#493 Jim Landis

California native Jim Landis was a five time Gold Glove winner  for the White Sox and as a member of the '59 Go-Go Sox he helped that club win the American League pennant. He began his baseball career by signing with Chicago in 1952 and played two seasons of minor league ball before spending two years in the military.

Landis returned to baseball in 1956 and hit well enough to earn a spot in the Sox' outfield in 1957. He seemed over-matched by big league pitching and was sent to the minors for five weeks in late summer. In '58 he blossomed and hit .277 with 15 homers and was the everyday center fielder.

His '59 season was good enough to garner some MVP votes and in the Series against the Dodgers he hit .292 and made some crucial defensive plays in a losing effort. In 1960 he began his string of Gold Glove seasons and in 1962 he played in the All Star game. He was in the top three in many defensive categories among A.L. outfielders between 1958 and 1963.

But his offensive numbers had been sliding since his 22/85/.283 season in 1960 and he was traded to Kansas City for 1965 where his hitting had a slight uptick. But after a year there the A's dealt him to the Indians and he spent the '66 season watching his stats slide again. His last season in the game was 1967 which he split between the Astros, Tigers and Red Sox. His stay with Boston was only about a week and he wasn't able to stay around to possible play in the '67 Series with them.

He was in the sign business after retiring. SABR is as always the best place to read up on Landis' career and Baseball Almanac has an interesting interview with him. Jim's son Craig Landis played minor league baseball and is currently a player agent

#364 Danny McDevitt

Danny McDevitt is the first Dodger that I've posted for quite awhile. Looks like a spring training shot that's been 'painted' over. Probably a Vero Beach photo.

McDevitt signed with the New York Yankees late in 1951 out of St. Bonaventure College and reported for work that September to the Yanks' low minor league clubs. He got into 7 games and was whacked around pretty good on the rare occasion he got the ball over the plate. Apparently the Yanks decided that they had made a mistake and released him.

McDevitt signed with the Dodgers that off season and had a much better year in their system but he still had control issues as evidenced by his 171 walks allowed in 199 innings. Then it was off to the military for a couple of years. When he returned in 1955 he began a two and a half season stretch during which he continued to struggle with control. His work in 1957 was good enough however to earn him a promotion to Brooklyn and secure him a spot in the rotation alongside Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and Don Newcombe. In his first start on June 17 he pitched a complete game against the Reds allowing two runs on seven hits and fanning 11. He went on to a 7-4 record with a couple of shutouts that year.

One of those shutouts came in the very last game ever played in Ebbets Field. McDevitt handcuffed the Pirates that day on five hits. A brief video of that final Ebbets Field out was on You Tube and I've posted it here:

McDevitt's recollections of the game are featured in his L.A. Times obit:

"It was just another game, as far as I knew," McDevitt told Times columnist Jerry Crowe in 2007. "All the older guys – Pee Wee [Reese] and Duke [Snider] and those guys – seemed to know the facts, but I didn't know.
"I couldn't believe that after working my butt off to get to Brooklyn that I would be going back to another minor league town, which is what L.A. was then."

A brutal start to the '58 season earned McDevitt a demotion to the minors and when he was recalled in August he wasn't much better. 1959 was McDevitt's 'bounce-back' season as he went 10-8 in 39 appearances including 22 starts. He earned four saves as well. The Dodgers and Braves tied atop the NL standings that year and McDevitt drew the first playoff game assignment. He was KO'd in the second inning but the Dodgers won the playoff series and went on to win the World Series. McDevitt didn't pitch against the White Sox.

He continued his up and down trend with a poor 1960 season. He was sold to his original team, the Yankees that winter and was traded to the Twins in June. He pitched for the A's in 1962 and was out of baseball as an active player later that year. He went on to work as an umpire in the minors and later sold real estate among other jobs.

A Google search turned up a book on Cuban Winter League baseball that featured a story of an incident between McDevitt and an umpire that had some serious consequences. I also found a neat picture of McDevitt in Ebbets Field.

#410 Billy Pierce

This is the fourth card featuring White Sox lefty Billy Pierce that I've posted out of this set. And it's the last. First up was a look at the special card ( #156 Ace Hurlers) he shared with Robin Roberts and a little detective work into the background of the picture Topps used. Then came his card in the Baseball Thrills subset (#466 Pierce All Star Starter) and soon after was his '59 Sporting News All Star card (#572 Billy Pierce '59 All Star Selection). This one is obviously his regular card.

