#268 Ken McBride - Los Angeles Angels

Kenneth Faye McBride
Los Angeles Angels
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  August 12, 1935, Huntsville, AL

Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1959-1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961-1965

Ken McBride only played in parts of seven seasons in the majors, but he made the American League All-Star team in three of those seven seasons.  McBride benefitted from the major league expansion in 1961, earning a spot in the Angels pitching rotation and serving as one of their most reliable starting pitchers over the team's first several years of existence.  He won at least 10 games three seasons in a row, between 1961 and 1963.  His best season was his first season with the Angels, when he went 12-15 with a 3.65 ERA over 38 games, including 36 starts.  That season he led the Angels pitching staff in wins, ERA, innings pitched (241 2/3) and complete games (11).  McBride started the 1963 All-Star Game for the American League, pitching three innings and allowing three runs on four hits.

He suffered an arm injury in 1964 that would spell the beginning of the end of his pitching career.  He'd appear in only 37 games for the Angels in 1964 and 1965 before retiring as a player at the age of 29.  McBride managed in the minor leagues for a season and later served as a minor league pitching instructor for the Brewers in the early 1970s.  He joined the Brewers big league staff as their pitching coach in 1974 and 1975.  In 151 career games, McBride earned a record of 40-50 with a 3.79 ERA, 503 strikeouts and 28 complete games.

Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #324
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 McBride card was a little over $2.

The Card / Angels Team Set
As one of the first stars for the new Angels team, McBride appeared on a fair share of Topps oddball issuances and other baseball card releases, and this was to be his final appearance in a Topps flagship set.  McBride is mimicking his pitching follow-through in the staged photo, but the ball appears to still be in his glove.  The back of the card highlights the no-hitter he threw in 1956 as a member of the Greensboro Patriots, a Red Sox farm club.  The "easiest victory" note on the back doesn't give any context.  McBride pitched a complete game shut-out over the Senators on August 23, 1963, in which the Angels won, 17-0.  McBride allowed only three hits in the game.  The Angels offense had 19 hits, led by four hits from third baseman Felix Torres.

McBride signed reprints of this card for inclusion in the 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs insert set.  McBride, at card #30, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of three Angels in the set.

1965 Season
McBride's arm injury significantly cut back his playing time and he appeared in only eight games for the Angels.  He had an 0-3 record with a 6.14 ERA over 22 innings pitched.  He attempted to rehab his damaged arm with the single-A San Jose Bees, making three more appearances, but allowing 18 earned runs over 14 innings pitched for a 11.57 ERA.

1960 Topps #276

1961 Topps #209

1962 Topps #268

1963 Topps #510

1964 Topps #405

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #276
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1960-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-KM

36 - McBride non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/4/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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