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Edward Charles Rakow
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: May 30, 1935, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1960; Kansas City Athletics 1961-1963; Detroit Tigers 1964-1965; Atlanta Braves 1967
Died: August 26, 2000, West Palm Beach, FL (age 65)
Ed Rakow pitched in parts of seven seasons in the majors, and enjoyed his best season in 1962 with the ninth place Athletics. Rakow made his big league debut in 1960, appearing in nine games for the Dodgers. He was dealt to the Athletics in March 1961 for Howie Reed (#544), and in his first season in Kansas City he was used primarily as a reliever. In 1962, Rakow led the league in losses, but was a certified innings-eater for the second division Athletics, going 14-17 overall with a 4.25 ERA in 42 games and 235 1/3 innings pitched. He'd not cross the 200-inning mark again in his career.
On November 18, 1963, Rakow, Jerry Lumpe (#353) and Dave Wickersham (#375) were dealt to the Tigers for Rocky Colavito (#380), Bob Anderson and cash. Rakow would appear in 42 games for the Tigers in 1964, but arm injuries limited him to only six games in the majors in 1965. After spending all of 1966 in the minor leagues, Rakow would briefly come back to the majors in 1967, pitching in 17 games for the Braves. He finished his career with a 36-47 record and a 4.33 ERA in 195 games pitched.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #446
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 / Tigers Team Set
This is Rakow's sixth and final appearance in a Topps flagship set. The cartoon on the back highlights his allowing only one home run in 46 relief innings in 1964. While that may be accurate, his full output as a reliever wasn't as successful. In total, Rakow threw 77 2/3 innings of relief, allowing five home runs. The last sentence on the back references his demotion on April 7th of that year, and I continue to be impressed when I come across cards in this set referencing events that had happened earlier in the season.
1965 Season
Hoping to rebound from injuries, Rakow had a solid spring training but started the season with the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League. The Tigers brought him up in May, and he'd struggle through six appearances before being demoted again. Rakow had no record in those six games, with a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings pitched. He fared slightly better with Syracuse, going 4-9 with a 4.63 ERA in 21 games, including 14 starts.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #551
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1960-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #454
21 - Rakow non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/12/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #446
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 Rakow 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 / Tigers Team Set
This is Rakow's sixth and final appearance in a Topps flagship set. The cartoon on the back highlights his allowing only one home run in 46 relief innings in 1964. While that may be accurate, his full output as a reliever wasn't as successful. In total, Rakow threw 77 2/3 innings of relief, allowing five home runs. The last sentence on the back references his demotion on April 7th of that year, and I continue to be impressed when I come across cards in this set referencing events that had happened earlier in the season.
1965 Season
Hoping to rebound from injuries, Rakow had a solid spring training but started the season with the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League. The Tigers brought him up in May, and he'd struggle through six appearances before being demoted again. Rakow had no record in those six games, with a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings pitched. He fared slightly better with Syracuse, going 4-9 with a 4.63 ERA in 21 games, including 14 starts.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #551
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1960-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #454
21 - Rakow non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/12/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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