#232 Eddie Kasko

Jersey Boy Eddie Kasko enjoyed a three part career in the majors. Signed by the Browns in 1949 he spent tow years in the service and was traded twice before he debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957. He stepped into a starting role that year and spent time at short, third and second as he did most each season of his career.

He hit a respectable.273 his rookie year but when his average slipped by 50 some points in '58 he was traded to the Reds. He played four solid seasons in Cincy, hit well, fielded well and made the 1961 All Star squad. He hit .311 in the 1961 World Series against that Yankees.

He was dealt to Houston for the 1964 season as they looked to solidify their defense and played for the Colt .45s/Astros through '65. His last year as an active player was in 1966 with the Red Sox. 

After his playing was over he went on to manage in the the Red Sox chain for several years before he succeeded Dick Williams as Boston's manager in 1970. His clubs finished third twice and then second twice but never could break through for a pennant.

Kasko remained with the Red Sox as a scout and  as the team's director of scouting and vice president, baseball development. He retired in 1994 and was elected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2010.

I believe the Kasko is the first player to appear in this set who has an active Facebook page and Twitter account. Make of that what you will.

#174 Jim Pendleton

Jim Pendleton is cooler than you thought. Really, he is. Want proof?

1) He played every position on the field except pitcher and catcher in the majors.
2) He was the last WWII vet to play in the bigs when he played left field for the fledgling Houston Colt 45s on Opening Day, 1962.
3) He was a near-full time outfielder for the Braves in 1953 but got squeezed out by a hot rookie in 1954... Hank Aaron.
4) His nickname was 'Guv'nor'.
5) He was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and moved from the outfield to shortstop because of a logjam of OF talent, think Duke Snider.

Most of that and more comes from a wonderful tribute to Jim Pendleton written as an obit in 1996 by the terrific Houston writer and author, Mickey Herskowitz. It's a quick read and highly recommended. And it tells the tale of Jim Pendleton better than I can.

#218 Roman Mejias

Here is a cocktail party trivia winner (all of you go to cocktail parties don't you?). Who hit the first major league home run in the state of Texas?

The answer is Roman Mejias. In the bottom of the third inning in the first game played by the expansion Houston Colt 45s Mejias knocked a Don Caldwell pitch through the humid Houston air and made city history. He hit another homer in the eighth as part of a 3 for 5, 6 RBI game. His 45s won 11-2.

Mejias was signed by the Pirates out of Cuba where he had played high school ball and worked the sugar cane fields and became a winter ball star. He hit well during his minor league days. He spent several seasons trying to crack the Pirates outfield lineup but with Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and some guy named Roberto Clemente ahead of him he was doomed to 4th outfielder and pinch hitting duties when he wasn't being shuttled to minors.

Being taken with the 11th pick of the expansion draft by Houston led to his one year as a major league regular. He was hitting .311 and had 19 homers at the All Star break in '62 but wasn't selected for the NL team. Supposedly he was pretty disappointed by that.

Despite (or because of) his '62 hitting exploits the Colts were able to trade him to the Red Sox for Pete Runnels. He played for the Sox as a semi-regular in '63, played sparingly in '64 and then found himself back in the minors and then he played a year in Japan before he left the game.

This is another pretty sweet card. Just one corner ding mars it. Mejias is posed in Seals Stadium with a glove that looks pretty big, especially for that time. There are a couple of informative and entertaining pages devoted to Mejias on the 'net. That second one has a ton of pictures. Always nice to see the great Colt 45s jersey.

#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.

#503 Jim Owens

Jim Owens' major league career covered 12 years and three National League teams. After some outstanding minor league seasons, a couple of looks in a big league uni and nearly two full seasons in the military Owens latched on to a job in the Phils' rotation in 1959.

That season turned out to be his best as he went 12-12 in 31 starts and compiled a 3.21 ERA. His numbers quickly fell off in subsequent years and after three seasons of getting shelled the Phils gave up on Owens and shipped him to Cincinnati for 1963. He briefly held the record for most balks in and inning (three!) which he set in an April game in '63. The mark lasted only until Bob Shaw tied it with three in an inning on May 4 and a total of five balks in the game. Owens split that year between the Reds' bullpen and the minors and was then drafted via Rule Five by the Astros.

He saved 16 games out of the Astros' pen over four seasons before calling it a career in the middle of the 1967 campaign. He served as Houston's pitching coach from then until 1972.

Research note.... shockingly not everything you read on the internet is true. Owens' BR Bullpen page states that Shaw broke Owens' record with five balks in an inning. Yet the game page shows it was three and a total of five in the game.

