1974 Topps Bill Virdon

After winning the World Series, A's manager Dick Williams had enough of Charlie Finley's interference and quit. Meanwhile in New York Ralph Houk also quit after the 1973 season. He was tiring of the Bronx Fans' constant booing a Yankees team that was no longer a perennial contender. Yankees' new owner, George Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to hire Williams. 

But Finley had the last laugh. Williams was still under contract for another year and Finley would not let him go.  This left both the Yankees and the A's manager situation in limbo when Topps went to print the 1974 set.

The Yankees eventually opted for Bill Virdon. Virdon had managed the Pirates to the division championship in 1972. But in September of 1973 with the Pirates 3 games back and 2 games under .500, Danny Murtaugh replaced Virdon at the helm. The 1974 Yankees finished in 2nd place with 89 wins. Bill Virdon was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year.

It's too bad Topps never got to make this card. It would have been nice to see a card that included a coaching staff of Whitey Ford, Dick Howser and Elston Howard.

1968 Topps Bill Virdon

1955 N.L. Rookie of the Year, Bill Virdon, was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 1965 season and became a minor league manager in the Mets organization. He returned to the Pirates in 1968 as a player/coach. He appeared in 6 games and had 1 hit in 3 at-bats. That one hit was a 2 run homer. He became a full time coach with the Pirates the following season and was named manager in 1972.

1975 Topps 1955 Rookies of the Year

Here is the 1955 entry in my ongoing series. I'm giving the Rookies of the Year the same treatment Topps gave the MVPs in 1975. 

Neither Herb Score nor Bill Virdon had a Topps card in 1955. The Herb Score card shown here was issued by Topps as part of the VIP package at the 2005 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. The Virdon card was created by yours truly.

Other notable 1955 ROY eligibles included Don Zimmer, Elston Howard, Jim Bunning, Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax.

1955 Topps Bill Virdon

 

One of the first cards I made for this blog was a 1955 Bowman card of the A.L. Rookie of the Year Herb Score. The N.L. Rookie of the year in 1955, Bill Virdon, had a Bowman card but not a Topps card that year.

After being named ROY in 1955, Virdon was traded to Pittsburgh in May of '56 where he played the rest of his career. He became manager of the Pirates in '72 and went on to manage the Yankees, Astros and Expos from 1972-1984.