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Gino Nicholas Cimoli
Los Angeles Angels
Outfield
Born: December 18, 1929, San Francisco, CA
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1956-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959; Pittsburgh Pirates 1960-1961; Milwaukee Braves 1961; Kansas City Athletics 1962-1964; Baltimore Orioles 1964; Los Angeles Angels 1965
Died: February 12, 2011, Roseville, CA (age 81)Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1956-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959; Pittsburgh Pirates 1960-1961; Milwaukee Braves 1961; Kansas City Athletics 1962-1964; Baltimore Orioles 1964; Los Angeles Angels 1965
Gino Cimoli was an All-Star with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957 and he'd go on to be one of the unlikely heroes of the 1960 Pirates team that defeated the Yankees in the World Series in seven games. He bounced around often during his 10-year big league career, spending time with seven different teams. Cimoli enjoyed his finest seasons in the late 1950s with the Dodgers and Cardinals, batting a career-high .293 during his 1957 All-Star season and driving in a career high 72 runs with the Cardinals in 1959. On April 15, 1958, he made history as the lead-off batter for the Dodgers in the first baseball game to be played on the West Coast, in Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Cimoli was a back-up outfielder on the 1960 Pirates team, but was pressed into duty during the World Series when left fielder Bob Skinner (#591) injured his thumb. As a pinch-hitter in Game 7, he started a key five-run eighth inning rally, leading off with a single off Yankees' pitcher Bobby Shantz and ultimately scoring the first run of the inning. The Yankees battled back in the top of the ninth, but Bill Mazeroski (#95) hit his historic walk-off home run to win the game and the series.
Cimoli next settled in as the regular right fielder for the Athletics in 1962 and 1963, leading the league in triples in 1962 with 15. He batted. 265 over his major league career, with 808 hits, 44 home runs and 321 RBIs.
Building the Set
September 29, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #372
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 Cimoli 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 / Angels Team Set
Granted, I still need roughly 200 cards to complete our set, but I'm calling it now that Cimoli wins best pompadour in the 1965 Topps set, no doubt about it. I'm guessing Cimoli is wearing an Orioles jersey here as he appeared in 38 games for the team in 1964 and the Orioles road jerseys had dark stitching circling the neck, similar to what Cimoli is wearing. The only other option is this is an old picture of Cimoli and he's wearing a road Dodgers uniform. On the back, Topps acknowledges this could very well be the end for Cimoli's career, noting he had been released by the Angels on May 9th.
1965 Season
Cimoli was released by the Orioles at some point in early 1965, signing with the Angels on April 10th. He made it into only four games with the Angels, going 0 for 5 with a pair of strikeouts before the team released him for the second time. Cimoli landed with the Spokane Indians in the Pacific Coast League, which was being managed at the time by his former teammate Duke Snider. He played in 33 games, batting .235, before calling it a career.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #319
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1957-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #48
55 - Cimoli non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/2/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
September 29, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #372
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 Cimoli 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 / Angels Team Set
Granted, I still need roughly 200 cards to complete our set, but I'm calling it now that Cimoli wins best pompadour in the 1965 Topps set, no doubt about it. I'm guessing Cimoli is wearing an Orioles jersey here as he appeared in 38 games for the team in 1964 and the Orioles road jerseys had dark stitching circling the neck, similar to what Cimoli is wearing. The only other option is this is an old picture of Cimoli and he's wearing a road Dodgers uniform. On the back, Topps acknowledges this could very well be the end for Cimoli's career, noting he had been released by the Angels on May 9th.
1965 Season
Cimoli was released by the Orioles at some point in early 1965, signing with the Angels on April 10th. He made it into only four games with the Angels, going 0 for 5 with a pair of strikeouts before the team released him for the second time. Cimoli landed with the Spokane Indians in the Pacific Coast League, which was being managed at the time by his former teammate Duke Snider. He played in 33 games, batting .235, before calling it a career.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #319
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1957-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #48
55 - Cimoli non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/2/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #568 Ron Taylor - St. Louis Cardinals
Previous Card: #568 Ron Taylor - St. Louis Cardinals
Next Card: #570 Claude Osteen - Los Angeles Dodgers
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