#534 Faye Throneberry

Faye Throneberry, brother of Marv Throneberry whose card was featured earlier, had a very similar career to his younger brother. They had similar career lengths and not so dissimilar numbers when they were finished. And each finished his career with an expansion club.

Faye signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1950 and put together respectable stats in the minors before debuting with the BoSox in 1952. Ted Williams' U.S. Marine stint opened some playing opportunities in the Red Sox' outfield that season. He had over 300 at bats and hit .258 in nearly 100 games. Uncle Sam came calling in December and Faye served two seasons in the military. When he returned to Boston he was used sparingly for a couple of seasons before being traded to the Senators in late April of 1957. With the Nats he experienced his best season when, in 1959, he hit .251 but had career highs with 10 homers and 42 RBI in 117 games.

He had about half as many at bats in 1960 and that December he was acquired by the fledgling Los Angeles Angels after the draft ended. He served mostly as a pinch-hitter for the Halos before he was farmed out in July and after another year plus a few games in the minors he retired.

After his playing days Faye Throneberry became  successful professional bird dog trainer in Tennessee. Details, of course, are provided in his SABR bio.

Griffith Stadium provides the backdrop for this card on a day the Senators hosted the Yankees.

#93 Julio Becquer

"Money is secondary with me," [Julio Becquer] said. "I love the game and I believe this is true of most major league players. In fact, many would play for nothing because they love the game so much."

That comes from a 1958 interview of Julio Becquer that is quoted on his Baseball Reference Bullpen page. Hard to imagine a player saying that today. Becquer was signed by the Washington Senators out of his hometown of Havana, Cuba in 1952. He was a student who worked as both a bookkeeper and ballplayer in Havana. He is one of a number of black Cubans tagged by the legendary scout/entrepreneur Joe Cambria and signed by the Senators.
Becquer played a season of stateside baseball when he signed with the Nats and then, still their property, played two seasons at home in Havana. He got his first look at the majors in 1955 with a 10 game trial and returned to the minors in '56. For four seasons, through 1960, Becquer played as a part time first baseman and pinch-hitter for the Senators.
He was drafted by the expansion Los Angeles Angels for the '61 season but barely was fitted for a halo before he was sold to the Phillies in May who assigned him to Buffalo. He was then sold again, back to the Twins (the former Senators) in June.
Becquer spent most of the '62 through '64 seasons playing in Mexico. But he returned to the Twins for one game in 1963 to qualify for his pension. He pinch ran and scored in that game which is a nice touch for a guy who by all accounts was a very nice man.
I'd be willing to bet that Bequer, if asked, would list his July 4, 1961 pinch hit walk-off grand slam as his career moment. It beat the White Sox 6-4 and came just two weeks after he homered as a pinch hitter leading off the bottom of the ninth to beat Jack Fisher and the Orioles, 5-4. That homer marked both the first walkoff and first pinch homer in Minnesota Twins' history. It was an especially sweet dinger for the Twins because after leading 4-1 they were tied in the top of the ninth by a three run homer off the bat of Earl Robinson.
This card shows Becquer in what appears to be his home pinstriped Nats uni but the stadium behind him looks like Yankee Stadium. But I'm pretty sure is Griffith Stadium. There have been several other Senators in pinstripes in that same pose/spot on their cards. When you look at Roy Sievers' card you can see the differences. I conclude that: 1) Becquer is posing in Griffith and 2) I'm likely the only person in the free world who actually gives this any thought.

#298 Tex Clevenger

Don't know how, when or why Truman Clevenger got the nickname 'Tex' but he kind of looks like a cowboy, I guess. I can't find anything on the 'net to clear it up either (update below).

Tex was a Boston Red Sox signee out of Cal State-Fresno in 1953 and debuted with the Sox in 1954. He went 2-4 in eight starts (23 games total) and spent the next two seasons as a starter in their chain. Traded to the Senators for 1956 he established himself in their bullpen in 1957. He made 50+ appearances for the Nats in each of the next four seasons, leading the league in games in '58.

He was taken by the Angels in the expansion draft and pitched briefly for them in 1961 before being traded to the Yankees that May. He had the great fortune therefore, to go from a fledgling franchise to one of the powerhouse teams of all time. He pitched in exactly 21 games for the Yanks in both '61 and '62. Both of those teams won the World Series although Clevenger didn't appear in either. But he has two rings!.

After more time in the minors Clevenger retired to work in the insurance business and as a farmer and eventually to buy a Ford dealership in Pottersville, CA. He sold the business and retired for good in 2010.

Clevenger poses in front of the visitors' dugout in what looks to be Griffith Stadium with someone warming up just down the line behind him. Makes for a neat card.

Sunday Update... I just found a chapter in this book on Google in which Clevenger himself says he was nicknamed by Red Sox teammate Johnny Pesky who felt Clevenger resembled an old teammate, Tex Hughson. Clevenger goes on to say that players from Texas would ask him what part of the Lone Star State he was from and he drew weird looks when he told them he'd never even been to Texas.

#236 Ted Bowsfield

Ted Bowsfield is another guy who has a lot more interesting story than you'd think at first glance, mostly because he comes across as such a neat guy and one who truly enjoyed and appreciated his time in the big leagues.

He attracted scouts when he mowed down a visiting team of Cuban All Stars in an exhibition game at the age of 17. The native of British Columbia, Canada was signed by the Red Sox in 1954 and worked his way up through the organisation, debuting in relief in a game on July 20, 1958. That game was significant because the opposing pitcher, the Tigers' Jim Bunning threw a no-hitter at the Sox in Fenway. He went on to post a 4-2 record that rookie season with three of those wins coming against the Yankees. All that caused Casey Stengel to refer to Bowsfield as "the feller who throws them ground balls!".

Despite that early success he spent most of 1959 in the minors and was traded to the Indians during the 1960 season. He was drafted, returned and re-drafted (don't ask) by the Los Angeles Angels following that season and spent '61-'62 with the expansion club. He went 20-16 with the newest AL club including a career high 11 in 1961.

He was traded to Kansas City and pitched for the A's for two seasons before retiring after some minor league work in '65. His career record was 37-39 while pitching for a series of pretty weak clubs. He went on to hold front office jobs with a couple of big league teams.

Tom Owens has a nice interview with Bowsfield on his Baseball by the Letters blog. And Bowsfield is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and his page there has more details. And a Canadian baseball-centric blog post by Kevin Glew is a good read as well.

Hey, Bowsfield posed at Yankee Stadium for Topps. I'd like to think it was before one of the games he won over them.

#196 Billy Moran

Second-baseman Billy Moran played seven seasons in the bigs and had his best seasons with the fledgling Los Angeles Angels in 1962 and '63. In those two campaigns, his only two as a full time starter, Moran hit .282 and .275 and made the AL All Star squad in '62. He led the league in multiple fielding categories those years as well.
He began his career (and ended it as well) with the Indians. He didn't get many opportunities with Cleveland during either stint with the club, a fact he discussed with Tom Owens in an entry on the fun Baseball by the Letters blog. Check it out.
Kind of a neat card. I like seeing the three decks of Yankee Stadium behind Moran. Reminds me of my many trips there. And Moran is showing off the Indians stirrups which were classic. Behind Moran we can see the Indians' #32 which would be either Chuck Churn or Morrie Martin depending on when this shot was taken in 1958.