Buyback Franken-set: Sweet '65s!

Time for another round of buybacks for my franken-set project.  I'm gonna take a break from the large lot of 2017 buybacks today.  Instead, this lot came a couple of months back courtesy of a seller who listed a whole bunch of '60s buybacks on eBay, each with an opening bid under a dollar and with combined shipping offered.

All but one of today's cards comes from the 1965 Topps set, which is generally regarded as a favorite among vintage collectors.  Let's see what I ended up with, and how the cards fared in terms of the franken-set...

1965 Topps #329 - Hawk Taylor

I was drawn to this one just because you don't see a lot of guys named "Hawk".  This is, of course, a nickname, but I'm glad Topps went with it over his real one (Robert Dale Taylor).  Taylor had the first pinch-hit grand slam in Mets history.  He would have finished out his career with the Red Sox, but a back injury knocked him out of the game prematurely before he ever played a game with Boston.  As my first #329 buyback, Hawk is in!

1965 Topps #19 - Gates Brown

Another nickname here, as "Gates" Brown's real name was William James Brown.  Gates was a pinch-hit specialist as well, never more so than in the Tigers' 1968 World Series season.  He hit an astounding .450 as a pinch-hitter that year for Detroit.  He captured a second World Series with the Tigers in '84, this time as a member of the coaching staff.

I've already got a #19 buyback in the binder:

I love Expos cards, and those are some nice glasses too...

...but Gates is in, Foli is out.

1965 Topps #313 - Jimmie Schaffer

I don't really know much about Jimmie Schaffer.  He enjoyed an 8-year career in Major League Baseball, but his time with the White Sox was limited to just 17 games at the beginning of 1965.  I just liked this one because Jimmie is sporting the backwards cap decades before Ken Griffey Jr did!  As a way to deal with traded players, the reverse cap look you see here is certainly preferable to the hat-less photos, at least in my eyes.  Schaffer makes the binder uncontested.

1965 Topps #174 - Joe Jay

Next up is a late-career card of pitcher Joe Jay.  Joe will forever be remembered for his 1961 season, where he led the NL with 21 wins.  The Reds faced the Yankees in the World Series that year, and even though the Bronx Bombers won, Jay tossed a complete game four-hit gem in Game 2.  He won 21 games again in 1962, but his numbers began trailing off after that.

I had this '61 Topps Ray Semproch in slot 174...

...but don't care too much for this one, so Joe Jay now occupies that spot.

1965 Topps #184 - John Boozer

Here's the first of two John Boozer cards that you'll be seeing in today's post.  The Phillies were the only team that he pitched for over the course of his MLB career.  When his pitching days were over, he returned to South Carolina, where he was born and raised, and started a "Recreation & Aging Committee" in his county.  Sadly, he passed away at just 47 years of age from lymphoma.

I had this cap-less Denis Menke card in slot 184...

...and we all know how I feel about these.

This one also happens to fall on the one page of the binder that's actually complete so far.  Here's the before, you can see Denis Menke middle left.

Here's the after, with Boozer in Menke's place.  Much better!

1965 Topps #66 - Bill Rigney

Here's Bill Rigney, who managed the Angels throughout the '60s.  Coincidentally, this is the second Rigney card I've shown on the blog in the past week or so.  I really like this card of the grizzled veteran, but it draws a tough match-up when it comes to the franken-set project:

This was the first, and still only, 1962 Topps Heritage buyback that I've acquired to date.  I love the photograph on this one, complete with marks left by foul balls on the backstop behind Cuno there.

Rigney loses in a tough one.

1965 Topps #96 - Sonny Siebert

Here's two-sport star Sonny Siebert, who was simultaneously drafted by the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Hawks of the NBA.  Sonny is best remembered for tossing a no-hitter in 1966.  My favorite feat that Siebert accomplished though was when he hit two home runs on the same day as a member of the Red Sox in 1971.  I'm admittedly a bit biased there, since Sonny accomplished the feat on my birthday.

This '75 Mike Cosgrove was the reigning champ of slot 96.

Was being the operative word!

1965 Topps #311 - Orlando Pena

I love this classic shot of Cuban hurler Orlando Pena rocking some sweet green and yellow KC Athletics gear.  These uniforms are some of my favorites of the era.  Plus, this card gives me the perfect reason to bump this boring one from the franken-set:

I've been bored by this buyback since the day I pulled it from a pack.

So long Jose!

1965 Topps #152 - Bill Monbouquette

Here's the last '65 for today, and a nice Red Sox buyback to boot!  Bill Monbouquette was the staff ace for Boston throughout the early '60s.  In 1965 he was the starter against a 58-year-old Satchel Paige, and became Paige's final strikeout victim!  Good bit of bar room trivia there for sure.  Bill is a member of the Red Sox HOF.

If he wants to make the franken-set, he'll have to unseat another Red Sox HOFer:

I love Frank Malzone, but he's listed with the Angels here, and missing his hat.

Easy call.

1963 Topps #29 - Reds/Phillies Rookie Stars

Here's the last buyback I have for today.  I'm not overly familiar with any of these players, though John Boozer was featured earlier in the post.  I really grabbed this one solely due to the fact that it was my first opportunity to land a multi-player rookie card from 1963 Topps in buyback form.  This is my first #29 buyback, and was a nice way to add some variety to the binder indeed!

If you round up I'm at 50% complete now, but in actuality I'm sitting at 49.7%.  Hopefully in my next post I'll cross the halfway point for real.  Thanks for reading as always!

Franken-set Progress:  394/792 (50%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  182
Total Buybacks in Collection: 576