Frank Zupo signed as a bonus baby with the Orioles in 1957. I was looking through some of my Topps 1958 cards and I came across his card and saw that his birthday was August 29, 1939, so he would have played as a teenager during the 1957 season.
Topps 1958 Frank Zupo Card #229
Frank Zupo signed with the Baltimore Orioles on June 13, 1957, for a bonus reported at $30,000, but was actually $50,000. Zupo had just graduated from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco. Prior to signing the contract with the Orioles, Zupo had been scouted by all 16 Major league teams and received offers from 13 teams. He also had scholarship offers from Stanford and University of California, to play baseball, but he choose to sign with the Orioles because he wanted to play baseball and didn't want to go to school.
Since Zupo was signed as a bonus baby, he immediately reported to the Orioles and was added to their Major league roster. Upon has arrival, his teammates gave him the nickname "Noodles".
Zupo made his Major league debut on July 1, 1957, as a 17 year-old, against the Yankees. With the scored tied at 2, Zupo entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the 10th inning. In that game, together with Oriole pitcher, George Zuverink, Zupo formed the first "Z" battery in Major league history. In the top of that inning, batting with one out for the Yankees, Mickey Mantle homered to give the Yankees a 3 - 2 lead, the final score in the game.
Zupo first Major league at bat came on July 6. In the 7th inning, he pinch hit, against the Red Sox, batting for Orioles reliever Billy O'Dell. He grounded to first base off Red Sox starter, Frank Sullivan, in the Orioles 11 - 2 loss. Then on August 11, when making an appearance in his fourth game, Zupo got his first major league hit, in the Orioles 7 - 2 loss to the Yankees. After entering the game in the seventh inning, as a defensive replacement for Orioles starting catcher, Gus Triandos, Zupo singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, getting the hit off Yankees reliever, Bob Grim. This was Zupo only hit during the 1957 season.
As the season was winding down, on September 18, Zupo got his first start of the year. In the Orioles' 7 - 5 loss to the White Sox, Zupo caught all nine innings of the game. He had three plate appearances during the game, and got no hits on two official at bats. Zupo did walk with one out in the 7th inning and came around and scored the Orioles' third run on pinch hitter Bob Boyd's single.
This was the last game Zupo played in during the 1957 season. For the year, Zupo played in ten games, batting .083, with one hit in 12 at bats, and he scored two runs with no home runs and no RBI. He spent 26 innings catching and the Orioles won two and loss eight in the games that he played.
During the 1958 season, Zupo played in the minor leagues for different Oriole affiliates, to get more seasoning. He started the season with Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League. He also played parts of his season with Louisville Colonels of the American Association and the Wilson Tobs of the Carolina League.
Here is Zupo's minor league batting record from the 1958 season.
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Zupo 1959 season was spent in the minor leagues when he played with four different teams, all Oriole affiliates. The teams he played for included: Stockton Ports of the California League, the Yakima Braves and Salem Senators of the Northwest League, and the Ashville Tourists of the South Atlantic League.
Here is Zupo's batting record from the 1959 season.
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RBI
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Batting Ave.
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Zupo's 1960 season was spent in Stockton, the Orioles' Class C affiliate, and a member of the California League. This is his batting record from that year.
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Batting Ave.
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Then in 1961, Zupo was on the Orioles' roster as the season begin. He played in the first game of the Orioles season, on April 11, as they opened against the expansion Angels, in their franchise's first game. In the bottom of the 9th inning, with two outs, Zupo entered the game as a pinch hitter for Orioles relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm. He was walked by Angel starter Eli Grba, who retired the Orioles next batter, Jackie Brandt, as Grba finished his complete game, an Angels 7 - 2 win. First baseman Ted Kluszewski lead the Angels to victory with two home runs and five RBI.
