#266 Bert Campaneris - Kansas City Athletics

Dagoberto Campaneris
Kansas City Athletics
Shortstop-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  March 9, 1942, Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent, April 25, 1961
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Athletics 1964-1967; Oakland Athletics 1968-1976; Texas Rangers 1977-1979; California Angels 1979-1981; New York Yankees 1983

A speedy and steady fielding shortstop for most of his 19-year major league career, Bert Campaneris was a six-time All-Star and a three-time World Champion as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty of the early 1970s.  He first came to fame in 1965 when he became the first player to play all nine positions during a game in a publicity stunt staged by A's owner Charlie Finley.  Campaneris led the league with 51 steals in 1965, his first of four consecutive years leading the American League in that category.  He'd lead in six seasons overall with his 62 steals in 1968 his career best.  That 1968 season, the Athletics first in Oakland, was also his finest year in the majors as he batted .276 while leading the league with 177 hits.  Campaneris would play in his first of three consecutive postseasons in 1972, but earned a suspension when he threw his bat at Tigers' pitcher Lerrin LaGrow in Game 2 of the ALCS.  He batted .263 in his three World Series appearances, as the Athletics won in 1972, 1973 and 1974.  Campaneris was the starting shortstop for the American League All-Star teams in 1973, 1974 and 1975.

He signed as a free agent with the Rangers following the 1976 season, and Campaneris spent the final years of his big league career as a back-up infielder and pinch-hitter, leading the league in sacrifice bunts twice.  The veteran retired following one last stint in the majors with the Yankees, replacing an injured Willie Randolph in 1983.  He batted .259 in 2,328 games, collecting 2,249 hits and 649 stolen bases, currently 14th all-time.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Richie's Sports Cards - Manalapan, NJ) - Card #586

This is the last 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.  

With 101 new cards secure in my red backpack, I wanted to return to a dealer's table where I had seen this Campaneris rookie card displayed in a glass-covered case earlier in the morning.  I asked to see the card, offered what I thought was a fair price, the dealer counteroffered and I accepted.  With that, the day was done and we had 102 new cards for our 1965 Topps set that would take me until mid-October to appreciate, compose posts for and put away, and we were 12 cards away from a complete set.

Since that early March day, we've added seven more cards, so the official need list as of this writing is down to a measly five - three of which I'd consider to be fairly expensive.  I'll get through the seven cards added between April and September in the next few weeks, and then there could be a lull in posting as I save up enough allowance money for the final five.

The Card / Athletics Team Set
Topps lists his position as "SS-OF" on this card, but Campaneris is the shortstop on the Topps 1964 All-Star Rookie team, joining his nine teammates as displayed below.  The back of the card mentions the two home runs he hit in his big league debut.  Called up by the Athletics in late July, he debuted on July 23rd against the Twins, batting second and playing shortstop.  Campaneris hit a first inning home run off Jim Kaat (#62), singled in the third, grounded out in the fifth, and homered again off Kaat in the seventh.  The first inning home run came on the very first pitch he saw, and he's one of five players to hit two home runs in their major league debuts.  Trevor Story last did it in 2016.

This card has been reprinted several times, appearing in the 2001 Topps Archives, 2003 Topps Shoebox Collection and 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Reprints sets.  It's the final card we needed to complete the Athletics team set.

#290

#18

#523

#224

#118

#460

#266

#305

#55

#340

1965 Season
Campaneris was the opening day shortstop, moving to left field for quite a few starts until early June, with Wayne Causey (#425) seeing shortstop duty.  Campaneris would ultimately start 103 games at shortstop, 37 games in left field and one game in center field.  In 144 games overall, he batted .270 with a league-leading 12 triples and 51 stolen bases.

On their way to a 103 loss season, Finley advertised in advance that Campaneris would be playing all nine positions in the September 8th game against the Angels.  Campaneris started at shortstop, moving progressively to second base, third base, left field, center field, right field, pitcher and finally, catcher.  He pitched the eighth inning in a close 2-1 game with the Angels leading.  Campaneris gave up an RBI-single to Joe Adcock, but struck out Bobby Knoop (#26) to end the inning.  Moving behind the plate for the ninth, Campaneris had to leave the game following a home plate collision with Ed Kirkpatrick (#393).

1966 Topps #175

1969 Topps #495

1975 Topps #170

1979 Topps #620

1984 Topps #139

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #266
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1965-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2016 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs #FFA-BC

231 - Campaneris non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/10/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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