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John William Buzhardt
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher
Born: August 17, 1936, Prosperity, SC
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent, June 1, 1954
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1958-1959; Philadelphia Phillies 1960-1961; Chicago White Sox 1962-1967; Baltimore Orioles 1967; Houston Astros 1967-1968
Died: June 15, 2008, Prosperity, SC (age 71)
John Buzhardt pitched in 11 different seasons, primarily with the White Sox as a starting pitcher. Buzhardt came up with the Cubs in 1958, and on June 21, 1959 he pitched a 4-0 one-hitter against the Phillies, with Carl Sawatski spoiling the no-hit bid with a third inning single. Buzhardt would join the Phillies pitching staff in 1960 and was an innings-eater for the second division team, throwing over 200 innings in two straight seasons. In 1961, with the Phillies on their way to a 107-loss season, Buzhardt threw a complete game victory against the Giants on July 28th. The Phillies would then go on to lose 23 games in a row, with the streak finally broken by another Buzhardt complete game victory on August 20th.
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| 1950-1969 Phillies Photo Cards |
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #449
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 Buzhardt 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 / White Sox Team Set
Topps was at a loss with what to highlight on the back of Buzhardt's card, opting to showcase his 18 wins while a member of the Class C Magic Valley Cowboys in 1956.
1965 Season
This was one of Buzhardt's best seasons, and he did well while pitching for a White Sox team in contention for the American League pennant all season. In 32 games, including 30 starts, he was 13-8 with a 3.01 ERA and a career-high 108 strikeouts in 188 2/3 innings pitched. One incident may have changed the course of his season though, after he had started with a record of 7-1. On July 18th, manager Al Lopez (#414) pulled Buzhardt from a game in the eighth inning with the White Sox holding a slim 2-1 lead. Buzhardt threw his glove into the stands on the way back to the dugout in anger, and he went 6-7 over the remainder of the season.
Buzhardt's arrival to the Phillies marked the end of future Hall of Famer and fan favorite Richie Ashburn's playing days with the team. On January 11, 1960, the Phillies traded Ashburn to the Cubs for Buzhardt, Al Dark and Jim Woods. Buzhardt would be the team's second most used starting pitcher behind Robin Roberts (#15) in 1960, making 29 starts and earning a 5-16 record with a 3.86 ERA. He was 6-18 the following season for an even worse Phillies team, pitching to a 4.49 ERA in 41 games, including 27 starts. Only Art Mahaffey (#446) made more starts in 1961 for the Phillies with 32. Despite his record, he was the team's stopper, counted on to stop losing streaks, including the 23-game streak mentioned above. His Phillies career came to an end on November 28, 1961, when he was dealt with Charley Smith (#22) to the White Sox for first baseman Roy Sievers (#574).
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #118
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1959-1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #361
41 - Buzhardt non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/13/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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