Camilo "Cam" Carreon was a major league catcher from 1959-66 and played in only four games for the Orioles in 1966 at the tail-end of his career. He is better remembered for the six seasons he spent with the White Sox at the start of his career before short stints in Cleveland and Baltimore. He was mainly a back-up catcher for the 354 MLB games he played in, but he was the White Sox regular catcher in 1962-63.
Following his baseball career, Cam worked in the Tuscon, AZ parks & rec department and as a golf course groundskeeper. He passed away at only 50 years old in 1987. Sadly, his son, Mark, made his MLB debut six days after his father's death in what must have been an emotional day for Mark.
This 1966 Topps card was the only Orioles card produced during Cam's lifetime (the Orioles Crown set came out in 1991) so it took me some time to track down a signed copy of it. I know that Cam was a catcher but this pose combined with the angle of the picture still seems strange to me. Cam's in a half squat with no catching gear, save his mitt, and the photographer appears to have been slightly above Cam when this picture was taken. Rest in peace Cam.
2 comments:
I remember his son Mark was a pretty good pinch hitter & reserve outfielder for a few years with the Mets. I didn't realize his father had played major league baseball.
I thought that I recognized his son's name from a card set but I looked up some pictures and nothing rang a bell. Pretty funny how each family member means something different to us. But honestly, I don't think that I would have known who Cam was without my project.
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