#49 Bill Hall

As one can see from the back of Bill Hall's card he was pretty much a career minor league catcher. He spent from 1947 through 1960 kicking around the Pirates organization collecting luggage tags and watching teammates advance up the ladder to better things at higher levels. He had three cups of coffee with the Bucs. Interestingly his one game stint in the bigs in 1956 isn't documented on his batting record on the back of the card. For the record he went 0 for three on April 27 against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field replacing Danny Kravitz behind the plate in the bottom of the 2nd.

Now you know.

#35 Ted Kluszewski

Ted Kluszewski , a.k.a Big Klu, was more than a big-muscled power hitter with cut off uni sleeves. He was also a really good first baseman. Ted led the league in fielding percentage at his position for five straight season in the mid 50s. That's a record.

But Klu was mostly known as the Cincinnati Reds slugger who would cut off his uniform sleeves because he claimed they restricted his swing. That the look made him an impressive and intimidating site at the plate was just a byproduct. Yeah, sure.

Kluszewski's numbers are often lost in the Big Guns mythology of his career. He hit over .300 in seven of eight seasons between 1948 and 1956. He led the National League in homers and RBIs in 1954 and in hits the following year. He finished in the Top Ten in MVP voting three times and was a four time All Star at a position crowded with All Stars in the fifties.

Ted Kluszewski is such a part of Cincinnati baseball history that his statue adorns the sidewalk outside Great American Ballpark there.

My copy is mis-cut top to bottom but has a nice surface sheen and good corners. It's a cool card.

#146 Jerry Zimmerman

Jerry Zimmerman wouldn't have looked so eager and happy on this '59 Rookie Stars card had he known he was a few months away from being released by the Sox. 

Boston had let him kick around their minor league system since 1952 and  let him go in July having never played for the big club. He caught on with the Orioles organization that same day he was released by the Bosox. Alas Zimmerman didn't get to the majors until 1961 with the Reds and he made a couple of appearances in World Series games against the Yankees. He was dealt to the Twins after that season and spent the rest of his career as a backup or platoon catcher for them. He made it to the Series a second time with the '65 Twins. He coached for several teams after he retired in 1968.

My scanner seems to make every top corner on every card that I post look battered and bruised. This card sure looks better in person than it does in the scan. 

#479 Lindy McDaniel

One of the best regular season games I ever saw involved Lindy McDaniel. I watched the Orioles and Yankees on July 8 of 1970 with my Dad on t.v. My O's were starting to put the Yanks in their rear view mirror and were coming off a dramatic 10th inning win the previous night. Brooks Robinson's bottom of the 10th grand slam had beaten, yup, Lindy McDaniel. I'd listened to that one on the Orioles radio network which, if I turned my portable Panasonic the right way, came in pretty darn clear in the kitchen of our house on the central New Jersey coast.

But the game in question was even better. The Orioles jumped out to an early lead with a three run first in Memorial Stadium. Don Buford had led the game off with a homer and Frank Robinson had driven in a run with the first of what would be four hits on the night.

The Yanks tied it and took a lead of 4-3 quickly enough, the highlight of the comeback a three run shot by Thurman Munson off Dave McNally. But the seesaw tilted back when Boog Powell and Frank Robinson blasted back-to-back shots in the bottom of the fourth! Jump ahead to the top of the 8th and the Yanks had edged back to trail only 6-5 and then broke out with homers from John Ellis and ex-Bird Curt Blefary. Now it's 8-6 New York in front and I'm pissed.

Lindy McDaniel is working his second inning on his second straight night in a tight game. Frank Robinson, never one to let a tense situation slip away with doing something special, drills his second homer of the evening to lead off the 9th and it's a one run game again. Then Brooks Robinson and Dave Johnson single and I remember that I cannot sit down any longer. With Bobby Grich running for Brooks, Andy Etchebarren walks to load 'em up!

Now Terry Crowley steps up to pinch hit and McDaniel buckles down. He fans Cro on three pitches. Ellie Hendricks pinch hits for the pitcher and McDaniel FANS HIM ON 3 PITCHES! So Don Buford steps up hoping to end the game just like he started it, with a bang. McDaniel gets him down 0-2 and now has gone from a bases loaded jam to just needing one damn strike with 8 straight strikes. Holy crap. Then, dramatically, Buford strokes the next pitch into right field, Grich and Etch score and the neighbors can't figure out why I'm screaming. Birds win, 9-8.

