#481 Charlie Maxwell

Charlie Maxwell, a.k.a. "Paw Paw" (he was from Paw Paw, Michigan which honored him in 2010) was known as a clutch hitter who was especially dangerous on Sundays.

Maxwell was originally signed by the Red Sox in 1947 and bounced around their minor league chain, making three limited appearances with the big club, though 1953. He spent the '54 season in Boston, was purchased by the Orioles for the '55 season, made four pinch hitting attempts for the Birds and was sold to the Tigers in May of that year.

He came into his own with the Tigers and played was a solid left fielder there for the better part of eight years. He made a couple of All Star squads and even garnered a few MVP votes here and there. He hit .326 in 1956 to go along with 28 dingers and 87 RBI. He topped that power output with career high homer (31) and RBI (95) totals in 1959. He holds the major league record for extra inning homers in a season. He had five of those in 1960.

In Maxwell's best day at the plate he hit four homers in consecutive at bats in a doubleheader against the Yankees at Briggs Stadium. It was a Sunday doubleheader. Not long after Maxwell was traded to the White Sox in 1962 I was at Yankee Stadium to see him hit three homers in a doubleheader against the Yankees. I remember my Dad, lifelong Yankee fan that he was, being none too thrilled. And yes, it was a Sunday!

My '59 Maxwell card is obviously miscut. Seriously obviously miscut. But it's got Smokey The Bear on the back. 'Smokey' was Maxwell's other nickname. So it's cool.

#147 Cubs' Clubbers

Here we have Dale Long and Walt Moryn, a couple of Cubs who were coming off nice seasons but, while not quite at the end of their careers, could see it from where they were standing. Both had very respectable numbers, hitting over 100 big league dingers and batting around .266.

Dale Long's '59 card is cued up for posting. Walt Moran has one as well. Both are much better cards than this spot filling 'special'. I wish Topps had carried their design for the regular cards through to these specials. Have the circle show the background instead of cropping the players (poorly) onto a color background.

Oh, the other guy on this card? The one in the middle? I've seen him somewhere recently I think.

#139 Ed Sadowski The Sporting News Rookie Star

The back of Ed Sadowski's Rookie Stars card claims he'd be fighting for the regular catcher's job with the Red Sox. Fact is that Ed didn't get that chance and was in the minors in 1959. He made the Sox roster in 1960, got about 100 plate appearances, had more minor league time and was lost to the fledgling Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft for the '61 season. 

The Pittsburgh native spent three years as a part timer with the Angels, revisited the buses in the minors, was traded to the Braves and finally finished up with a 1966 'cup of coffee' in Atlanta in 1966. 

Ed comes from a baseball family. His two brothers, Bob and Ted, were major leaguers in the '60s and his nephew, Jim played for the Pirates in 1974.

Topps did Ed Sadowski no favors with the way they cropped his photo for the '59 card. Looks like they airbrushed his hat, and chopped the side of his head. Makes him look like Frankenstein. They reused the picture for his 1960 card. This time they used the background (is that a minor league park?). 

He's half the catching duo on the 1964 'Angel Backstop' card. There is a certain charm to a pair of squatting catchers, and Bob 'Buck' Rodgers had a nice career as an Angel player, manager and broadcaster. But Ed Sadowski was back in the minors when this card was issued and never appeared in an Angel uni again.

#167 Duke Maas

Ring...ring...ring..."Good Morning, Kansas City Athletics, Mr. Selkirk's office. How can I help you?"

"Hello, Marge? George Weiss of the Yankees here. Is Selkirk in?"

"No, Mr. Weiss, but he told me to give you anything you wanted, just like he always does."

"Sounds great, Marge, we need a pitcher or two. Send me Duke Maas."

"Sure thing Mr. Weiss. Would you like Virgil Trucks, too? I just saw him walk past."

"Sounds good, Marge. I'll send something your way. Won't be much but they'll be breathing, probably. My best to Ol' Selkirk. Always nice ripping...err...doing business with the A's!"

"Bye, Mr. Weiss, call again when the Yanks need something. We're here to serve" ...click...

