Thursday, June 9, 2022

#357 Carl Warwick - St. Louis Cardinals


Carl Wayne Warwick
St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 27, 1937, Dallas, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1961; St. Louis Cardinals 1961-1962; Houston Colt .45s 1962-1963; St. Louis Cardinals 1964-1965; Baltimore Orioles 1965; Chicago Cubs 1966

Carl Warwick played in parts of six big league seasons, and he's best remembered for his pinch-hitting prowess against the Yankees in the 1964 World Series.  In 1959, while playing for the Victoria Rosebuds, the Dodgers' affiliate in the Texas League, Warwick batted .351 while leading the league in runs (129) and home runs (35).  He earned the league's Most Valuable Player honors that season.  He played sparingly in the majors with the Dodgers and Cardinals before a trade in May 1962 sent him to the expansion Colt .45s.  With Houston, Warwick settled in as the club's first regular center fielder and he'd appear in 130 games in 1962 followed by a career-high 150 games in 1963.  Over two seasons with the Colt .45s, Warwick batted .257 with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs.  In spring training 1964, he was traded back to the Cardinals and he'd serve as a pinch-hitter and back-up outfielder for the eventual National League Champions.

In the 1964 World Series, Warwick reached in his first four plate appearances as a pinch-hitter with three singles and a walk.  His hits contributed to winning rallies in both Game 1 and Game 4, as the Cardinals won in seven games.  Warwick would play two more seasons in the majors before retiring.  In 530 major league games, he batted .248 with 31 home runs and 149 RBIs.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #492
This is the eighth 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 Warwick 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 / Cardinals Team Set
This is one of only five Topps flagship set appearances for Warwick, and his second Cardinals card.  The cartoon on the back of the card highlights Warwick's MVP season of 1959.  The write-up below the cartoon mentions his three pinch-hits against the Yankees in the 1964 World Series.

1965 Season
Warwick began the season with the Cardinals, appearing in 50 games and batting only .156 as a pinch-hitter and late inning defensive replacement.  On July 24th, he was sold to the Orioles and manager Hank Bauer (#323) used him in only nine games throughout the remainder of the season.  Warwick went hitless in 17 plate appearances with the Orioles, drawing three walks.

1962 Topps #202
1963 Topps #333
1964 Topps #179
1966 Topps #247

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #202
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1962-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-CW

30 - Warwick non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/4/22.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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