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Frank Louis Bertaina
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher
Born: April 14, 1944, San Francisco, CA
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1964-1967; Washington Senators 1967-1969; Baltimore Orioles 1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1970
Died: March 3, 2010, Santa Rosa, CA (age 65)
Once considered a top pitching prospect for the Orioles, Frank Bertaina appeared in only 99 major league games over seven different seasons. He flashed signs of brilliance at times with the Orioles, but was never able to fully repeat the success he found with their top farm team in Rochester. He earned a World Series ring with the club in 1966, although he did not pitch in the postseason. Traded to the Senators with Mike Epstein for Pete Richert (#252) in May 1967, Bertaina would appear in a career-high 27 games for Washington in 1968. He'd pitch for two more seasons, briefly returning to Baltimore, before calling it a career.
Bertaina was 19-29 with a 3.84 ERA for his career, striking out 280 batters over 413 innings pitched. Due to the success he had with the International League's Rochester Red Wings, he was inducted into that club's Hall of Fame.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #510
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October. 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 / Orioles Team Set
This is Bertaina's rookie card and he'd regress to appearing on a Rookie Stars card with two other Orioles prospects (Gene Brabender and Dave Johnson - #473) in the 1966 Topps set. According to Baseball Reference, Bertaina wore both uniform numbers 18 and 39 during the 1964 season, but it looks to me as if the uniform number on his back here starts with a 5. As mentioned on the back of the card, Bertaina was inserted into the Orioles pitching rotation in the middle of a tense pennant race. He made his big league debut on August 1st, pitching seven strong innings against the Athletics and in his second start on August 22nd he lasted only into the third inning. The start referenced here is his third start, on September 12th, again against the Athletics. Bertaina threw a one-hit shutout, striking out seven to keep the Orioles in first place with a 1 1/2 game lead over the White Sox and a two game lead over the Yankees.
1965 Season
Manager Hank Bauer (#323) didn't provide Bertaina with a lot of work in 1965, as the back of this Topps card had promised. Bertaina was a September call-up, appearing in only two games and pitching a total of six innings. He spent the season prior to September pitching for the Rochester Red Wings, where he was 13-9 with a 3.88 ERA in 27 games, including 25 starts. He tied with Bill Short for the team-lead in wins, and Bertaina led the team in innings pitched (181), strikeouts (188) and complete games (12).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #396
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1965-1966, 1968-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #446
27 - Bertaina non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/7/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #510
This is the 26th 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. Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders. Much to my pleasant surprise, they had. This Bertaina card was $4 and was one of 49 commons purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
The Card / Orioles Team Set
This is Bertaina's rookie card and he'd regress to appearing on a Rookie Stars card with two other Orioles prospects (Gene Brabender and Dave Johnson - #473) in the 1966 Topps set. According to Baseball Reference, Bertaina wore both uniform numbers 18 and 39 during the 1964 season, but it looks to me as if the uniform number on his back here starts with a 5. As mentioned on the back of the card, Bertaina was inserted into the Orioles pitching rotation in the middle of a tense pennant race. He made his big league debut on August 1st, pitching seven strong innings against the Athletics and in his second start on August 22nd he lasted only into the third inning. The start referenced here is his third start, on September 12th, again against the Athletics. Bertaina threw a one-hit shutout, striking out seven to keep the Orioles in first place with a 1 1/2 game lead over the White Sox and a two game lead over the Yankees.
1965 Season
Manager Hank Bauer (#323) didn't provide Bertaina with a lot of work in 1965, as the back of this Topps card had promised. Bertaina was a September call-up, appearing in only two games and pitching a total of six innings. He spent the season prior to September pitching for the Rochester Red Wings, where he was 13-9 with a 3.88 ERA in 27 games, including 25 starts. He tied with Bill Short for the team-lead in wins, and Bertaina led the team in innings pitched (181), strikeouts (188) and complete games (12).
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #396
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1965-1966, 1968-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #446
27 - Bertaina non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/7/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #395 Jim Hart - San Francisco Giants
Previous Card: #395 Jim Hart - San Francisco Giants
Next Card: #397 Jerry Buchek - St. Louis Cardinals
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