 |
.jpg) |
Melvin Leon Stottlemyre
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: November 13, 1941, Hazleton, MO
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1964-1974
Died: January 13, 2019, Seattle, WA (age 77)
As a 22-year-old rookie in 1964, Mel Stottlemyre went 9-3 with a 2.06 ERA over the final few months of the season, helping the Yankees win their fifth consecutive pennant. In his only World Series action as a player, Stottlemyre started Games 2, 5 and 7, throwing a complete game victory in Game 2, but losing the decisive Game 7 to the Cardinals' Bob Gibson (#320). He was a 20-game winner in 1965, 1968 and 1969, leading the league in complete games with 18 in 1965 and 24 in 1969. Stottlemyre was a five-time All-Star, starting the 1969 game against the Cardinals' Steve Carlton (#477). He retired as a player following the 1974 season having pitched in 360 games, and compiling a 164-139 record with a 2.97 ERA, 152 complete games and 40 shutouts. He struck out 1,257 batters over 2,661 1/3 innings pitched.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #548
This is the 64th 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.
I found 49 commons and semi-stars we needed for our set in the two neon green binders of 1965 Topps cards at Uncle Dick's. Having reached the end of the binders, I asked if there were any star cards from the set available for my perusal, and of course there were. I found this Stottlemyre card along with the Harmon Killebrew (#400) card in a modest stack of star cards, and I offered a bundled price for the two, less than the original combined price, and the dealer accepted. Having once again wiped out Uncle Dick's stock of needed 1965 Topps cards, we wandered the show room floor a little longer before I settled in for the next bulk purchase of commons. With the addition of this card, we were just 50 cards away from a complete 1965 Topps set.
The Card / Yankees Team Set
Collectors first got a glimpse of Stottlemyre in series two as part of the World Series subset, as his performance in Game 2 (#133) earned him a card. This is his official rookie card, with Topps making it just under the wire by getting him into the set's seventh series. On the back, his fantastic 1964 season is recapped in cartoon form and with the write-up above his statistics.
1965 Season
This was Stottlemyre's best season overall, and I'm sure Topps was anxious to get his rookie card in their flagship set. Starting the season in the Yankees' starting pitching rotation, he emerged as the team's ace, going 20-9 with a 2.63 ERA in 37 starts. He threw 18 complete games, tops in the league, including four shutouts. He also led the league with 291 innings pitched. Known also as a decent hitter, Stottlemyre hit an inside the park grand slam on July 20th at Yankee Stadium off Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette (#142).
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #133
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1965-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2014 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-MS
158 - Stottlemyre non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/1/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
No comments:
Post a Comment