ChiSoxCardboard
02-16-2024, 09:33 AM
Hey all, I'm embarking on a fairly ambitious project and am looking for community input. The idea is to tell the story of the 1965 season through its 1965 Topps set. One page per card, with photos of the front and back of the card, then info on the player's career, the player's 1965 season, and a focus on a particular day in the season as it relates to that player and his team (moving from April 12th to October 3rd as the set progresses). So, I'm looking for any info along the following lines:
1) Unique details about the 1965 set itself. For instance, Joel Horlen's 1964 ERA according to both his 1965 card (#480) and baseball-reference.com was 1.88. But it's listed as 1.92 on the back of #007, 1964 AL ERA Leaders.
2) Links to resources from the 1965 season. Thinking particularly about national or regional/team publications reporting on the season as a whole.
3) Little-known facts about players in the set (probably more so for the commons than the stars/HOFers).
4) Any personal anecdotes from people who remember the 1965 season or heard anecdotes directly from someone who remembers the 1965 season.
My goal is to finish collecting the set and the project by the beginning of the 60th anniversary of the season (so April 2025). Below is an example of what I've written for Bill Skowron's card...the actual document has links to other players in the set and resources, like baseball-reference, youtube, and (in this case) pinstripealley.com. Looking forward to any input/assistance...thank you all!
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#070, Bill Skowron, Chicago White Sox
Best known as a New York Yankee, Bill “Moose” Skowron made his major league debut in 1954 and played in pinstripes for nine seasons. He played primarily first base for the Yankees, but also appeared at third base occasionally and second base twice. In over 1,000 games and 4,100 plate appearances for the Yankees, he batted .294 with 165 home runs, 672 RBI, and an OPS+ of 129. He made the All-Star Team five straight years from 1957 to 1961, and received MVP votes in 1957 (22nd overall) and 1960 (9th overall). His grand slam in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the 1956 World Series was the knockout punch that gave the Yankees a sixth championship in eight years. He also homered in Game 7 of the 1958 World Series, another Yankees win. In 2023, pinstripealley.com ranked Skowron at #62 on its Top 100 Yankees of all time.
Following short stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Senators, Skowron was traded to the Chicago White Sox with Carl Bouldin for Joe Cunningham and Frank Kreutzer in July 1964. The White Sox were the only team besides the Yankees Skowron would play more than one season for. At 34 years old, he played a strong season in 1965, earning his sixth and final All-Star nod. He batted .274 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI. He started the season off hot, with the high water mark coming in a May 16th 6-2 win over the California Angels; he went 3-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs, and was batting .337 through that point in the season.
On April 27th, 1965, Skowron played a small role in a big 10-1 win for the White Sox over the Boston Red Sox. He went 1-3 with a run and two walks in a complete game effort by John Buzhardt, who got to 2-0 on the season with an even 1.00 ERA for his effort. At 8-3, the White Sox were essentially tied with the 7-2 Minnesota Twins at the end of the day, who also scored a lopsided 11-1 win, theirs over the Cleveland Indians. Camilo Pascual was the clear star of that game, pitching a complete game and hitting a grand slam off Stan Williams, one of two home runs he would hit in 1965 and five in his career.
1) Unique details about the 1965 set itself. For instance, Joel Horlen's 1964 ERA according to both his 1965 card (#480) and baseball-reference.com was 1.88. But it's listed as 1.92 on the back of #007, 1964 AL ERA Leaders.
2) Links to resources from the 1965 season. Thinking particularly about national or regional/team publications reporting on the season as a whole.
3) Little-known facts about players in the set (probably more so for the commons than the stars/HOFers).
4) Any personal anecdotes from people who remember the 1965 season or heard anecdotes directly from someone who remembers the 1965 season.
My goal is to finish collecting the set and the project by the beginning of the 60th anniversary of the season (so April 2025). Below is an example of what I've written for Bill Skowron's card...the actual document has links to other players in the set and resources, like baseball-reference, youtube, and (in this case) pinstripealley.com. Looking forward to any input/assistance...thank you all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#070, Bill Skowron, Chicago White Sox
Best known as a New York Yankee, Bill “Moose” Skowron made his major league debut in 1954 and played in pinstripes for nine seasons. He played primarily first base for the Yankees, but also appeared at third base occasionally and second base twice. In over 1,000 games and 4,100 plate appearances for the Yankees, he batted .294 with 165 home runs, 672 RBI, and an OPS+ of 129. He made the All-Star Team five straight years from 1957 to 1961, and received MVP votes in 1957 (22nd overall) and 1960 (9th overall). His grand slam in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the 1956 World Series was the knockout punch that gave the Yankees a sixth championship in eight years. He also homered in Game 7 of the 1958 World Series, another Yankees win. In 2023, pinstripealley.com ranked Skowron at #62 on its Top 100 Yankees of all time.
Following short stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Senators, Skowron was traded to the Chicago White Sox with Carl Bouldin for Joe Cunningham and Frank Kreutzer in July 1964. The White Sox were the only team besides the Yankees Skowron would play more than one season for. At 34 years old, he played a strong season in 1965, earning his sixth and final All-Star nod. He batted .274 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI. He started the season off hot, with the high water mark coming in a May 16th 6-2 win over the California Angels; he went 3-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs, and was batting .337 through that point in the season.
On April 27th, 1965, Skowron played a small role in a big 10-1 win for the White Sox over the Boston Red Sox. He went 1-3 with a run and two walks in a complete game effort by John Buzhardt, who got to 2-0 on the season with an even 1.00 ERA for his effort. At 8-3, the White Sox were essentially tied with the 7-2 Minnesota Twins at the end of the day, who also scored a lopsided 11-1 win, theirs over the Cleveland Indians. Camilo Pascual was the clear star of that game, pitching a complete game and hitting a grand slam off Stan Williams, one of two home runs he would hit in 1965 and five in his career.