This is the first in a number of '67 Sox fantasy cards in the can, and we'll start with Mike Andrews, a second baseman good enough to crack Bill James' top 100 second sackers of all time in his New Historical Baseball Abstract despite a short (893-game) career. It's too bad everything he's done -- member of the '67 Sox, chairman of the Jimmy Fund -- is still overshadowed by the whole Charlie Finley b.s. in the '73 World Series with the A's.
Andrews shares a rookie card with Reggie Smith, which is a double bonus for Sox fans. But two players of this quality deserve their own individual cards. The Andrews photo is from the '68 Dexter Press set, which is a source for some of the "New and Improved" cards you'll see here.
Smith has always been a favorite of mine, even though he always seemed to be feuding with his teammates (Carlton Fisk, Bill Lee, etc.) and fans (calling Boston a racist city during the busing crisis, and I believe he had to wear a helmet in the outfield because the fans were so angry at him). By '74, he was in St. Louis, although the Sox did receive two keys to the '75 team (Bernie Carbo, Rick Wise) in return.
It's actually amazing all the talented players the Sox dumped during Dick O'Connell's time as GM -- Smith, Jim Lonborg, George Scott, Tony Conligliaro, Sonny Siebert, Hawk Harrelson -- but the team was able to stay above .500 thanks to a kick-arse farm system.
It's actually amazing all the talented players the Sox dumped during Dick O'Connell's time as GM -- Smith, Jim Lonborg, George Scott, Tony Conligliaro, Sonny Siebert, Hawk Harrelson -- but the team was able to stay above .500 thanks to a kick-arse farm system.
According to baseball-reference.com, the most similar player to Smith is the guy who soon took his center field spot in Boston -- Fred Lynn.
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