Greetings Nitty Gritty Card collectors and Trollites alike! It is time for one more gigantic card from the biggest and most awesome set on the planet, the 1964 Topps Giants. This is card #18 of Jim Fregosi, shortstop of the Los Angeles Angels. I grew up in the 80’s and I knew the Angels of California and I knew Fregosi as a manager. Turns out he used to be a pretty awesome player. Here is the Nitty Gritty on the back of the card:KING OF TRIPLES
FREGOSI SETS NEW ANGEL RECORD
Jim Fregosi’s twelve triples during the ’63 baseball season established a new Los Angeles Angel club record. His .287 average last year made him the top batting shortstop in the American League. One of the games bright young ballplayers, Jim looms as a big star for years to come. A right-handed batter, Jim played in ’60 with Alpine in the Sophomore League as a part time infielder and outfielder. In ’61 at Dallas-Ft. Worth, Jim played in 150 games as a shortstop and earned his trial in the big leagues at the end of the season. In ’62, Jim was optioned briefly to the American Association, but was recalled by the Angels after batting .283 in Triple A competition. In his first real shot in the majors, Jim batted .291 in 58 ball games in ’62. Jim was a top basketball star in school.
That is Topps’ take on the matter. As it turned out, Fregosi bested his career high and the Angels team record when he led the American League with 13 triples in 1968. The current team record for triples belongs to Chone Figgins who legged out 17 triples in 2004. As a player Fregosi was an All Star 6 times, starting for the American League at shortstop twice. He also won the Gold Glove at short in 1968. During his 18 year career, Fregosi finished within the top-10 in triples 7 times, with 78 3-baggers during his career. After his retirement as a player, Fregosi was a manager in the big leagues for 15 seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, White Sox and Phillies. In 1993 his Philadelphia team won the National League Pennant, but lost to the Jays in the World Series. This has been a Nitty Gritty card of the day post, posted on the Collective Troll. The Nitty Gritty can be viewed here, Duke Snider’s 1951 Bowman was the card of the day there. Go Rays! Troll out.
Welcome and good morning Trollites! It is time for another card from the really big set I have been working on, the 1964 Topps Giants. This is card # 57 of 
Well, Topps summed it up pretty well. Boyer started out as a pitcher in the minors, became an outfielder and eventually one of the best third basemen in the National League. I did not realize that he began as a hurler, but as a teenager in the Cards system he pitched in 192 innings compiling an 11-9 record. Of course he would fame as a third baseman and not a pitcher, but he definitely made good use of his strong arm. For a decade’s length of time it was academic that Brooks Robinson would be on the American League’s All Star squad and Ken Boyer would be his counterpart in the NL. As a member of the Cardinals he was part of their World Championship team in 1964. As it turns out, Boyer’s best season came after this card was printed-actually it came the year that it was printed. In 1964 he started his 6th All Star Game at third base (11th overall). In addition to that, in 1964 he won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the Major League Player of the Year Award and was awarded the National League MVP. In ’64 he batted .295 with 24 homers and a league leading 119 runs batted in. He also scored 100 runs, had 30 doubles and 10 triples while winning the National League pennant with the Cards and eventually winning the World Championship, beating his brother Clete Boyer and his team, the New York Yankees in 7 games. The Cards rode the fine pitching performances of Bob Gibson, but also remained alive courtesy of a game 4 grand slam from Boyer. Over his career Boyer had a .287 batting average with 282 homers and 1141 RBI. He appeared in 11 All Star Games and won 5 Gold Gloves. 
He had 2143 hits. He remained on the Hall of Fame ballot until 1994 after appearing on the maximum of 15 ballots. His highest level of support came in 1988 when he received 26% of the vote. After his retirement as a player, Boyer managed in the Minor Leagues for 7 seasons and also spent 2-1/2 years (1978-1980) managing his former team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Ken Boyer was a Missouri native who played in his home state with the Cards for most of his career; he was also 1 of 14 Boyer children. Two of his brothers played Major League baseball. His brother Cloyd was his teammate with the Cards in the early 50s while his other brother Clete was also a Gold Glove third baseman. 3 of his other brothers spent time playing ball in the minor leagues. Ken Boyer’s number 14 was retired by the Cards in 1984. He is the only Non-Hall of Famer to have his number retired in St. Louis. His 255 career homers in St. Louis ranks third in club history behind Stan Musial and Albert Pujols. He also ranks among the top-10 All Time among third baseman in games, assists and double plays. Boyer died of cancer at 51 years of age in 1981. The 444 homeruns that he and his brother Clete hit combined rank 4th all time among brother in the majors behind Hank and Tommy Aaron and Joe and Vince DiMaggio or Joe and Dom DiMaggio. His records as a member of the Cards and as a third baseman are vast, I could go on, but will end it here. 
