#430 Gary Peters - Chicago White Sox

Gary Charles Peters
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  200
Born:  April 21, 1937, Grove City, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1959-1969; Boston Red Sox 1970-1972

Between 1959 and 1962, lefty Gary Peters saw limited game action with the White Sox, appearing in 12 games and pitching just 21 innings over those four seasons.  He earned a spot on the White Sox pitching staff to begin the 1963 season and was used as a swing man for the club until earning a permanent job in their starting rotation that June.  Peters made the most of the opportunity, finishing the season with a 19-8 record and a league-leading 2.33 ERA.  He bested teammate Pete Ward (#215) for Rookie of the Year honors, receiving ten first place votes to Ward's six.  Peters would make his first of two All-Star teams in 1964 while compiling a 20 win season.  Despite a record of 12-10 in 1966 for the fourth place White Sox, Peters would earn his second ERA title with an impressive 1.98 mark.  He'd win 16 games in 1967 and pitched three scoreless innings in that year's All-Star Game, striking out four batters - Willie Mays (#250), Roberto Clemente (#160), Orlando Cepeda (#360) and Dick Allen (#460).

Peters spent his final three seasons with the Red Sox, retiring in 1972.  In 359 career games, Peters was 124-103 with a 3.25 ERA and 1,420 strikeouts.  Also a threat at the plate, Peters batted .222 and was often used by the White Sox as a pinch-hitter.  He had 19 career home runs with 102 RBIs.  Peters, along with 26 other players, was named to the Chicago White Sox All-Century Team in 2000.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #576

This is the 92nd 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 Peters 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 / White Sox Team Set
That's the number 43 peaking through on Peters' shoulder as he wore that number with the White Sox between 1963 and 1969.  He first appeared in the set back on card #9, the crowded 1964 A.L. Pitching Leaders card.  Peters shares the top row of that card with Dean Chance (#140), who also won 20 games in 1964.

Peters rookie card from the 1960 Topps set actually features teammate J.C. Martin (#382).  He'd actually appear on his 1961 Topps card before moving to a floating head Rookie Stars card in the 1963 Topps set.  This is the unlikely last card needed for us to complete the White Sox team set.

1965 Season
A groin injury hampered Peters all season, and he'd appear in 33 games, making 30 starts.  He was 10-12 with a 3.62 ERA as the White Sox finished in second place in the American League behind the Twins.

1961 Topps #303

1964 Topps #130

1966 Topps #111

1967 Topps #310

1972 Topps #503

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1960-1961, 1963-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1989 Pacific Legends II #159

111 - Peters non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/1/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #429 Don Demeter - Detroit Tigers

Next Card:  #431 Cardinals Rookie Stars

#9 1964 A.L. Pitching Leaders - Chance, Peters, Bunker, Pizarro & Wickersham

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
August 5, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #137
In early August, I hit an eBay slump and lost out on every single card I had placed a reasonable bid on from a dealer breaking up a 1965 Topps set.  It seems to me a lot of former and new collectors have returned or entered the hobby as an escape from the pandemic, and I'm noticing card prices for these 1965 Topps cards continuing to increase.  I had bid on several cards up for auction from this set break, all graded EX+ or NM, with my highest bids being around $2.50.  Every single card went for much more than that, with final winning bids ranging from $8.50 to $18.  Again, these were all commons and from the relatively prevalent first series of the set.

Surprised by the outcome of those auctions, I turned to the always reliable Dean's Cards and the easier approach of clicking Buy It Now on four cards from the first series I felt were reasonably priced.  This League Leaders card was the second most expensive card I added, having spent $20 on the Frank Howard (#40) card.  I'll feature the last two cards added from this mini shopping trip in upcoming posts.

The Card
I asked this question already with the N.L. Pitching Leaders card, but I've always wondered why Topps labelled these cards "Pitching Leaders" and not "Victory Leaders" since they were showcasing the pitchers with the most wins?

Dean Chance (#140) and Gary Peters (#430) were the American League's only two 20-game winners in 1964.  Chance would win 20 games again in 1967 for the Twins, while Peters would never again reach that plateau.  Wally Bunker (#290), Juan Pizarro (#125) and Dave Wickersham (#375) earned smaller head spaces on the bottom row of the card with 19 wins each.  Of those three pitchers and throughout the rest of their careers, only Bunker would win more than 10 games again as he went 12-11 for the Royals in 1969.

As they had done on his base card, Topps misspelled Jim Kaat's (#62) name on the back of this leaders card too.  Kaat had 17 wins in 1964.

Angels Team Set / White Sox Team Set / Orioles Team Set / Tigers Team Set

Prior Card:  #8 1964 N.L. ERA Leaders

Next Card:  #10 1964 N.L. Pitching Leaders