And so it went through the 50's.The Yanks needed to fill a hole, the A's obliged. In 1958 it was Duke Maas.  He was coming off a couple of double digit win seasons for the Tigers, had settled in with some nice numbers for the punch-less A's and then, bingo, off he went to the Yanks to help them in their drive to the American League pennant in 1958. 

Actually I thought Duke Maas had a really reat name. And any card that shows off the various decks of Yankee Stadium (including my frequent upper deck perch) qualifies as cool. That's Jerry Lumpe (#11) in the background waiting for his BP cuts. (Lumpe rode the KC/NY Express the other way when the Yanks brought over Hector Lopez and Ralph Terry in 1959.)

After minor league and military duty (in Korea) Maas broke in with the Tigers in 1954. He was dealt to KC in '58 and ended up on the Yanks. He pitched in two World Series with New York.

His best year, at least record-wise, came in 1959 with the Yanks when he went 14-8. He was drafted by the Angels in the December 1960 expansion draft but traded back to the Yanks for the '61 season which he spent nearly all of in the minors before he hung it up.

Duane Fredrick "Duke" Maas died in 1976 at the young age of 47. 

#306 Jim Gilliam

Jim 'Junior' Gilliam peers out of a pink framed '59 Topps in a picture taken during the Dodgers' first year on the West Coast. Gilliam was a Tennessee native who, after some semi-pro and Negro 'minor' league experience,  began his major pro career with the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1948. He played three seasons in Charm City, learning to switch hit, and making the All Star squad each time. Prior to the 1950 season Gilliam had been given a 'look' by the Cubs but he returned to the Elite Giants.

The young infielder was purchased by the Dodgers and played in Montreal for a couple of years putting up numbers that are very much like those he'd post with the Dodgers. He debuted with the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1953 and promptly made his presence felt. 

Phil Gurnee of True Blue L.A. list some of Gilliam's highlights:

•     Won NL Rookie of the Year and Sporting News Rookie of the Year 1953
•     Led the league in triples and scored 125 runs that same year
•     scored over 100 runs in each of his first 4 years
•     batted .300 and made the All-Star team in 1956
•     led the NL in putouts and fielding percentage in 1957
•     led the NL in walks and again was an All-Star in that year

Gilliam was part of the Boys of Summer era and also the pitching strong Dodger clubs following their move to L.A. Gilliam went on to play on 7 National League champion teams and won four World Series rings. He played with the Dodgers until his retirement after the 1966 season. He had made two All Star teams and twice was among the top six in MVP voting. He coached for the Dodgers following his playing career using the experience he gained while serving as a player/coach in the final active years of his career. In all Junior Gilliam spent half his life in a Dodger uniform. 

I just can't do justice to Junior Gilliam in a hurried blog post. There are some 'must reads' for anyone with an interest in his career both here on the SABR site and here in an ESPN feature..

From that ESPN site I loved this excerpt from a column by the great Jim Murray:

 ... You might say Jim is with the Dodgers but not of them. The distinction is important. He starts every season in the dugout. He sleeps every night with his bag packed at his feet and rumors of a trade swirling around in his dreams. He lives his life in a kind of limbo midway between the Dodgers and the rest of the National League. 
Then the season starts and some "phenom" begins to leak at the seams, the stuffing oozing out of him at every trip to the plate. The manager sets a hysterical search amid the bat bags, locker room towels and press clippings of his wunderkind — and there sits Jim Gilliam, waiting. ... 
When the Dodgers came to L.A., they brought Jim along with all the enthusiasm of a man asking his mother-in-law on the honeymoon. They had a hot-shot third baseman named Dick Gray, and began to offer Gilliam around like a claiming horse until Gray began to leak like a sieve in the field and strike out on balls the catcher couldn't get his glove on. 
Gilliam became a third baseman and the Dodgers became World Champions ...

The full column is found here in the LA Times historical city blog.  Other notable facts on Junior Gilliam.... He's the only Dodger to have his number retired who is not a Hall of Famer. He hit two homers in the '53 World Series even though he wasn't known for power. His favorite baseball card color was pink. (OK, that's bullshit)

His son Darryl played briefly in the Dodger minor league system in the mid 80s. Here is an LA Times interview with Darryl.