The next game that Zupo appeared in was on April 16, when he entered the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins. As a defensive replacement for Orioles starting catcher, Gus Triandos, he entered the lineup in the top of the 7th inning. During the game, he had two at bats. With two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning, Zupo doubled to left field off Twins starting pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Orioles' next batter, shortstop Ronnie Hanson, doubled to left field, plating Zupo with the Orioles' 4th run of the game, and Zupo first run of the season. Then in the 9th inning, in Zupo's second at bat of the game, facing Twins' reliever Ray Moore, he popped out to shortstop, as the Twins defeated the Orioles 10 - 5.
Zupo as played in the second game of the doubleheader that day. He come into the game to catch in the top of the tenth inning. In the top of the 11th inning, Twins' shortstop Zoilo Versalles hit a two-run home run as the Twins swept the doubleheader with a 6 - 4 victory. Zupo struck out leading off the bottom of the 11th inning as Twins reliever Charlie Stubbs retired the Orioles in order to earn his first save of the season.
On April 24, in a game against the Indians, Zupo entered the lineup in the top of the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for catcher, Gus Triandos. In the bottom of the 8th inning, off Indians' starting pitcher Jim Perry, Zupo singled to left field, lifting his batting average for the season to .500. The Indians won the game 5 - 1 aided by Bubba Phillips' 6th inning grand slam home run.
On May 9, Zupo caught the 9th inning of the Orioles' 13 - 5 victory over the Twins. At age 21, Zupo's had appeared in his last Major league game. In the 1961 season for the Orioles, Zupo played in five games, batting .500 (2 hits in 4 at bats) with a double and scoring one run.
For the remainder of the 1961 season, Zupo played with the two minor league Oriole affiliates, the Rochester Red Wings of the International League and Victoria/Ardmore Rosebuds of the of the Texas League.
Here is Zupo's minor league record from 1961.
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In 1962, Zupo played for the Austin Senators of the Texas League, a Braves' AA affiliate and he also returned to Knoxville and played for the Smokies, now a single A affiliate of the Tigers.
Here is his batting record from the 1962 season.
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At Bats
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Home Runs
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RBI
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Batting Ave.
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Zupo spend the 1963 and 1964 seasons in the minor leagues. In 1963, he played for the York White Roses of the Eastern League, the Tigers' AA affiliate, and in 1964 he played for the Dallas Rangers of the Pacific Coast League, the Athletics' AAA affiliate.
Here is his batting record from those two seasons.
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Batting Ave.
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At the end of the 1964 season, at age 24, Zupo had played his last professional baseball game. After his baseball career, Zupo held many different jobs including a fishing guide, business owner, and wholesale leather proprietor.
During his Major league career, Zupo appeared in 16 games with a batting average of .167 (three hits in 18 at bats) scoring three runs, with a double and no home runs or RBI. Zupo caught a total of 38 innings in 13 games. When asked if he had any regrets, Zupo response was "Not really. I wish I have had a better chance to play."
Other bloggers have published articles about Frank Zupo's Topps 1958 card.
I found a 2011 blog from The Shlabotnik Report commenting about the card.
Also the Really Bad Baseball Cards blog mentioned the card in this Unibrow (50s Version) post from April 2014.
Some obscure baseball history right there, but I love it! I like how you use baseball cards to tell the story of baseball. Keep up the great work! I look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteI would have to believe that every baseball player has a story to tell and through baseball cards I have learned stories about many players. Right now I am reading a book about Casey Stengel and have learned how fortunate he felt to have the chance to play with the New York Giants and manager John McGraw and the impact it had on his career and his life.
ReplyDeleteThere are those great players, like Cal Ripken Jr. or Nolan Ryan, whose stories have been written about many times. But then there are players, like Frank Zupo, who also have a story to tell. Although Zupo career never lead him to the Hall of Fame, I just can't imagine what it must have felt like to be 17 years old in 1957, signing a contract with a $50,000 bonus, and sitting in a major league dugout. I am glad that someone appreciates my posts and the time it takes to research and write them. Thank you.