Cup of Coffee: John Kennedy

Today our #CupOfCoffee Series features the Phillies first African-American player, John Kennedy, who debuted for the squad on April 22 1957.

Sketch of a 1957 Topps John Kennedy card on a disposable coffee cup

John Kennedy played five games for the 1957 Phillies. Since his Major League career was brief Topps never issued a card of Kennedy. 

We went with the 1957 Topps design which is minimalist - basically I just featured the player name across the bottom. I have chosen to omit the Phillies team name since they chose to ignore black players longer than any other NL team. I attempted to show John Kennedy glancing forward to the future. The hexagon background is a recurring theme in my work which I use to symbolize barriers that need broken. Kennedy's Barrier Breaking season is also noted by the broken coffee cup at the center top - with a coffee cup breaking in a lightning bolt pattern - the year 1957 written on the cup. 

The borders and text of the card are Orange & Green, the colors used on David Hammons African-American flag. 

Integration Pioneers

SABR has this page where you can find John Kennedy and the other Integration Pioneers with links to their biographies. There are a handful of other CupOfCoffee candidates here, hopefully we will get to makes cups for them in the future. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

John Kennedy SABR Bio - Michael Marsh

Baseball-reference

Cup of Coffee: Ralph Gagliano

Ralph Gagliano was the middle of three baseball playing brothers. The eldest, Phil, had a twelve year career which included a World Series Championship with the 1967 St Louis Cardinals. Younger Brother Paul went to Vanderbilt on a baseball scholarship and played for the Italian National team in several international competitions including the 1984 Olympics.   

At age 18 Ralph appeared in a single Major League game as a Pinch Runner for the 1965 Cleveland Indians. He entered the game with one out in the 9th inning and Cleveland trailing the Yankees by 5 runs. Unfortunately the ensuing batter, Richie Scheinblum, grounded into a force out at second and Ralph Gagliano's MLB career was over. A batter later New York recorded the final out and defeated Cleveland 9-4. 

Gagliano was sent to A ball in 1966, he had a mediocre season but that was not the biggest factor in ending his baseball Career. In August Gagliano received his Army draft notice. Ralph served three years in Germany rising to the rank of Lieutenant. 

Following his Service commitment Gagliano returned to the Indians organization for two seasons, but by then his baseball skills had eroded. 

Ralph Gagliano was out of pro ball at the age of 24.  

1965 Topps LT Ralph Gagliano on a disposable coffee cup

Ralph Gagliano is half of a 1965T High Number dual rookie card. The other subject of the diptych features fellow #CupOfCoffee alum Jim Rittwage whom we will cover at a later date. 

Below you can see the original card. A couple of minor modifications were made: 1) Added the Lieutenant title in front of Ralph Gagliano's name. 2) The team pennant was changed to the city name of Cleveland 3) Finally below the card we have the card we have the date of Gagliano's game 1965 September 21. 

The Original

1965 Topps #501 Ralph Gagliano & Jim Rittwage (image swiped from PSA)

The image of Ralph Gagliano is notable for having a completely white cap - likely an airbrush job to cover up a Minor League cap, possibly that of the 1964 Dubuque Packers. We made sure to keep the blank. 

Sources and Links

CupOfCoffee Index

Cleveland CupOfCoffee Index (cups inspired by SABR 54)

Once Around the Bases: Richard Tellis

Royals Review

Jim Rittwage Cup of Coffee

Phil Gagliano SABR Bio: Bill Nowlin 

Phil Gagliano BR bullpen

baseball-reference

PSA

Cup of Coffee: Cy Twombly

Next up in our Cup of Coffee Series is Pitcher and Longtime collegiate Athletic Director Cy Twombly. If the name sounds familiar for someone who pitched less than 30 career innings over a century ago it's likely because Cy Twombly is the father to the renowned pop artist of the same name. 

Sketch of Cy Twombly (the Elder) on a Disposable Coffee Cup 

This drawing echoes 1920s era tobacco cards. The dates of Twombly's first and last games June 25th and August 17th 1921 are written at the cups bottom. 

Four pictographs were added to note different facets of Twombly the elder’s post-baseball career. Clockwise from top right: Interlocking Washington & Lee university logo which is where Cy spent over 5 decades in various roles; The lower two icons are for Golf and Swimming, the two programs where W&L saw the most success while Twombly was Athletic Director at the University. The Natatorium is now named for Twombly. Finally top right we have a paintbrush as a nod to Cy Twombly the younger. 

The "card" on the cup is backed by a large crayon swirl which echoes the artwork of the younger Cy Twombly   

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Gagosian - Cy Twombly (the younger)

Baseball-Reference

SABR Bio - Aidan Jackson-Evans

GeneralsSports - Washington & Lee University Sports

Rookie Cup Series: 1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

 At 84 Ray Culp is likely the oldest among the Phillies Topps All-Star Rookie Cup recipients. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

Lots of things to like on the otherwise minimalist 1964 Topps card. First off the Rookie Cup completes the Red/Blue/Yellow primary color troika - IMO The PHILLIES team name being listed atop the card in black hurts the 1964 design. My favorite element of this card is Culp wearing the under jersey warm-up jacket - which even has a collar. 

Ray Culp earned the Rookie Cup by leading qualifying RHP in all three triple crown categories (14-11, 2.97 ERA,  176 K). Those numbers also led all NL Rookies regardless of handedness. This however was only good enough for third place in the Rookie of the Year vote behind Pete Rose (.273, 6 HR, 41 BI) and Ron Hunt (.272, 10, 42 and 13 HBP ). If the vote was held today Culp may fair better as he led the trio in WAR 2.5 Culp - 2.4 both Hunt & Rose. 