#88 Herb Score and #345 Gil McDougald

This is the first time I have 'double dipped' and done one entry on two cards. But it's hard to separate Herb Score and Gil McDougald. The two are forever joined by what happened on May 7, 1957 in a game between Score's Indians and McDougald's Yankees in Cleveland.

At the point in time Herb Score was a hard throwing (seriously hard throwing) lefthander coming off a very impressive two season debut. Signed out of Florida in 1952 by the same scout who signed Bob Feller, Score made his mark in 1954 with the Indians' Indianapolis AAA club by striking out 330 in 251 innings. In 1955 Score broke in to the Indians rotation with a 16 win season in which he led the league in strikeouts and k's per 9 and topped it off with the Rookie of the Year trophy. He came back in '56 and was even better. He was named to the AL All Star squad again and went on to win 20 games and again led the league in whiffs. 

The Red Sox reportedly had offered the Indians a million dollars for Score prior to the '57 season and were turned down by Cleveland’s general manager, Hank Greenberg, saying Score “may become the greatest pitcher in the game’s history.” Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra, among others, praised Score through the years as being one of the toughest pitchers they ever faced. Herb Score was, in May of 1957, a phenomenon.

Gil McDougald was signed by the Yankees out of the University of San Francisco in 1948 and, after three successful minor league seasons (he hit over .330 each year) broke in with the big league club in 1951 and went on to play as a steady if not spectacular infielder for the entire decade through the 1960 season. 

Like Score, McDougald had a Rookie of the Year trophy and All Star credentials. He finished as high as fifth in the MVP voting in 1957. He was an excellent fielder wherever the Yanks used him around the infield. He spent seasons as their regular third baseman, shortstop and second baseman.

In that May 7 game in 1957 facing Score, McDougald was the game's second batter and he stroked a liner that hit the pitcher in the face breaking numerous bones. While Score was treated and carried off the field McDougald reportedly had to be talked into remaining in the game by Yankee manager Casey Stengel. The shaken McDougald vowed to quit if Score was blinded.

Score overcame his injuries, regained 20/20 vision and returned to baseball during the 1958 season but hurt his arm while changing his pitching motion and never regained the form that had led Bob Feller to compare him favorably with another 1955 rookie, Sandy Koufax. He was traded to the White Sox in April of 1960 and spent three seasons splitting time between them and their farm team. He continued in the game as a long time broadcaster for the Indians.

McDougald, by some accounts, never was the same aggressive player he had been prior to the Score incident and he retired after the 1960 season. 

There is much more to read about these two stars of the 50's whose lives became intertwined that May day in Cleveland. A good Hall of Fame website article on Score can be found here.

The obits for Score who died in 2008, and McDougald, who died in 2010, add details about both players. This article on a Yankee fan site has quite a bit about McDougald and his reasons for retiring. 

The Herb Score card shows off his youthful appearance as well as my favorite Indians style uni. The Yankee Stadium facade gets one of it's better treatments in the background as well. My copy is miscut but has sharp corners. Pretty nice. 

My McDougald, though, is a candidate for upgrading. Soft corners and scuffing will do that. I noticed as I was checking the card back that it lists his home as Nutley, New Jersey. I pretty much grew up there, having lived in that great little Essex County town from second through ninth grade (Martha Stewart's mom was my 6th grade teacher). McDougald was living in Wall Township when he passed away. That's very close to where I spent my last two years of high school. Not that that all means anything.

#564 Mickey Mantle '59 All Star Selection

Mickey Mantle played in both of the All Star Games held in 1959. In the first he pinch ran for Gus Triandos in the 8th inning and played rightfield. In the second game he started in center and went one for three. His hit was a bunt single off Don Drysdale.

In his career Mantle was a sixteen time All Star. He certainly didn't have 'Mantle type' numbers in the Mid Summer Classics. He hit .233 with 2 homers and 17 whiffs in 43 at bats.

Any Mantle card is a nice Mantle card, don't you think? I was able to find this one reasonably and it's in better shape than some of the more expensive ones I came across.

My favorite Mantle All Star card, by far, is the '58. I've bid on more than a dozen of those. One day I'll get lucky on one.