 |
 |
Frank Jerry Kostro
Minnesota Twins
Infield-Outfield
Born: August 4, 1937, Windber, PA
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1962-1963; Los Angeles Angels 1963; Minnesota Twins 1964-1965, 1967-1969
Frank Kostro was a utility player for seven seasons with the Tigers, Angels and Twins, playing three infield positions, the corner outfield positions and primarily used as a pinch-hitter. Kostro found his most success in the minor leagues, batting .303 over 13 seasons between 1956 and 1969. Only 80 of his 266 Major League appearances were starts, and he had 157 total pinch-hitting appearances. Kostro earned a lifetime average of .244 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs. After departing the Twins following the 1969 season, he appeared in 37 games with the Hankyu Braves of the Japan Pacific League, batting .200.
 |
| August 22, 2020 - A rare pandemic-era summer outing |
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #165
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 Kostro card was $2.
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 Kostro card was $2.
The Card / Twins Team Set
Kostro's 59 games with the 1964 Twins merited him a solo card in the 1965 Topps set, although he would have departed from the team by the time this card was found in packs. His rookie card is a floating-heads Rookie Stars card found within the 1963 Topps set. Kostro is shown posing along the sidelines of Yankee Stadium here and there's an impressive amount of minor league statistics on the back of the card.
1965 Season
Kostro began the season with the Twins but was used sparingly, appearing in only 20 games and batting .161 (5 for 31). When he did appear in the field, he seemed to be error-prone, making five errors in just 61 innings played. In June, he was demoted to the Denver Bears and then swapped to the Angels' top farm club in Seattle for Ron Piche (#464). (Ironically, Piche is the next card added from this August 2020 haul.) Kostro hit .282 for the Angels and returned to the Twins organization following the season. Even though he wasn't with the organization at the time, Kostro was awarded a Twins World Series ring following the club's first Championship victory.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1963, 1965, 1968-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #242
11 - Kostro non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #458 John Buzhardt - Chicago White Sox
Kostro began the season with the Twins but was used sparingly, appearing in only 20 games and batting .161 (5 for 31). When he did appear in the field, he seemed to be error-prone, making five errors in just 61 innings played. In June, he was demoted to the Denver Bears and then swapped to the Angels' top farm club in Seattle for Ron Piche (#464). (Ironically, Piche is the next card added from this August 2020 haul.) Kostro hit .282 for the Angels and returned to the Twins organization following the season. Even though he wasn't with the organization at the time, Kostro was awarded a Twins World Series ring following the club's first Championship victory.
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1963, 1965, 1968-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #242
11 - Kostro non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #458 John Buzhardt - Chicago White Sox
Next Card: #460 Richie Allen - Philadelphia Phillies
No comments:
Post a Comment