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Zolio Casanova Versalles
Minnesota Twins
Shortstop
Born: December 18, 1939, La Habana, Cuba
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1959-1960; Minnesota Twins 1961-1967; Los Angeles Dodgers 1968; Cleveland Indians 1969; Washington Senators 1969; Atlanta Braves 1971
Died: June 9, 1995, Bloomington, MN (age 55)
A two-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner and the improbable 1965 A.L. MVP, Zoilo Versalles has been described as the catalyst for the 1965 Twins team, leading them to their first World Championship. During that career year, he led the league in runs scored (126), doubles (45) and triples (12) while hitting 19 home runs and driving in a career-high 77. He also had a .273 batting average which almost topped his career high of .280 from the 1961 season. He received 19 out of the 20 first place votes for A.L. MVP, with his teammate Tony Oliva (#340) receiving the other first plate vote. Some of the credit for his successful season has been attributed to Twins' third base coach Billy Martin. The Twins lost to the Dodgers in the World Series in seven games, with Versalles hitting .286 with a home run and four RBIs.
Following that magical 1965 season, Versalles began a steady decline. Over the next five seasons, he'd hit .217 in 588 games, spending time with the Twins, Dodgers, Indians, expansion Senators and finally the Braves. Despite his prior Gold Gloves, he led the league in errors three times - 1965, 1966 and 1967. Towards the end of his career, he spent a season playing in the Mexican League in 1970 and another season in Japan with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1972. In 1,400 big league games, Versalles hit .242 with 95 home runs and 471 RBIs. He was posthumously elected to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2006.
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| 1982 Topps KMart #7 |
March 27, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #90
This is one of seven cards I purchased from Dean's Cards in Cincinnati (via eBay) during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and in the midst of the first few weeks of the worldwide quarantine. (That's a sentence I can't believe I actually just wrote.)
After purchasing four commons for reasons I've explained in the posts for Cal Koonce (#34), Nate Oliver (#59), Gary Kolb (#287) and Nelson Mathews (#87), I decided I had some money left over in my eBay purchasing budget and started hunting for a few semi-star cards. This Versalles card was my big ticket purchase at $16.50 and I added it along with the cards of Walt Alston (#217) and Elston Howard (#450).
Doug was more excited with the two boxes of 2020 Topps Gypsy Queen I bought on an impulse than he was with these cards when they arrived, but he was still glad to add a few cards to our growing set. I'm assuming these will be the last cards I purchase for our 1965 set for a little while.
The Card
I've been fascinated with this particular baseball card since I first saw it reprinted in the 1982 Topps KMart 44-card boxed set. Of all the former MVPs included in that awesome little set, Versalles was the one player I had never heard of and who seemed the least likely to have been a former MVP. I loved that KMart set. I had those cards in my collection way before the 1975 Topps MVP subset cards, so this was my first real introduction as to what each years' Topps cards looked like. I was also convinced the set would one day be worth a fortune since it included cards of so many all-time greats.
Reading his SABR biography, I realize I've pronounced Versalles' first name wrong for almost 40 years. It's not three syllables as I had thought (ZO-ee-lo) but two syllables (ZOY-lo). Versalles, at card #33, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Twins in the set.
Twins Team Set
1965 Season
I've recapped the highlights of Versalles' MVP season above. In July 1966, Versalles suffered a back injury resulting from a hematoma (blood leakage and swelling) in his lower back. He'd never quite recover and suffered from back pain the rest of his life.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #21
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1961-1970, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2006 SP Legendary Cuts #98
83 - Versalles non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/7/20.
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: #156 Bob Sadowski - Milwaukee Braves
Next Card: #158 Dick Sisler MG - Cincinnati Reds
Led the league in errors in 1965, yet won the Gold Glove and MVP award! This was a double travesty. Oliva should have won the MVP. Somebody decided it was going to be the year of Zoilo.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of several reasons why Versalles is #2 or #3 on my "Ron Hunt list".
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