1962 Topps #107 - Mike McCormick

• I already featured the 1962 Giants in another entry, but this one deserves its own entry.
• I got this card and three 1969 Topps cards in a trade with Gritz 76 of Project '62 on Zistle. Zistle has a good trade feature now. It would be nice to see more members put vintage cards on their want lists and trade lists.
• Mike McCormick was a mainstay of the Giants rotation in two stints with the Giants.
• Mike came up with the Giants in 1956 and stayed with them through the 1962 season. He was an NL All Star in 1960 and in 1961. 
• McCormick was traded to the Baltimore Orioles after the 1962 season and pitched for them in 1963 and in 1964. Mike pitched for the Washington Senators in 1965 and in 1966 and then was traded back to the Giants.
• McCormick had a great bounce-back season in 1967. He led the NL with 22 wins and won the NL Cy Young Award
• Mike stayed with the Giants until the  middle of the 1970 season. He pitched for the New York Yankees in 1970 and for the Kansas City Royals in 1971.
• McCormick was released by the Royals in June 1971. He pitched in the minors in 1972 and in 1973 but didn't get back to the  majors.

1968 Topps Giants - part 4 (pitchers)

#85 Gaylord Perry

• Gaylord Perry was 16-15 with a 2.45 ERA in 38 starts
• Perry was second on the club with 19 complete games

#205 Juan Marichal

• Juan Marichal had perhaps his best season in 1968 but was overshadowed by Bob Gibson
• Marichal was 26-9 with a 2.43 ERA in 38 starts
• Juan completed 30 of his 38 starts in 1968

#494 Ray Sadecki

• Ray Sadecki went 12-18 with a 2.91 ERA in 36 starts

#169 Bob Bolin

• Bob Bolin was 10-5 with a 1.99 ERA in 34 games
• Bolin started 19 games and relieved in 15 others
• Bob pitched for the Giants from 1961-1969 before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players. The 1968 season was Bolin's best year.

#400 Mike McCormick

• Mike McCormick fell off quite a bit from his 1967 Cy Young Award season.
• McCormick was 12-14 with a 3.58 ERA in 38 games (28 starts).
• Mike's ERA+ was only 83 (league average would be 100).

#9 1967 NL Pitching Leaders

• Mike McCormick is on this card because he led the NL with 22 wins in 1967.

#11 1967 NL Strikeout Leaders

• Gaylord Perry finished third in the NL with 230 strikeouts in 1967.
• Jim Bunning led the league with 253 strikeouts and Ferguson Jenkins finished second with 236.

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1972 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

#567 Juan Marichal

• Juan Marichal had a huge crash in 1972. He went 6-16 with a 3.71 ERA in 24 starts. Marichal had surgery to repair a lumbar disc after the 1972 season. Juan would pitch one more season with the Giants before being sold to the Boston Red Sox after the 1973 season.

#185 Ron Bryant

• Ron Bryant was the ace of the Giants' staff in 1972. He went 14-7 with a 2.90 ERA in 35 games (28 starts).

#682 Mike McCormick

• Mike McCormick didn't pitch for the Giants in 1972. He had been signed as a free agent before the 1972 season and pitched for a while for AAA Phoenix. McCormick announced his retirement from the Giants on June 16 but later pitched for several minor league clubs in an attempt to come back. He never made it back to the major leagues and retired for good after the 1973 season.

#327 Steve Stone

• Steve Stone was 6-8 with a 2.98 ERA in 27 games (16 starts) in 1972. 

#720 Sam McDowell

• "Sudden" Sam McDowell was acquired by the Giants for Gaylord Perry after the 1971 season. McDowell went 10-8 with a 4.33 ERA in 28 games (25 starts) in 1972. He missed about six weeks from mid-July to late-August with a sore arm. McDowell started the 1973 season with the Giants but was sold to the New York Yankees because the Giants couldn't afford to pay him (Ex-Giant Lauds Giants - June 16, 1973 St. Petersburg Times).

#232 Jim Barr

• Jim Barr was a reliever for the first part of the 1972 season and was placed in the starting rotation in late June. Barr was 8-10 with two saves and a 2.87 ERA in 44 games (18 starts) in his first full season.

1962 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

# 429 Billy O'Dell

• Billy O'Dell was 19-14 with a 3.53 ERA in 43 games (39 starts). He started and lost game 1 of the World Series and earned the save in game 4. O'Dell also pitched the 8th and 9th innings of game 7.

#538 Jack Sanford

• Jack Sanford led the Giants with 24 wins. He was 24-7 with a 3.43 ERA in 38 starts. Sanford started three games in the World Series -- he won game 2 and took the loss in games 5 and 7.

#505 Juan Marichal

• Juan Marichal was 18-11 with a 3.36 ERA in 36 starts and earned the save in his only relief appearance. Juan started game 4 and had a 2-0 lead after four innings. He struck out attempting to bunt and injured his hand in the top of the 5th. He was replaced by Bobby Bolin in the bottom of the inning.

