This Rico Petrocelli Baseball Card Thumbed Its Nose at the Yankees
A record-setting, salt-rubbing cardboard homecoming
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1971 Topps Greatest Moments Rico Petrocelli (#39) - Card of the Day
As a baseball player, Rico Petrocelli must have caused all sorts of strife and hand-wringing in his hometown.
After all, Petrocelli was born and raised in Brooklyn, graduating from Sheepshead Bay High School in 1961. By then, of course, he didn’t have the option of signing with the lovable team who called Ebbets Field home since the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles before the 1958 season.
And even the prospects of staying in New York were slimmer than ever since the Giants also left for California before the ‘58 campaign.
The Yankees could only absorb so much local talent, right? So what was a slender Brooklyn kid with a slick glove, power potential, and big league dreams in his eyes to do?
For Petrocelli, the answer was to sign as an amateur free agent…with the Boston Red Sox.
To be fair, most Yanks fans probably didn’t notice the move at all to start with. Aside from one game late in 1963, Petrocelli toiled in the Boston farm system from 1962 through 1964.
But then, even though he hit just .231 at Triple-A, Petrocelli broke Spring Training with the Sox in 1965 and spent all season in the big leagues. He ended up playing more games at shortstop than 1964 All-Star Eddie Bressoud and hit 13 homers in 103 games despite a .232 batting average.
So Petrocelli made a big impact, even though he still had work to do. He kept plugging away, though, and the Red Sox mostly stuck with him, though he got into only 123 games in 1968, hitting 12 homers and driving in 46 while hitting .234.
But the next season, as baseball opened the era of divisional play, Petrocelli exploded with 40 home runs, then a record for shortstops. He also hit .297, made his second All-Star appearance, and finished seventh in American League MVP voting.
By then, the Yankees had fallen from their usual lofty perch — Mickey Mantle retired before the season, a .500 record seemed like a lofty goal, and shortstop had become a revolving door since Tony Kubek retired after the 1965 season.
Gene Michael manned the slot in 1969 and hit .272, but that would be a career high and he had almost no power. Think the Yanks would have liked to rewind the clock and make a run at Petrocelli in the early 1960s?
Seems likely.
Then, in 1971, Topps rubbed a bit of salt in the wound with the release of their Greatest Moments set. The 55-card issue showcased — surprise! — great moments from the careers of active players, in a horizontal, oversized (4 3/4" X 2 1/2") format.
There at #39, Petrocelli flashes his record-setting power stroke.
These cards weren’t distributed far and wide — most Topps test issues weren’t — but the general hobby consensus includes Brooklyn that footprint. Not too surprising given the company’s corporate presence in that borough.
Not the Bronx, but a whole lot closer to Yankee Stadium than, say, Fenway Park. You gotta figure at least a few of those Petrocelli cards ended up in the hands of Yankee fans actively eating their hearts out.
As things turned out, Petrocelli spent his entire career with the Red Sox, hitting .251 with 210 home runs and 773 RBI while playing on two World Series teams.
Today, Petrocelli turns 81 years old.
Let’s Collect Two!
Petrocelli had some heavyweight company in that 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set, including one of two final Ernie Banks cards.
Mr. Cub didn’t get a proper career-capper, but the nifty number above at least gave him an extra cardboard oomph heading into retirement.
Read all about this card right here.
July Low Content Alert!
When I kickstarted this newsletter back in December of last year, the daily format was just an experiment — mostly a way to have some fun as the last week of the year rolled out.
Turns out the experiment ran for six months.
It’s not over, either, but I do anticipate July will be much lighter in terms of these dailies. Next week — Fourth of July week — may be nonexistent. We’ll see how the rest of the month plays out.
In any case, I’ll still be rambling in the weekly Wax Pack Gods newsletter, so I’ll see you Sunday, and the Sunday after that, if nothing else.
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That’s all I got for today.
Until tomorrow, may all your black borders show up unchipped.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
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