Categories and American League by Color

There are 572 cards in the '59 Topps baseball set. That doesn't take into account the card back variations like the included or not included 'optioned' or 'traded' line and the three different versions of the Spahn card back. Here we are interested only in the colors of the card fronts, especially the base card frames.

First, here is the total set by color of the base cards and the complete set listed by category:

Yellow and red frames dominate the set. And by a wide margin obviously. Yellow is far ahead of second place red. And the 95 red cards are more than double the number of any other color. Between the two they represent about 48% of all the single player base cards.

And here is the American League broken down by color of the base one player cards: 

Interestingly, among the AL cards red is the dominant color and 91 of the 95 red cards in the whole set  are of AL players. Four clubs clearly have red as their dominant color. The Tigers, in fact, have only five of their 31 cards in a color other than red. Yet, of the remaining four clubs, two don't have a single red card and the A's have only one. Of those other four only the Red Sox are not primarily represented by yellow framed cards. The Bosox have no color that they can call their signature color in the '59 set. 

AL observations.... Kansas City has the AL's only black frame and are the only team here that is represented by eight different colors. They lack a dark green card (ironically I think given their later history). They also are noteable in that there are six colors which appear on one or two of their players' cards.... the Yankees have the fewest total base cards (28). I'd have lost a bet on that one..... the White Sox have cards in only three different colors while the Orioles, Tigers and Yankees are seen with four....

This next chart tracks the colors of the team card (the frame is listed first, inner circle color next). It also shows the number of players each team has in the various subsets, All Star Selection, the Rookie Stars, Baseball Thrills (called High Lites in the chart's header), The center column gives the colors of the 'special multi-player cards (if they feature players from one specific team, called one team specials here). The same naming convention as the team card applies.

More AL observations... counting the specials the Yankees now have the most cards in the set of any AL club.... the White Sox total does not include the #156 Billy Pierce/Robin Roberts "Ace Hurlers". Counting that card would also give the ChiSox 38.... while it isn't too surprising that the Yanks had two multi-player special cards the fact that the Red Sox and Senators also have a pair of them probably is. Neither was a threat in the previous season, Boston was third, 13 games out and the Senators finished in last in '58, 31 games behind the Yanks.... every AL team card and all but one of the AL multi-player specials includes either yellow or red...

Next up: The National League

Colors of 1959, an Overview

Among the reasons I have enjoyed putting together the 1959 Topps baseball set is the aesthetic appeal. The combination of posed photos and portraits and the circular frames made it stand out from the other sets I considered. I'm a fan of the '58 set because those cards are the first I actually remember being aware of. The 1960 set was the first I actively collected. But the '59 just kept stood out.

When I jumped into putting the set together I already owned the Orioles and a group of stars and commons, maybe 20 or so. I noticed that the Orioles' team 'set' was mostly of the yellow 'frame' variety with some blue and red cards mixed in.

As I picked up more and more cards it was apparent that some teams seemed to have one predominant colored frame. I knew that at some point I'd like to sit down and track the set's colors. I started the project a few times and finally had the time recently to sit down with my binder and catalog them one by one.

I made a simple spreadsheet to tally the colors as I flipped the binder pages. I made a few notes as I went along as well. Before giving the breakdown in the next post there should be some discussion of the colors themselves.The base, one player cards come in nine different color frames. Those colors are red, yellow, black, pink, orange, light blue, dark blue, light green and dark green. Each of the colors has a consistent pattern of frame/player name/team name/position. All except one. When cataloging colors I began with ten colors. I had looked at the orange cards and seen at least two differing shades. But the more I looked the more convinced I became that the variations are simply due to the vagrancy of color printing in the late 50s. Even laying out the red cards side-by-side revealed some variations.