While I like any card with the Yankee Stadium background this is far from the best Billy Pierce card issued during his career. He's one of those guys who, like fellow lefty Whitey Ford, was always referred to as 'the crafty...' or 'the stylish..(insert name)'. I don't know what it was about those guys that made them 'stylish', or even what it means exactly. I do know that there are a bunch of really cool pictures of Pierce floating around. I have a Pierce card collection and I'll post some of them on my 5 Tool blog and at the bottom of this post will be a couple of the pics I found.

Pierce, a Detroit native, was a Tigers signee in 1945. He opened the season on the Tiger staff for six weeks but didn't get into a game. Sent to the minors he returned to the big club before the season ended and pitched in Fenway Park in his first game. He was with the team when they won the World Series that season. He was eligible for and received a Series champs ring despite pitching only 10 innings in the majors all year. He was 18 years old.

He was hurt for a good part of '46 and pitched in the minors in 1947 before making the club again in '48 but he was hardly used and his numbers were atrocious. Being traded to the White Sox that winter proved a turning point and he went on to have an exceptional 13 year career for the Sox. He won 186 games for a team that was climbing steadily out of the doldrums during the 50's. They broke trhough to play in the 1959 World Series but lost to the Dodgers. Pierce, a 14 game winner who was injured late in the season, was put in the bullpen for the Series. He allowed just two hits in four innings of work.

After two more winning seasons on the South Side Pierce was traded to the Giants where he finished out his career. He had a sterling 1962 season, winning 16 games and helping the Giants reach the World Series. He started two games and pitched very well but split his two decisions. He finished third in Cy Young voting in the NL that season. Pierce retired after the 1964 season with 211 career wins and an ERA of 3.27 in 18 seasons.

The best Pierce ever did in Hall of Fame voting was less than 2% of the votes back in 1971. I'm not saying he should have made it but 2%? That's just silly. The JAWS ranking of all starting pitchers puts him 96th at the moment. That's ahead of ten Hall of Famers including Chief Bender, Dizzy Dean and far ahead of Catfish Hunter.

Pierce's highlights from Baseball Reference:

Major League Bests

• Wins: 20 (1956, 1957)
• ERA: 1.97 (1955)
• Innings: 276 1/3 (1956)
• Strikeouts: 192 (1956)
• WHIP: 1.02 (1964)
• Saves: 8 (1963)

Notable Achievements

• 7-time AL All-Star (1953, 1955-1959 & 1961)
• AL ERA Leader (1955)
• AL Wins Leader (1957)
• AL Strikeouts Leader (1953)
• 3-time AL Complete Games Leader (1956-1958)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 8 (1951-1953, 1955-1958 & 1962)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 2 (1956 & 1957)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 9 (1950-1953 & 1955-1959)
• Won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1945 (he did not play in the World Series)

The SABR site has some great nuggets of info in the Pierce bio page and this Chicago news website has a neat story linking Billy Pierce and former Sox perfect game pitcher Mark Buehrle.

And here at a few nice shots of the 'crafty & stylish' lefty found on the 'net:

#277 Turk Lown

Turk Lown has to be the 20th White Sox pitcher with a red framed card and a shot taken at Yankee Stadium with the 3rd base side grandstands in the background. OK, maybe not the 20th. But there have been several and they tend to run together and when you add in the nearly identical Detroit Tigers' pitchers' cards.... well, I am getting deja vu all over again.

Anyway, Turk Lown (real name Omar Joseph Lown) came out of Brooklyn and was signed by his home borough Dodgers in 1942. After a year in the minors he spent three years in the military and then returned to pitch his way up through the Dodgers' system. He had some pretty good years along the way. But the Dodgers being the Dodgers Lown had a hard time squeezing himself into a big league role and in 1951 the Cubs rescued him via the old Rule 5 draft.

With the Cubbies through May of 1958 (he spent part of 1954 and all of 1955 in the minors) Lown evolved from a spot starter/reliever into a closer, or at least a game 'finisher'. In '56 he pitched 61 times and in '57 he led the NL in appearances with 67. He had 47 games 'finished' in both of those seasons and saved 25 which was a lot back then. He moved to the Reds and then the White Sox in 1958.

He and Jerry Staley formed a formidable one-two bullpen punch in 1959 for the pennant winning Sox and manager Al Lopez gave them much of the credit for that clubs' success. Lown led the way with a league high 15 saves. He appeared three times in the World Series that year and allowed two hits and no runs in 3.1 innings.

