#118 Hal Lanier - San Francisco Giants

Harold Clifton Lanier
San Francisco Giants
Second Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  180
Born:  July 4, 1942, Denton, NC
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1964-1971; New York Yankees 1972-1973
As a Manager:  Houston Astros 1986-1988

Hal Lanier was a light-hitting infielder who played most of his 10-year big league career with the Giants.  He was the son of All-Star pitcher Max Lanier, who played for 14 seasons between 1938 and 1953, mostly with the Cardinals.  He hit his career peak with a .274 batting average during his rookie season of 1964, leading to his inclusion on the 1964 Topps All-Star Rookie team.  Lanier was the opening day second baseman for the Giants in 1965 through 1967 and then the team's opening day shortstop from 1968 through 1971.  His defense improved steadily throughout his playing career and Lanier finished second among N.L. second baseman in fielding percentage in 1966 and first among N.L. shortstops in fielding percentage in 1968.  He was sold to the Yankees before the 1972 season.  Lanier played for the Yankees for two seasons and then spent the 1974 and part of the 1975 season with the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers in the Cardinals' system as a player/coach.  In 1,196 career major league games, Lanier batted .228 with 843 hits.

1991 Medford Phillies #22

Lanier's first managerial job came with the St. Petersburg Cardinals in 1976, and he'd manage or coach professionally for the next 40 years.  He was promoted to the Cardinals as their third base coach in 1981, and he'd win a World Series ring with the club in 1982.  He departed St. Louis after the 1985 season to take over as manager for the Astros.  Guiding Houston to their best record (96-66) in franchise history up to that point, Lanier won National League Manager of the Year honors.  He was dismissed following the 1988 season with a lifetime managerial record of 254-232.  Lanier coached for the Phillies in 1990 and 1991 and he continued to manage in independent baseball leagues through the 2018 season.

Building the Set
May 15, 2021 from Lake Havasu City, AZ - Card #279
After adding a number of star cards in April, I decided I should focus on a group of commons for our set in May.  I set out specifically to add reasonably priced cards from the set's second series and I found a few eBay sellers running specials on recent set breaks.  In total, I added 23 cards over three-day period with this Lanier card coming from Kyle's Sports Cards located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona for $4.25.

The Card / Giants Team Set
This is Lanier's rookie card, and I imagine young collectors were thrilled to find a card in their packs with the impressive gold All-Star Rookie statute on the front.  In case you missed the trophy on the front, Topps highlights the honor with the cartoon on the back.  Lanier didn't debut with the Giants until June 18, 1964, spending the first part of the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Giants.  Up until his arrival, second base duties for the Giants were split between Jim Davenport (#213) and Chuck Hiller (#531).  With Hiller batting .189 and Davenport at .206, the Giants made the move to the rookie Lanier.

1965 Season
In his first full season with the Giants, Lanier appeared in 159 games and batted .226 with nary a home run, 15 doubles and 39 RBIs.

Phillies Career
Hal Lanier was named manager Nick Leyva's bench coach for the 1990 season, replacing John Vukovich who moved from the dugout to become the team's third base coach.  He remained with the club through the entire 1991 season, despite Leyva's quick dismissal that April.  New manager Jim Fregosi (#210) kept Lanier on the team's staff through the end of the year, and on the final game of the 1991 season Lanier was informed he wouldn't be brought back for 1992.  Consulting my 1991 Phillies Scrapbook, a fairly depressing artifact, there's an article clipped from the Philadelphia Daily News with then GM Lee Thomas (#111) explaining that Lanier was former manager "Nick's guy," and that the Phillies wanted to make a change.

Lanier appeared in the 1990 and 1991 Phillies team-issued photo card sets, his only baseball card appearances with the club.