A look at each color in turn:

RED:
Red cards vary slightly in shade but it's seems obvious that the differences are just variations in the printed sheets. Red cards are where we see the difference in complimentary colors. Most have player names in white, team name in yellow and the player's position in white. But some have team names in white as well. Easy to see here:

There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the team lettering and color of the backs (different color combos and different cardboard colors were used), the team involved or the series in which the card was issued. 

EDITED to add: With Topps' history of yellow/white letter variation I thought that I should check closer into this. I've looked at a lot of the red cards online thinking there might be some sort of 'variation' involved with the player name color but every card I see online jives with the one in my binder. And given that I've never seen any mention of a lettering variation involving the '59s I am chalking the red card player name differences to 'just a Topps thing'. 

Dark Blue:
As opposed to the light blue also used. These have player names and positions in white, yellow team names.

January 2014 Update. I recently realized that there are two separate combos of colors involved on the light blue cards. Most of them follow the convention of the Curt Flood card below.

Light Blue type #1 (with black player names):
Black/black/white is the lettering combo.

But there is another combo used with this color frame. A comment on the Billy Harrell card entry mentions it as being exclusive to cards issued in the 5th Series. There are three total cards with this lettering combo, #433 Harrell, #436 Granny Hamner and #395 Elston Howard (shown below).

Light Blue type #2 (with white player names):
White/yellow/white is the lettering combo.

Dark Green:
White/yellow/white is the lettering combo.

Yellow:
Red/red/black is the lettering combo.

Pink:
All lettering is black.

Black:

Yellow/yellow/white is the lettering combo.

Light Green:

And here I see enough variation in the card frames to make note of it. But given the color combo is consistent across all shade variations I believe the differences are due to the printing process. Black/yellow/black  is the lettering combo.

The Gary Geiger card is from the high number Seventh Series and has a distinct 'lime-greenish' tinge to it. There is one other light green card in that series and the color is the same. As with other variations across colors I believe these to be simply printing anomalies. The lettering combos are the same across all the shades.

And finally, Orange:

I went back and forth in deciding whether of not Topps intended to print both 'orange' and 'red-orange' cards. The differences are easy to see:

Because the color of the lettering is consistent, white/black/white, and the fact that there are some cards that fall between the darkest and lightest examples, I think that the cards were intended to be 'orange' and the variations are again, due to the printing process used. And I'm going to list them as being in the same category. I wish I had more insight into all this. There might be more info on the net.

In the next post I'll break the set down into card 'type' and list the American League breakdown by frame color.

National League by Color.... and random things

This is third installment of my breakdown of the '59 Topps set. This one looks at the National League cards. First up is a summary of the base one player cards. (The AL and a whole set summary were in my previous posts.)

NL Observations: .......No one team had a single color dominate as thoroughly as the Tigers were covered with red to the tune of 84%...... Milwaukee's 19 of 26 in yellow led the way (that's 73% if you are scoring at home)..... The NL got 32 of the 33 total black framed cards in the set..... The NL has just 4 of the 95 red cards. The Phils, Cards and Reds each had seven different colors...... The Braves, Giants and Pirates had five...... Dodgers and Cubs had six different colors...... The Braves coming off two consecutive World Series appearances had the fewest base cards while the fifth place Cubs had the most.

And this chart breaks down the ancillary NL cards. Again 'High Lites' refers to the Baseball Thrills subset.

NL Observations: .......the Braves get a boost in their total card count with the All Star Selection subset but unlike the Yanks their total still ranks behind several other NL clubs.... every team card in the Senior circuit has yellow as one of its elements... the NL has only six 'one team' multi-player specials but they have the Ashburn/Mays special and Robin Roberts appears one the Ace Hurlers card so that narrows the gap... the Pirates, second place finishers in 1958, were given three multi-player specials, all were red and yellow in one combo or another.... the Ashburn/Mays card is green and white which makes it the only NL special without a yellow element.

