Monday, August 11, 2014
no. 317 - athletics rookie stars
Who is the man: Jim Driscoll finally achieved some major league playing time in 1970, appearing in 21 games for the A's, after nine years in the minors. Angel Mangual spent all of 1970 playing for the Pirates' Triple A team in Columbus, Ohio.
Can ya dig it: Mangual is actually wearing a Pirates uniform in this photo. He was traded from Pittsburgh in October 1970 as the player to be named in the deal a month earlier in which the Pirates acquired pitcher Jim "Mudcat" Grant from the A's.
Right on: Driscoll looks like a pitcher to me.
You see these rookies are bad mothers: No they aren't. They're rookies. How did the A's win a World Series title two years later with guys like this coming out of the minors?
Shut your mouth: Mangual, who appeared on all three of the A's World Series winning teams from 1972-74, was arrested in 1997 as part of a drug bust in his native Puerto Rico. Mangual, arrested along with 21 others, was accused of being an intermediary between sellers and buyers as part of a heroin and cocaine trafficking ring run by a 35-year-old woman. Mangual told reporters after his arrest that he never had to make "a living off drugs."
No one understands him but his woman: Driscoll would never appear on another Topps card.
(A word about the back): The "infield" designation implies a variety of positions played. I don't know where Driscoll played in the minors, but in 1970 for the A's, he played second base and shortstop.
In the minors, Driscoll played mostly 3B in 62, 2B in 63, 3B in 64-65, SS in 66-69, and 2B in 70.
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