KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
by Mike DeNardo, Harry Donahue, and Mike Camperson
Former Phillies right-fielder Johnny Callison has died at the age of 67. He died Thursday night at Abington Hospital.
Callison was a three-time All-Star, and might be most remembered for his three-run, 9th-inning home run in the 1964 All-Star game that won the game for the National League.
He was signed by the White Sox in 1957 but played the majority of his career with the Phillies, between 1960 and 1969. In 1964, Callison and Richie Allen led the Phillies to the brink of the World Series before a calamitous downfall in the last two weeks of the season.
He also played with the Cubs and finished his career with the Yankees in 1973.
He finished his 16-year career with 226 home runs, and was a fan favorite in Philadelphia.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
KYW's Bill Campbell, who did Phillies play-by-play during the Callison era, recalls that not even Callison's heroics could save that ill-fated 1964 season:
"In that tragic 10-game losing streak that we had, when we started with a 6½-game lead with 12 to play and then lost 10 in a row, the Milwaukee Braves came to town and beat us four straight at Connie Mack Stadium. John hit three home runs in one of those games. He hit three home runs in a game, and we still lost."
John Wesley Callison was born March 12, 1939 in Qualls (now Park Hill), Oklahoma. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Callison was named to the National League All-Star team three times (1962, 1964, 1965). In the 1964 All-Star game, at Shea Stadium, Callison's three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning off Red Sox reliever Dick Raddatz gave the Nationals a 7-4 win. Callison was named All-Star MVP.
After retiring, Callison remained in Philadelphia where he made frequent appearances and had several business ventures.
Callison was a career .264 hitter with 226 home runs, 840 RBI, 926 runs, 1,757 hits, 351 doubles, 89 triples, and 74 stolen bases in 1,866 games.
KYW's John McDevitt reports that sports memorabilia shops expect Johnny Callison's autograph to be in demand over the next couple of months.
Fred Bower, owner of Post-Game Memories in Haddonfield, NJ, says Callison's autograph has always been very collectible in this area:
"It's a regional appeal. His cards are in abundance -- trust me on that."
He says Callison memorabilia is plentiful because the former Phillies right-fielder has been signing things for more than 30 years.
Bower says prices won't change in his shop:
"I would never raise the prices. There are people that, as soon as they hear these guys die, they 're going to raise the prices. I think it's very ghoulish."
A Callison-autographed ball runs about $50. Bower says he expects that all of his Callison memorabilia will be gone by Christmas.
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