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Theodore Wade Abernathy
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: March 6, 1933, Stanley, NC
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1955-1957, 1960; Cleveland Indians 1963-1964; Chicago Cubs 1965-1966; Atlanta Braves 1966; Cincinnati Reds 1967-1968; Chicago Cubs 1969-1970; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970-1972
Died: December 16, 2014, Gastonia, NC (age 71)
Ted Abernathy was a durable reliever who spent 14 years in the majors, topping the league in relief appearances three times and leading the league in saves twice. Abernathy developed an effective submarine pitching motion following right shoulder surgery in 1959. After pitching sporadically with the Senators in the late 1950s and 1960, Abernathy began a string of ten consecutive seasons between 1963 and 1972 in which he'd relieve in at least 40 games. He developed into one of the game's top closers, making 84 appearances in 1965 with the Cubs and saving a league leading 31 games. Abernathy enjoyed a career year in 1967 with the Reds, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 70 games and 106 1/3 innings pitched while leading the league with 28 saves. He'd finish his career as one of the first closers in Royals' franchise history, appearing in his final major league games in 1972.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #557
This is the 73rd 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. After our 51 card haul from Uncle Dick's, and with more card spending budget still in place, I set out to find another dealer with a binder of 1965 Topps cards with reasonable prices. I had purchased cards from Sports Cards Plus before, finding the last few cards needed for our 1971 Topps set from this dealer back in December 2019.
Settling in, we found 37 cards needed for our set with an average price per card working out to around $6. This lot, including this Abernathy card, consisted mostly of semi-stars and team cards. After paying for this mini haul, we were officially 13 cards away from a complete set, with one more purchase coming to end the day.
The Card / Indians Team Set
Abernathy wore #36 during his two seasons pitching for the Indians. His Topps flagship set appearances skip around a bit, as he first appeared in a Topps set in 1957, came back in 1959 and 1960, and then had a three-year absence until 1964. The back of the card highlights his minor league success and mentions his side-arm style of pitching.
1965 Season
On April 11th, the day before opening day, Abernathy was sold by the Indians to the Cubs and he'd immediately be inserted onto the Cubs' roster as their closer. Abernathy had a fantastic season for the eighth place club, with he and Lindy McDaniel (#244) combining to make 155 appearances. Abernathy was 4-6 with a 2.57 ERA in 84 games, recording 31 saves to lead the league. He won The Sporting News Fireman of the Year honors following the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #293
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1957, 1959-1960, 1964-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #22
49 - Abernathy non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/11/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #331 Dodgers Rookie Stars
Previous Card: #331 Dodgers Rookie Stars
Next Card: #333 Tommie Reynolds - Kansas City Athletics
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