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Allan Fulton Worthington
Minnesota Twins
Pitcher
Born: February 5, 1929, Birmingham, AL
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent, June 1951
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1953-1954, 1956-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1959; Boston Red Sox 1960; Chicago White Sox 1960; Cincinnati Reds 1963-1964; Minnesota Twins 1964-1969
Al Worthington pitched for seven seasons in the majors between 1953 and 1960 before voluntarily retiring instead of taking part in the White Sox' sign stealing scheme. He sat out for two years and then returned as one of the league's more dominant closers for seven more seasons.
Worthington served as a swing man during the first part of his career, appearing in 219 games and making 69 starts between 1953 and 1960 with the Giants, Red Sox and White Sox. He appeared in at least 54 games in both 1957 and 1958 and won 11 games for the Giants in 1958. The first half of his career came to a close after only four games with the White Sox in 1960. Refusing to sit in the stands and steal signs while not pitching, Worthington retired and went home to Alabama.
He returned in 1963 and was one of the Reds' top relievers, appearing in 50 games with a 2.99 ERA and recording ten saves. On June 26, 1964 he was sold to the Twins where he'd enjoy his longest run of success. With the Twins, Worthington appeared in 327 games, all in relief, and was 37-31 with a 2.62 ERA in parts of six seasons. Worthington helped the club reach the postseason in 1965 and 1969, his final year in the majors. He led the league with 18 saves in 1968. Upon his retirement, his 88 saves ranked tops all-time for the Twins organization. In 602 career games, Worthington was 75-82 with a 3.39 ERA and 111 saves. He'd serve as the Twins pitching coach in 1972 and 1973, before joining Liberty University as the college's first baseball head coach, a position he held until 1986.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #404
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.
The Card / Twins Team Set
Worthington is wearing a Reds jersey here, and the exact same photo would be used for his 1966 Topps card. He'd finally appear in a Twins jersey in the 1968 Topps set. If you didn't study the back of the card carefully, you wouldn't realize Worthington sat out all of the 1961 and 1962 seasons. His two successive shutouts came in his big league debut on July 6, 1953 against the Phillies and then on July 11, 1953 against the Dodgers. The Phillies were held to two hits while the Dodgers managed four hits. In his third start, Worthington pitched a shortened, five-inning complete game on July 19th, but the Giants lost to the Braves, 2-1.
1965 Season
Veterans Worthington and Johnny Klippstein (#384) helped bolster the back end of the Twins' bullpen, with Worthington appearing in 62 games and going 10-7 with a 2.13 ERA over 80 1/3 innings pitched. He recorded a career-high 21 saves as the team's closer. Although the Dodgers prevailed in the World Series, Worthington appeared in two games, pitching four scoreless innings.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #39
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1957-1960, 1963-1968, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2017 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-AW
46 - Worthington non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/30/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #404
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.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Worthington card which was a little less than $1.50 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Twins Team Set
Worthington is wearing a Reds jersey here, and the exact same photo would be used for his 1966 Topps card. He'd finally appear in a Twins jersey in the 1968 Topps set. If you didn't study the back of the card carefully, you wouldn't realize Worthington sat out all of the 1961 and 1962 seasons. His two successive shutouts came in his big league debut on July 6, 1953 against the Phillies and then on July 11, 1953 against the Dodgers. The Phillies were held to two hits while the Dodgers managed four hits. In his third start, Worthington pitched a shortened, five-inning complete game on July 19th, but the Giants lost to the Braves, 2-1.
1965 Season
Veterans Worthington and Johnny Klippstein (#384) helped bolster the back end of the Twins' bullpen, with Worthington appearing in 62 games and going 10-7 with a 2.13 ERA over 80 1/3 innings pitched. He recorded a career-high 21 saves as the team's closer. Although the Dodgers prevailed in the World Series, Worthington appeared in two games, pitching four scoreless innings.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #39
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1957-1960, 1963-1968, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2017 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-AW
46 - Worthington non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/30/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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Next Card: #217 Walt Alston MG - Los Angeles Dodgers
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