Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #4

I'm checking the next nine cards to see who played in the majors.  So far I've been surprised how many of these guys actually got to the majors at some point.

As I'm finding out, their first names/birthdays don't always correlate with the name on baseball-reference.com.  I'm not working that hard if I don't find a match, so I probably will screw up a few of these.

28 - Eddy Diaz / Marcos Manrique
Diaz -played 16 games for Milwaukee in 1997.
Manrique - four minor league seasons;  baseball-reference lists him as "Marco".


29 - Melvin Mora / Ifrain Linares
Mora - the birthday doesn't match, but being signed by Houston in 1990 and his hometown match the well-known player;  1,503 career hits; two-time all-star
Linares -  cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions Cincinnati Reds; maybe he goes by another first name but I don't feel like checking the list to match him up

30 - Melchor Pacheco / Leonaldo Olivero
Pacheco - "Alex" pitched in five games for Montreal in 1996
Olivero - four seasons in the minors

31 - Oscar Henriquez / Jean Morillo
Henriquez - pitched in three seasons; 49 games; 1 win and two saves
Morillo - cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions team - Leones de Caracas

32 - Juan Fco. Castillo / Pedro Belmonte
Castillo - cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions team - Boston Red Sox
Belmonte - three seasons in the minors

33 - Jose Fco. Malave / Hector Ugueto
Malave - two seasons with Boston; 4 homers in 49 games
Ugueto - six seasons in the minors

34 - Alejandro Freire / Luis Colmenares
Freire - played 25 games in 2005 for Baltimore; hit one homer
Colmenares - seven years in the minors

35 - Jorge Velandia / Andres Espinoza
Velandia - eight MLB seasons; two homers in 174 games;
Espinoza - two seasons in the minors

36 - Edgar Caceres / Carlos Alvarez

Caceres - played 55 games with the 1995 Royals; one HR

Alvarez - two seasons in the minors.

Maybe in the future I will check out the guys with 1 - 2 career wins, homers, etc.  Maybe they hit the homer or a HOF pitcher?  Most likely they hit it off Jamie Moyer.  

50 Years is a Long Time for Anything

Unlike lots of people, I don't remember the first baseball card that I saw.  I do know that it was about 50 years ago.

It certainly wasn't the card below.

I do remember getting Mel Farr and Lem Barney Kellogg's cards in 1970.

I've mentioned this before.  Why am I mentioning this again?  My aunt died this week after living well into her 80s.  I knew that she was really close to her sister - my mother.  What I didn't know was they talked daily for at least 50 years.  That is quite impressive.

I thought that I was doing a good job calling my parents weekly.  I tried to post every day on this blog.  I've failed on both of these things.

A Wilkens Auto is Available on ebay

It is listed as Buy It Now.  The cost is $13 including shipping.  I know that someone mentioned that they were looking for this card. 

Wilkens Kellogg's Auto

If I could only get the ones I need that cheap - Aaron especially.

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #3

Back to check out more of the players from the 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan set.  A few of these could be wrong since birthdays didn't match exactly but the card mentioned the teams that I found on baseball-reference.com.


19 - Jose Alguacil / Wilmer Montoya
Alguacil - 9 seasons; didn't make it to the majors
Montoya - 4 seasons; didn't make it to the majors

20 - Alexis Infante / William Martinez
Infante - he played 60 games in 4 years
Martinez - pitched 3 innings in 1 game in 2000

21 - Luis Sojo / Alexander Portillo
Sojo - played 13 years; 848 games
Portillo - 2 seasons; didn't make it to the majors

22 - Robert Perez / Juan Querecuto
Perez - played 221 games in six seasons
Querecuto - a long minor league career from 1990 to 2003

23 - Jose Monzon / Freddy Gonzalez
Monzon - 11 seasons in the minors
Gonzalez - 14 minor league games in 1996

24 - Marlon Roche / Jesus Lugo
Roche - minors only - 1994 to 2003
Lugo - 4 minor league seasons

25 - Clemente Alvarez/ Jesus Mendoza
Alvarez - 1-5 in two games with the Phillies
Mendoza - 2 minor league seasons with the White Sox? b-days don't exactly match

26 - Edgar Ramos / Jose Luiz Ramos
Ramos - 0-2 as a pitcher for the 1997 Phillies
Ramos - 6 minor league seasons

27 - Carlos Hernandez  / Luis Gonzalez
Hernandez - 2 hits in 18 MLB games in 1999 and 2000
Gonzalez - played for Colorado from 2004 to 2006 --- not Arizona

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #2

I can't believe that the entire week went by without getting a post done.  Hosting a lousy cross country meet ended up taking five days out of my life.  Setup, rain-outs and incorrect results kept me quite busy.  My regular job also kept me going each day.

