233 - Ed Kirkpatrick

About This Player
Ed Kirkpatrick enjoyed a 16-year career in the big leagues.  Also known as "Spanky," Kirkpatrick made his Major League debut with the expansion Los Angeles Angels in 1962.  He was the target of the Royals' first trade just before their inaugural season in 1969.  Kirkpatrick spent five seasons in Kansas City and he got the last hit in Municipal Stadium in Kansas City on October 4, 1972.  Kirkpatrick also spent time with the Pirates, Rangers and Brewers.  Kirkpatrick played his final game in 1977.

In 1981, Kirkpatrick was in a car accident that relegated him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Kirkpatrick died on November 15, 2010 after battling throat cancer at the age of 66.

About This Card
Kirkpatrick is shown looking for a pop-up off of the Brewers, Johnny Briggs.  This play took place on June 17, 1972 at County Stadium in Milwaukee as "Spanky" caught the foul out in the bottom of the 4th inning.

71 - Johnny Briggs

About This Player
Johnny Briggs played in 12 big league seasons and parts of five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.  Being from Paterson, New Jersey, Briggs had looked forward to a possible offer the New York Mets might have offer him.  However, a scout from the Philadelphia Phillies arrived to his house first and Briggs was signed as an amateur free agent with the Phillies.  He made his Major League debut in 1964.  Briggs spent eight seasons with the Phillies before he was traded to the Brewers in 1971 with whom he played his best baseball.  As a mainstay in the Brew Crew lineup, Briggs hit .253 and averaged 19 home runs and 64 RBI per season.  Briggs was traded again in the middle of the 1975 season to the Minnesota Twins.

The following year, Briggs signed a two-year contract to play in Japan with the Lotte Onions.  Contracting parasites from spoiled food cut his first season short and he did not return to Japan for a second season for fear of becoming sick again.

About This Card
Johnny Briggs is pictured here with fully grown muttonchops.  Briggs is clean shaven in his early Topps cards, but the sideburns started to grow in his 1970 Topps card.  The sideburns got thicker the two following years and were fully grown by 1973.  Briggs continued sporting the muttonchops through his final Topps card in 1976.