Tuesday, January 18, 2022

#589 Giants Rookie Stars - Frank Linzy / Bob Schroder


Frank Alfred Linzy
San Francisco Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  September 15, 1940, Fort Gibson, OK
Signed:  Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1963, 1965-1970; St. Louis Cardinals 1970-1971; Milwaukee Brewers 1972-1973; Philadelphia Phillies 1974

Robert James Schroder
San Francisco Giants
Shortstop

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  December 30, 1944, Ridgefield, NJ
Signed:  Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1965-1968

One of the first pitchers to be given the title of "fireman," Frank Linzy was a successful reliever with the Giants, Cardinals, Brewers and Phillies over 11 big league seasons.  His first full season in 1965 was perhaps his best, as Linzy would appear in 57 games and pitch to a 1.43 ERA with a career-high 20 saves.  He placed third in that season's Rookie of the Year voting and 15th overall in the league's MVP voting.  Linzy would appear in at least 50 games in each season between 1965 and 1971, and he'd save at least 10 games in seven different seasons.  Linzy was 62-57 over his career in 516 games pitched, with a 2.85 ERA.  His 110 career saves currently rank 140th on the all-time list.

From 1974 Phillies Yearbook
Bob Schroder was a back-up infielder who played in parts of four seasons with the Giants.  Under the revised bonus baby rules, Schroder was permitted to play in the minors in 1964, but had to remain on the Giants big league roster for the entire 1965 season.  While he appeared in 31 games that season, he was limited to only 10 plate appearances.  Schroder saw his most regular playing time in 1967 when he appeared in 62 games for the Giants, making 30 starts at second base and one start at shortstop.  For his career, Schroder appeared in 138 games and had a lifetime batting average of .217.

Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #390
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 Rookie Stars 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 / Giants Team Set
I don't buy that Topps couldn't find a way to somehow fit Schroder's first name on the front of this card, especially given this was his first and last baseball card appearance.  This is also Linzy's rookie card.

1965 Season - Linzy
As mentioned above, Linzy's first full season was also his best.  As the Giants battled to a second place finish in the National League, Linzy was their strongest reliever and 26 of his 57 appearances spanned multiple innings.  He finished the season with a 9-3 record and the aforementioned 20 saves, third in the league, over 81 2/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career - Linzy
On November 7, 1973, the Phillies acquired Linzy from the Brewers for pitcher Bill Wilson.  According to the Phillies' 1974 Yearbook, GM Paul Owens acquired Linzy to help fortify a weak Phillies bullpen, especially from the right side.  Somewhat surprisingly, Linzy would only appear in 22 games with the club and was demoted to the Reading Phillies in July.  With Double-A Reading, Linzy appeared in 20 games, pitching 28 innings and was 0-3 with a 3.21 ERA.  He earned a September call-up, but would appear in only one more game for the Phillies - his final game in the majors.

Linzy's Phillies record was 3-2 with a 3.28 ERA over 24 1/3 innings pitched.  His sole Phillies baseball card can be found within that year's team-issued photo card set.  Linzy was released on October 25, 1974 and he'd sign with the Padres the following February in an attempt to make a comeback.
1965 Season - Schroder
As also mentioned above, Schroder was on the contending Giants' big league roster for the entire season.  He made no starts and appeared in the field only five times as a late inning replacement at second (four times) or third base (once).  Most of his time on the field came as a pinch-runner, and he made 20 pinch-running appearances with no stolen base attempts.  Schroder was inserted as a pinch-hitter for Juan Marichal (#50) on August 22nd after Marichal had been ejected for hitting Dodgers' catcher Josh Roseboro (#405) over the head with his bat.
1966 Topps #78
1968 Topps #147
1970 Topps #77
1972 Topps #243
1973 Topps #286

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Linzy

First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #589
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1965-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1973 Topps #286

36 - Linzy non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/12/21.

Sources - Linzy:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Schroder

First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #589
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #589

2 - Schroder non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/12/21.

Sources - Schroder:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card:  #588 Lenny Green - Boston Red Sox

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