#260 Billy Pierce

• Billy Pierce was 16-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 30 games (23 starts). He started two games in the World Series. Billy took the loss in game 3 and was the winning pitcher in game 6.

#107 Mike McCormick

• Mike McCormick was 5-5 with a 5.38 ERA in 28 games (15 starts). He wasn't used in the World Series.

1969 Topps Giants - Part 5 (Pitchers part 2)

Gaylord Perry (#484) made a club-high 39 starts and was like a second ace in the Giants' staff. He went 19-14 with a 2.49 ERA.

 

Bobby Bolin (#505) was 7-7 with an ERA of 4.43 in 30 games (22 starts)

 

Mike McCormick (#517) was the third starter in the Giants' rotation. He went 11-9 with a 3.34 ERA in 28 starts.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1969 but didn't get a Topps Giants card:

• Ron Bryant (4-3, 1 save, 4.37 ERA)
• Rich Robertson (1-3, 5.38 ERA)
• Don McMahon (3-1, 2 saves, 3.04 ERA in 13 games)
• Ron Kline (0-2, 4.09 ERA in 7 games)
• Bob Garibaldi (0-1, 1.80 ERA in 1 start)
• Mike Davison (0-0, 4.50 ERA in 1 game) 

1960 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Jack Sanford (#165) was 12-14 with a 3.78 ERA in 34 starts. He led the Giants with six shutouts. Jack also led the NL with 15 wild pitches. Sanford started three games in the 1962 World Series adn was 1-2. He continued to pitch for the Giants until August 1965, when he was purchased by the California Angels.



I'm less than 70 cards from completing the 1960 set. Most of them are high numbers. Mike McCormick (#530) was the Giants' ace in 1960. He was 15-12 with a league-leading 2.70 ERA in 34 starts and also had three saves in six relief appearances. Mike started with the Giants as a 17-year-old bonus baby in 1956 and stayed with the Giants through the 1962 season. He returned to the Giants in 1968 after spending a few years with Baltimore and Washington in the American League. He went back to the American League in 1970 and pitched in his final game with the Kansas City Royals in 1971. McCormick pitched in the minors in 1972 and 1973 but didn't make it back to the majors.

Johnny Antonelli (#80 and #572) was at the end of his career in 1960. He was a spot starter and a reliever at this point in his career. Johnny was 6-7 with 11 saves and a 3.77 ERA in 41 games (10 starts). After the season he and Willie Kirkland were traded to the Cleveland Indians for Harvey Kuenn. Johnny pitched for the Indians and for the Milwaukee Braves in 1961, then retired at the age of 31. He never pitched in the minor leagues. He looks kind of like Scotty from Star Trek.

Joe Shipley (#239) was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 15 games for the Giants in 1960. He pitched in the minors from 1953-1965. Joe had major league stints in 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1963.

It's hard to imagine Billy Loes (#181) in a Giant uniform. I always think of him as a Brooklyn Dodger. Loes appeared in 37 games for the Giants in 1960 and was 3-2 with five saves and a 4.93 ERA. He finished his career in 1961 at the age of 31. The Giants sold Loes to the New York Mets after the 1961 season. The Mets returned him to the Giants a few months later (good thing they had a receipt) and Loes was cut during spring training in 1962.

Julio Navarro (#140) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1960. He pitched in the minors from 1955-1962. He finally made his major league debut for the Los Angeles Angels after being purchased from the Giants in September 1962. He pitched in the majors off and on for the Angels and for the Detroit Tigers from 1962-1965, then was in the minors again from 1965-1971. He had a 17-game stint with the Atlanta Braves in 1970.

Eddie Fisher (#23) made three appearances (one start) for the Giants in 1960. He was 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA. He spent most of the season with AAA Tacoma, where he was 17-12 with a 3.31 ERA. Fisher pitched in the majors for several teams until 1973.

1970 Topps Giants - Part 5 (pitchers)

Ron Bryant (# 433) was a 22-year-old swingman for the Giants in 1970. He was 5-8 with a 4.78 ERA in 34 games (11 starts).

Mike McCormick (# 337) appeared in 23 games (11 starts) in 1970. He was 3-4 with an ERA of 6.20. He was traded to the New York Yankees on July 20.

Rich Robertson (# 229) was the Giants' #3 starter in 1970. He appeared in 41 games (26 starts) and was 8-9 with a 4.85 ERA. Robertson had six base hits in 1970 -- two of them were home runs and two others were doubles.

Juan Marichal (# 210) started to show signs of slippage in 1970. He started 33 games, but was only 12-10 with a 4.12 ERA. It was the only year between 1962 and 1971 in which Juan wouldn't be selected to the All Star game.

Frank Linzy (# 77) appeared in 20 games and was 2-1 with one save and an ERA of 7.01. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jerry Johnson on May 19.