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John Edward Briggs
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield
Born: March 10, 1944, Paterson, NJ
Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies, September 12, 1962
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1964-1971; Milwaukee Brewers 1971-1975; Minnesota Twins 1975
John Briggs enjoyed a 12-year big league career, playing primarily with the Phillies and Brewers. Briggs made his debut with the Phillies in 1964 as a 20-year-old rookie and never went back down to the minor leagues. He spent his first few seasons as a fourth outfielder with the club, and never quite found regular playing time until a trade at the start of the 1971 season sent him to the Brewers. With Milwaukee, Briggs settled in as the club's regular left fielder between 1972 and 1974, hitting a career high 21 home runs in both 1971 and 1972. He drove in a career high 73 runs in 1974. Briggs went 6 for 6 in a game against the Indians on August 4, 1973, and he'd earn MVP votes that season.
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| 1950-1969 Phillies Photo Cards |
Building the Set
May 26, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #287
Two of the final three cards needed for our set's second series came from set break auctions hosted by Greg Morris Cards out of Los Angeles, California. This Briggs card went for a final bid of $3.58 and it arrived with the Don Mincher (#108) card as both auctions closed on the same night. After tracking down the surprisingly difficult to find Luis Tiant (#145) rookie card, our set's second series was complete!
The Card / Phillies Team Set
Briggs' rookie card can be found in the 1964 Topps set on a Rookie Stars card shared with Danny Cater (#253). This is his first solo card, and he'd appear in 11 more Topps flagship offerings through 1976. The back of the card is heavy on narrative as Briggs only had two years' worth of statistics at this point.
1965 Season
In 93 games, Briggs hit .236 with four home runs and 23 RBIs. He made 51 starts and was used as a pinch-hitter 38 times. While he started the season on the bench, he earned the regular center fielder's job by the end of June and batted out of the lead-off spot in 47 games.
Phillies Career
Briggs debuted with the Phillies on April 17, 1964 after playing only a year in the minors. He played sparingly during that fateful season, appearing in 61 games. Over the final month of the season, when the Phillies dramatically fell out of first place, Briggs appeared in 16 games and batted .100 (1 for 10). His role as a bench player continued over the next several seasons until he finally began to see more playing time in 1967. For four consecutive seasons between 1967 and 1970, Briggs appeared in at least 100 games and his final full year in Philadelphia, 1970, was perhaps his best. Briggs hit .270 that season with nine home runs and 47 RBIs as the team's primary left fielder. In 1971, as the Phillies moved into the new Veterans Stadium, Briggs was the team's opening day left fielder in Pittsburgh and the first Phillies left fielder in Veterans Stadium history a few days later. After only 10 games with the Phillies in 1971, Briggs was dealt to the Brewers on April 22nd for first baseman Pete Koegel and pitcher Ray Peters. Overall, Briggs appeared in 695 games with the Phillies, batting .251 with 52 home runs and 209 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #482
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1964-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #424
50 - Briggs non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/18/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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