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Aubrey Lee Gatewood
Los Angeles Angels
Pitcher
Born: November 17, 1938, North Little Rock, AR
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent, June 12, 1959
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Angels 1963-1965; Atlanta Braves 1970
Died: June 5, 2019, North Little Rock, AR (age 80)Major League Teams: Los Angeles Angels 1963-1965; Atlanta Braves 1970
Originally drafted by the Tigers, Aubrey Gatewood was selected by the Angels in the 1960 expansion draft. He'd receive limited major league action with the Angels in his first two seasons, filling in as a spot starter 10 times during the 1963 and 1964 seasons, before earning a regular spot in their bullpen for the 1965 season. Gatewood appeared in a career high 46 games in 1965, going 4-5 with a 3.42 ERA as one of the club's top relievers behind closer Bob Lee (#46). His strong performance in 1965 didn't guarantee him a roster spot in 1966, and Gatewood would begin a four year odyssey through the minor league systems of the Angels, Reds, Orioles and Braves. He returned to the majors briefly with the Braves in 1970, appearing in three games in relief. Gatewood pitched one more season with the Braves and Cardinals farm teams in 1971 before calling it a career. In 68 career big league games, Gatewood was 8-9 with a 2.78 ERA.
September 5, 2021 from Deptford Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #347
On the Sunday before Labor Day, we had planned to head to Hersheypark for the day but rain was in the forecast and we decided to postpone our Hershey visit until October. Suddenly with no plans, I voluntarily agreed to step foot into another mall as I had remembered seeing a modest baseball card show being advertised for the weekend. Modest turned out to be an understatement, as there were less than 10 tables present and only a few tables were selling anything older than from the 1990s. One dealer had a few boxes of vintage Topps cards, and with $20 to spend and after the dealer told me everything was 50% off the sticker price, I found five cards we needed for our set. Strangely enough, the dealer only had 1965 Topps cards featuring Braves, Angels or Astros players. This Gatewood card was $4.
On the second floor of the mall, former Phillies players Lenny Dykstra, Dave Hollins, Mickey Morandini and Kevin Stocker were available for autographs. Having autographs from everyone in that group except Dykstra, we opted to leave the mall and head to the movies to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Not a bad way to close out the summer!
The Card / Angels Team Set
Gatewood appeared in the three Topps flagship sets between 1964 and 1966, and he shares a 1964 Topps Rookie Stars card with Dick Simpson (#374). In 1966, Topps went with mostly hatless photos for the Angels players as they had changed their name and hat logos from Los Angeles to California. It appears as if the only photo Topps had to use for Gatewood for its 1966 set features the pitcher with his eyes almost completely closed.
1965 Season
As mentioned above, this was Gatewood's only full season in the majors. He made three starts, getting knocked around in all three, and all of his success came as a reliever. His record as a reliever was 4-3 with a 3.07 ERA - two runs better than his ERA as a starter.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #127
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1964-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-AG
9 - Gatewood non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/29/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
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