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William Sumner Wakefield
New York Mets
Pitcher
Born: May 24, 1941, Kansas City, MO
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: New York Mets 1964
Bill Wakefield pitched professionally for six seasons within the Cardinals, Mets and Cubs organizations and enjoyed one season in the majors with the Mets in 1964. On November 4, 1963, Wakefield was traded by the Cardinals with outfielder George Altman (#528) to the Mets for pitcher Roger Craig (#411). He made the Mets opening day roster and he'd spend the entire season with the club making 58 relief appearances and four starts. Wakefield went 3-5 with a 3.61 ERA and two saves during the season and was the Mets' most called-upon reliever. Despite his fine season in 1964, and another good showing in spring training, Wakefield was left off the club's opening day roster in 1965 and never again reached the big leagues. He retired from baseball following the 1966 season.
May 20, 2021 from Scottsdale, AZ - Card #282
By mid-May, I was down to needing seven cards to complete series two of our 1965 Topps set. Three of them were commons, including this Wakefield card, two of them I considered semi-star cards, and two of them were star cards. Determined to finish the second series before the unofficial start of summer and the approaching Memorial Day weekend, I set out to purchase these final seven cards. This Wakefield card cost $2 from Scottsdale Baseball Cards in Scottsdale, Arizona and was honestly a tag-along with the other card I purchased from Scottsdale Baseball Cards which I'll feature in my next post.
I was grateful for a relatively relaxing May, as we slowly eased into post-vaccination life. The Phillies were back, and our nights were filled with Little League games, baseball practices, piano lessons and tennis lessons.
The Card / Mets Team Set
Despite only one season in the majors, Wakefield appeared within three Topps flagship sets in 1964, 1965 and 1966. He shared a Rookie Stars card in 1964 with fellow pitching prospect Jerry Hinsley (#449). The back of the card notes how Wakefield seemingly came out of nowhere to become the Mets' top reliever in 1964.
While he did lead the Mets bullpen in games and innings pitched (119 2/3), he was behind two other relievers in the saves category. Willard Hunter secured five saves, while Larry Bearnarth (#258) had three.
1965 Season
Wakefield began the 1965 season pitching for the Mets' Triple-A team in Buffalo, the Bisons. There's no transaction listed on his Baseball Reference page, and his SABR biography doesn't address it either, but somehow Wakefield ended up pitching for the Cubs' Triple-A team in Salt Lake City from July onward. Combined, he appeared in 37 games and went 2-13 with a 5.44 ERA.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #576
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1964-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BW
10 - Wakefield non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/16/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1965 Season
Wakefield began the 1965 season pitching for the Mets' Triple-A team in Buffalo, the Bisons. There's no transaction listed on his Baseball Reference page, and his SABR biography doesn't address it either, but somehow Wakefield ended up pitching for the Cubs' Triple-A team in Salt Lake City from July onward. Combined, he appeared in 37 games and went 2-13 with a 5.44 ERA.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #576
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1964-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BW
10 - Wakefield non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/16/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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