Final Thoughts.... Topps liked yellow in 1959, they used it on 14 of 17 multi-player specials, 14 of 16 team cards, and more than a quarter of all the base player cards.... I also noticed that the Cubs and Tigers team cards include the designation "Team" following the name i.e. "Detroit Tigers Team" as opposed to just "Detroit Tigers".. can't think of why that would be.... my preferred frame colors are black and dark blue which explains why I have so many favorite cards among the Phils' and Reds' cards.

That's it. I enjoyed doing the research. I know it all adds up to nothing but it does satisfy some of my curiosity about this great set. I would like to find a series breakdown by card number as that would give me another view of the color distribution. I just haven't googled deep enough to find it. And I'd bet someone out there has the set on uncut sheets. How cool would it be to lay them out end to end to see the color patern. Maybe spread out like that we'd see the yellow cards spell out 'TOPPS" or the name of Sy Berger's dog. Who knows.

It's back to regular card posting now. Thanks for reading. Comments always appreciated.

#539 Gary Blaylock

After toiling in the Cardinals organization since 1950 Gary Blaylock made the big club out of spring training in 1959. He began the year in the starting rotation and had a decent start to the year. He had a 3-1 record and an ERA of 2.60 when things went south in late May.

After a few bombings Blaylock lost his starting job and his ERA rose to over 5.00 before he was waived in late July. He was picked up by the Yankees and finished the season in their bullpen. Unfortunately (for Gary Blaylock) 1959 was one of the few seasons during that decade that the Yanks didn't get to the World Series. Blaylock was out of the majors after '59, pitching in the minors for Yankee farm clubs through 1963. 

Blaylock coached and managed in the minors following his playing days and made a one game appearance as a player/manager in 1966.

Two more Gary Blaylock facts:

• He earned a World Series ring as pitching coach of the '85 Royals.
• He was one of two Blaylocks that pitched for the Cards in '59. Rob Blaylock was a September call-up for St. Louis so the two never got the chance to appear in the same box-score. Rob has a card in this set and will appear one of these days. 

This is a high number '59 and one of those color-enhanced black and white shots that are pretty common in the set, particularly among cards of the lesser known players. It's really off center but has nice corners and color. Looking at the card Blaylock looks like Larry Dierker to me. 

#94 Chicago White Sox Team

If Topps had known that the 1959 White Sox were going to be American League champs and play in their first World Series since the 1919 Black Sox they might have given them a better looking card than this red and pink monstrosity. Then again, being Topps, they might not have.

The '59 Sox were known as the "Go Go Sox". They relied on manufactured runs and solid pitching to claim the title. They finished first in stolen bases in the A.L., last in homers, third in ERA. They had a Hall of Fame combo up the middle with Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio and relied on 39 year old Early Wynn for fill the role of staff ace. He did the job quite well with 22 wins.

I hope Sox fans savored their big season because it wouldn't be until 1983 that the franchise would make the postseason.

This card appears to have been owned by the same person who owned the Tigers card featured not so long ago. Same neat ink filled boxes on the backside checklist. It's in nice shape except for some gum stains and the hideous color combo. 

#457 Los Angeles Dodgers

Yup, it's the World Champs! Or to be precise the 1959 World Champs as seen on their 1958 team photo. But let's not get technical, ok?

The '59 Dodgers went 88-68 under Walt Alston, finishing 2 games in front of the defending NL champion Braves and 4 ahead of the rival SF Giants. Alston was in his sixth year of managing the Brooklyn/Los Angeles club and '59 was his second world title and third pennant. He was less than one third the way into his 23 season reign as Dodger manager.

The club's .257 average was below the league average but they scored more runs than the league average and they led the NL in stolen bases even though Maury Wills was a rookie part-time player a year away from displaying his base stealing skills.

On the mound Don Drysdale led the club with 17 wins. Sandy Koufax was still a rather raw 23 year old honing his craft. He went 8-6. The Dodgers' team ERA ranked third in the NL behind both the Braves and Giants. They had the most strike outs as a staff, easily.

