 |
 |
Jay Seay Ritchie
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher
Born: November 20, 1936, Salisbury, NC
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, December 1955
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1964-1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1967; Cincinnati Reds 1968
Died: January 5, 2016, Salisbury, NC (age 79)
For 8 1/2 seasons, between 1956 and the summer of 1964, Jay Ritchie pitched in the Red Sox minor league system, working his way up and hoping for a promotion to the big leagues. He finally got his shot on August 4, 1964, and he'd pitch in parts of the next 4 1/2 seasons with the Red Sox, Braves and Reds as an effective middle reliever. Ritchie pitched in at least 21 games for five straight seasons, hitting his career high with 52 appearances in 1967. In total, he appeared in 167 big league games, going 8-13 with a 3.49 ERA and eight saves over 291 1/3 innings pitched. After his final appearance in the majors with the Reds in 1968, he pitched for two more seasons in the minor leagues before calling it a career. Ritchie began a short scouting career for the Braves in 1971 that lasted for three years.
 |
| 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs Red Ink #ROA-JR |
September 29, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #361
With everyone back in school, the Phillies' playoff hopes growing dimmer, my workload picking up at my chosen profession and a dwindling pile of purchased 1965 Topps cards to compose posts for, I decided I was in need of a nice stack of commons (and some semi-stars) for our set. Over the course of an enjoyable evening, mostly while sitting in my car in a parking lot next to where Doug's baseball team was practicing, I bid on about 45 cards up for auction from Greg Morris Cards, located in Los Angeles. When the dust settled and I checked my phone the next morning, I had won 19 cards, ranging in price from $1.75 to $11 and averaging around $4 per card. This Ritchie card was mine with a winning bid of $3.25. Doug's free time is spent practicing baseball, Ben has found he thoroughly enjoys his school's cross country team, and I have a stack of 1965 Topps cards to study and write about whenever I need a break from adulting. All is well.
The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Despite Ritchie pitching fairly regularly in each season between 1964 and 1968, this is his one and only mainstream baseball card. I'm honestly surprised Topps omitted him from their 1966 through 1969 sets, given his relative success, but such is the fate of a middle reliever then and now when it comes to baseball card appearances. There are a lot of minor league statistics on the back of the card, and his status as a star basketball player at Granite Quarry High School in North Carolina is highlighted with the cartoon. Ritchie signed reprints of this card in 2014 for inclusion in the Topps Heritage Real One Autographs insert set.
1965 Season
This and 1967 were Ritchie's only two seasons in which he spent the entire year in the majors and didn't appear in any minor league games. Ritchie was used often for a team that would lose 100 games, making 44 appearances, all in relief, and pitching to a respectable 3.17 ERA (leading the Red Sox bullpen) over 71 innings pitched. Among the Red Sox often-used relief corp, only Dick Radatz (#295) and Arnold Earley logged more innings than Ritchie. In early January 1966, he was named as the player to be named later heading to the Braves as part of a five-player deal that had been completed a month earlier in December 1965.
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #494
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1): 1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JR
6 - Ritchie non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
No comments:
Post a Comment