Terry Ley Blew Through the Bronx

And shook up the game in short order

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1972 Topps Indians Rookie Stars (#506) - Card of the Day

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Sometimes in baseball, you don’t necessarily have to put up big numbers to make a big(ish) splash on the sports page.

Take Terry Ley, for example.

Originally selected in the 30th round of the very first MLB draft in 1965 by the Tigers out of high school, Ley opted instead to head to college.

Two years later, in 1967, the Yankees took Ley in the third round. This time, he signed.

The lefthander spent most of the next five summers (minus 1968, when he didn’t play) climbing New York’s minor league ladder. It all culminated in a late September callup in 1971.

At age 24, Ley pitched nine innings over six appearances and put up a hefty 5.00 ERA.

Given that performance and the other evidence they had at hand the Yanks traded Ley with Gary Jones to the Rangers in exchange for Bernie Allen.

That happened on December 2, 1971. Later that same day, Ley and Jones were on the move again.

This time, Texas added in Denny Riddleberger and Del Unser, then shipped the trio to the Indians in exchange for Roy Foster, Rich Hand, Mike Paul, and Ken Suarez.

Topps evidently thought that move was the ticket for Ley, and that he was part of the Tribe’s future, as they anointed him one of the Indians’ 1972 Rookie Stars, alongside Jim Moyer and Dick Tidrow on card #506 the next year.

Alas and alack, Ley would spend all of 1972 with the Triple-A Portland Beavers.

It was more of the same — a Triple-A relief gig for Cleveland — in 1973, and then even more of the same to start 1974.

Then, on June 15, 1974, the Tribe traded a player to be named later to the Padres for Steve Arlin.

Six days later, the PTBNL became two players to be named later, in the form of Ley and fellow lefty Brent Strom.

The 27-year-old Ley couldn’t crack San Diego’s major league roster either, though, so he headed to Japan and the Nippon Ham Flyers to finish the season.

He’d wrap up his pro career back in Japan in 1975, then hang up his spikes.

All told, Ley made six appearances in the big leagues and was involved in three fairly major trades involving a total of 11 different players.

Oh, Ley also became the first pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history to commit three balks in one inning, during his first go-round in 1974.

All in all, Terry Ley crammed a ton of noteworthy moments into his baseball career, even if they didn’t all happen on the diamond.

And today, Ley turns 77 years old. Happy birthday!

1971 New York Yankees Clinic Mickey Mantle Postcard

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The 1971 Yankees, for whom Ley made his MLB hay, were nothing special.

They finished the season 82-80, in fourth place in the old American League East, 21 games out of first.

That was a disappointing showing after the Bombers had reeled off 93 wins and a second-place finish in 1970. Mostly, though, it was a continuation of their meh performances since they lost the 1964 World Series to the Cardinals.

And Yanks’ fans were still trying to recover from Mickey Mantle’s retirement in the spring of 1969, though 1970 American League Rookie of the Year Thurman Munson was starting to salve the wounds.

Overall, it’s little surprise that the Yankees tried to capture a bit of their former magic by hosting a series of pregame clinics for young fans. They also worked with Dexter Press to issue a set of postcards in conjunction with those meet-and-greets.

Mantle was the subject for the August 14 clinic and giveaway. I talked about that one a bit more in a blog post awhile back.

It’s a great looking card that shows up fairly regularly on eBay, both alone and as part of the complete set.

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That Mantle card definitely qualifies as an oddball issue, even if it’s a beautiful one. That makes me wonder — what are some of your favorite oddball cards?

Any you’d like to see featured here? I’d love to hear your picks.

For now, though, have a happy Hump Day, and thanks for reading.

—Adam