#231 Jerry Adair - Baltimore Orioles

Kenneth Jerry Adair
Baltimore Orioles
Second Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  December 17, 1936, Sand Springs, OK
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent, September 2, 1958
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1958-1966; Chicago White Sox 1966-1967; Boston Red Sox 1967-1968; Kansas City Royals 1969-1970
Died:  May 31, 1987, Tulsa, OK (age 50)

Jerry Adair was a veteran of 13 big league seasons known best for his solid defense as a middle infielder.  He first got a chance as an everyday player with the Orioles in 1961, winning playing time at second base after the Orioles' opening day second baseman, Marv Breeding, struggled at the plate.  Adair would move to shortstop in 1962 and then back to second in 1963 with the arrival of Luis Aparicio (#410).  He was the Orioles opening day second baseman for three seasons in a row between 1963 and 1965, and he set a then-record for highest fielding percentage at second base in 1964 with a .994 mark and fewest errors at the position with five.  He led the league again in fielding percentage in 1965 and Adair set records for consecutive errorless games at second base (89) and consecutive chances handled without an error (458) between July 22, 1964 and May 6, 1965.

1973 Topps #179

Dealt to the White Sox in 1966 and then the Red Sox in 1967, Adair's strong second half of 1967 helped the Red Sox to clinch the American League pennant.  He batted .291 for the Red Sox over 89 games, filling in for the injured Rico Petrocelli (#74) at shortstop and also receiving regular playing time at second and third base.  Adair was dubbed "Mr. Clutch" by the Boston media.  Later, Adair would serve as the first second baseman in Royals history, starting 105 games at the position for the expansion club in 1969.  In 1,165 career games, Adair had 1,022 hits, 57 home runs and 366 RBIs to go along with his .985 career fielding percentage, which is currently 41st all-time among second baseman.  He played in Japan in 1971 for the Hankyu Braves.  Adair coached for his former Red Sox manager Dick Williams with the Athletics (1972-1974) and Angels (1975-1976).

Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #317
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 Adair card was a little over $2.

The Card / Orioles Team Set
The back of the card highlights Adair finishing third on the Orioles in hits during 1964 with 141.  Brooks Robinson (#150) led the club with 194 while Aparicio was second with 154.  Adair's three triples tied him with both Robinson and Aparicio.

1965 Season
This was Adair's final full season with the Orioles and one of his finest seasons as an infielder.  The Orioles finished third in the American League with Adair manning an infield with Norm Siebern (#455) regularly at first base, Aparicio at shortstop and Robinson at third base.  In 157 games, Adair batted .259 with 151 hits (second on the club behind Robinson) and 66 RBIs (fourth on the club).

1961 Topps #71

1964 Topps #22

1967 Topps #484

1968 #346

1970 Topps #525

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Leaf #28
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1961-1970, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1973 Topps #179

64 - Adair non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/23/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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