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Beginning in 1956 and going all the way through to 1981, with a one year absence in 1969, Topps included team cards in its flagship sets.
Building the Set
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #308
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 (and a few from the fourth 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 Senators team card was the last card in the bunch from The Battersbox, and it cost me a little less than $6.40 after applying the sales discount.
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #308
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 (and a few from the fourth 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 Senators team card was the last card in the bunch from The Battersbox, and it cost me a little less than $6.40 after applying the sales discount.
This Senators team was the expansion team from 1961 that would settle into the second division into the American League throughout the 1960s and early 1970s before relocating to Arlington and becoming the Texas Rangers in 1972. The photo used for this card appears to actually be from the 1964 season as Topps had used an older photo for the Senators team cards issued between 1962 and 1964. This photo would show up again in the 1966 Topps set before Topps again updated its Senators team photo for its 1967 set.
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1965 Season
In their fifth year of existence, the Senators won a franchise-high 70 games and finished third from the bottom in the American League standings after finishing last or in next to last place in their first four seasons. Manager Gil Hodges (#99) was in his second full year at the helm, and the Senators added slugger Frank Howard (#40) and four other key contributors over the offseason, shipping Claude Osteen (#570), John Kennedy (#119) and cash to the Dodgers. Howard was the team's top slugger, winning the club's triple crown with a team leading .289 average to go along with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs. Third baseman Ken McMullen (#319), also acquired from the Dodgers in the Howard deal, contributed 18 home runs of his own. Howard, McMullen and first baseman Dick Nen (#466) were the only Senators regulars to hit .260 or better, with most of the rest of the line-up hovering around .200 all season.
The pitching staff was stronger than prior years, with Pete Richert (#252), another gift from the Dodgers, serving as the ace of the staff with a 15-12 record and a 2.60 ERA. He easily led the club with 161 strikeouts. Phil Ortega (#152) was a 12-game winner and Ron Kline (#56) led the bullpen with 29 saves in 74 appearances.
For each team card featured, I'll be building a checklist of cards that could have been included in a 1965 Topps update set. I'm trying to come up with six potential cards for each team, and for the Senators I came up with five obvious choices and one stretch of a choice, given my loyalty to the Phillies.
- Frank Howard - If Howard had appeared in a later series, he would have received a Senators card along with McMullen, Ortega, Richert and Nen.
- Dick Nen - And speaking of Nen, he shared a Rookie Stars card with Pete Craig but he'd receive a solo card in my update series.
- Ken Hamlin - Middle infielder Hamlin appeared in 117 games, batting .273. He'd appear in the 1966 Topps set after a three-year absence from the flagship sets.
- Doug Camilli - Back-up catcher Camilli was sold to the Senators from the Dodgers a few days before the big Howard deal. I wonder why the teams didn't just wait a few days and throw Camilli into that trade? He's in the set's first series with the Dodgers.
- Mike McCormick - McCormick has a card in the set picturing him with the Orioles. The pitcher was dealt to the Senators right before the start of the season, appearing in 44 games.
- Dallas Green - Finally, future Phillies World Series manager Green was with the Senators for a month. He was sold by the Phillies on April 11th and then returned to the club on May 11th after making six appearances with Washington.
Baseball Reference
Wikipedia
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