Richie Scheinblum (#479)

I’m really not happy with the quality of scans from my scanner in the past week or two. Many images are showing streaks, and this one has a rainbow-effect. 

This is Richie Scheinblum’s first solo card. In 1968 he shared one of the many Lou Piniella rookie stars cards.  He was mostly a bench player, but in 1972 he was the Royals’ everyday right fielder, collecting 520 plate appearances and making the All-Star team. The following season he faded back to his bench role.

Scheinblum was signed by the Indians in 1964. He played in the minors for 5 seasons, although making his big-league debut with 4 games in September 1965 and a dozen or so games in '67 and '68.

Richie made the Indians on a full-time basis in 1969.  He was the opening day right fielder, but his good fortune hit the skids when the Tribe acquired Ken Harrelson from the Red Sox on April 19th. Scheinblum still managed to play 102 games, including 36 starts at the corner outfield spots, but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter.

Scheinblum spent all of 1970 in the minors, and was sold to the Senators after the season. He began the 1971 season with the Senators, but by mid-May was returned to the minors for the rest of the year. He was subsequently sold to the Royals.

1972 was his career year. After Bob Oliver was traded away in early-May, Richie was installed as the regular right fielder and hit .300 with 66 RBI over 134 games, while making his only All-Star team.

After the '72 season he was traded to the Reds (with pitcher Roger Nelson) for outfielder Hal McRae and pitcher Wayne Simpson. By mid-June the Reds flipped him to the Angels for a pair of minor-leaguers, and Richie’s career was now officially in suitcase mode. Still, he hit .307 in 283 at-bats.

The Angels traded him back to the Royals in April 1974, and in August he was sold to the Cardinals.  He played a total of 46 games among his three teams in ’74.

Scheinblum played the next two seasons in Japan, before retiring.

One wonders how his career would have gone, had the Royals not traded him after the 1972 season.

Joe Azcue (#176)

Here is Indians' #1 catcher Joe Azcue. I didn’t realize until looking at the back of the card today that Joe played for the Reds and Athletics before joining the Tribe. (Odd that Baseball-Reference.com uses a photo of Joe in an A’s cap. He played 594 games with Cleveland, while only 74 with Kansas City.) 

Azcue was a catcher in the Reds' farm system from 1956 to 1960, also playing 14 games with Cincinnati in the final 2 months of 1960. He was purchased by the Braves in December 1960, but spent the entire '61 season in the minors.

One year after coming to the Braves, he moved on to the Athletics (with 3rd baseman Ed Charles and outfielder Manny Jimenez) for pitcher Bob Shaw and infielder Lou Klimchock.

Azcue shared the Athletics' starting catcher job with veteran Haywood Sullivan in 1962, then was traded to the Indians in May 1963 (with shortstop Dick Howser) for catcher Doc Edwards and $100,000.  
Wait… Azcue AND Howser for DOC EDWARDS? Who was the Athletics' GM? No wonder they were so bad for so long!

Joe was the Indians' top catcher for the next 6 seasons (1963-68). For most of that time he platooned with Johnny Romano (and later Duke Sims), but managed to start more games than any other catcher each year. He made the All-Star team in 1968, his last full season with Cleveland.

With rookie Ray Fosse transitioning into a starting role in 1969, Azcue was traded to the Red Sox two weeks into the season. The Indians obtained pitchers Dick Ellsworth and Juan Pizarro, and 1B/OF Ken Harrelson in exchange for Azcue and pitchers Sonny Siebert and Vicente Romo.

After only 2 months (and 19 games) with Boston, Joe was flipped to the Angels for backup catcher Tom Satriano. Azcue replaced the tandem of Satriano and Tom Egan as the team's #1 catcher, starting 75 of the remaining 108 games in 1969.

In 1970 he started 2/3 of the games, to Egan’s 1/3. After sitting out the entire 1971 season with a contract dispute, he returned in 1972 but by then the Angels had moved on to John Stephenson.  
(Oh please… I’m trying to keep a straight face as I typed that!) Azcue only played 3 games with the Angels in 1972, while spending most of that season’s first half in the minors.

In late July 1972 he and infielder Syd O'Brien were traded to the Brewers for catcher Paul Ratliff and infielder Ron Clark. Joe only appeared in 11 games for the Brewers in the season's final 2 months, then played for the Indians’ double-A team in 1973 before retiring.

