#152 Phil Ortega - Washington Senators

Filomeno Coronada Ortega
Washington Senators
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  170
Born:  October 7, 1939, Gilbert, AZ
Signed:  Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1960-1964; Washington Senators 1965-1968; California Angels 1969

After a few cups of coffee with the Dodgers in each season between 1960 and 1963, Phil Ortega got a chance to pitch a full season with the club in 1964 and he did not disappoint.  Ortega went 7-9 with a 4.00 ERA, pitching three complete game shutouts along the way.  He was dealt to the Senators following the 1964 season, where he'd spend the next four seasons and the bulk of his 10-year big league career.  In 204 games with the Dodgers, Senators and his brief final year stint with the Angels, Ortega was 46-62 with a 4.43 ERA.

Building the Set
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #65
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February.  This was our first baseball card show of 2020 and the fourth show we've attended in Valley Forge since March 2019.  I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests.  We ended up adding 23 cards to our set.

This Ortega card was from an initial batch of 17 commons and semi-stars purchased from John's Sports Cards within the first hour of our arrival.  I didn't track each individual price of the cards purchased, but this card was from a half-price binder and the 17-card lot cost me $50 total.  John's table has been located in the back right of the showroom floor for as long as we've been going to these shows, and I know I've bought a bunch of vintage Topps cards from him in the past including cards needed for my 1971 Topps set.  He's one of those dealers who you can't help but remember, probably because he genuinely seems happy and to be enjoying what he's doing.  Doug and I would come back to him later in the show for a few major purchases for our set, and I'll eventually feature all cards added in upcoming posts.

President Johnson and manager Gil Hodges, April 12, 1965

The Card
Until starting this project and collecting these cards, I didn't realize Topps was updating its flagship cards for offseason trades way back in 1965.  On December 4, 1964, the Dodgers traded Ortega, Frank Howard (#40), Ken McMullen (#319), Pete Richert (#252) and player to be named later Dick Nen (#466) to the Senators for John Kennedy (#119), Claude Osteen (#570) and $100,000.  All but Howard, whose card is in the first series of the set, appear with their new team on their respective cards.  Howard is still shown with the Dodgers on his card.

Senators Team Set

1965 Season
Ortega was the Senators' opening day starter against the Red Sox in 1965, and he took the mound shortly after President Lyndon Johnson had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch.  Ortega appeared in 35 games for the Senators, making 29 starts and going 12-15 with a 5.11 ERA.  His number of starts tied him for the team lead with Richert, who fared better than Ortega with a 15-12 record and a 2.60 ERA.  Ortega led the A.L. in earned runs allowed with 102

1962 Topps #69

1964 Topps #291

1966 Topps #416

1967 Topps #493

1969 Topps #406

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #69
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1962-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA The 1960s II #390

30 - Ortega non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/7/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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:  #151 Kansas City Athletics Team Card

Next Card:  #153 Norm Cash - Detroit Tigers