It should be noted Ray Culp's three pitching numbers were all 2nd to the LHP rookie leader, Gary Peters who played for the White Sox in the AL and easily won junior circuit Rookie of the Year.

Flip

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp (b-side)

The back tells about Ray's Rookie Cup win and FIVE Shutouts. Times have changed and among active pitchers only Justin Verlander has more than 5 Shutouts CAREER. Verlander is on the IL and hasn't pitched since March. The last pitcher to record a 5 shutout season is Felix Hernandez in 2012, the Phillies Cliff Lee is the most recent NL pitcher, He had 6 whitewashes in 2011. 

Beyond 1963

Ray Culp had a career that started off great and cut short by injury. He was a two-time all-star pitching a clean inning in each (1963 & 1969) - recording outs vs Future HOF Al Kaline, Yaz and Tony Perez plus Pete Rose. 

Trivia

The trivia/comic at the bottom references a 1952 game where the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 19-1.  There is a SABR game story you can read here. Among the many other records set during the 15 run inning were most two out runs (12), most BFP (21) and most consecutive batters to reach (19)

Sloppy Topps

However if we look close we have a sloppy topps candidate.  I realize it is lightly written, but can you spot the error in the answer to the trivia question? If not check our posting regarding the 1964T/2013 Heritage  Cardbacks here. 

Ray Culp Index

412 Ray Culp (2013 Heritage Preview)

412 Ray Culp (2013 Heritage Preview b-side)

Sources & Links

1964 Topps Rookie Cup Index

Baseball_Ref

SABR Games Project :1952 May 21 Reds 1 @ Dodgers 19 - Steven C Weiner 

1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (1941-2026)

Over the weekend we got the sad news of Bobby Cox's passing. He is best known for his Quarter Century managing the Braves in two different stints that covered parts of SIX DIFFERENT DECADES. 

1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (image stolen from ebay)

Prior to his Managerial career Bobby Cox had two major league seasons with the New York Yankees in the late 1960s. His 135 games with the 1968 Yankees earned him the spot on the All-Star Rookie Squad. While none of his Rookie Numbers (.229/7/41) are impressive he led all three categories (for 3B). Well sort of - none of the 3B batted enough to qualify for the batting average title. I am giving Cox the nod since he had more than double the number of plate appearances the anyone who had a better average. Yes .229 was the batting leader among Rookie 3B in 1968, Freddie Patek batted .255 in 234 PAs compared to Cox's 490.  

AL Rookie of the Year

The 1968 Rookie of the Year Award went to Cox's teammate Stan Bahnsen who had very impressive Pitching Numbers (17-12, 2.05, 162 Ks). Only one other player received ROY votes, Del Unser. 

Not sure how Unser got 3 ROY votes his batting numbers are similar to Cox (.229/1/30) and honestly a touch worse. Del Unser started his career in CenterField and perhaps voters found that to be a more important defensive position than third base. Modern stats were not available in 1968, if they were voters would have been able to consider Bobby Cox's +0.9 WAR vs Unser's -1.5.

Flip

1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (b-side image stolen from ebay)

Couple of interesting things on the flip side. Looking at the text we find out that Bobby Cox was a player in the Braves organization a decade before he started managing Atlanta. The two seasons he played for Braves affiliates were 1966 Austin and 1967 Richmond. 

The other item that caught my attention is the comic, unfortunately I was unable to track down much information on Bobby Cox's Venezuelan League career. According to Tim Deale's SABR Bio Cox played in Venezuela from 1967-1970 

Other Voices

Check out this posting from our friend Jim from Downingtown who discussed this card and Bobby Cox's career as both a player & manager back in 2014.  

Bobby Cox HOF Index

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones  Cox Quote re: Jones

Source & Links

SABR Bio - Tim Deale

Baseball-reference

1969 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index

Phungo HOF Index

Ebay

Ted Turner (1938-2026)

We learned of the passing of Ted Turner today. In terms of Baseball most of us know of Ted Turner the owner, but he was also a MLB manager... for ONE DAY. And that qualifies him for the Cup of Coffee Club. 

Sketch of Ted Turner on a Disposable Coffee Cup a la 1977 Topps

For the Ted Turner Cup of Coffee we used 1977 Topps for the design. This is the year of Turner's only game as manager - The Braves lost 2-1. 

In the background we see the logos for two of Turner's media outlets channel 17 which broadcast Braves games across the country via cable and his 24 hour news service CNN

The Ted Turner profile drawing is based upon a screen print done by Andy Warhol.

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Phillips Auctions (Andy Warhol Painting of Turner) 

baseball-reference

Cup of Coffee: Bill Greason

This is part of our Original Artwork series dedicated to players who had a #CupOfCoffee in the Major Leagues.  

Sketch of Bill Greason on a Disposable Coffee Cup a la 1954 Topps

• In addition to Major Negro League experience Bill Greason played 3 games for the St Louis Cardinals in the 1954 National League.
• Prior to his baseball career Bill Greason served as a Marine during WWII, he was among the soldiers that landed at Iwo Jima.
• He became a Baptist Minister and was a parishioner at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that was bombed on 1963 September 15 killing four young girls. Greason was not present the day of the bombing because he was in Tuscaloosa as part of an effort to get young people involved in Organized Baseball.
• Born in 1924 Greason is MLBs oldest living alumnus. 
• 1954 Topps is used here as this is the year Bill Greason played in the American League. The 1954 set typically contains a black & white action shot, here we see Greason wearing his Clerical Robe. 
• The USMC logo is present top Left where we would typically see a team Logo. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

SABR Bio - Frederick C Bush

Baseball-Reference

Baseball Almanac