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John Morgan Boozer
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher
Born: July 6, 1938, Columbia, SC
Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies, July 9, 1958
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1962-1964, 1966-1969
Died: January 24, 1986, Lexington, SC (age 47)
Pitcher John Boozer spent his entire professional career within the Phillies' organization, spending 12 seasons overall with the club, including parts of seven seasons in the majors. His best season came in 1961 with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, when he went 19-9 with a 2.61 ERA, with four shutouts over 35 games. Primarily used as a middle reliever, Boozer pitched in at least 20 games for the Phillies in five different seasons, reaching a career high 46 appearances during his final year playing in 1969. Boozer was ejected from a game on May 2, 1968, when he was accused by home plate umpire Ed Vargo of throwing a spit ball with manager Gene Mauch (#489) also getting tossed. In 171 games with the Phillies, Boozer was 14-16 with a 4.09 ERA and 15 saves.
Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #311
Following our youngest son Ben's flawless performance of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy at his piano recital, our family headed to the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey to browse a real live baseball card show. Traditionally, I only venture into malls for baseball card shows and I can't honestly remember the last time, pre-pandemic, I had stepped foot into a mall. The show was small, hosted by S&B Sports Promotions, with about a dozen tables and not much vintage to offer, but it was a sight for sore eyes. It took us only about 15 minutes to scout the whole place out and I was lucky enough to find a friendly dealer with 1960s and 1970s Topps cards in great shape, in order and (best of all) reasonably priced. I took my time going through his 1965 Topps commons, settling on 29 cards we needed and adding a card from the star pile to give us 30 new cards total. I spent an even $100 (after a generous dealer discount) and this Boozer card was around $1.60, which is a relative steal for a vintage Phillies card purchased within the Philly area.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
As mentioned below, Boozer wouldn't pitch for the Phillies in 1965, but he earned a card in the set's third series based on his 22 games pitched in 1964. The cartoon highlight on the back mentions his three-hitter thrown against the Houston Colt .45s on July 18, 1963.
1965 Season
Boozer spent the entire season pitching with the Triple-A Arkansas Travelers, the Phillies top farm team that year in the Pacific Coast League. With the Travelers, Boozer went 9-13 with a 3.97 ERA primarily as a starting pitcher. He threw 12 complete games, including two shutouts, but never got a promotion to Philadelphia.
Phillies Career
Boozer's Baseball Reference page lists five different uniform numbers for the pitcher, which I find fascinating. Either he was constantly requesting the change, or he was considered a marginal player who had his existing number taken away on numerous occasions by new, more experienced teammates. There's also the fact that Boozer was frequently shuttled between Triple-A and the Phillies, so that probably contributed to the frequent number changes too. He started out with #29, then switched to #19 in 1964. Rookie Pat Corrales (#107) made his debut in August 1964, getting assigned #29. Boozer wore #19 until switching to #28 for the 1967 season. Veteran Tito Francona (#256) arrived in 1967 and took #19. Finally, in 1969, Boozer started with #28, switched to #21 and ended his Phillies career with #42. Pitcher (and rookie) Luis Peraza wore #28 briefly at the start of the season, so I'm assuming it was Boozer's choice to switch to #21. But then no one else assumed #21, and Boozer apparently decided on his own to switch again to #42?
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1963-1966, 1968-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #599
21 - Boozer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/20/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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