I have stated my love for the black framed cards in this set before. Owens 'all business' look is a good one here in the paint retouched photo. And you have to love Topps' back of the card write-up spin on his one inning of work in 1958. He 'limited' the Braves to four hits in that inning. Correction thanks to a comment. It was four hits in 'winning' not 'inning'.

#487 Hal Brown

I don't think I ever once heard of him referred to as anything other than Hal 'Skinny' Brown. At least that I recall. Even the always proper Red Barber called him that on the radio.

Anyway here he is posing in Yankee Stadium... what a unique concept. He actually found himself pitching in a Yankee uniform in two games late in the 1962 season. That was close to the end of the line for Brown who had begun his career as a Red Sox signee in 1946 following a two year service hitch. He pitched for the White Sox in 1951/52 and found his way back to the Red Sox in 1953. The transactions that got him to that point are a jumbled mess that I really didn't care to follow.

But it was after a 1955 trade to the Orioles that Brown's career took flight (pun intended). He held a spot in the Orioles rotation until that trade to the Yanks late in '62. Along the way he had been the grand old man as part of the Orioles 1960 'Baby Birds' rotation. At thirty five he was a decade and a half older than the four other starters.

He finished his career with a couple of rocky season in Houston in 1963 and 1963. The '63 campaign actually wasn't bad for Brown as his numbers were better that his 5-11 record might indicate. That's what happens when you pitch for lousy clubs. He was 85-92 with a 3.81 ERA for his career.

After his retirement he co-owned a heating and air conditioning firm in his native Greensboro N.C.

#175 Dick Farrell

When I think of 'Turk' Farrell I think of hard drinking and fast living. That was the reputation he had whether it was earned or not. But there are plenty stories around Houston baseball circles that make me think there is a lot of truth behind the myth.

Farrell spent several seasons as a starting pitcher moving up the Phils minor league ladder before his 1956 debut and then earning a full time bullpen slot in 1957. He had four solid seasons with the Phils including an All Star selection before a shaky start in '61 prompted a trade to the Dodgers. He was drafted in the expansion draft by Houston and was converted back into a starter. 

He made three All Star squads with the Colt 45s/Astros before being sold to the Phils in May of 1967 for a return engagement. The Phils turned Farrell into a reliever and he was generally effective before he pitched in the minors in 1970/71 and then he retired with a 106-111 record and 87 saves.

Ferrell moved to England and worked on offshore rigs in the North Sea before he died in a car accident in 1977 at the age of 43. 

#38 Morrie Martin

Night Owl posted the other day about how he'd like to write a book. It's based on a card that shows a moment in time that turned the fortunes of two baseball franchises (in opposite directions). It's a good read. But even before he writes his first book, I have a suggestion for his second one......

You may or may not know much about lefty pitcher Morris "Morrie" Martin. I know that before I began researching this card I probably hadn't crossed paths with him more than a fleeting time or two while looking at Oriole history. Martin was signed off a Missouri farm by the Chicago White Sox in 1941 and spent the year in their system. In '42 he pitched (under a working agreement it seems) with the independent St. Paul Saints. There in St. Paul one of his teammates was Dave Philley. 

Late in '42 Morris, like many other American kids, shipped out for the European theatre of WWII. While serving in North Africa, Sicily and on D-Day he was, among other things, torn up with shrapnel, buried under a shelled house and left for dead and shot in the leg, almost losing it to infection. The whole 'Morrie Martin in war' story is chronicled here. 

Following his service he returned to baseball and, after several seasons in the Dodger chain, debuted as a 29 year old rookie with the Bums in 1949. A 1-3 record earned him a trip to the minors. He re-emerged in 1951 with the Philadelphia A's and he won 11 games for them that year, 10 more in 1953. The rest of his major league career was an odyssey through the South Side of Chicago (where he was reunited with fellow 3 year service vet  Dave Philley....I wonder if they had any war stories to swap?!?), Baltimore, St Louis, Cleveland, and finally the North Side of Chicago briefly in 1959. He finished with a career 38-34 record. 

Morris Martin, having survived so much on the battlefield, wasn't going to let a demotion by the Cubs deter him. He spent the 1960 season with the Houston Buffs and was signed by the fledgling Colt 45s (as was Martin's old pal Dave Philley) and traded to the Braves before hanging up his glove for good prior to the 1961 season.

By my count Martin played in 18 cities across North America and was a member of 18 different teams in one form or another and saw action on three fronts during WWII. Then he topped it off by living to the age of 87 back in rural Missouri in 2010. Full life I'd say. And to think I looked at Morrie Martin's '59 Topps card and wondered what I'd write about. Live and learn.

And here's a great shot of Morrie at a gathering of baseball/WWII vets in New Orleans a couple of years before his passing.