That's a long involved story but one I love telling. I brought the game up to Earl Weaver in a conversation I once had with him and after about a sentence and a half Earl took over the re-telling in his unique and colorful style. Good times.

McDaniel, in 1959, was coming off the only two seasons in his two decade long career that he served as a full time starter. He was pretty effective in 1957 with a 15-9 record but slumped in '58 and the Cardinals moved him to the pen. McDaniel jumped right into the role, leading the league in saves in 1959 and 1960. He went on to a long and satisfying career totaling 1972 saves to go along with his 141-119 record. He retired after the 1975 season having played for the Cubs, Giants, Yanks and Royals in addition to the Cards.

Oddly McDaniel never pitched in a postseason game despite 21 years in the bigs. He has his own website these days. Lots of Lindy related material there and it links to his blog (how cool is that? A blog!) that he updates monthly that features "short articles on baseball and religion."

#2 Eddie Yost

Stuff I knew about Eddie Yost......

• He walked a lot.
• Because of that he was called the 'Walking Man'.
• That's pretty much it.

Stuff I never knew (or remembered) about Eddie Yost (but learned on the 'net)....

• He played a looong time for the Senators.
• The Senators traded him so Harmon Killebrew could get his shot.
• He played for the Tigers and Angels from '59 to '62.
• He led the A.L. in walks the year this card came out.
• He was the first Los Angeles Angel to ever step up to the plate.
• He's third in putouts among third baseman behind only Brooks Robinson and Jimmy Collins.
• He got a Masters in P.E from NYU (woot!!!).
• He was born in Brooklyn.
• He came back to the Nats as a coach and managed ONE game as an interim manager in 1963.
• He lost that game.
• When he took off his cap, he looked a lot more like a pharmacist than a ballplayer.

This card looks to have been shot at Griffith Stadium. Check out the scoreboard above Yost. So it breaks up the 'picture taken at Yankee Stadium' run of American League cards. But the Yanks still stick their nose into it, according to the board they appear to the the visitors the day the photographer showed up.

#21 Connie Johnson

By the time this card hit the stores in Series One packs Connie Johnson had pitched his last as a major leaguer. If he doesn't exactly look like a kid in this Yankee Stadium shot its because of his circuitous route to the majors. Or maybe not. You see Johnson made his pro debut with the famous Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues at the tender age of 17 in 1939. With a break to serve in the armed services during World War II Johnson pitched for the Monarchs through 1950. Along the way he shared the mound with Satchel Paige and helped KC win the Negro League title in 1942.

After a year of pitching in Canada (Canada?) he signed with the Chicago White Sox and finally made his ML debut in 1953. He came over the the Orioles in 1957 and proceeded to win 14 games that year, his best season in the bigs.

His win total fell off to 6 in 1958 and Connie was shipped to Vancouver (Canada again!), the Orioles AAA club, for '59. After one game with the Mounties in 1960 Connie apparently could read the handwriting on the wall and took off to Mexico to pitch for Puebla for a season before hanging up his spikes for good.

Clifford "Connie" Johnson passed away in 1984 in Kansas City.

#337 George Crowe

George Crowe looks pretty studious with those glasses. In fact, as noted on his cartoon, Crowe graduated from what was then Indiana Central College, now known as the University of Indianapolis.

George played in parts of nine seasons for three different National League clubs. His only year as a full time player was 1957 with the Reds. Interestingly he played for three teams that made World Series appearances within a few seasons after he left them. No word on whether or not he developed facial tics from all that.

National League baseball was but one facet of Crowe's life. Wikipedia informs us that he played in the Negro Leagues for the New York Black Yankees and basketball for the barnstorming New York Rens and Los Angeles Red Devils alongside Jackie Robinson.

My copy of George Crowe's card is middle of the road for my set. Soft corners and off center (I think I'll just make a macro out of that, save some keystrokes). His Cardinal cap is airbrushed but the guy who did it had some talent.

George Crowe passed away on January 18th of this year. Having shared outfield space with Stan Musial, Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson and dishing to Jackie Robinson on the 'give and go', I bet George could keep his grandkids entranced with cool stories.