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1970 Topps Vern Fuller (#558) - Card of the Day
Hey, welcome to a brand new month! We finally climbed our way out of an extra-long February and into March, so I’m sure you know what that means…
Happy birthday, Vern Fuller!
In case you don’t remember, the Indians signed Fuller out of high school in 1963, a couple years before the first MLB draft. He went right to Single-A ball, then moved up to Double A before spending all of 1964 on the big league roster.
But even though he was technically an Indian all summer long, Fuller was on the disabled list until September, when he made his major league debut at age 20. In two games, he pinch hit once and pinch ran another time, putting up zeroes except for a groundout in his only plate appearance.
That performance earned Fuller some more seasoning, and he spent all of 1965 at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In fact, he wouldn’t see the bigs again until September 1966, when he played 16 games at second base, including 14 starts.
His bat proved to be a bit livelier with more extended play, and Fuller hit .235 with a couple home runs, a couple doubles, and a triple. He also drew seven walks on the month and put up a very 2020-like .804 OPS.
In the 1960s, his combination of a decent glove and a smidge of pop was good enough to earn him part-timer status, especially for a string of Cleveland teams going nowhere fast.
From 1967 through 1969, Fuller played in at least 70 games and came to the plate at least 230 times each season. He hit a combined .234 with 11 home runs, 29 doubles, 61 RBI, and 63 walks those three years.
And, while Fuller mostly took his reps at the keystone, he also saw time at third, including 23 games in 1968.
In 1970, though, the Indians handed second base to young (23) Eddie Leon. The path to third base had already been blocked by a December 1969 trade that sent Luis Tiant and Stan Williams to the Twins for Graig Nettles (and Dean Chance, Bob Miller and Ted Uhlaender).
With that updated and reloaded roster, Indians manager Al Dark only managed to find room for Fuller 29 times in 1970, with only seven starts among them.
Fuller did start the last game of the season, though, a 1-0 road loss to the Tigers. He also singled to center field in his second-to-last at-bat, against Detroit starter John Hiller in the top of the sixth inning.
Fuller got one more shot at Hiller but flied out to right in the eighth.
That would be the end of the road for Fuller in professional baseball, and his baseball card career ended at the same time. He appeared on Topps cards from 1968 through 1970, but there would be no career-capper.
Of course, considering he only picked up six hits in that 1970 season, the stats on the back of Fuller’s 1970 Topps card weren’t all that far off from being *ahem* full.
But whether you see 176 or 182 hits attached to his name, there’s no doubt that Vern Fuller turns 80 years old today!
1969 Topps American League ERA Leaders (#7)
Fuller wasn’t around for long, but he was part of something unusual — a winning Indians team.
After finishing above .500 in 1965 and exactly even (81-81) in 1966, the Indians posted losing records every year through 1975…except 1968.
In that “Year of the Pitcher,” the Tribe finished in third place in the American League at 86-75. And, while Denny McLain got all the accolades in the Junior Circuit, only a pair of Indians finished in the top three in wins, strikeouts, and ERA.
And for that effort, only Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell appeared on all the three 1969 Topps cards celebrating 1968’s pitching leaders.
Here on the ERA card, the Tribe Twins are side-by-side, joined by Dave McNally.
So as it turns out, Fuller had a pretty good seat to take in some baseball history.
And if you want to read a bit more about McDowell’s baseball cards, I wrote about a pretty interesting one awhile back, right here.
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Well, that sews up another week here at the old cardboard fish wrap. Looking back, I see it’s been heavy on the Indians fare — maybe that means something good is in store for the Guardians in 2024.
More likely, it just means I got some wisp of a Neal Heaton memory stuck in one of my rusty gray-matter folds and can’t jar it loose. Nothing a couple hunks of O-Pee-Chee orange bubble gum shouldn’t be able to clear up.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam