the only Topps flagship card issued for Crandall during his playing career to not feature him wearing a Braves uniform.  And it looks as if he's busted up one of his finger nails pretty good!  Given his veteran status, there's no room on the back for a cartoon and Topps provides a short write-up on his trade from the Braves, his All-Star Game appearances and his World Series appearances in 1957 and 1958.

1965 Season
On February 11, 1965, the Giants traded Crandall to the Pirates for Bob Burda and Bob Priddy (#482).  Priddy appears later in the set on a Giants card, but clearly wearing a Pirates sleeveless jersey.  With the Pirates, Crandall appeared in 60 games while backing up regular catcher Jim Pagliaroni (#265).  Crandall hit just .214 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs and he was released by the Pirates on November 30th, signing with the Indians, his final club, on the same day.

1950 Bowman #56

1956 Topps #175

1961 Topps #390

1974 Topps #99

1984 Topps #721

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #56
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1952-1954, 1956-1966, 1973-1975, 1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-DC

131 - Crandall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/25/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card:  #67 Harvey Haddix - Baltimore Orioles

Next Card:  #69 Bill Virdon - Pittsburgh Pirates

#83 George Thomas - Detroit Tigers

George Edward Thomas
Detroit Tigers
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  190
Born:  November 29, 1937, Minneapolis, MN
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent, August 5, 1957
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1957-1958, 1961; Los Angeles Angels 1961-1963; Detroit Tigers 1963-1965; Boston Red Sox 1966-1971; Minnesota Twins 1971

A bonus baby signing by the Tigers, George Thomas appeared in one game in each of 1957 and 1958 before spending all of the 1959 and 1960 seasons in the minor leagues.  When he returned in 1961, Thomas was a versatile multi-position player who played in 11 seasons for the Tigers, Angels, Tigers again, Red Sox and Twins.  During his career, he played every position around the diamond except pitcher, playing mostly the outfield and third base.  His best season was 1964 when in 105 games for the Tigers he hit .286 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs.  He had his best power season a few seasons earlier, hitting career highs in home runs (13) and RBIs (59) for the first Angels team in 1961.

Thomas was later a member of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Red Sox, filling a utility role and appearing in 65 games.  In his lone postseason appearance he went 0 for 2 in the Series won by the Cardinals in seven games.  Thomas retired following the 1971 season and a short stint with the Twins.  In 685 games, he batted .255 with 46 home runs.  Thomas served as assistant baseball coach and later head baseball coach at the University of Minnesota between 1972 and 1981.

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #178
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this Thomas card cost $3.  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Tigers Team Set
I have no way of knowing, but I suppose this photo could have come from Thomas' first stint with the Tigers before he was sold to the Angels in June 1961.  He spent just under two years with the Angels, with his 1962 season interrupted by a stint in the Army.  Flipping to the back, Topps omitted a few positions that Thomas had played through the 1964 season - 4 games at first base, only 1 at second base, 50 at third base, 50 games in left field, 113 in center and 114 in right.

1965 Season

Thomas appeared in 79 games for the Tigers, playing all three outfield positions and second base.  His average dropped to .213 in what was most likely his worst season in baseball.  On October 4, 1965, the Tigers traded Thomas, George Smith (#483) and a player to be named later (Jackie Moore - #593) to the Red Sox for Bill Monbouquette (#142).

1961 Topps #544

1963 Topps #98

1964 Topps #461

1967 Topps #184

1971 Topps #678

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #544
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1961-1967, 1969, 1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-GTH

34 - Thomas non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/25/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #82 Braves Rookie Stars

Next Card:  #84 Ron Herbel -  San Francisco Giants

#53 Dick McAuliffe - Detroit Tigers

Richard John McAuliffe
Detroit Tigers
Shortstop

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  176
Born:  November 29, 1939, Hartford, CT
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1960-1973; Boston Red Sox 1974-1975
Died:  May 13, 2016, Farmington, CT (age 76)

Dick McAuliffe spent all but two seasons of his16-year big league career with the Tigers, where he was an All-Star for three straight seasons between 1965 and 1967.  He was the regular second baseman for the 1968 Tigers team that defeated the Cardinals in seven games in the 1968 World Series.  Known for his unusual batting stance, McAuliffe enjoyed one of his best seasons in 1968 when he led the league with 95 runs scored and went the entire season without grounding into a double play - still an American League record.  He struggled at times defensively, leading the league twice for errors committed as a shortstop in 1964 and as a second baseman in 1967.  He finished in the top 10 in triples in the American League 8 times.

McAuliffe was traded to the Red Sox in October 1973 for Ben Oglivie.  McAuliffe had started the 1975 season as the manager for the Red Sox' Double-A team in Bristol, but was recalled and activated by the Red Sox in August appearing in seven games.  He retired following the 1975 season having appeared in 1,763 games and accumulating 1,530 hits with a .247 average.  He had 197 lifetime home runs.  

November 17, 2020 - First day of in-person school

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #177
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this McAuliffe card was somewhat pricey at $5.50.  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Tigers Team Set
This is McAuliffe's fourth appearance in a Topps flagship set, with his rookie card found in the 1962 set.  Flipping to the back, I wanted to try to find the games in which he had seven straight hits in 1963.  It looks like this happened May 24th, 25th and 26th against the Red Sox.  McAuliffe collected two singles in his last two at-bats on May 24th, went 3 for 3 (with a walk) on May 25th and singled and homered in his first two at-bats on May 26th.  His home run came off Red Sox pitcher Jack Lamabe (#88) and reliever Mike Fornieless finally got McAuliffe to ground out to first in the seventh inning to stop the streak.

1965 Season
This was to be the first of McAuliffe's three All-Star seasons, although he was limited to only 113 games due to a broken hand.  His high on-base percentage and ability to draw a walk led manager Chuck Dressen (#538) to transition McAuliffe to the lead-off spot in the batting order.  As the regular shortstop for the Tigers, he hit .260 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs.  McAuliffe shared the Tigers' infield with Norm Cash (#153) at first, Jerry Lumpe (#353) at second and Don Wert (#271) at third.

He led off for the A.L. All-Stars, going 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs in a 6-5 loss to the N.L. All-Stars.  McAuliffe singled off Jim Maloney (#530) in the fourth, and came around to score on a Rocky Colavito (#380) single.  He hit a two-run home run in the fifth off Maloney to temporarily tie the game at 5-5.

1962 Topps #527

1966 Topps #495

1968 Topps #285

1973 Topps #349

1974 Topps #495

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #527
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1962-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #74

78 - McAuliffe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #52 Ed Roebuck - Philadelphia Phillies

Next Card:  #54 Joe Gibbon - Pittsburgh Pirates