Who is the man: Frank Bertaina spent time with both the Orioles and Cardinals organizations in 1970. He did most of his work with Baltimore's Triple A team in Rochester, N.Y. He was purchased by the Cardinals on Aug. 14, 1970.
Can ya dig it: It stuns me that Topps has a card of Bertaina in a Cardinals uniform given the late date at which he came over to the Cardinals -- he pitched in just eight games for them.
Right on: This is the final card of Bertaina's career.
You see that cat Bertaina is a bad mother: Bertaina's first major league victory was a 1-0 complete-game one-hitter against the Kansas City A's in 1964. Pitching for the Orioles, Bertaina allowed a fifth-inning double to A's catcher Doc Edwards and that was it.
Shut your mouth: Orioles reliever Moe Drabowsky gave Bertaina the nickname "Toys in the Attic," because of Bertaina's quirky behavior.
No one understands him but his woman: Bertaina's first solo Topps card is in the 1965 set. Then, in the 1966 Topps set, he appears on a three-player rookie card with Davey Johnson and Gene Brabender. I'm not sure if that's happened any other time.
(A word about the back): Click on the images and you'll see this card isn't in great condition. It's one of the '71 cards I traded for back in the late 1970s. It's a bit of a rarity because most of the '71 cards I got in the deal came from the first three series.
"Bertaina's first solo Topps card is in the 1965 set. Then, in the 1966 Topps set, he appears on a three-player rookie card with Davey Johnson and Gene Brabender. I'm not sure if that's happened any other time."
ReplyDeleteAt least once: Outfielder Jim Hicks had a solo card in 1967 with the White Sox. Then after no card in the '68 set, he re-appeared in 1969 on the Cardinals Rookie Stars card.
Topps was able to get him in a Cards uniform because they played at Shea after he joined the team. (You can barely make out Shea's scoreboard in the lower right corner.) He was acquired 8/14 and they were in NY 9/11-13.
ReplyDeleteSame with Roberto Rodriguez (card 424). The Cubs acquired him 6/23 and they were in NY in both August and September.
It probably would have been more impressive if a player acquired by an NL West team played in NY since they only went to NY twice, while NL East teams went to NY three times.