I don't know most of these guys well since many played from 1994 - 2005 when I boycotted baseball.  I haven't followed baseball as closely since 2005 as I did from the late 1960s until 1994.

Back to the countdown. 

10 - Alex Gonzalez  / Alex Cabrera
Gonzalez - played from 1998 - 2014; he was the Marlins infielder in the 2003 NLCS, not the Cub
Cabrera - one season with Arizona; five homers

11 - Roberto Petagine / Gabriel Luckert
Petagine - seven MLB seasons and 10 homers
Luckert - played in three different minor league seasons.

12 - Antonio Armas Jr./ Jose Centeno
Armas - Tony Jr.  was 53-65 in 10 years of MLB play.  Dad led the league in HR twice and RBIs once.
Centeno - minors for four years

13 - William Oropeza / Johan Lopez
Oropeza - 10 years in the minors
Lopez - played from 1992 to 2009 without making the majors

14 - Bob Abreu / Miguel Nieves
Abreu - that's Bobby; 288 homers in 18 years
Nieves - not found on baseball-reference.com

15 - Eduardo Perez / Wlfredo Romero
Perez - MLB player known as Eddie (Eduardo is a different guy); played 11 years
Romero - he doesn't match the two players listed on baseball-reference.com - based on birthday

16 - Edgar Naveda / Dan Urbina
Naveda - 11 years without making the majors
Urbina - 3 years in the minors

17 - Giovanni Carrara / Jesus Hernandez
Carrara - pitched 10 year; over 300 games; 29 wins
Hernandez - lots of minor league players by this name; I didn't match him; card says he played for Caracas.

18 - Miguel Cairo / Carlos Valderrama
Cairo - 17 years; lots of teams; over 1,000 hits. 
Valderrama - he was 1-7 for the Giants in 2003.  He played nine years in the minors.

2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players?

The cards mention teams that these guys were on up to 2006.  I checked to see what teams these guys played for.  I'll also add anything else of note.

Card #  /  Player on Front  /  Player on Back

02 - Gus Polidor / Angel Vargas
Polidor - 1985 - 90, 1993 - Cal. Mil, Fla. -- 229 games; 459 ABs
Vargas - minors only

03 - Andres Galarraga / Marlon Nava
Galarraga - 19 years; 399 homers - 7 teams; MVP votes in 7 seasons
Nava - the card mentioned the Twins but I don't see anything on baseball-reference.com

04 - Omar Vizquel / Carlos Tovar Trillo
Vizquel - 24 years!  2,877 hits; 11 Gold Gloves
Trillo - Toronto is mentioned on the back but I don't see anything on baseball-reference.com

05 - Carlos Hernandez / Fernando Lunar
Hernandez - three MLB players had this name; he played 10 years - 488 games, mainly at Catcher
Lunar - played 97 games in three seasons with Atl. and Balt. - all at Catcher

06 - Urbano Lugo / Jesus Azuaje
Lugo - pitched for six years; 6-7 W-L record
Azuaje - listed as Cleve.; he played in the minors for a long time

07 - Henry Blanco / Jesus Marquez
Blanco - I didn't realize that he played 16 MLB seasons.  He wore 12 different numbers on 11 teams.
Marquez - listed as Seattle; he played in the minors

08 - Roger Cedeno / Omar Sanchez
Cedeno - played exactly 1100 games in 11 years with five teams.
Sanchez - Toronto is listed on the card but I didn't find stats for him

09 - Dilson Torres / Hector Ortega
Torres - played 5 games with the 1995 Royals winning 1 game and losing 2.
Ortega - played for a while in the minors

I didn't watch baseball for a long time after the 1994 baseball strike so some of these guys I missed.  I also didn't buy any new cards so I don't remember their names from collecting. 

More next time.

2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Baseball Card Checklist

Since I don't see this anywhere I guess I will list the cards in the 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Baseball Card Set.  There are 45 cards, but each card depicts one player on the front and another player on the back.

