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John Francis Kralick
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: June 1, 1935, Youngstown, OH
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1959-1960; Minnesota Twins 1961-1963; Cleveland Indians 1963-1967
Died: September 18, 2012, San Blas, Mexico (age 77)
Primarily a starting pitcher, Jack Kralick appeared in nine major league seasons with the Senators/Twins and Indians compiling a lifetime record of 67-65 with a 3.56 ERA. He won at least 12 games in four different seasons and he earned an All-Star berth in 1964. It wasn't calculated at the time, but his 6.0 WAR for pitchers in 1961 led the American League as he was arguably the Twins' best pitcher and MVP in their inaugural season. For a Twins team that lost 90 games, Kralick went 13-11 with a 3.61 ERA and 11 complete games. He fortified the Twins pitching rotation in 1961 with Pedro Ramos (#13) and Camilo Pascual (#255), with only Kralick recording a winning record that season.
In 1962, Kralick pitched the first no-hitter in Twins franchise history against the Athletics on August 26th. Only a ninth inning walk to George Alusik kept Kralick from recording a perfect game. Following four full seasons with the Indians between 1963 and 1966, Kralick was sold to the Mets on May 1, 1967. A day later, he sustained head trauma in a single-car crash in Cleveland. He missed the rest of the 1967 season and was invited to Mets spring training in 1968, but opted to retire from baseball.
May 11, 2020 from El Paso, TX - Card #95
As we closed in on the two-month social distancing mark during the coronavirus pandemic, I found myself once again browsing eBay. I'm primarily a Phillies collector, and with no new products coming out, at least any that interested me, I once again turned to looking for cards for our 1965 Topps set. Using the strategy I first considered when recently adding two League Leaders cards (#3 and #4), this time I decided to work my way backwards through the set.
I found and won the Al Downing (#598) card, the final card in the set, from Diamond Smiles, located in El Paso, Texas. Not wanting Downing to travel alone from Texas, I also bid on two other 1965 Topps cards up for auction from the same seller, winning both of those too. This Kralick card was mine for a winning bid of $2.05, and the card of manager Chuck Dressen (#538) joined the padded envelope too.
I was first hesitant to populate our 1965 Topps set with cards impersonally acquired through eBay auctions, but who knows when we'll attend another baseball card show again? And I like the idea of bidding on and winning cards from small dealers on eBay. I'm keeping track of each of these purchases, and it would be cool to see how many different states I can "visit" through my auction wins. My co-set builder, my son Doug, remains mildly interested in the few cards that arrived in padded envelopes for our set. Like me, he's anxious for real live baseball to return. And like me, he realizes that could be a while and the only thing we can do is wait and hope and stay positive.
The Card
The photo used could very well be from the same session that yielded the photo used for Kralick's 1964 Topps card. Having never seen the old-school, 1960s vested look for the Indians, my son Doug commented that he liked that look. "That's noice," I think was his exact quote.
Kralick's 1962 no-hitter is rightfully highlighted on the back of the card. Kralick, at card #72, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of five Indians in the set.
Indians Team Set
1965 Season
Kralick had a forgettable 1965 season due to a spring skin infection, a left arm injury and a fight with roommate Gary Bell (#424) that left him with nine stitches across his cheek. In 30 games (16 starts), Kralick went 5-11 with a 4.92 ERA and manager Birdie Tebbets (#301) alternated between using him as a fifth starter and a long reliever. His fight with Bell took place on August 23rd in Washington. Kralick missed the team flight to California but still arrived in time to make his scheduled start and get hit around by the Angels in an 8-2 loss.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #36
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1961-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #134
37 - Kralick non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/13/20.
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.
Previous Card: #534 John Herrnstein - Philadelphia Phillies
Next Card: #536 Andre Rodgers - Pittsburgh Pirates
Here's a funny story about Jack Kralick:
ReplyDeletehttp://mlb1960s.blogspot.com/2009/10/those-loveable-losers.html
The headline itself is fantastic!
ReplyDelete