The Dodgers were in third place on September 15 when the launched a 7-2 run over the last 9 games to surge past the Giants and tie the Braves. The swept a best of three playoff with Milwaukee to earn the right to face the White Sox in the 1959 World Series. They won the Series in six games and reliever Larry Sherry was named Series MVP.

The '59 Series is among the first ones I have clear memories of paying attention to. I know I rooted for the White Sox. I was an A.L. guy and my father had no use for the Dodgers or Giants back then.

In general I'm not a fan of the team cards in the '59 set. I don't like the color circle being used in place of the natural background as is the case with the base cards. But there is something about this Dodgers team card that just works. Despite the fuzzy photo and it being so mis-cut this is a really cool card.

#310 Luis Aparicio

There was a lot of debate on Luis Aparicio's Hall of Fame credentials when he came up for consideration. All I know is that I'd have voted for him but then again I'm an Oriole fan and Looie helped lead the O's to the 1966 championship.

I'll just post some numbers and let it go at that. The following paragraph comes from The Baseball Page:

In an 18 year career, Aparicio played in 2599 games, accumulating 2677 hits in 10,230 at bats for a .262 career batting average along with 394 doubles, 83 home runs, 791 runs batted in, 1335 runs and 506 stolen bases. He ended his career with a .972 fielding percentage. Aparicio led American League shortstops eight times in fielding percentage, seven times in assists, and four times in range factor and putouts. He led the American League in stolen bases in nine consecutive seasons (1956–64) and won the Gold Glove Award nine times (1958–62, 1964, 1966, 1970). Aparicio was also a ten-time All-Star (1958–64, 1970–72).

The bolding is mine. I'm impressed. And you can add in the 1956 Rookie of the Year award. Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune voted for Aparicio as part of the All Century team. 

Aparicio debuted in 1956 with the White Sox, helped them gain the '59 World Series and batted .308 in that Series. He was traded to the Orioles for the 1963 season after having led the American League in steals every year he had played in Chicago. His defensive skills played a part in the Orioles 1966 title and then following the '67 season he was back with the White Sox. He spent the last three years of his career in Boston, retiring after the '73 season.

The White Sox retired Aparicio's #11 but Omar Visquel was allowed to bring it out of mothballs when he arrived to finish out his career with the Sox. It was a tribute to Aparicio.

Seems like every White Sox card is red framed. I think it looks good with this nice, color enhanced portrait. Mine has pretty good corners and it's still shiny and bright. Go Go Looie!

#150 Stan Musial

"I throw him four wide ones and then I try to pick him off first base." - Preacher Roe

"How good was Stan Musial?  He was good enough to take your breath away." - Vin Scully

Consider Stan Musial's Hall of Fame bio:

After 22 years as a Cardinal, Stan Musial ranked at or near the top of baseball's all-time lists in almost every batting category. The dead-armed Class C pitcher was transformed into a slugging outfielder who topped the .300 mark 17 times and won seven National League batting titles with his famed corkscrew stance and ringing line drives. A three-time MVP, he played in 24 All-Star games. He was nicknamed The Man by Dodgers fans for the havoc he wrought at Ebbets Field and was but one home run shy of capturing the National League Triple Crown in 1948.

Yup, three MVPs, seven batting titles, 24 All Star games. I'm no new age stats guy but even I can follow this from Baseball Reference:

He ranks fifth all-time among hitters on the Black Ink Test, and third all-time on the Gray Ink Test—measures designed to compare players of different eras. He ranks first on Baseball-Reference's Hall of Fame Monitor Test, and is tied for second in the Hall of Fame Career Standards Test.

