Final Card: Jose Herrera

This is the only card for Expos' outfielder Jose Herrera (#378). He had a very brief career (essentially just a few dozen games in '68 and '69). If I wasn’t on a mission to feature all the "final cards" in the 1969 set I probably would have passed over him.

Herrera was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1964. After 5 seasons in the minors (he did play 5 games in 1967 and 27 games in Aug/Sept 1968 for the Astros), the Expos selected him in the expansion draft.

Jose did not make the fledgling Expos' squad at the start of the 1969 season, but did play 47 games with them over the 2nd half of the season. This included 30 starts in the outfield and some pinch-hitting appearances.

1970 was a bust for him. He got one at-bat on Opening Day, then spent the rest of the season in the minors. In mid-June he was traded to the Brewers for pitcher John O'Donoghue.

In May 1971 Milwaukee shipped him out to the Tigers (with pitcher John Gelnar) for pitcher Jim Hannan. Herrera finished out the '71 season with the Tigers' AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

He wrapped up his career playing in Mexico from 1972-75.

Although he only had one Topps card, I found this custom card today on Pinterest:

Two Guys Named Aurelio Rodriguez?

Can there be two guys named Aurelio Rodriguez, both on the Angels?

Topps made another blunder here, although not nearly as egregious as their 1966 Dick Ellsworth mistake. (Actually, this 1969 one is comical!)

One of these is a custom card by John Hogan at the Cards That Never Were blog (who, oddly enough has not posted for 10 months).

1969 Custom Cards

A few years ago, John Hogan at the "Cards That Never Were" blog made a batch of custom baseball and football cards for me at my request.  I noticed that John did not include these images on his own blog, so I am posting them here so they can be appreciated by all. These are cards where the player was either missing, traded during the season, or just to upgrade a player from a Rookie Stars card to a solo card.

You may have already seen the 1967, 1968, and 1971 football cards or the 1966, 1967, and 1968 baseball cards he made for me on the blogs for those sets.

Tony Horton played for the Red Sox from 1964-67, and for the Indians from 1967-70. Topps never made a card for Horton, despite the fact that he was the Indian's regular first baseman and top slugger from mid-1967 until his retirement in August 1970.

After 5 minor-league seasons, Dave Watkins finally made the majors as the Phillies' backup catcher. It was to be his final pro season.

Lowell Palmer and Al Raffo debuted with the Phillies in 1969. "Shades" Palmer pitched for the Phils from 1969-71, and also with the Cardinals ('72) and Padres ('74). Raffo led the team in saves, but never played in the majors after '69, and never had a Topps card.