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Philip Raymond Regan
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: April 6, 1937, Otsego, MI
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1960-1965; Los Angeles Dodgers 1966-1968; Chicago Cubs 1968-1972; Chicago White Sox 1972
As a Manager: Baltimore Orioles 1995
For parts of seven decades, Phil Regan has been involved with professional baseball as a pitcher, coach or manager. Affectionally nicknamed "the Vulture" by Sandy Koufax (#300) for his proclivity of picking up late game wins in relief, Regan enjoyed his best seasons in the mid-1960s with the Dodgers. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, he was a 10-game winner with the Tigers in three different seasons. Regan was an All-Star with the Dodgers in 1966, a year in which he led the league with 21 saves and went 14-1 with a 1.62 ERA, earning him some MVP votes. He earned N.L. Reliever of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News for his career year. Regan also pitched well for the Dodgers in that year's World Series, but his club was swept in four games by the Orioles. He'd lead the league again in saves in 1968 with 25, then as a member of the Cubs' pitching staff. Regan made at least 50 pitching appearances five years in a row between 1966 and 1970. For his career, he was 96-81 over 551 games with a 3.84 ERA and 92 saves.
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| 1987 Topps #156 |
Building the Set
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #292
To celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, I took advantage of a 15% Memorial Day Weekend sale hosted by one of my favorite dealers, The Battersbox, from Tomball, Texas. With the second series now complete, I spent an enjoyable hour or so over the long (and rainy) holiday weekend picking 20 commons from the third series to add to our set and I'll feature those cards in the next 20 posts. The package of cards arrived on June 5th and in total, the lot cost me a little more than $63. This Regan card was one of the lowest priced cards I added at about $1.28 after applying the discount.
The Card / Tigers Team Set
Regan is successfully pulling off the warm-up jacket under the jersey look, and we also get another Tigers card from spring training featuring what appears to be houses and a neighborhood in the background. On the back, his first major league shutout is highlighted. That came in his fourth big league season on May 10, 1963, and I believe that highlight was selected solely so the cartoonist could show a tiger chasing an Indian. His 15 wins in 1963 did lead the Tigers' pitching staff as he was one win ahead of teammate Hank Aguirre (#522) who went 14-15.
1965 Season
This was Regan's sixth and final season with the Tigers. He made the team's opening day roster but was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse in July. With the Syracuse Chiefs, Regan was 9-5 with a 2.47 ERA over 15 starts and 17 games overall. He earned a September call-up but appeared in only two games that month. For the season with the Tigers, he was 1-5 with a 5.05 ERA over 16 games with 51 2/3 innings pitched. On December 15th, Regan was dealt to the Dodgers for infielder Dick Tracewski (#279) and he'd re-invent himself as a successful closer in Los Angeles.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #439
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1961-1972, 1987
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2021 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-PR
86 - Regan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/22/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #190 Bill White - St. Louis Cardinals
Previous Card: #190 Bill White - St. Louis Cardinals
Next Card: #192 Jim Coker - Cincinnati Reds
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