And finally, consider this list of accomplishments, also from Baseball Reference:

Notable Achievements

• 20-time NL All-Star (1943, 1944 & 1946-1963)

• 3-time NL MVP (1943, 1946 & 1948)

• 7-time NL Batting Average Leader (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-1952 & 1957)

• 6-time NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1943, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1953 & 1957)

• 6-time NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1943, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950 & 1952)

• 7-time NL OPS Leader (1943, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952 & 1957)

• NL At Bats Leader (1946)

• 5-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1946, 1948, 1951, 1952 & 1954)

• 6-time NL Hits Leader (1943, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1949 & 1952)

• 6-time NL Total Bases Leader (1943, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951 & 1952)

• NL Singles Leader (1946)

• 8-time NL Doubles Leader (1943, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1949 & 1952-1954)

• 5-time NL Triples Leader (1943, 1946, 1948, 1949 & 1951)

• 2-time NL RBI Leader (1948 & 1956)

• NL Bases on Balls Leader (1953)

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 10 (1948-1957)

• 30-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1948, 1949, 1951 & 1953-1955)

• 100 RBI Seasons: 10 (1946, 1948-1951 & 1953-1957)

• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 11 (1943, 1944 & 1946-1954)

• 200 Hits Seasons: 6 (1943, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951 & 1953)

• Won three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (1942, 1944 & 1946)

• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1969

The Baseball Page has the best Musial bio I came across on the web, a nice read for sure. Stan Musial was elected to the Hall on the first ballot with 93% of the vote. Whoever is represented by that other 7% should have had their voting privileges revolked immediately. I'd guess that no other baseball player is more revered in any city than Musial is in St. Louis. There is a new George Vecsey biography of Musial out this summer which I have not read yet but has gotten good reviews. He was recently honored at the White House and has a pretty nice website.

Great card of Stan Musial in this '59 set, doing what he did best, swinging the bat. I like the blue and red cap. The Cards had last worn that in 1955 so this picture was several years old when Topps used it. My copy is off center obviously, but has fairly nice corners and nice color. I was very happy to get it for the price I did.

#477 Barry Latman

Vacation posting: Barry Latman

In a nutshell... California kid, attended USC.....White Sox signee in 1955... pitched parts of three seasons on the South Side of Chicago... started 21 games in 1959 but didn't get into the World Series....his high school teammate, Larry Sherry did get into the Series and was a star reliever for the Dodgers in it..... traded to Indians for 1960.. best season was 1961, he went 13-5 and made his only All Star squad.... finished his career with Angels and Astros, retiring in 1967...... over the years he spent about half his time starting and half relieving...he's 78 and lives in Mexico now... he never freakin' smiled for a card shoot... according to legend, when the Indians traded Latman to the Angels in 1963 for Leon Wagner Latman's father-in-law heard about the trade and said, “It’s impossible; is that all they got for Wagner?” .....career mark of 59-68, 10 shutouts, 16 saves, 3.91 ERA 

Latman Links:

Latman on Wikipedia

Latman on SABR

Latman on jewsinsports-dot-org

Topps did one of their 'paint-over-pic' jobs on this card. Pretty crappy job, too. That hat is the wrong color blue. But the 'flying sock' saves most White Sox cards so I'll give it a pass.

#309 Sal Maglie

Sal Maglie is one of the most interesting guys I've come cross in blogging the '59 set. Out of Niagra Falls Maglie signed with the New York Giants in 1938. He spent five uneventful seasons in the Giants chain and at one point left the game and worked at a defense plant in New York. (He had been rejected for military service for a sinus condition). He then returned to baseball, pitched in the Giants chain and debuted in 1945. When the '45 season was over Maglie jumped to the Mexican League after having issues with Manager Mel Ott. That earned him a five year ban from the majors.

During his five years away.... well there is no way I can capture the color of Maglie's career in a blog post. And there is no point in re-inventing the wheel. I refer you to the exceptional SABR bio which is found here and is highly recommended.

The short version is that Maglie became a highly successful pitcher for the Giants and Dodgers and garnered more major league time with the Indians, Yankees and Cards. He's one of about a dozen players to have been with all three original New York franchises. He had been released in April of 1959 and therefore was out of the game by the time this card was issued by Topps.

