#19 Ed Bressoud

Eddie Bressoud had a long baseball career. Signed by the Giants in 1950 he played three years in their farm system, gave two years to military service and returned to play a couple more seasons in the minors. He debuted with the Giants, still based in New York, in June of 1956. He opened the '57 season back on the farm but returned to the big club in July of that year.

As the team moved west Bressoud gained more playing time at shortstop, playing in over a hundred games in both 1959 and 1960. In 1961 his slick fielding was no longer enough to hold off other competitors for the starting slot and he was relegated back to the bench in place of Jose Pagan.

The Houston Colt '45s took Bressoud as their first expansion pick and them dealt him to the Red Sox. While he missed by a year the chance to play on the Giants' 1962 NL Champs club, he did enjoy his best big league seasons with the Red Sox. He had double digit homers and his best batting averages in three seasons in Fenway. He made the AL All Star squad in 1964 but didn't get into the game, a fact that he was always bitter about. By 1966 however he had been traded to the Mets and then to the Cards for 1967. He got a Series ring and a couple of at bats in the '67 Series against his old Red Sox club.

He managed a year in the minors before becoming a teacher and coach at DeAnza Community College in California. Bressoud has said that despite his success in Boston and that title in St. Louis, he always considered himself as a member of the Giants.

I'm guessing that Bressoud (btw...Baseball Reference gives the pronunciation as 'bruh-sue', with a silent 'D' which means I have had it wrong for 40 50 years) posed for this picture while a member of the New York Giants which would explain the hatless pose chosen. But that could be the Los Angeles Coliseum so, who knows.

#106 Hal Woodeshick

Lefty Hal Woodeshick signed on with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950 but kicked around with several organizations before he established himself with the Indians in 1958. He continued a nomadic baseball life as a spot starter and reliever until 1962 when he found himself in Houston and, after a poor year in the rotation, won the job as the Colt 45s' closer.

Between 1963 and 1965 he had 51 saves including a league leading 23 in 1964. Over that three year period he pitched 180+ innings to earn those 51 saves. In contrast Jim Johnson had 51 saves for last season's Oriole club and needed only 69 innings to achieve that. Different time indeed.

Woodeshick (and note that his name is misspelled on the card back!) was dealt to the Cardinals during the 1965 campaign and pitched through the 1967 World Series. He retired after that. During his career he had a reputation as a terrible fielder. That was based almost completely on a mental block that interfered with his ability to throw to first base, particularly on bunts. Colt/Astros G.M. Paul Richards and coach Cot Deal worked long and hard to help him overcome that.