Category: Cael’s Collection
Cael’s Collection – Jarrod Washburn 2001 Topps #604
The alumni card of the day is a 2001 Topps of Jarrod Washburn. Washburn was part of the 1995 Cedar Rapids Kernels team that finished in 3rd place with a record of 76-62 under manager Tom Lawless. The Kernels fell to Peoria in the first round of the playoffs that season. Washburn was 0-1 with a ERA of 3.44 in three starts for the Kernels. He struck out 20 batters in 18 1/3 innings of work.
Cael’s Collection – Mike Vail 1980 Topps #343
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball Cards
The alumni card of the day is a 1980 Topps card of Mike Vail. Vail hit .243 with 7 HR in 61 games with the 1972 Cedar Rapids Cardinals. The team finished in 8th place with a record of 51-77 under manager Gary Geiger.
Mike Vail hit .279 with 34 HR and 219 RBI during his ten year MLB career playing for the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cael’s Collection – Bob Taylor 1958 Topps #164
The alumni card of the day is a 1958 Topps card of Bob “Hawk” Taylor. Taylor hit .297 with 22 HR in 106 games for the 1958 Cedar Rapids Braves squad. The team finished with a mark of 77-53 under manager Alex Monchak’s guidance and won the Three-I League Championship defeating Davenport (3-2).
Bob “Hawk” Taylor hit .218 with 16 HR and 82 RBI during his 11 year MLB career playing for the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets, California Angels and the Kansas City Royals.
Cael’s Collection – Bob Anderson 1961 Topps #283
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball CardsThe alumni card of the day is a 1961 Topps card of Bob Anderson. Anderson was a member of the 1954 Cedar Rapids Raiders team that finished in 6th place with a record of 63-72 under manager Bill Prince. Anderson was 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 40 innings of work for the Raiders.
Bob Anderson posted a 36-46 record with 13 saves and a 4.26 ERA during his 7 year career playing for the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers.
Cael’s Collection – Mack Jones 1963 Topps #137
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball CardsThe alumni card of the day is a 1963 Topps card of Mack Jones. Mack Jones hit .291 with 15 HR and 19 doubles for the 1959 Cedar Rapids Braves team that posted a mark of 53-73 under manager Alex Monchak.
Mack Jones tied a National League record in his MLB debut by collecting four hits (three singles and a double) in his first game. Jones has his most productive season in 1965 batting .262 with 31 HR and 75 RBI. He was part of the Braves team that set a National League record with six 20-HR hitters in a single season (Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Joe Torre, Felipe Alou and Gene Oliver). Mack Jones was the second player selected by the Montreal Expos in the 1968 MLB expansion draft (4th overall).
On April 8, 1969, Jones made history again taking the field along with Don Hahn and Rusty Staub to for the 1st outfield in Montreal Expos history. hit .252 with 133 HR and 415 RBI during his 10 year MLB career playing for the Braves, Reds and Expos. On April 14, 1969, Jones hit the 1st Major League regular season HR (three run shot) in Canada adding a two-run triple in the Expos’s 1st home victory as a franchise. Jones finished 1969 with a career high .270 batting average, 22 HR and 79 RBI.
Mack Jones hit .252 with 133 HR, 415 RBI, 132 doubles, 31 triples, scored 485 runs and stole 65 bases in 1002 games during his 11 year career playing for the Braves, Reds and Expos.
Cael’s Collection – Mick Kelleher 1980 Topps #323
The alumni card of the day is a 1980 Topps card of Mick Kelleher.
Mick Kelleher played for the 1970 Cedar Rapids Cardinals squad that finished with a mark of 57-64 under manager Roy Majtyka. Kelleher hit .266 with 10 doubles in 59 games that season.
Cael’s Collection – Billy Harrell 1958 Topps #443
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball CardsThe alumni card of the day is a 1958 Topps card of Billy Harrell. Billy Harrell was part of the 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians team that finished in 8th with a record of 53-71 under manager Jimmy Bloodworth. Harrell hit .325 with 5 HR and 16 doubles in 55 games for Cedar Rapids that season.