He finished with 119 wins, a 3.15 ERA, an ERA title, a wins title and World Series title and one of the coolest nicknames in baseball history, 'The Barber'.

There is a You Tube video of a 1956 appearance Maglie made on the old "What's My Line?" TV show. It was broadcast live on the evening of October 7, 1956. That was the same day as the fourth game of the World Series.  The NEXT DAY Maglie pitched and lost in one of the most celebrated World Series games ever played, Don Larsen's perfect game. On the panel is Yankee Phil Rizzuto who was wrapping up his career. The video is here. It runs immediately upon opening the page so I didn't embed it. Here's a still shot.

Other Maglie notes:

Sal Maglie Stadium is home to minor league and collegiate baseball in Niagara Falls, New York. The original Sal Maglie Stadium is profiled here.

He had pitched his own no-hitter just two weeks prior to the Larsen perfecto.

He served two stretches as Red Sox pitching coach and saw his last uniform duty as the pitching coach for the Seattle Pilots.

His post playing career life was a roller coaster of triumph and tragedy and again I refer you to the SABR bio or this book available on Amazon.

edit: Amazon link cleaned and replaced. Dunno what was up with that

#188 Juan Pizarro

Juan Pizarro looks pretty glum in a lot of his card photos. Not sure why because that Braves uni looks good on him.

Pizarro, a native of Puerto Rico pitched for 18 big league seasons for seven different franchises. I guess what they say about lefties always having a job is true. I recall him as a Brave but he pitched in Chicago a lot more, six years with the White Sox and four with the Cubs.

His best years came in the early sixties as a fixture in the White Sox rotation, winning nearly half of his 131 big league victories between 1961 and 1964. His 19 wins in '64 were third best in the AL.

Pizarro pitched in the '57 and '58 World Series' for Milwaukee and the 1974 NLCS for Pittsburgh. He had no post-season decisions but, as the card notes, he whiffed three Yanks in 1 2/3 innings in the '58 Series..

Pizarro continued his career in the Mexican League after he left the majors and served as pitching coach for a Cubs' affiliate in the late '90s. God knows how many pitches Juan Pizarro threw from a baseball mound in his long life in the game.

Pretty standard card with the 'hands over my head in my wind-up' pose. I think almost all the Braves are pictured in a yellow frame. Which reminds me I need to do my frame color roundup one of these days.

#202 Roger Maris

 

Roger Maris, posing for this shot in Yankee Stadium in 1958, his eyes focused on the right field stands. Little did he know how much he would accomplish right near that very spot just a few years later. This is a favorite of mine given the pose, color and view of my usual perch in the Stadium's upper deck, right behind home plate.

As with most stars in the set there is little need to touch on Maris' baseball numbers. Everyone with interest in these cards is familiar with him. But I like discovering and reporting small facts that may not be well known, such as.......

• Roger Maris was born Roger "Maras" but later changed it. Haven't read a reason for this.
• He was recruited to play football for the Oklahoma Sooners but went back to North Dakota after less than a semester on the OU campus.
• Maris' first career homer was a grand slam in Tiger Stadium as a member of the Indians in 1957.
• His back-to-back MVP awards in 1960 and 1961 represented the last time an American Leaguer had won consecutively until Frank Thomas in '93/'94.
• Maris held the home run mark longer than Babe Ruth.

I saw two Maris homers in 1961 that I can remember and verify. They were #'s 52 & 53 for Maris that year and they came in the same game on September 2 against the Tigers. The second homer, in the bottom of the 8th, had come after my Dad and I had made our usual move to sit in the right field lower deck as the game got late. It was easy to make a quick run to the subway that way. During Maris' tenure in New York that was an interesting place to be. You had a great view of the abuse that Yankee "fans" heaped on him. In one game I recall seeing a metal grate or grill top similar to something from a small hibachi come flying from the upper deck above us and Maris. Firecrackers and other crap coming from the stands was routine. 

