|
Chuck Hiller 1961 (in 1967 and 1968)
The Brace originals are askew, color-wise; I adjusted as best I could.
Swapped by the Giants to the Mets after Ron Hunt's shoulder got crushed by Phil Gagliano in a play near second base in May, 1965, Hiller was dealt to the Phillies straight up for Phil Linz in July, 1967, and went to the Bucs in the Rule V Draft that winter.
Chuck hit the first World Series Grand Slam by a National Leaguer (remember when the Leagues were a thing) in 1962 and then became living testament to the vagaries of pinch-hitting. Used by the Mets 50 times in 1966, he got 16 hits including a triple, a homer, 6 RBI, and with three RBI - pinch-hitting splits of .348/.400/.522. The next year his pinch-hitting average was .184. He later spent ten years as a big league coach, mostly for Whitey Herzog in Texas (1973) Kansas City (1975-1979), St. Louis (1981-1983) and a year each in San Francisco and back with the Mets.
Topps never shot him after he left New York and I still haven't seen a color image of him with Pittsburgh - that's the Pirates' publicity photo.
|