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John Philip Tsitouris
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher
Born: May 4, 1936, Monroe, NC
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1957; Kansas City Athletics 1958-1960; Cincinnati Reds 1962-1968
Died: October 22, 2015, Monroe, NC (age 79)
John Tsitouris (pronounced suh-TORR-iss) played 15 seasons professionally, making it up to the majors for parts of 11 seasons. Originally drafted by the Tigers, he was included in a massive 13-player trade with the Athletics in November 1957. Tsitouris appeared in only one game with the Athletics in 1958 before making 24 appearances, including ten starts, with the club in 1959, going 4-3 with a 4.97 ERA in 83 1/3 innings pitched. He'd appear in 14 games with the Athletics in 1960 before spending almost two full seasons in the minors. Dealt to the Reds in January 1961, Tsitouris finally got a shot with the club in 1963, making 21 starts and nine relief appearances and throwing a career-high 191 innings. He was 12-8 with a 3.16 ERA that season, the best of his career. He'd be a fixture of the Reds pitching staff between 1963 and 1965. On September 21, 1964, Tsitouris pitched a complete game shutout against the Phillies, starting the ten-game losing streak that would knock the club out of postseason contention.
Tsitouris would spend the bulk of the next three seasons in the minors, only appearing with the Reds in six games between 1966 and 1968. For his career, Tsitouris was 34-38 with a 4.13 ERA in 149 games, making 84 starts. He pitched 18 complete games, including five shutouts.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #405
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 / Reds Team Set
The cartoon on the back highlights Tsitouris' second place finish on the Reds' pitching staff with 146 strikeouts, behind staff ace Jim Maloney (#530) who had 214. Topps got lucky using this cartoon as Jim O'Toole (#60), with 145 strikeouts, almost bumped Tsitouris from second place.
1965 Season
Tsitouris spent the entire season with the Reds, his last full season in the majors. He struggled all season, and at one point demanded a trade as he was frustrated by manager Dick Sisler (#158) not having a defined role for him. He bounced between the bullpen and the starting pitching rotation and he suffered two starts in August in which he didn't retire a batter. In 31 games, including 20 starts, Tsitouris was 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA over 131 innings pitched.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #497
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1960, 1963-1966, 1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #523
27 - Tsitouris non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #405
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 Tsitouris 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 / Reds Team Set
The cartoon on the back highlights Tsitouris' second place finish on the Reds' pitching staff with 146 strikeouts, behind staff ace Jim Maloney (#530) who had 214. Topps got lucky using this cartoon as Jim O'Toole (#60), with 145 strikeouts, almost bumped Tsitouris from second place.
1965 Season
Tsitouris spent the entire season with the Reds, his last full season in the majors. He struggled all season, and at one point demanded a trade as he was frustrated by manager Dick Sisler (#158) not having a defined role for him. He bounced between the bullpen and the starting pitching rotation and he suffered two starts in August in which he didn't retire a batter. In 31 games, including 20 starts, Tsitouris was 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA over 131 innings pitched.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #497
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1960, 1963-1966, 1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #523
27 - Tsitouris non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #220 Billy Williams - Chicago Cubs
Previous Card: #220 Billy Williams - Chicago Cubs
Next Card: #222 Bob Tillman - Boston Red Sox
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