I'm also a big fan of the city of Seattle, the second-greatest city in the US of A. I lived there from 1997-99 while in grad school, and I'd live there again in a country minute. Seattle in 1969 didn't really seem to me to be a big-league town quite yet, and the Pilots year there happened to also coincide with the hemorrhaging of jobs at Boeing, the city's largest employer. So yeah - it didn't go so well for these guys. Not only did they finish dead last in the brand-new American League West, they went bankrupt. Bankrupt! Their owners threw up their hands, then packed up and sold the team to a group in Milwaukee the next spring (but not before Topps got out some "1970 Seattle Pilots" cards, about which more next time). We now know them as the "Milwaukee Brewers".
I decided I needed to track down each and every one of the 26 Topps 1969 Seattle Pilots cards - and recently, I did just that. Most of them were procured at my local card shop, Lefty's Sports Cards in Burlingame, CA. The ones that remained elusive were bought on eBay. But I've got them, and this set is done, ladies and gentlemen.
Interestingly, Tommy Harper - above left - is probably one of the fellas you've heard of on the team, along with a couple of the folks below. Harper stole 73 bases for the Pilots that year, and despite a .235 batting average, he had a very healthy .349 OBP. The following year in Milwaukee he'd go on to club 31 homers while stealing 38 bases - his best year in the majors. Oh - and there's no real Jim Bouton card for the Seattle Pilots! Only customs that you can find online.
Here's an article about collecting the Pilots, and here are a few other cards from that '69 set.
Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat catcher's mitt looks huge.
I'd love to retire in Portland or Seattle... absolutely love both cities. Haven't been to Lefty's before, but I've heard about it. It's cool that you support your LCS. I need to do a better job of that.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one. He's got an eBay store as well. I recently gave him a dollar figure and asked him to build me a Tim Lincecum set up to that figure, and he did it, and I paypal'ed the money. Gotta help our small business heroes stay alive right now.
DeleteSeattle is probably the #1 US city I want to see one day. I don't know why, but I think it's the place for me.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm only missing two or three cards from the 1969-70 Pilots sets combined. It was originally a kind of tongue-in-cheek project but I've actually gotten close enough to dream of completing it.
The city has changed a lot over the years, but it's still amazingly beautiful and has a fantastic vibe that's all its own. Lots of culture, weird films and bands, tons of bookworms hiding from the rain, and yeah, an MLB, NFL and soon NHL team as well.
DeleteCongrats on completing this very cool team set! I have a Davis and Haney, both were acquired from Bo (baseball Cards Come To Life).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you on completing the 1969 Pilots team set. In my quest to complete the 1969 Topps set (including the white letter variations), I've been able to acquire all of the Pilots cards and variations (except for the white letter variation of #511 Diego Segui). I hope to complete the set later this year.
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