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Stanley Wilson Williams
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: September 14, 1936, Enfield, NH
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1962; New York Yankees 1963-1964; Cleveland Indians 1965, 1967-1969; Minnesota Twins 1970-1971; St. Louis Cardinals 1971; Boston Red Sox 1972
Died: February 20, 2021, Laughlin, NV (age 84)
The original "Big Hurt," Stan Williams pitched in parts of 14 big league seasons, finding the most success early in his career with the Dodgers. Williams played a key role in the Dodgers reaching and winning the 1959 World Series, pitching three shutout innings in the decisive game against the Braves in that season's best of three playoffs to determine the National League pennant winner. He'd be named to both All-Star teams in 1960, in his first of three seasons winning at least 14 games. Williams was 15-12 in 1961, pitching in a career-high 235 1/3 innings and striking out a career-high 205 batters. In his final games with the Dodgers in 1962, he struggled in the playoff series against the Giants, blowing saves in two of the games, with the Giants advancing to the World Series.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #568
This is the 84th 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 Williams 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
I'm fairly certain Topps didn't fool any young collectors here that Williams isn't wearing a blank Indians hat and jersey, with several Yankees teammates standing around in the background. Maybe if they had cropped the photo a little more and used a darker shade to block out the Yankees logo on the hat it could have worked better. But I'll give Topps credit for the effort, and the cartoon on the back notes Williams was sold to the Indians that March.
And I thought the "DOWNS" on the glove could be Al Downing (#598)? Williams would have been teammates with him on the Yankees between 1963 and 1964, but Downing was a lefty while Williams was a righty. Minor league pitcher Gil Downs was a righty, and could have been in Yankees' spring training camp in 1964. Downs spent five seasons in the minor leagues, pitching for various Yankees farm teams between 1964 and 1966. And while Downs never had a baseball card appearance, it appears his glove did.
1965 Season
Williams was sold to the Indians on March 30th, and he'd appear in only three games for the club early in the year. Most of his season was spent with the Triple-A Seattle Angels, his first action in the minor leagues since 1958. With the Angels, Williams appeared in 34 games, making 14 starts, and was 6-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 134 innings pitched.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #53
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1959-1965, 1968-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #9
73 - Williams non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/21/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1965 Season
Williams was sold to the Indians on March 30th, and he'd appear in only three games for the club early in the year. Most of his season was spent with the Triple-A Seattle Angels, his first action in the minor leagues since 1958. With the Angels, Williams appeared in 34 games, making 14 starts, and was 6-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 134 innings pitched.
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #53
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1959-1965, 1968-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #9
73 - Williams non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/21/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #403 Boston Red Sox Team Card
Previous Card: #403 Boston Red Sox Team Card
Next Card: #405 John Roseboro - Los Angeles Dodgers
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