Card #  /  Player on Front  /  Player on Back

01 - Header Card
02 - Gus Polidor / Angel Vargas
03 - Andres Galarraga / Marlon Nava
04 - Omar Vizquel / Carlos Tovar Trillo
05 - Carlos Hernandez / Fernando Lunar
06 - Urbano Lugo / Jesus Azuaje
07 - Henry Blanco / Jesus Marquez
08 - Roger Cedeno / Omar Sanchez
09 - Dilson Torres / Hector Ortega
10 - Alex Gonzalez  / Alex Cabrera
11 - Roberto Petagine / Gabriel Luckert
12 - Antonio Armas Jr./ Jose Centeno
13 - William Oropeza / Johan Lopez
14 - Bob Abreu / Miguel Nieves
15 - Eduardo Perez / Wlfredo Romero
16 - Edgar Naveda / Dan Urbina
17 - Giovanni Carrara / Jesus Hernandez
18 - Miguel Cairo / Carlos Valderrama
19 - Jose Alguacil / Wilmer Montoya
20 - Alexis Infante / William Martinez
21 - Luis Sojo / Alexander Portillo
22 - Robert Perez / Juan Querecuto
23 - Jose Monzon / Freddy Gonzalez
24 - Marlon Roche / Jesus Lugo
25 - Clemente Alvarez/ Jesus Mendoza
26 - Edgar Ramos / Jose Luiz Ramos
27 - Carlos Hernandez  / Luis Gonzalez
28 - Eddy Diaz / Marcos Manrique
29 - Melvin Mora / Ifrain Linares
30 - Melchor Pacheco / Leonaldo Olivero
31 - Oscar Henriquez / Jean Morillo
32 - Juan Fco. Castillo / Pedro Belmonte
33 - Jose Fco. Malave / Hector Ugueto
34 - Alejandro Freire / Luis Colmenares
35 - Jorge Velandia / Andres Espinoza
36 - Edgar Caceres / Carlos Alvarez
37 - Omar Malave / Carlos Moreno
38 - Kelvin Escobar / David Davalillo
39 - Jackson Melian / Ronald Caridad
40 - Pedro Castellano / Daniel Agli
41 - Edwin Hurtado /  Igor Oropeza
42 - Tomas Perez / Jairo Ramos
43 - Oswaldo Olivares / Cesar Vargas
44 - Carlos Lopez / Temis Liendo
45 - Checklist

I will check to see how many of these guys played in the majors.   I recognize some of the names.

Fco. was listed as a name on two cards.  That is short for Francisco.  I guess it didn't fit but they needed it as part of his name?

Anyone Want to Trade for These?

I recently picked up a second 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan baseball card set.  There are 45 cards in the set.  I'm willing to trade them for those of you who are type collectors, team set collectors or player collectors.

Can I help anyone?  Any interest?

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #37 - 39

Back for a few more 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

#39 - Lou Brock

There isn't much room to say stuff on the card back since he broke into the majors in 1961...with the Cubs.  Ouch.  I'm glad I'm too young to remember that.

The card does mention that he stole a record 118 bases in 1974.  It also suggests that he is now a lock for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.  It's hard to argue with that.

Not on the card - he already had 2,388 career hits on his way to 3,023 and 938 steals.  Either of those two stats would probably have been enough to get him to Cooperstown.


#38 - Dwight Evans

He's already cemented in right field for the Red Sox after a strong full season, his first.

Not on the card - he played 19 seasons with Boston and his final season with Baltimore.

He was MVP of the International League in 1972.

Not on the card - when I was younger I would confuse Dewey with Darrell Evans.  Dwight had a great career with 2,446 hits and 85 homers.  Darrell had 2,243 hits and 414 homers.  I didn't know that Darrell was drafted by the Cubs.


#37 - Garry Maddox

Lingering injuries to his back and legs slowed him in 1974.

Not on the card - lots of NL players had issues with the type of Astroturf used on field in the 1960s and 1970s.  It seemed to be closer to cement than grass.

He was out of baseball in 1969 and 1970.  Why?  He was in the military serving in Viet Nam for some of that time

Not on the card - in English, Vietnam is usually listed as being one word.  Two words ("Viet Nam) was once more common - maybe in 1974 when this bio was written?  The two-word country name is still used by the United Nations and the Vietnamese government.  I'm not going to try to figure out if the word "Vietnamese" should be two words. 

During the off-season he does speaking engagements for the Giants and the San Fran Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Not on the card - I wonder how that worked out since he was traded in May of 1975 to the Phillies for Willie Montanez.

Maybe I Shouldn't Be Checking the Tracking of My Purchase

I bought something recently that I've been waiting to see on my doorstep.  I decided to check the tracking and I found a few interesting comments.

Uncontrollable Clearance Delay

Uncontrollable Clearance Delay

Two days in a row in two different places.  

Has anyone seen that before?  Are there rain delays with shipping like the one today in Chicago?

