 |
 |
Constantine Nicholas Keriazakos / Washington Nationals / Pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'3" Weight: 187
Born: July 28, 1931, West Orange, NJ
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent, June 27, 1949
As a Player: Chicago White Sox 1950; Washington Nationals 1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955
Died: May 4, 1996, Hilton Head, SC (64)
 |
 |
 |
Gus Keriazakos attended Montclair High School in West Orange, New Jersey, and was a three-sport athlete - baseball, basketball and track. Signed by the White Sox at 17 years old, Keriazakos rose through the White Sox minor league ranks and made his big league debut as the starting pitcher for the club in the final game of the 1950 season. He lasted 2 1/3 innings in that first outing, allowing five runs on seven hits to the Browns. Keriazakos spent the next three seasons back in the minors before getting another shot with the Nationals in 1954. In 22 games, including three starts, he was 2-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 59 2/3 innings pitched. Traded to the Athletics at the start of the 1955 season, Keriazakos would pitch in his final five big league games with Kansas City. After an abbreviated season in the minors in 1956, he retired from baseball.
In 28 career games, Keriazakos was 2-5 with a 5.62 ERA, 42 strikeouts and 42 walks in 73 2/3 innings pitched.
On or around May 1st, Keriazakos was traded to the Athletics for lefty reliever Al Sima. He'd spend the bulk of the season pitching for the Athletics' minor league teams in Columbus and Savannah, going 14-7 with a respectable 2.61 ERA in 25 games, including 23 starts. Keriazakos threw 15 complete games, including one shutout, in his 23 starts. He was a September call-up for Lou Boudreau's (#89) club, pitching in his final five games, and earning a 0-1 record with a 12.34 ERA in 11 2/3 innings pitched. In his final big league appearance on September 23rd against his original club, the White Sox, Keriazakos allowed five runs on four hits in just 2/3 of an inning.
Building the Set / Card #2
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ / Original 17 from the Magic Box
Last fully retold with the Al Dark (#2) post, this Keriazakos card was one of the 17 cards from the 1955 Bowman set contained with the Magic Box. At the time, and in fact up until composing this post, I had no idea this was the pitcher's only mainstream appearance on a baseball card.
The Washington baseball club used the Nationals and Senators nicknames seemingly interchangeably throughout the 1950s, but they were officially known as the Senators between 1901 and 1904, the Nationals between 1905 and 1956, and then the Senators again between 1957 and 1960. The franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1961. Given the official nickname in place at the time, I'm using the Nationals team name for purposes of this blog, even though the back of the Washington players' cards label them as members of the Washington Senators. Interestingly enough, the 1955 Topps set labels the team correctly as the Washington Nationals.
I'm going to track what appears on the back of each 1955 Bowman card, and here we see an example of a first-hand anecdote, presumably from the player himself. The greatest fielding play Keriazakos ever saw was courtesy of Larry Doby, stealing a would-be home run from Tom Umphlett (#45). I'm assuming the play took place in 1954, but Keriazakos must not have pitched in the game, as I couldn't find any instance in those games of an Umphlett fly out to Doby. (I'm sure there's a way to find the exact game, but a quick review of Nationals-Indians games from 1954 came up empty for me.)
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #14
Bowman Set Appearances (1): 1955
Topps Set Apperances (0): N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #14
Total Cards Listed in TCDB and Top Collector as of 1/1/26: 3 total, many collectors tied with 1
Sources
#13 Clyde Vollmer - Washington Nationals / #15 Frank Sullivan - Boston Red Sox
No comments:
Post a Comment