#501 Indians Rookie Stars - Ralph Gagliano / Jim Rittwage

Ralph Michael Gagliano
Cleveland Indians
Infield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  October 8, 1946, Memphis, TN
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1965

James Michael Rittwage
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  190
Born:  October 23, 1944, Cleveland, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1970

Infielder Ralph Gagliano, the younger brother of Phil Gagliano (#503), appeared in one Major League game as a pinch-runner following a September 1965 call-up.  His big league career lasted probably less than a few minutes as the next batter grounded to second, forcing Gagliano out.  He played in four seasons in the minors between 1964 and 1966, and again in 1970 and 1971.  In 311 minor league games, Gagliano hit .245 with 13 home runs while making most of his appearances at shortstop.

Pitcher Jim Rittwage spent 11 seasons in the minor leagues with the Indians, Athletics and Cardinals organizations.  In the middle of that minor league stint, he earned a September call-up with the Indians in 1970, appearing in 8 games.  He threw a complete game on September 19, 1970 against the Orioles, striking out seven, including Brooks Robinson (#150) (with the bases loaded!) to end the game.  Overall, he went 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA for the Indians over 26 innings pitched.  In 305 minor league games, Rittwage owned a 58-72 record with a 4.03 ERA.

February 2020 - Greg Morris Cards auction wins

Building the Set
February 13, 2020 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #60

eBay can be a dangerous place during long work days in the winter, and on a long work day in early February I found myself once again browsing through listings from a 1965 Topps set break from Greg Morris Cards.  I again bid on 20 cards, placing my maximum bid on each of the 20 and then vowing not to go back and increase my bid if someone else came in over me.  I stuck to my vow, and came away with another 11 new cards for our set, including this Indians Rookie Stars card.  I didn't track my original minimum bids, but I won this card for $1.63.

This is the first Indians card we've added to our set.

The Card
For both Gagliano and Rittwage, this marks their only mainstream baseball card appearances.  The Trading Card Database lists a second card for Rittwage in the 1970 McDonald's Wichita Aeros set, and there are no other cards listed at all for Gagliano.  At the time this card was issued, Ralph's older brother Phil was in his third big league season as a super utility player for the Cardinals.

Rittwage's 46 strikeouts over 50 innings came with the 1964 Charleston Indians in the Double-A Eastern League.

Indians Team Set

1965 Season - Gagliano
Gagliano has no minor league statistics for 1965, so I'm not sure where he spent the entire season.  As a 17-year-old in 1964, he had appeared in 75 games for the Dubuque Packers in the Midwest League

Gagliano's pinch-running appearance came on September 21st in a game against the Yankees in the Bronx.  With the Yankees up 9-4, Gagliano pinch-ran for Larry Brown (#468) in the 9th after Brown had reached on a single off Yankees pitcher Mel Stottlemyre (#550).  The next batter, Richie Scheinblum (#577), grounded to second, forcing out Gagliano at the bag and his big league career was over.

1965 Season - Rittwage
Rittwage started the year in the Indians' organization and was claimed off waivers by the Athletics on May 4th.  He spent the entire season in the A's organization, pitching for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League, managed by John McNamara.  Rittwage went 5-7 with a 3.39 ERA for the Barons in 32 games.

On December 1st, the A's traded him back to the Indians with Jim Landis (#376) for Phil Roof (#537) and Joe Rudi.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Gagliano
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #501
Topps Flagship Set Appearance (1):  1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #501

1 - Gagliano non-parallel baseball card in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Rittwage
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #501
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #501

2 - Rittwage non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/20.

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:  #500 Ed Mathews - Milwaukee Braves

Next Card:  #502 Don Cardwell - Pittsburgh Pirates