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Leon James Carmel
New York Yankees
Outfield
Born: April 23, 1937, New York, NY
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1959-1960, 1963; New York Mets 1963; New York Yankees 1965
Duke Carmel appeared in parts of four seasons with the Cardinals, Mets and Yankees, and found most of his professional success during his 12 seasons in the minors. Carmel appeared in 14 games for the Cardinals in 1959 and 1960 before spending all of the next two seasons in the minors. He appeared in a career high 104 games in 1963 for the Cardinals and Mets, batting .233 with four home runs and 20 RBIs. He again spent all of 1964 in the minors, but was one of the top sluggers in the International League. With the Buffalo Bisons that season, Carmel batted .271 with 35 home runs and 99 RBIs, but he was left unprotected by the Mets following the season in the annual rule 5 draft. The Yankees took a chance on Carmel and while he made the club's opening day roster, he only appeared in six games before being returned to the Mets. Carmel played two more seasons in the minors before retiring.
His minor league totals include 898 hits, 167 home runs and 576 RBIs. In 124 Major League games, Carmel batted .211 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.
Building the Set
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #306
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. The package of cards arrived on June 5th and in total, the lot cost me a little more than $63. This Carmel card was one of the more expensive cards in the lot at $4.25, most likely because it's a Yankees card.
The Card / Yankees Team Set
Carmel is wearing a Cardinals jersey here, and this would be his fourth and final appearance in a Topps flagship set. By the time collectors were finding this card in their packs, Carmel was most likely already gone from the Yankees. The back of the card indicates that Carmel's selection by the Yankees was a bit of a surprise, and I'm also surprised the relatively new (and struggling) Mets club would be willing to part with someone who could have potentially helped their offensive output.
1965 Season
Carmel went 0 for 6 with the Yankees with five strikeouts before being returned to the Mets. He ended up playing 82 games in Buffalo and another 39 games for the Tacoma Giants, San Francisco's top farm team. Carmel struggled at the plate in Triple-A, batting .175 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs for both clubs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #120
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1960, 1963-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #261
19 - Carmel non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
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| June 15, 2021 - The high school kid and me |
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #306
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. The package of cards arrived on June 5th and in total, the lot cost me a little more than $63. This Carmel card was one of the more expensive cards in the lot at $4.25, most likely because it's a Yankees card.
Ten days after these cards arrived, we were celebrating our oldest son Doug's promotion from the middle school to the high school.
The Card / Yankees Team Set
Carmel is wearing a Cardinals jersey here, and this would be his fourth and final appearance in a Topps flagship set. By the time collectors were finding this card in their packs, Carmel was most likely already gone from the Yankees. The back of the card indicates that Carmel's selection by the Yankees was a bit of a surprise, and I'm also surprised the relatively new (and struggling) Mets club would be willing to part with someone who could have potentially helped their offensive output.
1965 Season
Carmel went 0 for 6 with the Yankees with five strikeouts before being returned to the Mets. He ended up playing 82 games in Buffalo and another 39 games for the Tacoma Giants, San Francisco's top farm team. Carmel struggled at the plate in Triple-A, batting .175 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs for both clubs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #120
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1960, 1963-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #261
19 - Carmel non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #260 Don Drysdale - Los Angeles Dodgers
Previous Card: #260 Don Drysdale - Los Angeles Dodgers
Next Card: #262 Bud Daley - Cleveland Indians
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