#265 Ron Kline

Ron Kline looks mighty happy for a pitcher who had lost 60+ games in the previous four seasons, was forced to wear a batting helmet every second he was on the mound and having to endure being in a pink framed card. He also appeared on the Buc's Hill Aces card in the 1959 set.

Kline began his seventeen big league year career with the Pirates in 1952 and then spent two years in the military. On his return he joined the Buc's starting staff and three times broke double digit wins. Unfortunately he also led the league in losses twice.

He was traded to the Cardinals for the 1960 season and as he traveled through damn near every organization in the majors he slowly transitioned away from being a starter. He had his best seasons with the Senators in the early 60s as a stopper. He led the A.L. in saves in 1965 with 29 and had 23 the next year. He also pitched for Angels, Tigers, Twins, Pirates (again), Giants, Red Sox and Braves before he retired following the 1970 season.

Kline's Bullpen page makes note of the fact that he is the only pitcher to defeat the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York and San Francisco Giants, the Yankees and Mets.

After retirement Kline served as mayor of his small Pittsburgh-area home town.

#428 Buc Hill Aces

Ok, if Topps wants to call Ron Kline an 'Ace', who am I to argue? But when stacked up against the other three guys on this card his stats look sort of pale.

Kline was coming off a 13-16 record in 1958 for a Pirates club that finished 14 games over .500. He went 54-83 in six seasons with the Pirates. He hit his stride, though, with the Nats in the mid 60s as a reliever. He led the league with 29 saves in 1965.

Bob Friend won 22 games for the '58 Buccos and Vern Law chipped in 14. Elroy Face was coming off a season where he led the league in saves and was in the midst of one that saw him go 18-1 with 10 saves.

I look at these special multi-player cards and wonder why Topps didn't just use the same format as their regular 59s (have I whined about this before?). A stadium backdrop or scoreboard or just blue sky would have been so much nicer than the horribly cropped photo on a yellow circle. 

This is the third copy I have acquired of this card. The first one had scribbling on the front that didn't seem to sink in when I pulled it from a fifty cent bin at a card show. The second one was an emergency replacement that had very soft corners. This one is a keeper, Ron Kline or no Ron Kline.

#527 Solly Hemus

Solly Hemus served a four year apprenticeship in the Cardinals chain in the 40s as he climbed through their talent-rich system. He took over the shortstop job in 1951 and held it for more than three seasons displaying a decent bat and the ability to score runs. His playing time waned as players like Ken Boyer emerged in the mid to late fifties and eventually he was dealt to the Phillies.

With the Phils he was primarily a second baseman and once again had a starting job in 1958. But he was released and signed on with the Cards for the 1959 season as a player-manager, a job description much more common back in the day than it is now.

Hemus managed for two and a half seasons but didn't appear as a player after 1959. He was replaced by Johnny Keane midway through the 1961 season. He later coached with the Mets and Indians and managed in the Mets system until he entered the oil business in Houston where he had played for three years in the Cards' chain.

A couple items of interest... pretty nice write up of Hemus' career can be found here and a 1954 Sports Illustrated article about the baseball cards of the day uses Hemus in the title.

And finally here is a closer look at the cartoon on the back of Hemus' card. As was pointed out in the case of the cartoon on Ron Kline's card by Deal, this one wouldn't fly today.

#569 Bob Friend The Sporting News All Star

Poor miscut, badly scanned Bob Friend. Seems his '59 All Star card can't catch a break. This is his third and final appearance in this set. He had his regular card featured here in 2011 and then he showed up on a special multi-player card, Buc Hill Aces, with Ron Kline, Vern Law and Roy Face last year.

Friend made the NL All Star team in 1956, '58 and '60. He started in 1956 and 1960 (first of two games) and got the win both times. He didn't allow a run in either of those games going three inning both times. In 1958 he came out of the bullpen and went 2 1/3, allowed four hits and two walks taking the loss.

I hadn't realized that he started the fateful ninth inning in Game 7 of the 1960 Series. He came in with a shot to close it out but quickly allowed two hits before he was replaced by Harvey Haddix. Haddix allowed those runners to score and the Yanks to tie the game at 9-9. We all know what happened in the bottom of that inning. The card of the central figure in that dramatic game is queued to post in a few days.

As is the case with most of the Pirates photographed around this time, Friend is shown wearing a batting helmet. The batting helmet was designed by Charlie Muse, an executive of Branch Rickey's company and Rickey, at the time the Pirates' president, decided that all his players would wear one both at bat and in the field.