John Patsy Francona
St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield-First Base
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 190
Born: November 4, 1933, Aliquippa, PA
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Browns as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1956-1957; Chicago White Sox 1958; Detroit Tigers 1958; Cleveland Indians 1959-1964; St. Louis Cardinals 1965-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1967; Atlanta Braves 1967-1969; Oakland Athletics 1969-1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1970
Died: February 13, 2018, New Brighton, PA (age 84)
A journeyman bench player for most of his career, Tito Francona found his greatest success during the late 1950s/early 1960s with the Indians. He was an All-Star in 1961, the year in which he hit his career high in RBIs with 85. Francona batted a career high .363 over 122 games for the Indians in 1959 and led the league in doubles with 36 in 1960. Over his 15-year career, Francona never appeared in the postseason.
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October 6, 2016 - Tito throws out the first pitch as Terry looks on,
prior to Game 1 of the ALDS. |
Francona was sold to the Cardinals in December 1964, beginning a six-season odyssey that would take him to the Phillies, Braves, Athletics and Brewers where he wrapped up his playing days in 1970. In 1,719 career games, Francona amassed 1,395 hits, 125 home runs and 656 RBIs.
His son Terry played for 10 seasons in the Majors and went on to manage the Phillies, Red Sox and Indians. Terry won two World Series titles with the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, and took the Indians to the World Series in 2016 where they lost to the Cubs.
Building the Set
December 7, 2019 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #25
We were up to 11 cards for our 1965 Topps set, and I honestly had it in mind that I wanted to purchase one fairly major "star" card during our remaining time at the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show inside the Valley Forge Casino. The showroom floor was packed as we were now into the early afternoon and autograph guests were showing up every 15 minutes or so. The PA announcer would call out ticket numbers in groups of 10 all while imploring collectors to back away from the entrance that led into the autograph signing area.
That was the backdrop when we came upon the table for MJW Collectibles out of Somerdale, NJ. This dealer had a bunch of 1960s Topps binders spread out, and the sign on the 1965 Topps binder caught my eye - ALL CARDS $1. And with Doug's help, I dug in.
I first determined I'd buy 10 cards, and then that went up to 15. My only criteria was that the cards needed to be a good shape with four sharp corners. Doug helped me pick the cards in best shape, especially when there were several of the same card to a page. We were up to 13 cards and I needed two more to reach our goal of 15. Francona was an easy choice given his family's ties to the Phillies.
The Card
Francona is wearing an Indians jersey in this photo, as he had just been sold to the Cardinals on December 15, 1964. The Cardinals, coming off their World Series victory, had established players in their line-up and Francona understood his role going forward was to be as a bench player.
I originally thought the cartoon figure on the back and to the right was just a guy in suit, but upon closer inspection it appears maybe it's a cardinal? This card would show up again in a Topps flagship set as Topps used it on half of the Father-Son subset with Terry in its 1985 set. Looking at Francona's success with the Indians and his better Topps cards between 1961 and 1964, I wonder now why Topps didn't go with one of those cards instead.
Cardinals Team Set
1965 Season
Francona appeared in 81 games for the Cardinals, serving primarily as a pinch-hitter and getting occasional starts in right field (31) and first base (11). He hit .259 with 5 home runs and 19 RBIs. He'd fill the same role for the Cardinals in 1966.
Phillies Career
On April 10, 1967, Francona was sold by the Cardinals to the Phillies. In 27 games with the club, he hit .205 (15 for 73) with a double and three RBIs. His services were needed solely for him to fill in at first for an injured Bill White (#190) and when White was activated in late May, Francona served only as a pinch-hitter or late inning defensive replacement. With his playing time significantly decreased, the Phillies sold him to the Braves on June 12th, a little over two months after they had acquired him.
His very short tenure with the Phillies is memorialized on his 1967 Topps card.
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| 1957 Topps #184 |
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| 1961 Topps #503 |
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| 1967 Topps #443 |
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| 1970 Topps #663 |
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| 1985 Topps #134 |
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Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #184
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1957-1970, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs #FFA-TIF
101 - Francona non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/28/19.
Sources:
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: #255 Camilo Pascual - Minnesota Twins
