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John Alexander Lamabe
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher
Born: October 3, 1936, Farmingdale, NY
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, June 26, 1956
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1962; Boston Red Sox 1963-1965; Houston Astros 1965; Chicago White Sox 1966-1967; New York Mets 1967; St. Louis Cardinals 1967; Chicago Cubs 1968
Died: December 21, 2007, Baton Rouge, LA (age 71)
Jack Lamabe compiled a career record of 33-41 over seven seasons that saw him playing for seven different teams. He had the most success with the Red Sox early in his career, appearing in a career high 65 games in 1963, and serving as one of the most reliable relievers for Boston that year with a 3.15 ERA. He won a World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1967, appearing in 23 games in relief for the club and bolstering the team's bullpen down the stretch drive. In the 1967 World Series, he closed out Games 2 and 5, but struggled in Game 6, forcing the decisive Game 7.
Following his playing career, Lamabe served as the head baseball coach for Jacksonville University (1974-1978) and for the LSU Tigers (1979-1983). As the first head baseball coach for the LSU baseball program, Lamabe had an overall record of 134-115. He also worked as a coach in the Padres and Rockies minor league systems between 1984 and the early 2000s.
January 25, 2020 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #42
Some January days are longer than others, and on a particularly long January day at work a few months ago, I decided I needed a few more 1965 Topps cards for our set. I've been familiar with Greg Morris Cards for a while now, as I've been using a lot of the images of old Topps cards scanned for their eBay auction listings in these posts and within the posts over at my 1956 Topps blog. The images are always centered and clear and for all the help Greg Morris has indirectly provided me, I thought I'd browse his eBay store.
Given the vast inventory available, I figured there had to be at least a few 1965 Topps cards up for auction, and I was correct. I stumbled upon a set break and I went about finding auctions with no current bidders and cards graded at least EX-MT. I bid on a total of 20 auctions, winning 10 of them, including this Lamabe card. I was the first and sole bidder on the card with a winning bid of $0.79.
The Card
Lamabe's brief tenure with the Phillies (see below) is memorialized with the cartoon on the back of the card. Of his 39 appearances with the Red Sox in 1964, 25 were starts (a career high) while 14 were in relief.
Red Sox Team Set
1965 Season
Perhaps due to a shoulder injury, Lamabe struggled at the start of the 1965 season, going 0-3 with an 8.17 ERA over 14 relief appearances. He was demoted to the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs, where he turned his season around. In 13 starts with the Maple Leafs, Lamabe went 10-3 with a 1.95 ERA and he was named to the International League All-Star Team. His performance got the attention of the ninth place Astros, and on September 14th he was traded to Houston for Bucky Brandon.
With the Astros, Lamabe appeared in three games, going 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA over 12 2/3 innings pitched. His time in Houston was short, as the team traded him to the White Sox in December.
Phillies Connection
Following two years of playing college baseball at the University of Vermont, the Phillies signed Lamabe on June 26, 1956. In 14 games with the Wilson Tobs, Lamabe went 3-7 with a 2.75 ERA and he earned a September call-up from the Phillies where he was briefly teammates with Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts (#15) and Curt Simmons (#373).
However, following the season, Commissioner Ford Frick voided the Phillies' contract with Lamabe based on the "college rule" that prevented teams from signing college players. Lamabe countered with evidence of having left college, but he was declared a free agent. He signed with the Pirates on January 27, 1957, and his Phillies career was over.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #593
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1962-1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #311
39 - Lamabe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/7/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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.
Previous Card: #87 Nelson Mathews - Kansas City Athletics
Next Card: #89 Mike Hershberger - Chicago White Sox
Lamabe played for 3 teams in 1967.
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