#575 Jose Pagan - San Francisco Giants

Jose Antonio Pagan
San Francisco Giants
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  160
Born:  May 5, 1935, Barceloneta, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1959-1965; Pittsburgh Pirates 1965-1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1973
Died:  June 7, 2011, Sebring, FL (age 76)

As of one the better fielding shortstops in the National League, Jose Pagan's best seasons of his 15-year major league career came as a member of the Giants in the early 1960s.  Pagan's career year in 1962 coincided with the Giants winning the National League pennant.  In 164 games, he batted .259 with seven home runs and career highs with 73 runs scored and 57 RBIs.  Pagan also led all National League shortstops in fielding percentage with a .973 mark.  In the World Series, while the Yankees downed the Giants in seven games, Pagan batted .368 (7 for 19) with a home run.  He was traded to the Pirates in May 1965, and he'd serve in a back-up role for the club for seven and half seasons.

1973 Phillies Photocards

The Pirates won the National League pennant in 1970 and 1971, defeating the Orioles in the 1971 World Series in seven games.  Pagan, a valuable utility player for the Pirates, drove in the eventual winning run in the decisive Game 7, doubling home Willie Stargell (#377) to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.  The team would win the game, 2-1, giving Pittsburgh its first World Series victory since 1960.  Pagan played a final season with the Phillies in 1973 before retiring.  He'd return to the Pirates as a coach for five seasons between 1974 and 1978.  In 1,326 games, Pagan batted .250 with 922 hits and 387 runs scored.

Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #477
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for a little bit longer as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show.  I was fairly ambitious documenting these purchases and I was able to compose posts for five cards a week, meaning I'll be completely caught up by the end of May.  The ongoing MLB owner's lockout and the lack of any spring training games has given me a little more spare time than usual in February and March.  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 Pagan 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 / Giants Team Set
The cartoon on the back of the card justifiably highlights Pagan's successful World Series against the Yankees in 1962.

1965 Season
Pagan began the season with the Giants, and was the team's opening day shortstop.  After a slow start at the plate, and as he was batting just .205, the Giants traded him to the Pirates on May 22nd for fellow infielder Dick Schofield (#218).  Pagan played in 42 games for the Pirates, receiving only four starts as the club's infield was fairly set with Bill Mazeroski (#95) at second base, Gene Alley (#121) at shortstop and Bob Bailey (#412) at third base.  22 of Pagan's 42 appearances with the Pirates came as either a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner, and he batted .237 for the club.

Phillies Career
Released by the Pirates following the 1972 season, Pagan signed with the Phillies on November 13, 1972.  He appeared in 46 games overall, with 30 of those appearances as a pinch-hitter.  Pagan made ten starts for the club, with eight starts coming at third base to give the young Mike Schmidt a rest.  He batted .205 overall and in his final at-bat on August 15, 1973, he pinch-hit for reliever Ron Diorio and struck out against former teammate Juan Marichal (#50).  Pagan was released by the Phillies the following day, on August 16th.

1960 Topps #67

1962 Topps #565

1966 Topps #54

1971 Topps #282

1973 Topps #659

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #67
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14):  1960-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #102

73 - Pagan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/7/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #574 Roy Sievers - Washington Senators

Next Card:  #576 Terry Fox - Detroit Tigers