1965 Topps: #409 Astros Rookie Stars - Jim Beauchamp / Larry Dierker

Thursday, December 30, 2021

#409 Astros Rookie Stars - Jim Beauchamp / Larry Dierker

James Edward Beauchamp
Houston Astros
Outfield

Bats:  Right Throws:  Right  Height: 6'2" Weight:  190
Born:  August 21, 1939, Vinita, OK
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1963; Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965; Milwaukee Braves 1965; Atlanta Braves 1967; Cincinnati Reds 1968-1969; Houston Astros 1970; St. Louis Cardinals 1970-1971; New York Mets 1972-1973
Died: December 25, 2007, Union City, GA (age 68)

Lawrence Edward Dierker
Houston Astros
Pitcher

Bats:  Right Throws:  Right  Height: 6'4" Weight:  215
Born:  September 22, 1946, Hollywood, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965-1976; St. Louis Cardinals 1977
As a Manager: Houston Astros 1997-2001

Jim Beauchamp's best year in baseball came in 1963 when he hit .337 with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs for the Tulsa Oilers, winning Texas League MVP honors. He'd go on to appear in parts of 10 major league seasons as an outfielder, first baseman and pinch-hitter, with two separate stints with both the Cardinals and Astros. He appeared in a career high 77 games for the Cardinals in 1971 and wrapped up his playing career with two seasons for the Mets. His final games as a player came during the 1973 World Series, when he went 0 for 4 as a pinch-hitter, as the Mets lost to the Athletics in seven games. Beauchamp managed in the minors between 1975 and 1990, and joined the Braves' major league coaching staff in 1991. He served as the bench coach for manager Bobby Cox between 1991 and 1998, winning a World Series ring with the Braves in 1995. Upon his passing, the Braves wore a memorial patch with his nickname "Beach" during their 2008 season.

With the exception of a brief stint at the end of his pitching career with the Cardinals, Larry Dierker has been a part of the Houston organization since the club drafted him at the age of 17. He made his big league debut on his 18th birthday and would pitch with the Astros for the next 12 seasons. Dierker was a two-time All-Star (1969, 1971) and a 20-game winner in 1969. That was his career year, as he set personal bests for wins, starts (37), complete games (20), innings pitched (305 1/3) and strikeouts (232). In his final full season, Dierker pitched a no-hitter on July 9, 1976 against the Expos. He moved to the Astros broadcast booth between 1979 and 1996, and was named the team's manager in 1997. Dierker won Manager of the Year honors in 1998 when he guided the Astros to 102 wins and their second division title in as many years. He'd take the Astros to the NLDS four times between 1997 and 2001, but they never won a series. The Astros retired his #49 in 2002, and he was inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019.

Building the Set

October 12, 2021 from Valley Cottage, NY - Card #376

This Astros Rookie Stars card along with three other cards needed for our set were bonus additions to a large purchase I made from OLDBBCards Vintage Sports Cards from Valley Cottage, New York on my birthday. The bubble envelope containing the cards arrived a little over a week later. I'm also slowly collecting the 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, and I took advantage of the seller's 20% off sale being offered in their eBay store to add the Earl Averill card, the most expensive card I've purchased for that set to date. Before checking out, I browsed the seller's other cards for sale and found four reasonably priced cards needed for our 1965 Topps set. The Beauchamp/Dierker card was $8 after applying the discount.

I spent a relatively low-key birthday watching our oldest son Doug help his team win a travel baseball game in the morning, receiving the Pete Rose (#207) card for our set, and then walking over to my sister's house for a cook-out with family that afternoon. It was a wonderful day!

The Card / Astros Team Set
Beauchamp would appear on three Rookie Stars cards, first in 1964 with Mike White (#31), then on this card, and finally in 1966 with Dick Kelley. The back of the card appropriately comments on Beauchamp's success in 1963 in the Texas League. This is Dierker's rookie card, and Topps has blacked out the .45s logo that would have been on his hat.

1965 Season - Beauchamp
Beauchamp made the Astros' opening day roster and was their opening day right fielder. He started off hot, but slumped by mid-May when his average was down to .189. On May 23rd, the Astros traded Beauchamp and Ken Johnson (#359) to the Braves for Lee Maye (#407). Beauchamp would spend the bulk of the season playing for the Triple-A Atlanta Crackers, where he'd hit .259 in 88 games. He earned a September call-up and appeared in four games with the Braves, going 0 for 3 with a sacrifice fly, all as a pinch-hitter

1965 Season - Dierker
Dierker made 26 appearances for the Astros, including 19 starts. He went 7-8 with a 3.50 ERA over 146 2/3 innings pitched with 109 strikeouts. Dierker was the club's most frequently used fourth starter behind Bob Bruce (#240), Turk Farrell (#80) and Don Nottebart (#469).

1964 Topps #492

1967 Topps #307

1971 Topps #322

1972 Topps #594

1974 Topps #424

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Beauchamp
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #492
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1964-1967, 1969, 1971-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1990 CMC #283

66 - Beauchamp non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/3/21.

Sources - Beauchamp:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Dierker
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #409
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1965-1978, 2001-2002
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Chrome #286

94 - Dierker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/3/21.

Sources - Dierker:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia