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Don Wilson Lock
Washington Senators
Outfield
Born: July 27, 1936, Wichita, KS
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1962-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1967-1969; Boston Red Sox 1969
Died: October 8, 2017, Wichita, KS (age 81)
Don Lock enjoyed a few seasons as one of the Senators' top sluggers in the early 1960s, and played in eight big league seasons overall. In 1963, Lock was the opening day center fielder for a Senators team that would go on to lose 106 games. Lock batted .252 while leading the club in both home runs, with 27, and RBIs, with 82. He improved upon those numbers in 1964, winning the team's triple crown with a .274 average and 28 home runs with 80 RBIs. Lock then fell into a slump in 1965 and he'd never again enjoy the regular production he had in the prior two seasons. Following the 1966 season, the Senators traded him to the Phillies and he'd share center field duties with John Briggs (#163) and Tony Gonzalez (#72) in 1967. He was relegated to back-up duty in 1968 and then dealt to Boston in May 1969.
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| 1967 Dexter Press Phillies |
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #443
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 Lock card which was a little less than $4 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 / Senators Team Set
There's a good chance the photo used for this card came from the same session that spawned photos for Lock's 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1968 Topps cards. The back of the card points out Lock was originally signed by the Yankees. He was traded to the Senators on July 11, 1962 for first baseman Dale Long. He participated in a league-leading five double plays in 1963 and another league-leading three double plays in 1965.
1965 Season
As mentioned above, Lock slumped badly in 1965. Once again the team's opening day center fielder, he'd lose playing time as the season progressed to Woodie Held (#336). Lock would play in 143 games, batting .215 with 16 home runs and 39 RBIs.
On November 30, 1966, the Phillies acquired Lock from the Senators for pitcher Darold Knowles (#577) and cash. Acquired mainly for his defense, he'd platoon with the left-handed hitting Gonzalez and Briggs in center field throughout the season, appearing in 112 games overall and batting .252. His 14 home runs were tied for second on the club with Johnny Callison (#310), and Dick Allen (#460) led the team with 23 home runs. Lock was a true back-up in 1968, appearing in 99 games but making only 58 starts. He'd hit just .210 and fell out of the Phillies plans in 1969 with the arrival of Larry Hisle. Lock played four games for the Phillies in early 1969 before a trade sent him to the Red Sox on May 5th for Bill Schlesinger (#573). In 215 games with the Phillies, Lock batted .232 with 22 home runs and 85 RBIs. He appeared in three Topps sets with the Phillies, with none of those cards featuring him actually wearing a Phillies uniform.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #47
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1963-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #34
37 - Lock non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #444 Bob Hendley - San Francisco Giants
Previous Card: #444 Bob Hendley - San Francisco Giants
Next Card: #446 Art Mahaffey - Philadelphia Phillies
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