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David John Giusti
Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: November 27, 1939, Seneca Falls, NY
Signed: Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent, June 16, 1961
Major League Teams: Houston Colt .45s 1962, 1964; Houston Astros 1965-1968; St. Louis Cardinals 1969; Pittsburgh Pirates 1970-1976; Oakland Athletics 1977; Chicago Cubs 1977
Dave Giusti began his big league career as a starting pitcher in Houston, but he found his most success as a closer for the Pirates dynasty that won five National League East pennants between 1970 and 1975. Giusti won at least 11 games in three seasons in a row between 1966 and 1968, winning 15 games in 1966. After an unremarkable season with the Cardinals in 1969, he was dealt to the Pirates and began his multi-season reign as one of the best closers in the game. Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh is given credit for converting Giusti from a starter to a reliever. Giusti saved 26 games for the Pirates in 1970, finishing fourth in the voting that season for the league's Cy Young Award. He saved a career high 30 games in 1971, the year the Pirates won a World Championship, and Giusti was named The Sporting News Reliever of the Year. Giusti was named to the All-Star team in 1973. He finished his career with a 100-93 record and a 3.60 ERA with 145 saves, which ranks 91st on the all-time list. Among Pirates pitchers, only Roy Face (#347) with 188, Kent Tekulve with 158 and Mike Williams with 140, have more career saves than Giusti.
September 5, 2021 from Deptford Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #349
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 Giusti card was the priciest of the bunch at $6.
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 / Astros Team Set
Like almost all of the Astros players in the set, Giusti appears hatless given the change in the Houston club's name and logo. The back of the card mentions his palm ball which was the pitch that brought him the most success as the Pirates closer.
1965 Season
This was Giusti's first full year in the majors, and he appeared in 38 games while making 13 starts. He went 8-7 with a 4.32 ERA over 131 1/3 innings pitched with 92 strikeouts. Given the chance to start following the trade of Don Larsen (#389) to the Orioles in April, Giusti struggled somewhat in the role and was moved back to the bullpen in July.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #509
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1962-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Swell Baseball Greats #58
74 - Giusti non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/30/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #523 Mike Brumley - Washington Senators
Previous Card: #523 Mike Brumley - Washington Senators
Next Card: #525 Eddie Bressoud - Boston Red Sox
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