Dave Nelson (#579)

With this post, every team has now been represented at least twice on this blog. Last October (see opening comments here), I discovered that there was a huge disparity in the representation of each team on each of my blogs (in addition to the many 1967 and 1970 Phillies’ cards). 

I set out nine months ago to balance each team on each blog. The goal of a minimum of 8 cards per team for the 1967 blog was met with the Jim Ray Hart post back in May. In the next 3 to 5 weeks, I will also meet these goals: 1966 (6 per team), 1968 (7 per team), and 1970 (1 per team).


Dave Nelson was one of two 2nd basemen named to the 1968 Topps All-Rookie team. After sharing the 2nd base job as a rookie, he spent most of 1969 on the bench, then was traded to the Senators in the off-season, where he spent 6 seasons, finally nailing down an everyday job when they moved to Texas in 1972.

Nelson was signed by the Indians in 1964. After 4 seasons in the minors, he made his major-league debut in April 1968.

The Tribe used 4 guys at 2nd base that season, with Nelson and Vern Fuller each starting about 50 games. Veteran utilityman Chico Salmon started most games for the first 2 months, then it was Fuller’s turn for awhile. Dave didn’t get extended playing time until mid-July, then started 50 of the final 72 games at 2nd base.

In 1969 the Indians acquired former MVP and all-star shortstop Zoilo Versalles, and the Z-man alternated at 2nd base with Fuller for most of the season, leaving Nelson with bench duty. Dave made 24 consecutive starts beginning on July 24th, but that was it.

After the season, Nelson and pitcher Horacio Pina were traded to the Senators for pitchers Barry Moore and Dennis Higgins. Dave spent parts of ’70 and ’71 in the minors, and was the Nats’ regular 3rd baseman for the 2nd half of 1971 and all of 1972.

In 1973, Dave switched back to 2nd base, and made his only all-star squad that year. He was the starting 2nd baseman for 1973, 1974, and the first 2 weeks of 1975, until he was replaced by Lenny Randle.

After the ’75 season, Nelson was traded to the Royals for Nelson (Briles, that is). Dave spent the next 2 years backing up Frank White at 2nd base, and retired following the 1977 season.

Following his playing career, Nelson was a coach for the White Sox (1981-84), and an instructor for the Athletics, Expos, Indians, and Brewers (1986-2006). Currently, he is a broadcaster for the Brewers.

Lee Maye (#595)

Here is Lee Maye’s 1969 card, where he leans in to dodge a high, hard gray circle whizzing behind his head.

I really liked this card when I got it back in the day. Was it the “windbreaker under the uniform” look? Maybe the 100-year MLB patch on his vest, or the crispness of a high-numbered card? No, I think it was because Topps finally made a card for him with a decent photo, after 2 years of ridiculous, capless photos (see below).

Maye was signed by the Braves in 1954, and played in their farm system from 1954 to 1960. He also played the 2nd half of the 1959 and 1960 seasons with the Braves. Lee started 63 games in right field in his first full season (1961) as Hank Aaron split his time between right and center fields.

The next season, he started 90 games between left and center, as Aaron continued to alternate between center and right. Maye ended up as the #3 outfielder in playing time in both ’61 and ’62.

Maye was the team’s primary left AND center fielder in 1963, and logged more playing time than all outfielders except Aaron. With rookie Rico Carty joining the club in 1964, Lee spent most of his time in center, although he was also Carty’s backup in left field. Lee never made an all-star team, but in 1964 he led the NL with 44 doubles while playing for the Milwaukee Braves.

Lee started the first 8 games of 1965 in center field, but was then relegated to the bench, and was traded to the Astros in late May for pitcher Ken Johnson and outfielder Jim Beauchamp. Maye was the Astros’ regular left fielder for two seasons, playing alongside Jim Wynn and Rusty Staub.

In January 1967 Lee was traded to the Indians for pitcher Jim Weaver, catcher Doc Edwards, and outfielder Jim Landis. Maye alternated in right field with Rocky Colavito in 1967, and was the team’s primary left fielder in 1968, although only starting 65 games there. He started 24 games in left field in 1969, until his mid-June trade to the Senators for pitcher Bill Denehy.

Maye was the Nats’ primary right fielder in ’69 and ’70, but was released in early September 1970. He was picked up by the White Sox, where he played until he was released the following July, then played for the Padres' AAA team in Hawaii for the remainder of 1971 and in 1972, before retiring.

Maye passed away in July 2002 at age 67.