Pictures of the Corn Flakes Box

Here are the pictures that I've been trying to load.  Maybe I've got this back on track?  We'll see if these pictures are imported properly.

Yeah, I don't like the quality of these from phone.  I will try going back to using the ipad, which doesn't consistently interact with my PC.

I do like seeing these pictures even if they are not great.  Does anyone ever see these boxes unopened?

I just noticed that I hadn't posted in five days.  I think that's the longest I've gone since I started this blog.  I'm not giving up, it is just a busy time with lots of school stuff - teacher conferences at three schools, hosting cross country meets, visiting colleges and actually going to work.  One more busy week and I hope to be back in business.

Gratis Una Carta De Pelota De..............

Roberto Clemente

Dentro De Esta Caja!

Should I open it?

Should I get a picture uploaded?  Si!

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #40 - 42

Still no pictures!  Sorry, but I will tell the entire story about the back of the cards.

#42 - Dick Allen

I was surprised to learn that he was only 5-11.  He seemed huge out on the field. 

"Even Richie's famed independent attitude didn't deter him from again leading the American League in home runs last year".  I couldn't have phrased it any better.

Not on the card - they don't say these things on baseball cards anymore. 

"AL pitchers hoped his December '74 move to Atlanta would be permanent".

Not on the card - he never played for Atlanta, who traded him to Philadelphia in May of 1974.  He did play for Oakland in the AL in 1977.


#41 - Steve Braun


Steve Braun 3d?  I guess that he's Steve Braun III. 

He's an outfielder after starting his career at 2B, 3B and SS.  Lots of space on the card back details his minor league stops.

Uncle Sam called in September of 1967 and Braun served two years in the military. 



#40 - Ken Singleton


6-4.  Unlike Allen, I don't remember him as being taller than others. 

He was an "all-round" athlete at Hofstra.  When promoted to the Mets in June of 1970 he had a minor league average of .388. 

He replaced Rusty Staub when traded to Montreal.  His late 1974 trade to Baltimore is mentioned on the card back.  He was traded on 12-04-74, a day after Dick Allen was traded.  I guess Kellogg's finished making changes to their first print run at this point since Catfish Hunter's signing with the Yankees on 12-31-74 isn't mentioned until a later print run.

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #43 - 45

Back for three more cards from 1975.  Hardly any of mine have nice bright colors.

#45 - Gaylord Perry


He's still one of baseball's best pitchers even at the ripe old age of 36. 

Not on the card - he played until he was 45 years old, winning 116 more games.

His career ERA is among the lowest for pitchers with at least 3,000 innings.  His ERA was 2.85 after the 1974 season. 

Not on the card - he ended up pitching 5,350 innings with an ERA of 3.11.  He stands sixth all time in innings pitched. 


#44 - Catfish Hunter


I've seen lots of this card with nice coloring.  It looks great when you see a nice one of these. 

The 1974 AL ERA leader and winner of 20 games for the fourth straight season, Hunter won the Cy Young Award. 

Not on the card - he had been second and fourth in the Cy Young voting during the previous two seasons. 

He is one of the best control pitchers in baseball. 

Not on the card - he is 50th for career walks plus hits per nine innings.

Original version of this card - the A's won their third straight World Series title.

Second version of this card - "The Yankees hooked Hunter with a reported record-breaking multi-million dollar five-year package after he was declared a free agent."   

How did they manage to get three hyphenated words into one sentence? Is that a record? 

Not on the card - he signed with the Yankees on 12-31-74 so this information is fairly new and there was no daily cable news to report salaries immediately. 


#43 - Johnny Grubb


Hobbies - Golf, Guitar, Collecting Baseball Cards.  That's great to see. 

Not on the card - he played until 1987 so there were certainly plenty of chances for him to get lots of his 1980s cards. 

Lots of text on this card because he's only had three seasons in the majors up to this point.  The paragraph even calls him the "bespectacled outfielder".  Did kids know what that meant in 1975?  How about today?

A natural right-handed hitter, he learned to switch-hit to mimic his idol, Mickey Mantle.  Darn, only two hyphens.  The next sentence reminds the 10-year-old kids reading this card that Grubb doesn't have Mantle's power.

Not on the card - Mantle hit 536 homers in 2,401 games and Grubb hit 99 in 1,424 games. 

There's a lot more.  "John, who collects baseball cards such as this one, ...". 

Not on the card -  Now they've given kids two chances to find that information on the back of the card.  That's information that kids of 1975 want to know.   Not that he made the All-Tournament team in 1970 somewhere.