#228 Jack Sanford - San Francisco Giants

John Stanley Sanford
San Francisco Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  May 18, 1929, Wellesley Hills, MA
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1956-1958; San Francisco Giants 1959-1965; Los Angeles Angels 1965; California Angels 1966-1967; Kansas City Athletics 1967
Died:  March 7, 2000, Beckley, WV (age 70)

2020 Topps Decades' Best #DB-2

Jack Sanford was a 28-year-old pitching phenom for the Phillies in 1957 when he went 19-8, led the league with 188 strikeouts, made his only All-Star Game and beat out teammate Ed Bouchee for the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award.  His next best season came in 1962 when he went 24-7 and helped the Giants reach the World Series.  A solid starting pitcher most of his career, Sanford finished behind Don Drysdale (#260) in 1962 for the N.L. Cy Young Award.  He finished in the top ten in the league for ERA twice (1957 and 1959) and for most wins three times (1957, 1959, 1962).  He started three games for the Giants in 1962 World Series, and he was the losing pitcher in the decisive Game 7 when the Yankees' Ralph Terry (#406) barely out-dueled him in a 1-0 Yankees win.  Sanford had pitched a complete game shutout in Game 2, bettering Terry in that outing.

Sanford moved to the bullpen toward the latter part of his career and earned MVP votes in 1966 as one of the Angels' top relievers (13-7, 3.83 ERA).  He retired following the 1967 season and reunited with his old Giants' manager Al Dark in Cleveland where he served as the Indians' pitching coach in 1968 and 1969.  Sanford compiled a record of 137-101 with 76 complete games and a 3.69 ERA for his career.

Building the Set
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #156
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards.  We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show.  The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6.  I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series.  With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set.  We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day.  This Sanford card was $1.

The Card / Giants Team Set
The photo used here is from the same session that gave us the photo used for Sanford's 1964 Topps card.  On the back, Sanford's 1962 World Series Game 2 win is highlighted.  The "arm miseries" mentioned were actually a serious blood clot in his wrist that had caused numbness in his entire arm.  He underwent surgery in 1964 to repair the clot and improve his arm circulation.

1965 Season
Sanford began the season in the Giants' pitching rotation following his arm surgery.  He went 4-5 with a 3.96 ERA over 23 games (16 starts) before the Giants sold him to the Angels on August 18th.  Reunited with his former manager Bill Rigney (#66), Sanford made only 9 appearances for the Angels, pitching 29 1/3 innings and finishing the season with a 4.60 ERA during his first action in the American League.  He'd bounce back and serve as one of the Angels' top relievers in 1966.

Phillies Career
Sanford spent seven seasons in the Phillies' minor league system before finally getting a chance with the big club in September 1956.  He stuck with the team at the start of the 1957 campaign, enjoying his dominant rookie season.  The Phillies were a .500 team that year (77-77) but Sanford was the top starting pitcher in a rotation that consisted of Robin Roberts (#15), Curt Simmons (#373) and Harvey Haddix (#67).  In the 1957 All-Star Game, selected to the club along with Simmons, Sanford pitched the sixth inning in a game the A.L. would win 6-5.  He retired the first batter he faced, Ted Williams, on a fly ball to left, but then Bill Skowron (#70) doubled and came home on a Yogi Berra (#470) single.

Sanford came back to Earth somewhat in 1958, going 10-13 with a 4.44 ERA over 38 games (27 starts).  Following the season, thinking his 1957 rookie year was a fluke, the Phillies traded Sanford to the Giants for pitcher Ruben Gomez and catcher Valmy Thomas.  According to Sanford's SABR biography, Phillies owner Robert Carpenter would later call it the worst trade of his career.  Sanford went 30-21 with the Phillies, with a 3.61 ERA in 74 games.

1957 Topps #387

1958 Topps #264

1962 Topps #538

1963 Topps #143

1967 Topps #549

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1957 Topps #387
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1957-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Decades' Best #DB-2

Topps inadvertently featured Sanford and Bouchee on a recent insert card meant to celebrate the success of the 1950 Whiz Kids Phillies team.  I figure someone at Topps searched the Getty Images database using "Phillies 1950s," found this photo and figured that's good enough.  Stuff like this drives me crazy and my offer to Topps to serve as a quality control consultant still stands.

55 - Sanford non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/9/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

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