 |
.jpg) |
James Sherman Wynn
Houston Astros
Outfield
Born: March 12, 1942, Cincinnati, OH
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Houson Colt .45s 1963-1964; Houston Astros 1965-1973; Los Angeles Dodgers 1974-1975; Atlanta Braves 1976; New York Yankees 1977; Milwaukee Brewers 1977
Died: March 26, 2020, Houston, TX (age 78)
Affectionately nicknamed "The Toy Cannon," due to the unexpected pop in his bat from someone with such a small stature, Jimmy Wynn played in 15 big league seasons, primarily with the Astros. Wynn was the Astros' opening day center fielder in 1965 and was one of the franchise's first stars. His best season with Houston came in 1967 when he was named to his first All-Star squad. Wynn batted .249 that season while reaching career highs in home runs (37) and RBIs (107). Able to work a walk, he led the league in that category twice (1969 and 1976) and his 1,224 career bases on balls are currently 57th all-time. Wynn finished in the top ten for on-base percentage in seven different seasons.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #486
This is the second of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. This Wynn card was a little over $4 and was one of 13 cards purchased from the dealer America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up by mid-October. So get used to seeing this passage on the blog! It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
The Card / Astros Team Set
The photo used here is from the same session that yielded the photo used for Wynn's 1964 Topps rookie card. I had originally thought the orange spot to the right of Wynn was a blemish on our copy of the card, but apparently it's visible on every card. The cartoon on the back shows Wynn being drafted from the Reds, and the Colt. 45s stole him from Cincinnati in the November 1962 first-year draft. The write-up on the back also mentions Wynn's ability to play the infield. Originally a shortstop, Wynn's defense resulted in his conversion to a full-time outfielder in 1964.
1965 Season
Wynn started 150 of the Astros' 162 games in center field and was arguably the team's MVP. He batted .275 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs, winning the Astros' Triple Crown. He walked 84 times and had 43 stolen bases in 47 attempts. Along with fellow young stars Joe Morgan (#16) and Rusty Staub (#321), Wynn gave Houston fans a reason to be excited to come watch baseball in the newly opened Astrodome.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1964-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Donruss Signature Series #SGS-JI
157 - Wynn non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/2/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #256 Tito Francona - St. Louis Cardinals
Previous Card: #256 Tito Francona - St. Louis Cardinals
Next Card: #258 Larry Bearnarth - New York Mets
Interesting that he started out in the Reds system. And that he also played the infield. I didn't know that about him. I don't remember him being with the Yankees and Brewers at the end of his career. To me he's an Astro and part of the '74 Dodgers team that lost to the A's in the World Series.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know any of that either, and I've enjoyed learning new things about these players while collecting the set. I always knew Wynn as the guy with the awesome card in the '75 set.
ReplyDelete