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Samuel Joseph Ellis
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher
Born: February 11, 1941, Youngstown, OH
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1962, 1964-1967; California Angels 1968; Chicago White Sox 1969
Died: May 13, 2016, Temple Terrace, FL (age 75)
Sammy Ellis pitched in parts of seven big league seasons, reaching the pinnacle of his career in 1965 when he made the National League All-Star team and won 22 games. The Reds' top reliever in 1964, Ellis made 52 appearances out of the bullpen and had a 2.57 ERA over 122 1/3 innings pitched as the team's closer. He saved a career-high 14 games for a Reds team that would eventually finish as a runner-up to the Cardinals for the league pennant. Converted to a starting pitcher for the 1965 season, Ellis went 22-10 with a 3.79 ERA in 44 games, including 39 starts. Perhaps due to his unrelenting workload, he'd develop arm problems shortly thereafter, and was never the same pitcher again. Ellis continued to pitch through the 1971 season, last appearing for the Athletics' Double-A team in Birmingham. He retired with a 63-58 record and a 4.15 career ERA, with 677 strikeouts.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #522
This is the 38th 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 Ellis card was $4 and was one of 49 commons purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
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 / Reds Team Set
Having appeared on multi-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1963 and 1964 Topps sets, this is Ellis' first solo Topps baseball card. Wearing uniform #32 throughout his major league career, you can see the #2 peaking through on Ellis' back here. The back of the card celebrates his successful 1964 campaign as one of the Reds' top relievers.
1965 Season
This was Ellis' big year in the majors, and he and Jim Maloney (#530) were both 20-game winners for the Reds. He threw 15 complete games, with two shutouts and saved a pair of games for good measure. He led the league in home runs allowed (35) and earned runs (111) while throwing an impressive 263 2/3 innings. Ellis threw 14 innings in a game on June 29th, with his team ultimately losing to the Pirates, 2-1, in 16 innings.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #29
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1963-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #293
50 - Ellis non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/28/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #506 Sam Mele MG - Minnesota Twins
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Next Card: #508 7th Series Checklist 507-598
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