Jerry Lumpe thanks his lucky stars that he wasn't Rusty Kuntz or Mickey Klutts.
Fun facts about Jerry Lumpe:
-Born in Lincoln, MO, Jerry signed with the Yankees in 1951.
-He spent five years in the minors before appearing in 20 games for New York at age 23 in 1956.
-After three-plus seasons as a backup infielder for the Yanks, Jerry was traded in May 1959 to the Athletics.
-Lumpe starred as Kansas City's everyday second baseman, batting .271 or better in each of his four full seasons with the club.
-He peaked with a .301 average, a team-best 34 doubles, 10 triples, 10 home runs, and 83 RBI in 1962. He also pieced together a 20-game hit streak that year.
-On August 20, 1963, his two-run homer off of Washington's Don Rudolph gave the A's a walkoff 7-5 win in 14 innings. On the day he went 4-for-6 with a walk.
-He was an All-Star for the first and only time in 1964, the first year following his trade to the Tigers. However, he was already in decline, hitting .256 with reduced power.
-Detroit released Jerry in October 1967, ending his 12-year career. Overall he hit .268 with 47 home runs and 454 RBI, and played solid defense at second base.
-He hit three home runs off of Hall of Famer Jim Bunning. The only pitcher that Lumpe took deep more often was Ralph Terry (four HR), a man he was once traded for.
-In 1971, Lumpe was a member of the A's coaching staff.
Is it just me, or do a lot of these guys in this card set look 50-60 years old? Makes me wonder how the players were takin' care of themselves in those days that they would age so much
ReplyDeleteDevon - I've noticed that too! I think it's a combination of things. Most of these guys had to work real jobs in the offseason, they didn't have all the benefits of modern medicine that current players do, many of them probably smoked and drank more...I think that the oldest-looking player I've seen in this set is Smoky Burgess.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but these guys were born during the Depression and likely experienced some real hard times although they were too young to be in WW II. They had much harder lives, I think, than we do.
ReplyDeleteI had the Lumpe's 63 card coming his career year with the athletics.
ReplyDeleteAs athletics go from the KC era, he was actually kind of consistent player on consistently bad teams.
As appearances go, I think he looked old by virture of being blonde with a crew cut.
Marc - I meant to mention the Depression and got sidetracked. Thanks for working that in!
ReplyDeleteholste42 - There are crew cuts all over the 1965 set. I'm a bigger fan of the styles of the 1970s.