A Royle Flush of Rookie Cards
A Royle Flush of Rookie Cards
PLUS -- The start of a baseball card rabbit hole, just one letter away
Today’s Lineup…
🧦 Card of the Day - Cheeky in Sox
🔌 Finding connections
1978 Topps Royle Stillman (#272) - Card of the Day
The Dodgers picked Royle Stillman out of Torrance High School (California) in the 22nd round of the 1969 draft, then stashed him away in the minors for three years.
He hit .330 or better in both Rookie and Class-A ball, then slid to .267 at Double A Albuquerque in 1971. He showed decent power and speed all along the way.
None of it was enough to get Stillman called up to the Dodgers, but it was enough for another team to come calling — sort of.
In December of 1971, Los Angeles traded Stillman, Doyle Alexander, Bob O'Brien, and Sergio Robles to the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Richert and *drumroll* Frank Robinson.
Even as part of a huge group trade, there still has to be some pressure involved in being traded for a bona fide baseball legend.
Stillman responded by hitting .297 with 23 home runs and 83 RBI for the Double-A Asheville Orioles in 1972. That showing didn’t change his trajectory much, though, and he stayed in the minors for nearly three more full seasons.
Finally, on June 22, 1975, Stillman got a one-game call-up to the O’s. He struck out in one sixth-inning pinch-hit at-bat, then headed back to Triple-A Rochester.
Stillman earned a return engagement to Baltimore in September, where he made 12 more appearances and ended his first partial season in the majors with a .429 batting average.
That was enough to earn Stillman a shot at the big league roster in Spring Training the next year, and he made his season debut for the O’s on April 12.
It was also enough to earn Stillman a shot as part of the 1976 Topps “Rookie Catchers & Outfielders” card (#594):
Those good feelings and a place next to Jerry White couldn’t save Stillman from an .091 batting average at the end of June, though, and he found himself back in the bushes.
Stillman became a free agent that November, and the White Sox scooped in to nab him. After finishing 64-97, any port in a storm — or minor league bat — would do.
So, lo and behold, Stillman spent all of 1977 on the north side, hitting .219 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI in 56 appearances.
And that was enough to land Stillman his first solo card. It’s that cheeky number up above, with Yankee Stadium in the background.
Alas, the ChiSox went an amazing 90-72 in 1977, which apparently made their ambitions too rich to hold onto the likes of Stillman.
Chicago released him in April of 1978.
He’d latch on with Seattle, Oakland, and California over the next three seasons, but he never did return to the majors.
But wait — the (cardboard) story’s not quite over!
That 1978 Topps card wasn’t really Stillman’s first solo card. At least not if you enjoy “pure” cards and don’t mind a little hand-waving when it comes to licensing.
Behold the 1976 SSPC Royle Stillman rookie card (#393):
In case you were wondering, Royle Stillman turns 73 years old today. Happy birthday, baseball sir!
Royle, Royal, Royce(s)
So, Royle is a pretty unusual name in Major League Baseball circles. In fact, Royle Stillman is the only Royle to ever have appeared in MLB play.
There haven’t been any players who went by the homonymic “Royal” as a first name, either. But there were some who came close:
Kenneth Royal Williams, aka Ken Williams
Royal Eugene, aka Roy Eugene
Royal Shaw, aka Hunky Shaw
James Royal Mains, aka Jim Mains
Thomas Royall Miller, aka Tom Miller
And if you’re looking for near-Royles from a spelling perspective, “Royce” comes pretty close.
We have a few choices here:
Royce Middlebrook Youngs, aka Ross Youngs (a Hall of Famer!)
There are a couple of middle-name Royces, too.
And, if you want an even tighter Royle-Royce connection, consider that the late Royce Ring’s birthday was yesterday.
And, well, Royce Clayton celebrates his 54th birthday today.
Do you think Royle and Royce are partying together somewhere as we speak??
I’ll leave that one to you to find out, along with any potential connections between Royle and the multitude of Doyles who have graced big league fields over the years.
—
Hope your New Year is off to a good start — not a Royle pain in the butt or anything.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
More cardboard fun: