1965 Topps: #398 Reds Rookie Stars - Dan Neville / Art Shamsky

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

#398 Reds Rookie Stars - Dan Neville / Art Shamsky

Daniel Anthony Neville
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher

Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'3" Weight: 202
Born: April 6, 1941, Covington, KY
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1960 season

Arthur Louis Shamsky
Cincinnati Reds
Outfield

Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6'1" Weight: 168
Born: October 14, 1941, St. Louis, MO
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent, September 9, 1959
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1965-1967; New York Mets 1968-1971; Chicago Cubs 1972; Oakland Athletics 1972

Dan Neville pitched for eight seasons in the Reds' minor league system, never playing in the major leagues. His best professional season came in 1961 for the Class D Tampa Tarpons when he was 15-4 with a 1.94 ERA in 20 starts. Neville was a 13-game winner in 1963, and a 14-game winner in 1964 with the Triple-A San Diego Padres, most likely leading Topps to predict he'd be pitching for the Reds at some point during the 1965 season. In 227 minor league games, Neville was 67-54 with a 3.35 ERA and 744 strikeouts over 1,066 2/3 innings pitched.

Art Shamsky started his career as a back-up outfielder and pinch-hitter for the Reds, but enjoyed the best three seasons of his career with the Mets, helping the club reach and win the 1969 World Series. Shamsky platooned with Ron Swoboda (#533) in right field that season, batting .300 with 14 home runs and 47 RBIs. He shined in the postseason, batting .538 (7 for 13) in the NLCS against the Braves. Shamsky had another fine season in 1970, batting .293 with a career-high 49 RBIs, but then injuries limited him to just two more seasons with the Mets, Cubs and Athletics. In 665 career games, Shamsky batted .253 with 426 hits, 68 home runs and 233 RBIs. He'd later serve as a broadcaster for the Mets.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #565

This is the 81st 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. The lot, including this Reds Rookie Stars 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 / Reds Team Set
This is Neville's only baseball card appearance, unless you count the buyback version of the card, stamped by Topps and included in packs of 2014 Topps Heritage. Also Shamsky's rookie card, he'd get his first solo card in the 1966 Topps set.

1965 Season - Neville
Back in San Diego with the Padres all year, Neville appeared in 36 games, making seven starts. He was 4-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 74 innings pitched.

1965 Season - Shamsky
Shamsky spent the entire season with the Reds, appearing in 64 games and batting .260 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs. He started just 12 games, making nine starts in right field, and was used as pinch-hitter by manager Dick Sisler (#158) 50 times. Shamsky was successful off the bench, batting .289 (13 for 45) as a pinch-hitter with both of his home runs coming in that role.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Neville
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #398
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1): 1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #398

2 - Neville non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/16/22.

Sources - Neville:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Shamsky
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #398
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1965-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #278

60 - Shamsky non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/16/22.

Sources - Shamsky:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia