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Richard Lee Stuart
Philadelphia Phillies
First Base
Born: November 7, 1932, San Francisco, CA
Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates before 1951 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1958-1962; Boston Red Sox 1963-1964; Philadelphia Phillies 1965; New York Mets 1966; Los Angeles Dodgers 1966; California Angels 1969
Died: December 15, 2002, Redwood City, CA (age 70)
Proficient at the plate but deficient with the glove, Dick Stuart's many nicknames included Dr. Strangeglove, Stonefingers and The Man with the Iron Glove. He hit over 30 home runs in three different seasons, slugging a career high 42 in 1963 with the Red Sox, while leading the American League with 118 RBIs. Stuart began his career with the Pirates and was the regular first baseman on the 1960 World Championship club. He led that team with 23 home runs and was third on the Pirates in RBIs (83) behind Roberto Clemente (#160) and Bob Skinner (#591) with 94 and 86, respectively. Stuart struggled in the World Series, batting .150, and was on deck with Bill Mazeroski (#95) hit his walk-off home run in Game 7. He was named to both All-Star teams in 1961. Dealt to the Red Sox following the 1962 season, he enjoyed two seasons of 100+ RBIs before being dealt to the Phillies.
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| 1966 Topps Rub-Offs |
Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #331
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 Stuart card was about $3.25.
I'm always surprised when I find vintage Phillies cards in common boxes at baseball card shows in my area, as most of these were long picked over with the Phillies cards removed by local collectors.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
In what is the only instance of this happening, Stuart appears twice in the set on two different teams. He first appeared on the A.L. RBI Leaders card (#5) as a member of the Red Sox. Topps didn't have a photo yet of Stuart in a Phillies uniform, and they went back to the hatless photo of Stuart in a Pirates jersey already used for his 1963 Topps card. He'd appear in actual Phillies gear on two Topps insert sets - 1965 Topps Transfers and 1966 Topps Rub-Offs. And while Stuart is in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set, but he's not in the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set. On the back of the card, his trade to the Phillies is noted as a surprising offseason deal.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
In what is the only instance of this happening, Stuart appears twice in the set on two different teams. He first appeared on the A.L. RBI Leaders card (#5) as a member of the Red Sox. Topps didn't have a photo yet of Stuart in a Phillies uniform, and they went back to the hatless photo of Stuart in a Pirates jersey already used for his 1963 Topps card. He'd appear in actual Phillies gear on two Topps insert sets - 1965 Topps Transfers and 1966 Topps Rub-Offs. And while Stuart is in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set, but he's not in the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set. On the back of the card, his trade to the Phillies is noted as a surprising offseason deal.
1965 Season / Phillies Career
But in his SABR biography, it's noted the deal that sent him to the Phillies was made "to the surprise of no one." On November 29, 1964, the Red Sox dealt Stuart to the Phillies for pitcher Dennis Bennett (#147). Stuart had apparently worn out his welcome in Boston due to his poor fielding (29 errors in 1963, 24 errors in 1964) and he also didn't get along with manager Johnny Pesky. Stuart was the opening day first baseman for the Phillies and he'd start 140 games at first. He batted only .234 but was second on the team in home runs (28) and RBIs (95), behind Johnny Callison (#310) in both categories. Stuart's fielding improved somewhat, as he made only 17 errors, which was second in the National League behind the Pirates' Donn Clendenon (#325) who committed 28 errors. Still, manager Gene Mauch (#489) wasn't enamored with Stuart and on February 22, 1966 Dr. Strangeglove was dealt to the Mets for Wayne Graham, Bobby Klaus (#227) and Jimmie Schaffer (#313). The Phillies had previously acquired Bill White (#190) on October 27, 1965 from the Cardinals, and White was pencilled in as the team's first baseman for 1966.
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #357
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1959-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #44
86 - Stuart non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/8/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #279 Dick Tracewski - Los Angeles Dodgers
Previous Card: #279 Dick Tracewski - Los Angeles Dodgers
Next Card: #281 Bill Stafford - New York Yankees
From Stuart's Wikipedia page:
ReplyDelete"Stu once picked up a hot dog wrapper that was blowing toward his first base position. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. It was the first thing he had managed to pick up all day, and the fans realized it could very well be the last".