Saturday, March 27, 2021

#265 Jim Pagliaroni - Pittsburgh Pirates


James Vincent Pagliaroni
Pittsburgh Pirates
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 8, 1937, Dearborn, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, June 17, 1955
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1955, 1960-1962; Pittsburgh Pirates 1963-1967; Oakland Athletics 1968-1969; Seattle Pilots 1969
Died:  April 3, 2010, Grass Valley, CA (age 72)

Signed as a bonus baby by the Red Sox in 1955, Jim Pagliaroni appeared in one game for the club that season before serving two years in the Army and then playing two more seasons in the minors before returning to the Red Sox in 1960.  He was the regular catcher for the Red Sox in 1961 and 1962 before a trade sent him to the Pirates.  He'd enjoy the best seasons of his 11-year big league career with the Pirates in the mid-1960s.  Perhaps his best season came in 1964 when he batted a career high .295.  He'd hit a career-high 17 home runs in 1965, and he'd lead all catchers in fielding percentage in 1966 with a .997 mark, committing only 2 errors in 118 games.  

Jerry May (#143) took over the catching duties for the Pirates in 1967 and Pagliaroni was sold to the Athletics on December 3, 1967.  He was behind the plate for Catfish Hunter's (#526) perfect game on May 8, 1968, the first perfect game thrown in the American League since 1922.  Pagliaroni saw his final action with the expansion Pilots in 1969, sharing catching duties with Jerry McNertney.  For his career, Pagliaroni played in 849 games and batted .252 with 90 home runs and 326 RBIs.

Building the Set
February 13, 2021 from Edmonds, WA - Card #225
Busy with my chosen profession, rarely leaving the house and anxiously awaiting the return of live baseball, I turned to eBay in early February for some cardboard therapy.  After another largely unsuccessful bidding exercise on a 1965 Topps set break hosted by Greg Morris Cards, I went the Buy It Now route with 10 cards from Mitchell's Cards located in Edmonds, Washington.  As we've been completely unable to find packs of 2021 Topps locally, the much-needed package of baseball cards was a welcome sight in our mailbox on February 13th.  I spent $34 on the 10 cards from Mitchell's, with this Pagliaroni card costing $1.50.

The Card / Pirates Team Set
This card comes in the middle of a five-card run of Pirates cards in Topps sets for Pagliaroni.  On the back, his high school batting average is celebrated along with his .295 batting mark in 1964.  Among qualified batters, only Roberto Clemente (#160) hit higher with a league-leading .339 average.

1965 Season
Pagliaroni appeared in a career-high 134 games as the Pirates' everyday catcher, batting .268 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs.  His 17 home runs set a Pirates franchise mark for most from a catcher and manager Harry Walker described Pagliaroni as the team's unofficial leader.  Often prone to injuries, he injured a mostly injury-free season, accounting for his high game appearances total.  The Pirates battled for the pennant for most of the season, ultimately finishing in third place behind the Dodgers and Giants.

1961 Topps #519
1964 Topps #392
1966 Topps #33
1967 Topps #183
1969 Topps #302

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #519
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1961-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #91

47 - Pagliaroni non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/21.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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