#546 Indians Rookie Stars - Davis / Hedlund / Weaver / Barker

Arthur Willard Davis
Cleveland Indians
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'7"  Weight:  215
Born:  June 6, 1942, Graceville, MN
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1965-1966; San Diego Padres 1969

David Floyd Weaver
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  195
Born:  May 12, 1941, Ben Franklin, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1962, 1965; Chicago White Sox 1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1971
Died:  November 17, 2008, Powderly, TX (age 67)

Michael David Hedlund
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  182
Born:  August 11, 1946, Dallas, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1965, 1968; Kansas City Royals 1969-1972

Raymond Herrell Barker
Cleveland Indians
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  192
Born:  March 12, 1936, Martinsburg, WV
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1960; Cleveland Indians 1965; New York Yankees 1965-1967
Died:  May 29, 2018, Martinsburg, WV (age 82)

Nicknamed the Jolly Green Giant due to his 6'7" frame, big left-handed first baseman Bill Davis appeared in 64 games over three seasons with the Indians and Padres.  Davis was the starting first baseman, batting fifth, for the first ever game in Padres franchise history.  He hit .181 with one home run and five RBIs over his career.

After a brief stint with the Indians, Mike Hedlund joined the expansion Royals where he found some success as a starting pitcher.  His best season came in 1971 when he went 15-8 and his 2.71 ERA was fourth best in the A.L.  In six seasons, he compiled a 25-24 record with a 3.56 ERA.

Floyd Weaver made his big league debut on the final day of the 1962 season, starting for the Indians and pitching five strong innings with eight strikeouts to earn the win.  He wouldn't make it back to the Indians until the 1965 season when he pitched in 32 games.  His next absence from the Majors lasted four seasons until he appeared in 31 games for the 1970 White Sox.  In total, Weaver had a 4-5 record over 85 games and a 5.21 career ERA.

Ray Barker enjoyed his best season in the Majors in 1965, as a backup first baseman and left-handed pinch-hitter for the Yankees.  Joe Pepitone (#245) started 113 games at first for the Yankees, but Barker tallied the second most starts at first with 43.  Over four seasons, Barker hit .214 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs.  In 11 seasons in the minor leagues, Barker accumulated 181 home runs reaching double digits in that category in every season between 1955 and 1964.

Building the Set
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #72
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 Indians Rookie Stars 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.

The Card
There are 55 multi-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, and this is one of five cards to feature four different players.  The first thing I noticed about this card is the design is off with the players' boxes on the top row larger than those on the bottom row.  The fonts are also different between the top and bottom rows.  There's no room on the back for anything other than a line of minor league statistics for each player but when this card was issued, both Weaver and Barker had prior Major League experience.

Davis would go on to appear on Rookie Stars cards in Topps sets in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.

Indians Team Set

1965 Season - Davis
Davis appeared in 143 games for the Portland Beavers, hitting .311 with 33 home runs and a team-leading 106 RBIs.  His big year in Triple-A earned him a September call-up and in 10 games with the Indians he hit .300 (3 for 10) in 10 pinch-hitting appearances.

1965 Season - Hedlund
Only 18 when he made his big league debut on May 8th, Hedlund enjoyed a brief stint with the Indians in May and June, appearing in six games and compiling a 5.06 ERA over 5 1/3 innings pitched.  I'm not sure what he did during the rest of the season, as he has no minor league statistics for the year.  Hedlund wouldn't appear in another Major League game until 1968.

1966 Topps #44

1967 Topps #253

1968 Topps #432

1969 Topps #304

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Davis
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #546
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1965-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #304

12 - Davis non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/14/20.

Sources - Davis:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Hedlund
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #546
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1965, 1969-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1973 Topps #591

16 - Hedlund non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/14/20.

Sources - Hedlund:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

1969 Topps #591

1970 Topps #187

1971 Topps #662

1972 Topps #81

1973 Topps #591

1965 Season - Weaver
Weaver appeared in 32 games for the Indians, all but one of those games in relief, compiling a 2-2 record and a 5.43 ERA.  He was one of the most frequently used relievers in 1965 by manager Birdie Tebbetts (#301).

1965 Season - Barker
Barker started the season with the Indians, appearing in 11 games and going 0 for 6.  On May 10th, he was traded to the Yankees for Pedro Gonzalez (#97).  He'd appear in a career high 98 games for the Yankees, hitting .254 with 7 home runs and 31 RBIs.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Weaver
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #546
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1965-1966, 1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #176

9 - Weaver non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/14/20.

Sources - Weaver:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Barker
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #428
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1961, 1965-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA The 1960s II #314

11 - Barker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/14/20.

Sources - Barker:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

1966 Topps #231

1971 Topps #227

1961 Topps #428

1966 Topps #323

1967 Topps #583

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:  #545 Jesus Alou - San Francisco Giants

Next Card:  #547 Jake Wood - Detroit Tigers