Despite the fact that the writers failed to recognize him as worthy for Cooperstown, he remains one of the great third baseman of all time, at the plate and in the field. He will never be forgotten by fans in St. Louis, either. For now he suffers the same fate as Ron Santo, a great third baseman who played in the deadball era… By the by, Boyer's hat looks seriously airbrushed to me, but at this point he had only played for the Cardinals...Maybe he just had an ugly hat? Okay, there are plenty more Card of the Day posts to come on this set and other awesome vintage sets from the 50's and 60's on this blog and it's brother blog, 
Check em out cuz the Bradentucky Bombers (and their fans) say so. Go Rays! Troll out.
Tommy Davis was born Herman Thomas Davis Jr. in March of 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. The year of his birth was the same year that Leo Durocher took over as the Brooklyn Dodgers manager. They finished third in the National League, led at the plate by Dolph Camilli and on the mound by Luke Hamlin won 20 games. Davis was a natural athlete and excelled at all sports. He was a childhood friend of NBA Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkins and they were teammates on the Boy High School basketball team in Brooklyn. Davis was courted by the New York Yankees, but it alleged that a phone call from Jackie Robinson persuaded Davis to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a 17-year-old. He was assigned to Class D Hornell Dodgers in the nearby Pony League. He batted .325 in 41 games and was moved to the Kokomo Dodgers in the Midwest League the following year. It was there he met former Brooklyn Dodgers All Star centerfielder Pete Reiser who managed Kokomo for part of the season. Reiser helped Davis improve his already sweet swing and he led the Midwest League in batting with a .356 average-he also added 17 homers. The next year he jumped from Class D ball all the way up to AA and AAA later that year. 
He started the 1959 season with the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League and led the PCL in batting with a .345 average. He had 211 hits, 9 triples and 18 homers-for 315 total bases. After just 4 years in the Dodgers minor league system (and a .336 average overall) Davis was ready for the big leagues. He started the 1960 season in Los Angeles, but they already had an established outfield with Frank Howard, Wally Moon and Duke Snider. Davis fought his way into the line-up, played all 3 outfield positions and third base. He appeared in 110 games, hit .276 and had 11 homers and 44 RBI. He finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year vote with his teammate Frank Howard winning the honor. In 1961 Davis became a regular in the Dodgers line-up. By 1962 Davis was a 23-year old superstar. He was the Dodgers’ primary leftfielder (although he played a little 3rd and center) and he started both of the All Star Games that year in left field. He put up explosive offensive numbers and had one of the best seasons that ANY Dodger ever had. He finished with a .346 batting average, winning the NLs batting crown, he had 27 homers and drove in 153 runs to lead the league in that category, too. The 153 RBI remains a franchise record for the Los Angeles Dodgers as does his 230 hits that year. He finished third in the MVP vote, behind his teammate Maury Wills and Willie Mays. The Dodgers met the Yankees in the World Series, Davis was their cleanup hitter and he batted .400 in his first World Series. The next season he repeated as an All Star and repeated as batting champ. In their history he is the ONLY Los Angeles Dodger to win a batting title and he did it TWICE. His numbers fell off a bit in 1964 and in ’65 he broke his ankle in May while trying to break up a double play. His season was over after just one month. Lou Johnson was brought in to replace him in the line-up and the Dodgers went on to win the WS again. He was back in 1966 and played in 100 games between left field and third base. He hit .313, but his power and speed weren’t there. Losing an entire year to an injury was taxing to his timing and readiness. The Dodgers won the NL Pennant, but lost to Baltimore in the WS. After the ’66 Series Davis was traded to the New York Mets and so began his career as a journeyman with a bat. He played for 11 different teams over the next 10 years and never did return to his form in the early 60’s. He did not play in another All Star Game or another World Series. 
His career ended after the Royals released him during spring training in 1977. His final numbers include a .295 career batting average with 2121 hits in 1999 games. He had 153 homers and 1052 RBI. As a pinch hitter he owns the best career batting average in history with a .320 average (63 for 197). In 2005 he published a book called “Tales From the Dodgers Dugout” which I never got to finish. If anyone has a copy… Gotta go take a test. Afterwards I will try to add some more pics to this post... If anyone has these Giant cards to spare, my want list is 
