I was already behind in just about everything hobby-related I’m trying to do, and just to complicate things further, I got my Black Friday shipment from COMC two days ago… You’ll see those before too long, but for now it’s five arbitrarily-chosen cards featuring everybody’s favorite one-and-done franchise, the Seattle Pilots.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Pilots, here’s a quickie-quick history: They were a 1969 expansion team which had financial difficulties which got so bad that the team was entertaining offers from groups in Milwaukee and Dallas. Towards the end of Spring Training the team was sold and became the Milwaukee Brewers. Because of the last-minute nature of the move, the team appears in the 1970 Topps set as the Pilots, even though every 1970 regular season game was played as the Brewers.
Diego Segui is famous for having been the only player to suit up for both the Seattle Pilots and the Seattle Mariners. He pitched for three ‘extinct’ teams: The Pilots, the Kansas City Athletics and the Washington Senators.
Although this 1970 card shows Segui with the Pilots, he wasn’t among those who made the move to Milwaukee; he had been traded to the A’s in December, 1969 and would lead the league in 1970 with a 2.56 ERA.
Jerry McNertney spent 11 years in the White Sox organization before being taken by the Pilots in the expansion draft. I’m thinking those black and red shin guards he’s strapping on are White Sox leftovers, and this photo is from 1969 Spring Training (I think the fairly basic “PILOTS” jersey is another indication of that)
By my own quickie research, McNertney was one of only three players to appear in both 1969 and 1970 Topps in a Pilots uniform (rather than airbrushed, capless or with another team). The other two were Marty Pattin and John Kennedy.
1970 Topps Super card! Tommy Harper lead the league in both stolen bases and caught stealing in 1969.
He also put in time at 2nd, 3rd and all three outfield positions. In 1970 with the Brewers, he’d make his only all-star team.
Ted Kubiak never played for the Pilots in a regular season game, only in 1970 Spring Training. He came to the team in the trade that sent Diego Segui to Oakland.
In 1970, Kubiak played 158 games splitting time between second and short for the Brewers. After stops with the Cardinals and Rangers, he’d make his way back to Oakland and appear in the postseason in 1972 and 1973.
Joe Schultz was the manager of the Pilots in the 1969 season, but he would be replaced by Dave Bristol for the 1970 season.
Schultz would be a coach with the Royals and Tigers, and in 1973 would manage the Tigers for 28 games after Billy Martin was fired. One of these days I’m going to figure out just how many people there have been who held the job title “Interim manager after Billy Martin was fired”.
The Shlabotnik Report 