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Earl Jesse Battey
Minnesota Twins
Catcher
Born: January 5, 1935, Los Angeles, CA
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1955-1959; Washington Senators 1960; Minnesota Twins 1961-1967
Died: November 13, 2003, Ocala, FL (age 68)
Earl Battey spent his first five seasons in the majors as a back-up catcher and occasional pinch-hitter for the White Sox before a trade to the Senators in April 1960 gave him the chance to start on a regular basis. With the Senators in 1960, he won his first of three Gold Gloves while finishing eighth in the American League MVP voting. When the Senators relocated to Minnesota for the 1961 season, Battey was the opening day catcher for the Twins and he'd begin the best stretch of his career. Battey was a five-time All-Star between 1962 and 1966, starting each of his first four All-Star Game appearances. In 1963, he batted .285 while setting career highs in both home runs with 26 and RBIs with 84. He'd help guide the Twins to the American League pennant in 1965, solidifying an already potent line-up that also consisted of Zoilo Versalles (#157), Tony Oliva (#340) and Harmon Killebrew (#400).
Battey retired following the 1967 season with 969 career hits over 1,141 games. He batted .270 with 104 home runs and 449 RBIs, and his 831 games behind the plate for the Twins rank highest in franchise history. He was named to the Twins' 40th anniversary team in 2000, and posthumously inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2004.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / Twins Team Set
The cartoon highlight on the back of the card celebrates his three Gold Glove wins, won between 1960 and 1962. Reference is also made to the "Little League head protector" Battey wore while batting. He was one of the first major leaguers to wear an earflap on his batting helmet due to twice being hit in the face and suffering broken cheekbones in 1961. Battey, at card #70, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Twins in the set.
1965 Season
Battey appeared in 131 games, batting .297 with six home runs and 60 RBIs. He led all American League players in votes for the All-Star Game, and he started the game behind the plate in his home ballpark, Metropolitan Stadium. He went 0 for 2 in the game against Juan Marichal (#50) and Jim Maloney (#530). For the season, he led all American League catchers in runners caught stealing (26) and caught stealing percentage (48.1%). Battey started all seven games in the World Series for the Twins, but struggled at the plate going 3 for 25 (.120) against the Dodgers.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #401
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1957-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2006 SP Legendary Cuts #7
96 - Battey non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #457
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 Battey 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 / Twins Team Set
The cartoon highlight on the back of the card celebrates his three Gold Glove wins, won between 1960 and 1962. Reference is also made to the "Little League head protector" Battey wore while batting. He was one of the first major leaguers to wear an earflap on his batting helmet due to twice being hit in the face and suffering broken cheekbones in 1961. Battey, at card #70, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Twins in the set.
1965 Season
Battey appeared in 131 games, batting .297 with six home runs and 60 RBIs. He led all American League players in votes for the All-Star Game, and he started the game behind the plate in his home ballpark, Metropolitan Stadium. He went 0 for 2 in the game against Juan Marichal (#50) and Jim Maloney (#530). For the season, he led all American League catchers in runners caught stealing (26) and caught stealing percentage (48.1%). Battey started all seven games in the World Series for the Twins, but struggled at the plate going 3 for 25 (.120) against the Dodgers.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #401
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1957-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2006 SP Legendary Cuts #7
96 - Battey non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #489 Gene Mauch MG - Philadelphia Phillies
Previous Card: #489 Gene Mauch MG - Philadelphia Phillies
Next Card: #491 Tracy Stallard - St. Louis Cardinals
31 hits away from 1,000. You would think that Earl would stay on for 1 more season to achieve that milestone.
ReplyDeleteAgreed . . . He probably could have come back with the Twins or found a back-up role somewhere. I think the injuries had piled up, and he was ready to call it a career.
ReplyDelete