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Richard John Rollins
Minnesota Twins
Third Base
Born: April 16, 1938, Mount Pleasant, PA
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1961-1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970; Cleveland Indians 1970
The bespectacled Rich Rollins was the regular third baseman for the Twins during the earliest years of the franchise between 1962 and 1968. He was an All-Star in 1962, his best season, and helped the Twins reach the World Series in 1965. Rollins drove in a career high 96 runs with 16 home runs in 1962 while hitting .298. He'd tie his 16 home run mark in 1963 while hitting .307, the third best mark in the league behind Carl Yastrzemski (#385) at .321 and Al Kaline (#130) at .312. Rollins and teammate Zoilo Versalles (#157) tied for the league lead in triples with 10 a piece in 1964.
Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, the Pilots selected Rollins as the 26th pick and he was the team's opening day third baseman in 1969. He ultimately lost his job to Tommy Harper (#47) by the end of the 1969 season and he was released in May 1970 following the Pilots' move to Milwaukee. He retired following 42 games with the Indians in 1970. For his career, Rollins appeared in 1,002 games and hit .269 with 77 home runs and 399 RBIs.
Following his playing days, Rollins was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and he'd also serve in the front office of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
Building the Set
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #148
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 the exception of the cards for Dick Howser (#92) and manager Birdie Tebbets (#301), along with the few former Phillies in the lot, most of the players featured on these cards are unknown to me. 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 Rollins card was $1.
The Card / Twins Team Set
The cartoon on the back features Rollins and Versalles playing tug of war with third base. There were two All-Star Games played in 1962, and Rollins started at third base and led off for the American League in both of them. He went 2 for 5, with hits off Bob Purkey (#214) in the first game and Johnny Podres (#387) in the second game.
1965 Season
Rollins appeared in 140 games for the Twins, starting 110 games at third base and 12 games at second base. Down the stretch run, he lost his starter's job to Harmon Killebrew (#400) and Killebrew started at third base for all seven games of the World Series. Rollins hit .249 with 5 home runs and 32 RBIs during the regular season and had three pinch-hitting appearances (0 for 2 with a walk) during the World Series.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #596
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1962-1970
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #169
66 - Rollins non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/1/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #89 Mike Hershberger - Chicago White Sox
Next Card: #91 Chicago Cubs Team Card
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