Roy Foster and Marcelino Lopez Cruise to Hawaii and Mexico; Plus, Mike Jackson!

Sometimes jut randomly looking up a player can come up with a blog topic.

I was looking into the stats of former Indians outfielder Roy Foster, who had just a couple big league seasons, but they were productive ones. I had noticed on his Baseball Reference page that he had an unexplained trip to Hawaii in 1973.

I found this from the Eugene Register-Guard for June 11, 1973...in an article describing Hawaii's player shortage in the midst of a roster upheaval:

"....the Islanders are low in personnel. Two more players, pitcher Marcelino Lopez and outfielder Roy Foster, will soon arrive from Oklahoma City, however."

Both Lopez and Foster were in AAA Oklahoma City as Indians property. Apparently this was a loan rather than a trade, because this shows up in the Panama City News-Herald of Dec. 6, 1973:

"Cleveland Indians Wednesday sent lefthander Mike Jackson to the Milwaukee Brewers for righthander Lloyd Gladden in a trade of minor league players. Jackson, 27. was 4-5 at Oklahoma City last year and was sent to Evansville of the American Association. Gladden, 27. was 7-7 at Evansville last season and was assigned to San Antonio of the Texas League. The Indians also sold the contracts of two Oklahoma City players, lefthander Marcelino Lopez and outfielder Roy Foster, to Vera Cruz in the Mexican League. Lopez, 30, was 0-4 and Foster, 28, hit .266 last year."

Foster and Lopez were still Indians property after the 1973 season, obviously, and they were both sold to and played for Veracruz in 1974. Lopez came back to the Pirates organization in 1974, and I will try to look that up.

BTW, the Jackson-Gladden trade isn't mentioned on Jackson's Baseball Reference page, and Gladden never made the majors.

S

Foster and Lopez pics from

www.tradingcarddb.com

Jackson taken from www.kcroyalshistory.com

Mr. Hooper! Mr. Hooper!

Bob Hooper was a pitcher in the majors in the early fifties with the Athletics, Indians and Reds. He won 15 games for the 1950 Philadelphia club despite an ERA over 5, and was 12-10 in 1951, but he walked more people than he struck out and was in the minors for good again in 1956.

Hooper was on the 1954 AL Champion Indians, but didn't play in the postseason.

In 1955, Hooper was purchased at the beginning of the year by the Reds from the Indians. He got off to a bad start (0-2 and a 7.62 ERA) and was off to the minors....but it was the Indianapolis club he went to, back in the Indians organization.

How did that happen? No mention on his Baseball Reference major league page. So we turn to the Logansport Pharos-Tribune of May 17, 1955 for the answer:

"Indianapolis Club Buys Bob Hooper INDIANAPOLIS (UP) -- General manager Eddie Stumpf today announced the purchase of right- hander Bob Hooper from the Cincinnati Redlegs to bolster Indianapolis' sagging pitching staff. Hooper's best year in the majors was in 1950,. 15-10 with the Philadelphia A's. He was with Cleveland the past two seasons before being waived out of the American League. At Cincinnati, he compiled a 0-2 mark this spring, giving up 20 hits and 11 earned runs in 13 innings."

Hooper would stay just that season with Indianapolis before heading to Vancouver and the Orioles system. I have not been able to track that transaction down. Can you?

Mr. Hooper from

1952toppsbaseballcards.com

 

Chuck Cottier: An Angel Traded By the Pilots to the Indians

Just searching around for my next topic I stumbled across the minor league Baseball Reference page of Chuck Cottier.

He bounced around quite a bit as a player, and finished with a short stop as an Angel in 1968 and 1969.

His last two transactions listed on his major league page ...

• February 16, 1967: Purchased by the California Angels from the Washington Senators.
• April 6, 1970: Released by the California Angels. 

...that would make sense enough, but doesn't explain a 1968 stop at Portland in the Cleveland Indians system.

The truth is very strange. From  Spokane Daily Chronicle of May 14, 1968...

“The Portland Beavers and the Seattle Pilots have traded two second basemen.

The Pilots, an American League baseball team, paid an undisclosed amount of cash and traded Chuck Cottier of the Seattle Angels for Gus Gil of the Beavers.

Both the Angels and the Beavers are members of the Pacific Coast League.

The Cleveland Indians, the parent club of the Beavers, said Cottier will play for the Beavers beginning today. Gil will play for the Angels until the end of the 1968 season.”

SO. The PILOTS traded Cottier from the ANGELS to the INDIANS, in effect.

Yet, Cottier finished the season with the Angels!!!

From the Arizona Republic of Phoenix Weds. Aug. 7 1968... (no link, sorry)

(The Angels) “purchased the contract of veteran infielder Chuck Cottier from Portland”

That is a lot more complicated than a straight-up purchase.

From Gus Gil's Baseball-Reference major league page: 

  

May 13, 1968: Purchased by the Seattle Pilots from the Cleveland Indians. (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)

Now we know what really happened!

Cottier from www.ootpdevelopments.com


 

 Gil swiped from flickr

Wonderful Willie Smith is Traded for George Banks

Been awhile, but we have been searching for more undocumented or unfound trades.

George Banks was a slugging utility player for the Twins and Indians in the sixties. He had a hard time sticking with the big clubs and bounced around between there and AAA through 1966.

In 1967 his Baseball Reference minor league page shows him playing in the Angels system, in Seattle, but there is no transaction listed for this move.

Checking around the Googlesphere, I found a number of articles describing his season with Seattle, and that he was in Spring Training with the Angels before he was sent down. Nothing, though on any deal, until the always-reliable Toledo Blade came through. From the Oct. 17, 1966 paper:

"The Cleveland Indians traded infielder George Banks to the California Angels for outfielder Willie Smith yesterday."

Willie Smith! One of the all-time favorites from the 1969 Cubs, and a successful pitcher early in his career that switched to an outfielder/pinch-hitting specialist. Checking his Baseball Reference major league page, we find the following transaction listed:

"October 13, 1966: Purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the California Angels."

Well, now we know better!

George Banks from the Trading Card Database, Willie Smith from ootdevelopments.com!