“Billy was a two-sport athlete. Harrell played basketball at Siena College from 1949-52 and was named Honorable Mention All-American at guard by the United Press. After rejecting offers to play for the Harlem Globetrotters and the NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers, he ultimately pursued a pro-baseball career.
He played baseball in the Negro Leagues for the 1951 Birmingham Black Barons, then went on a short stint playing basketball for the 1951-52
Saratoga Harlem Yankees (ABL).
He eventually went back to baseball and made it to the Major Leagues, playing for Cleveland (1955, 1957, 1958) and the Boston Red Sox (1961). As an infielder, he hit seven home runs in 1958, his best year.” – BIO from the NLBPA.com website
Billy Harrell’s Bio – Negro League Players Association – NLBPA.com
Cael’s Collection – Bud Daley 1962 Topps #376
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball Cards
The alumni card of the day is a 1962 Topps card of Bud Daley. Bud Daley was 14-9 with a 3.09 ERA for the 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians. He struck out 198 batters in 227 innings of work that season as the Indians finished 53-71.
Bud Daley was 60-64 with an ERA of 4.03 during his ten year career with the Indians, Athletics and Yankees. He tallied 25 complete games during the 1959 and 1960 seasons for the Athletics including three shutouts. Daley pitched nine more complete games in 1961, seven of them coming after a mid-season trade to the New York Yankees. He picked up the win in the deciding Game 5 of the 1961 World Series. Daley worked 6 2/3 innings striking out three without allowing an earned run to finish off the Reds and the 1961 World Series.
Cael’s Collection – Denis Menke 1964 Topps #53
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball Cards
The alumni card of the day is a 1964 Topps card of Denis Menke. Denis Menke played two seasons (1958-59) with the Cedar Rapids Braves, posting a combined .254 average with nine HR and 31 RBI in 102 games. As a member of the 1958 Braves, he teamed with future major leaguers Bobby Knoop, Bob Hendley and Bob ‘Hawk’ Taylor and fellow Cedar Rapids Baseball Hall of Famer Horace Garner to defeat Davenport 3-2 and win the 1958 Three-I League championship.
Denis Menke was named to two All-Star teams in 1969 and 1970 as member of the Houston Astros. He played in the post season twice in 1972 and 1973 with the Cincinnati Reds and hit a home run off Oakland’s Catfish Hunter in Game 5 of the 1972 World Series. In 13 major league seasons with the Braves, Reds and Astros, he has a career .250 average with 101 HR and 606 RBI. Following his playing career, he managed three minor league seasons with the Burlington Bees in 1977 and the Dunedin Blue
Jays in 1978-79 and served as the Astros’ hitting coach for six seasons. Menke was inducted into the Cedar Rapids Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Cael’s Collection – Ernie Orsatti 1933 Goudey #201
Cael’s Collection – Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Alumni Baseball CardsThe alumni card of the day is a Ernie Orsatti card from the 1933 Goudey set. I always liked these cards growing up and had no chance at buying them. Starting grabbing random ones up off Ebay prior to joining the Kernels while I was just collecting random vintage cards. I only have about 15-20 Goudey cards as I never was willing to pay more than $10 including shipping and handling. By some strange luck, one of the ones I picked up happened to play in Cedar Rapids back in 1925.
Ernie Orsatti hit .347 with 6 HR for the 1925 Cedar Rapids Bunnies. The Bunnies won the Mississippi Valley League Championship with a record of 74-51 under manager Bill Speas.
Ernie Orsatti hit .306 with 10 HR and 237 RBI during his 9 year career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He played in four World Series (1928, 1930, 1931 and 1934) batting .273 in 13 games as the Cardinals won the Championship in 1931 over the Philadelphia Athletics and defeated the Detroit Tigers in the 1934 World Series.
The Sprouting News 