The Nitty Gritty Giant Card of the Day!

Another giant sized gem from Mark’s Ephemera (there will still be 3 more) is today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day. It is card #35 (out of 60) in the 1964 Topps Giants set and shows Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Wickersham. Wickersham went to Detroit in the Rocky Colavito trade between the Kansas City Athletics and the Tigers after the 1963 season. Topps was on the ball and included him in this set and he responded by having a career year setting personal bests in Ks (164), innings (254), complete games (11), starts (36) and wins with 19. His mark of 19-12 with a 3.44 ERA was by far the best of his 10 year career as he never won more than 12 games in any other season. During the ’64 season Wickersham was ejected from a game during the 7th inning, he left with the scored knotted at 1 and received a no-decision. The Tigers went on to win the ball game, which could have been his 20th win. After the ’67 season the Tigers traded him to the Pirates for Dennis Ribant. From there he went to the Kansas City Royals and after the ’69 season he was traded to the Atlanta Braves, but never pitched for them. 1969 would be his final big league season. His career line reads 68-57 with a 3.66 ERA, 29 complete games, 5 shutouts, 18 saves and 638 strikeouts. You can view his complete stats here. Wickersham is also one of only 4 players to have played for both the Kansas City Athletics and KC Royals. The back of this card credits Wickersham as being the Athletics most active pitcher prior to his trade to Detroit. Thanks again to Mark’s Ephemera for sending this giant chunk of cardboard my way! 46 years, LATER!