Wood vs. Wood #221

Last time 1987 rolled to a 10-1 victory. Will this one be closer?

In 1961 Topps would take a photo of a player hatless in case they changed teams. Such was the case with Bill Short. Despite the pinstripes and Yankee Stadium background, Topps wants you to think Orioles. A hard thrower who struggled with control, Short came up with the Yankees in 1960, spent all of 1961 in the minors, and was a Rule 5 selection by Baltimore. He pitched in just 5 games in 1962, and spent the next three years in the minors before returning to Baltimore for 6 games in 1966. He was then sold to the Red Sox for whom he pitched in 8 more games. The journeyman then pitched in 6 games for the '67 Pirates, 34 games for the '68 Mets, and 4 games for the '69 Reds before retiring. Overall in 73 major league games he went 5-11 with a 4.73 ERA. After his retirement he was a coach in the Pirates organization. He died in 2022.

By 1987 Topps had ditched the hatless photo and instead used airbrushing when a player changed teams. Such was the case with Vern Ruhle, who signed with the Angels in February of 1986, but Topps apparently never got a photo of him with California, instead airbrushing an older photo of Ruhle. Ruhle was a back-of-the rotation starter for the Tigers and Astros in the late '70s and early '80s. His best season by far was 1980, when he went 12-4 with a 2.37 ERA for the Astros. In 1983 he switched to long relieving. He ended his career with stints in Cleveland in 1985 and the Angels in 1986. Overall in 327 games he went 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA. After his playing career he was a pitching coach for several teams. He died in 2007.