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George Lee Altman
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Born: March 20, 1933, Goldsboro, NC
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent, August 19, 1955
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1959-1962; St. Louis Cardinals 1963; New York Mets 1964; Chicago Cubs 1965-1967
George Altman played for almost 20 seasons professionally, first as an All-Star outfielder for the Cubs and then as a slugger in Japan. Altman originally came up with the Cubs in 1959 and was the team's regular center fielder for a few seasons before moving to right field. His best seasons came in 1961 and 1962 when he made all three All-Star teams. Altman led the league in triples with 12 in 1961 while hitting his major league career highs with 27 home runs and 96 RBIs. He repeated that success in 1962, batting .318 for a Cubs team that lost 103 games. After a season with the Cardinals and another with the Mets, Altman returned to Chicago in 1965 where he'd finish up his career stateside with three seasons as mostly a back-up outfielder and pinch-hitter.
At 35 years old, Altman then began his Japanese baseball career, driving in 100 runs and hitting 34 home runs for the Tokyo Orions in 1968. He'd play eight seasons in Japan, hitting at least 20 home runs in his first seven seasons and enjoying a career year in 1971 with the Lotte Orions. That season, Altman batted .320 with 39 home runs and 103 RBIs. Altman batted .269 in nine major league seasons, with 101 home runs and 403 RBIs. His Japan totals over eight seasons were much better as he batted .310 with 205 home runs and 656 RBIs.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #467
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 / Cubs Team Set
Given Altman spent the entire 1964 season with the Mets, this photo most likely dates from his first stint with the Cubs between 1959 and 1962. On the back, his All-Star season in 1961 is referenced twice, including the cartoon highlighting his league leading triples total that year.
1965 Season
On January 15th, the Cubs reacquired Altman, dealing Billy Cowan (#186) to the Mets. While he was the club's opening day left fielder, injuries slowed him all season and he'd appear in only 90 games, batting .235 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #512
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1959-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-GA
56 - Altman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/3/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #467
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 Altman card which was 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 / Cubs Team Set
Given Altman spent the entire 1964 season with the Mets, this photo most likely dates from his first stint with the Cubs between 1959 and 1962. On the back, his All-Star season in 1961 is referenced twice, including the cartoon highlighting his league leading triples total that year.
1965 Season
On January 15th, the Cubs reacquired Altman, dealing Billy Cowan (#186) to the Mets. While he was the club's opening day left fielder, injuries slowed him all season and he'd appear in only 90 games, batting .235 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #512
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1959-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-GA
56 - Altman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/3/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #527 Jeff Torborg - Los Angeles Dodgers
Previous Card: #527 Jeff Torborg - Los Angeles Dodgers
Next Card: #529 Jerry Fosnow - Minnesota Twins
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