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Joseph O'Neal Christopher
New York Mets
Outfield
Born: December 13, 1935, Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1959-1961; New York Mets 1962-1965; Boston Red Sox 1966
The Pirates recalled Joe Christopher in May 1959, when Roberto Clemente (#160) went down with an elbow injury, and he made his big league debut during Harvey Haddix's (#67) near 13-inning perfect game on May 26, 1959. With the Pirates, Christopher served as a back-up outfielder to Clemente, Bill Virdon (#69) and Bob Skinner (#591), and scored a pair of runs in 1960 World Series as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. The Pirates defeated the Yankees in seven games on Bill Mazeroski's (#95) walk-off, Game 7 home run. Left unprotected in the expansion draft, Christopher was the tenth pick overall and the fifth pick by the Mets in 1961. He'd get his chance for every day playing time in 1964, serving as the Mets' regular right fielder and enjoying a career year. Christopher batted .300 that season with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs, one of the few bright spots for a Mets team that would lose 109 games.
He'd move to left field for the Mets in 1965, and then appear in his final major league action with the Red Sox in 1966. Christopher would play for six different organizations in 1966 and 1967, making several different minor league stops. He'd continue to play in Puerto Rico and Mexico through the 1972 season before finally retiring as a player. In 638 big league games, Christopher batted .260 with 29 home runs and 173 RBIs.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / Mets Team Set
There's an excellent chance the photos used for each of Christopher's Topps cards between 1963 and 1966 were all taken at the same session. The back of the card highlights his successful minor league career, and unfortunately the prediction of "several more years as a major league regular" was a bit off. Christopher, at card #52, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Mets in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #458
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 Christopher 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 / Mets Team Set
There's an excellent chance the photos used for each of Christopher's Topps cards between 1963 and 1966 were all taken at the same session. The back of the card highlights his successful minor league career, and unfortunately the prediction of "several more years as a major league regular" was a bit off. Christopher, at card #52, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Mets in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
Christopher is the second player we've added to the set born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with the first being Al McBean (#25).
1965 Season
Christopher moved to left field and was the Mets' opening day starter at that position. He'd lose playing time to Ron Swoboda (#533) as the season progressed, but he finished the year as the team's regular right fielder again. He appeared in 148 games overall, making 62 starts in left field and 48 starts in right field, batting .249 for the season with five home runs and 40 RBIs.
1965 Season
Christopher moved to left field and was the Mets' opening day starter at that position. He'd lose playing time to Ron Swoboda (#533) as the season progressed, but he finished the year as the team's regular right fielder again. He appeared in 148 games overall, making 62 starts in left field and 48 starts in right field, batting .249 for the season with five home runs and 40 RBIs.
Phillies Connection
Christopher's last baseball action stateside came with the Double-A Reading Phillies in 1968. As one of the few veterans on the club, he batted . 258 in 102 games with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. Christopher was one of three most frequently used outfielders by the Reading team, along with fellow veteran Howie Bedell and Steven Kolinsky.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #82
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1961, 1963-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JC
27 - Christopher non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Christopher's last baseball action stateside came with the Double-A Reading Phillies in 1968. As one of the few veterans on the club, he batted . 258 in 102 games with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. Christopher was one of three most frequently used outfielders by the Reading team, along with fellow veteran Howie Bedell and Steven Kolinsky.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #82
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1961, 1963-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JC
27 - Christopher 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
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