 |
 |
John Ellett Herrnstein
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield-First Base
Born: March 31, 1938, Hampton, VA
Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies, December 2, 1958
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1962-1966; Chicago Cubs 1966; Atlanta Braves 1966
Died: October 3, 2017, Chillicothe, OH (age 79)
Before he would appear in five major league seasons, John Herrnstein was a star baseball and football player at the University of Michigan, and he was the captain of the Wolverines' football team in 1958. A knee injury that year ended his football career and Herrnstein switched his focus to baseball. He made his debut with the Phillies in 1962 and would appear in 21 games over the next two seasons, all as a pinch-hitter, pinch-runner, or late inning outfield defensive replacement. Herrnstein got his chance to play every day in 1964, eventually replacing Roy Sievers (#574) as the team's regular first baseman. Eight different players received starts at first base during that season, with Herrnstein leading them all with 61 starts. He got off to a hot start, and proved to be a good defensive first baseman, while also starting 15 games in the outfield. But during the great Phillies collapse in September 1964, Herrnstein batted only .084 (3 for 35) as the team lost the pennant by one game.
 |
| From the 1965 Phillies Yearbook |
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #395
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
Looking to kill some time while we were waiting for our number to be called for Doug's autograph from Jim Thome, I found a bargain bin of 1965 Topps cards at Uncle Dick's and I texted Doug that I'd be standing at the table where the dealers were wearing neon green shirts. This Herrnstein card was one of 15 from that first batch of purchases, totaling $40, and it was a little less than $3 after the dealer discount. After getting the Thome autograph, and grabbing a slice of pizza from the "food court" upstairs, I'd settle in at Uncle Dick's for my second and biggest haul of the show.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
This is Herrnstein's first solo card after appearing on Rookie Stars cards in 1963 with Hall of Famer Willie Stargell (#377) and in 1964 with future Hall of Famer Dick Allen (#460), and he'd appear on just one more solo Topps card in 1966. Topps featured an odd highlight from 1964 as Herrnstein's pinch-hit home run came on August 16, 1964, and it was a solo shot in the eighth inning with the Phillies trailing 9-2 to the Mets at the time. The other Phillies pinch-hit home run in 1964 came on August 9th from Alex Johnson (#352).
1965 Season
Herrnstein appeared in 63 games, batting .200 with a home run and five RBIs. With the offseason acquisition of Dick Stuart (#280) to play first base, Herrnstein was left without a position and he was used sparingly by manager Gene Mauch (#489). He didn't receive his first start until June 17th. According to his SABR biography, Herrnstein's best memory from the 1965 season came during the team's opening day game against the Astros in the newly opened Astrodome. Herrnstein happened to have a lengthy pregame conversation with one of the Mercury astronauts on hand for the ceremony, and the astronaut turned out to be Neil Armstrong. Herrnstein revealed that he and Armstrong would exchange letters over the years.
Phillies Career
All but 28 of Herrnstein's 239 career games came with the Phillies. In 213 games, he batted .222 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. On April 21, 1966, Herrnstein was dealt with outfielder Adolfo Phillips and pitching prospect Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs for Bob Buhl (#264) and Larry Jackson (#420). Jenkins would win a Cy Young Award in 1971 with the Cubs, and he was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1991.
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #553
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1963-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JH
13 - Herrnstein non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/26/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
No comments:
Post a Comment