1966 Topps #271

1969 Topps #316

1971 Topps #181

1974 Topps #588

1987 Topps #343

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #118
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14):  1965-1974, 1986-1989
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1989 Topps #164

74 - Lanier non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/1/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #117 Wes Stock - Kansas City Athletics

Next Card:  #119 John Kennedy - Los Angeles Dodgers

#571 Ossie Virgil - Pittsburgh Pirates

Osvaldo Jose Virgil
Pittsburgh Pirates
Catcher-Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  174
Born:  May 17, 1932, Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1956-1957; Detroit Tigers 1958, 1960-1961; Kansas City Athletics 1962; Baltimore Orioles 1962; Pittsburgh Pirates 1965; San Francisco Giants 1966, 1969

Ozzie Virgil was the first Dominican-born player to appear in the major leagues when he made his debut with the Giants in 1956, starting at third base in a game against the Phillies.  In 1958, he became the first African American to play in a game for the Tigers, again starting at third base and going 5 for 5 in his Tigers debut.  A journeyman utility player, Virgil played for five different major league teams in a career that spanned nine seasons, but 13 years.  He played every position except pitcher and center field, tallying the most games at third base (189) and behind the plate (35).  Virgil was a career .231 batter with 14 home runs and 73 RBIs.

Following his playing days, Virgil coached for the Giants (1969-1972, 1974-1975), Expos (1976-1981), Padres (1982-1985) and Mariners (1986-1988).  He was the third base coach for Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams' Expos, Padres and Mariners clubs.  His son, also Ozzie Virgil, was a two-time All-Star catcher, playing 11 years with the Phillies, Braves and Blue Jays.

Building the Set

1991 Pacific Senior League #159

February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #82
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February.  This was our first baseball card show of 2020 and the fourth show we've attended in Valley Forge since March 2019.  I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests.  We ended up adding 23 cards to our set.

In the general vicinity of the autograph seekers' holding pen was a table hosted by Bel Air Sports Cards out of Bel Air, Maryland.  The dealer had neatly organized stacks of star cards from the 1960s on display and I started browsing through the 1965 Topps stack.  I found four cards I liked, got Doug's approval, and handed the cards to the dealer to tally up my total.  The prices on the four cards totaled $50 and I was prepared to pay that amount as the sign advertising the cards indicated they had already been marked down.  The dealer said, "How about $45 for the lot," and I accepted.  This Virgil card was originally marked at $5.

The Card
Virgil is wearing a Tigers uniform in this photo, and he had last played for the Tigers in 1961.  Topps seemed confused as to the spelling of Virgil's nickname, going with "Ossie" in 1957, 1958, 1961 and 1965, and "Ozzie" in 1959, 1962 and 1967.  The copy writer for the back of the card didn't have a lot to work with, so he celebrated Virgil's minor league seasons in 1955 with the Dallas Eagles and in 1960 with the Denver Bears.  Virgil did in fact hit .381 with the Bears, but he only appeared in 59 games for the team.

Pirates Team Set

1965 Season
Virgil had played the entire 1964 season in the Braves' minor league system, serving as the everyday third baseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs team managed by Sparky Anderson.  Released by the Braves on October 13, 1964, he signed with the Senators that same day.  The Pirates then drafted Virgil in the 1964 minor league draft on November 30th when he was left unprotected by the Senators.

At 33 years old, Virgil appeared in 39 games for the Pirates, hitting .265 (13 for 49) with a home run and five RBIs.  He appeared sparingly on the field, catching 15, playing third base for 7 games and second based for 5 games.  On December 1st, the Pirates traded Virgil with Joe Gibbon (#54) to the Giants for Matty Alou (#318).

1957 Topps #365

1959 Topps #203

1967 Topps #132

1977 O-Pee-Chee #198

1985 Topps #143

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1957 Topps #365
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1957-1959, 1961-1962, 1965, 1967, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Pacific Senior League #159

36 - Virgil non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/24/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Prior Card:  #570 Claude Osteen - Los Angeles Dodgers

Next Card:  #572 Baltimore Orioles Team Card