I think that stuff cemented my anti-Yankee feelings. Not that I disliked the players, on the contrary there were quite a few of them I greatly admired and rooted for. No, I was baffled by the fans and didn't want them to have the satisfaction of watching a successful team. Little good it did.

I'll always remember watching Maris' record breaking homer #61 on the last day of the 1961 season. Here is the video including Phil Rizzuto's memorable call................

#6 Alex Grammas

Buzz cut Alex Grammas looks a lot like the Apollo astronauts, doesn't he? After signing with the White Sox in 1949 Grammas kicked around through several teams' systems before emerging for the first of two stints with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954. 

After a couple of years as a regular shortstop there he was moved to the Reds early in 1956 where he played part time for three years. It was back to St Louis for Alex in 1959. The back of this card states that he's been a Redleg for a season and a half but from May of '56 through the end of the '58 season equals almost three seasons. 

Back to being an everyday shortstop in St. Louis proved to be a tonic as Grammas had his best year in '59 hitting a career best (as a regular) .269 with three homers. But his numbers and playing time slid again in 1960 and by mid season 1962 he was traded to the Cubs where he finished his playing career that season.

He coached for a couple of organizations for over a decade and then got a shot at managing the Brewers in the AL in 1976/77 where his clubs finished last both years. Following that he spent another decade coaching 3rd base for the Tigers through 1991.

Miscut, decent (though certainly not sharp) corners, nice color and gloss.... this card is not bad.

#483 Clint Courtney

I tend to think of Clint Courtney as an Oriole but that's because he was part of their club when I first really began to follow the game, 1960 or so. But 'Scrap Iron' was around almost a decade prior to that and he actually did the bulk of his playing in Washington with the Senators.

Always known for his hard nosed style that belied his bookish looks, Courtney came up as a Yankee signee in 1951, playing one game before being dealt to the Browns for the '52 season. He was runner-up in the Rookie of the Year chase that season. He held down the Brown's catching job and held it through the franchise's first year in Baltimore. 

The O's traded him to the White Sox and he was dealt again to the Nats, all during 1955. In five seasons with the Senators he platooned behind the plate except in 1958 when he held the job himself and had personal bests in homers and RBIs.

It was back to Baltimore for 1960. It was during that stint that he pioneered the use of an over-sized catcher's mitt to handle Hoyt Wilhem's knuckleball. The glove was the brainchild of O's manager Paul Richards. 

The O's traded him to Kansas City that winter but after just one game (one at bat!) with the Athletics he was returned to the O's where he lasted until July before being released.

Courtney turned to coaching after playing a couple more seasons as a minor leaguer. He works for the Astros as bullpen coach and then managed in the Braves' chain with sights on a major league job. He died in 1975 at the age of 48 before attaining that goal.

SABR has a cool bio of Clint Courtney. If you don't want to read it I'll show you the best part, this great picture of him in his Brownie gear. Gotta love that. His '59 Topps just 'says' Clint Courtney. You don't even have to see his name to know who that is if you followed 50s/60s baseball at all. I'm glad my copy of his card is pretty nice. Good color and decent corners. 

#34 Pitchers Beware

Wow, really? Pink frame and a red background? This is one of the '59 set's ugliest cards. Al Kaline and Charlie Maxwell deserve better.

Kaline, of course, is a Hall of Famer. Great hitter and a fine right-fielder with a cannon for an arm. He finished his career 1 homer short of 400 and three points south of .300 as a career average. He signed with the Tigers in 1953 and never spent a day in the minors. But the best thing about Al Kaline? Easy, he's a Baltimore native!

The Charlie Maxwell card in the set has already been featured. He was a popular Tiger outfielder known for his Sunday hitting heroics.

Every time I scan one of these specials I have the same thought... Wouldn't it have been a better card if Topps had used the photo's background instead of filling in the circle with a solid color?

#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.