Final Card - Bill Virdon

Here is the final card for long-time Pirates' center fielder Bill Virdon (#69).

Although mostly known as Pirate, Virdon was signed by the Yankees in 1950, and began his major-league career in 1955 with the Cardinals (having been traded for Enos Slaughter). Bill hit .281 in 144 games and won the Rookie of the Year award in 1955.

After 2 full seasons with the Cards, Virdon was traded to the Pirates in May 1956 for pitcher Dick Litlefield and outfielder Bobby Del Greco. (Whaaaaat? I never heard of Littlefield, but his record seems to indicate he was a journeyman starter/reliever whose career was winding down, and Del Greco was a young outfielder, but only progressed to so-so role player for bad teams like the Phillies and Athletics.)

Meanwhile, Virdon put in 10 solid seasons as the Pirates' every-day center fielder, playing alongside Roberto Clemente every year.

Virdon retired after the 1965 season, and became a coach for the Pirates. During the 1968 season he was activated for 6 games in July. One of our fellow bloggers has made a custom card documenting Virdon's 1968 season, which can be found in this collection of 1968 custom cards.

Bill also managed 4 teams, beginning in 1972. He manage the Pirates in '72 and '73. They won the NL East but lost the NLCS to the Reds. The following season he was replaced by 4-time Pirates' manager Danny Murtaugh in the final month. He moved on to the Yankees for 1974 and the first 100 games of 1975, until meeting the fate of many Yankee managers.

His longest managerial stint was wit the Astros. Hired in the final weeks of the '75 season, he stayed on until midway through 1982.  Along the way, his team won the NL West in 1980 (losing to the Phillies) and won the second half of the strike-split 1981 season, losing to the Dodgers in the playoffs.

Virdon's final manager job was with the Montreal Expos (1983-84). Since then, he coached off-and-on for the Pirates, and more recently is a spring training instructor for the Pirates.

Final Card - Wally Moon

Here is the final card for outfielder Wally Moon (#247). Wally played for 12 seasons (1954-65), the first 5 with the Cardinals and the last 7 with the Dodgers.

Moon played in the minors from 1950-53, then made his debut with the Cardinals in April 1954. Wally hit .304 in 151 games as a rookie, winning the Rookie of the Year award that season.

Moon was an every-day player for the Cards in his 1st 4 seasons. Initially the center fielder, he moved to 1st base for the 2nd half of 1955 and the 1st half of 1956, before finishing the ’56 season as the team’s right fielder (swapping positions with Stan Musial). Wally was named to his first All-Star team in 1957.

In 1958, his playing time decreased when rookie Curt Flood took over the center field job, leaving everyone else to compete for time at the corners. After the ’58 season Moon was traded to the Dodgers for outfielder Gino Cimoli.

Wally was the Dodgers’ regular left fielder from 1959-61, batting .302, .299, and .328 in those seasons. He made the All-Star team again in ’59 and won a Gold Glove in 1960.

Moon was relegated to backup status in his last 4 years with Los Angeles. With Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, and Frank Howard in the outfield, there was not much playing time left for Wally. He filled in at the corner outfield spots and at first base occasionally, and in 1962 did find increased playing time at the corners, although the Dodgers still used the same 3 starting outfielders through the 1964 season.

Frank Howard was traded away prior to the ’65 season, but that just opened a spot at 1B for young Wes Parker (with Ron Fairly moving to right field). By this time, Moon’s career was coming to an end, only appearing in 53 games in his final season.

Final Card - Tony Kubek

Staying with my plan to feature only those players whose final card is in the 1965 set, today we have Yankees’ shortstop Tony Kubek (#65). 

Kubek was signed by the Yankees in 1954, and made his major-league debut in April 1957. He was a regular for each of his 9 seasons (1957-65) with the Yanks, although he missed much of the 1962 season while in military service. Normally the starting shortstop, he played all over the diamond in ’57 and ’59.

With veteran Gil McDougald holding down the shortstop job in 1957, Kubek started several dozen games at SS, 3B, and LF, and hit .297 in 475 plate appearances as a rookie. That was good enough to land the AL Rookie of the Year award, snaring 23 of the 24 1st place votes. He was also 8-for-28 (.286) with 2 homers and 4 RBI in the 1957 Fall Classic, although they lost to the Braves.

In 1958 McDougald moved to 2nd base, opening up shortstop for Kubek. His playing time soared to 597 plate appearances, and although his batting average dropped to .265, he made his first of 3 All-Star games. The Yankees returned to the World Series and won the re-match with the Braves. Kubek however, only hit .048 in the post-season.

Tony started almost half the team’s games at shortstop in 1959, while also making a few dozen starts at each outfield position, and at 3rd base. He made his 2nd All-Star team, but the Yankees did not make the post-season (for only the 2nd time in that decade).

Kubek played almost exclusively at shortstop for the remainder of his career. In 1960 he reached double-digits in home runs (14) and in ’61 made his 3rd and final All-Star team. He also played in the World Series 4 more times (1960-63).

In 1962 Tony played only 45 games, as he spent most of the year in the military. It was the only year he hit over .300 (.314).

A few years ago I was watching a replay of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and the Cardinals. I was surprised to see that Kubek did not play in any of the games (must have been injured). Kubek had been the leadoff batter all season, and I thought it was odd that Kubek’s replacement (the light-hitting Phil Linz) was kept in the leadoff spot for the World Series.

Tony retired after the 1965 season, due to a back injury. He became a TV broadcaster with NBC for 24 years, often paired with Curt Gowdy or Bob Costas. He also broadcast the Toronto Blue Jays games from 1977-89.