#45 Roy McMillan - New York Mets

Roy David McMillan
New York Mets
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  July 17, 1929, Bonham, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1951-1960; Milwaukee Braves 1961-1964; New York Mets 1964-1966
As a Manager:  Milwaukee Brewers 1972; New York Mets 1975
Died:  November 2, 1997, Bonham, TX (age 68)

I'm happy to be collecting this set and working on this blog for many reasons, one of which is it gives me the opportunity to learn about players who have escaped my baseball knowledge radar until now.  Roy McMillan is one of those players.  He played for 16 years in the majors, winning three Gold Gloves for his defense at shortstop and earning two All-Star Game berths.  He was never much of a hitter but his stellar defense, his durability and his patience at the plate earned him MVP votes in five different seasons.  He found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated for its September 9, 1957 issue.

McMillan was the regular shortstop for the Reds throughout the 1950s, appearing in 1,348 games for Cincinnati.  Traded to the Braves in December 1960 for Joey Jay (#174) and Juan Pizarro (#125), McMillan's defense never let up as he played for three seasons in Milwaukee.  He wrapped up his playing career as the starting shortstop for the Mets in 1964 and 1965.

He served as a coach for the Brewers (1970-1972) and Mets (1973-1976), managing both teams briefly on an interim basis.  McMillan managed in the Twins system from 1977 to 1980 and served as a Texas area scout for the Expos from his hometown of Bonham between 1982 and 1997.  He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1971.

Building the Set
January 25, 2020 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #45
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 McMillan card.  I was the first and sole bidder on the card with a winning bid of $0.79.

The Card
McMillan appeared on four Mets cards within Topps flagship sets - two as a player in 1965 and 1966 and two as a coach with manager Yogi Berra (#470) in 1973 and 1974.  The write-up on the back sums up McMillan's career nicely, complimenting him as "one of the truly great veterans," a fan favorite for the Mets and "a great glove man."

His birthplace and hometown of Bonham was also the birthplace of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (#16).  McMillan, at card #44, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Mets in the set.

Mets Team Set

1965 Season
This was to be McMillan's final full season in the majors and he was the everyday shortstop for the Mets at the opening day age of 35.  He started 152 of the Mets' 162 games, only spelled by Bud Harrelson (10 starts after a September call-up) and Bobby Klaus (#227) (2 starts).  In 157 total games, McMillan hit .242 with 1 home run and 42 RBIs for a Mets team that lost 112 games and finished in the basement of the National League.

1952 Topps #137

1956 Topps #123

1963 Topps #156

1966 Topps #421

1974 Topps #179

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Bowman #238
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1952-1966, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #120

106 - McMillan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/9/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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:  #44 Wade Blasingame - Milwaukee Braves

Next Card:  #46 Bob Lee - Los Angeles Angels