Lown slumped in 1960, rebounded with a good year in '61 and after a decent year in 1962 he left the game. He'd been released by the Sox and turned down an invite to the Reds' spring camp. He took a job with the postal service in Colorado and worked there for many years.

I love the S-O-X caps the White Sox wore in the late 50's. And the touch of red on the cap's lettering was duplicated in the stirrups. Those road unis are pretty sweet. So, maybe having all the Sox pitchers in the same type shot isn't so bad. My copy is a replacement and it's still one of the lesser quality cards in my set. It looks better in person but the scan brings out the surface marks.

#351 Earl Torgeson

Here's your challenge, should you decide to accept it: find a picture of Earl Torgeson smiling. Or even wearing anything close to a smile. Not possible, I've tried.

He was known as the Earl Of Snohomish. Which sounds like something akin to the Prince of Darkness but is just a reference to his hometown of Snohomish, Washington.

Torgeson began his career out on the West Coast in 1941 playing for teams in the PCL and Western International League. He spent three years in the service during WWII and returned to baseball in 1946. He was traded by the Seattle Rainers to the Boston Braves and made his MLB debut with that club in 1947. He held down the first base job for Boston until 1952 putting together some pretty nice power numbers along the way. He led the league in runs scored in 1950 and hit .368 for the Braves in the 1948 World Series.

Traded to the Phillies after the '52 season he played in Philly for a couple of years, was traded to the Tigers, on to the White Sox and finally the Yanks in 1961. He got into another World Series when the White Sox played (and lost to) the Dodgers in 1959.

Torgeson's sidebar story is much more interesting than his career movement, though. Despite resembling your local pharmacist, or the bookworm you had in school who had no friends, he was a tough guy known for his numerous scrapes. Several of the fights he took part in are chronicled in this fun-to-read column. Some great pictures down that page, as well. And SABR is always a good spot to dig further into a character like Torgeson.

When I've flipped through my '59 binder looking for cards to upgrade somehow this one hasn't caught my eye. It's not terrible but it is probably in the bottom 10% of my set condition-wise. And, btw, I think I recognize the Yankee Stadium usher in the seats behind Angry Earl. I'm sure he's looking for a fan to pressure for a tip by dusting off the seat..

#385 Sherm Lollar

Sherm Lollar caught 1571 games in the majors beginning in 1946 with the team that signed him out of Pittburg State in Kansas, the Cleveland Indians. Add in more than 400 minor league games, any number of collegiate, exhibition, World Series (he played in two) and All Star games (he made 7 AL teams) and you have a guy who did a whole lot of squatting in his career.
And it was a very good if under-appreciated career. After his 26 game trial with the Indians in '46 he was traded to the Yanks. After two seasons during which he rarely got off the bench he was dealt to the St. Louis Browns where he blossomed into a first time All Star in 1950.
But it wasn't until a 1952 trade to Chicago's South Side that Lollar became a more consistent player and by the end of the decade he had collected three Gold Gloves, landed in the Top Ten in MVP voting twice and made the All Star squad six times in a span of seven years. With the 'Go Go Sox' of 1959 Lollar hit 24 homers (he had 22 in '58) and drove in 84 runs for the second year in a row.
A homer and 5 RBI against the Dodgers in the Series that season wasn't enough to help the White Sox become champs but Lollar had already earned a ring with the '47 Yankees. In that Series he went three for four with a pair of doubles as the Bombers defeated the Dodgers.
Lollar's playing time decreased as the '50s turned into the '60s and after the 1963 season he retired to coach in the majors and manage in the minors.
That makes it two red White Sox cards in a row. This one was also shot at Yankee Stadium (I know that scoreboard silhouette). Seems to me that Sherm is looking up at my Dad and me perched in our usual spot above and just to the left of home plate. He's smiling because he knows that I will be, as always, rooting against the Yanks. My Dad would laugh about that but I think is secretly pissed him off.
I believe, but can't substantiate,  that my first game at Yankee Stadium was in 1958. I KNOW it was a against that White Sox so maybe he really is looking up at us. Oh, Lollar may not get much love by later generations, but at least one writer thought a lot of him.

#426 Jerry Staley

In a 15 year career that ended in 1961 righthander Jerry Staley went from being a reliever to an All Star starter in the NL then to All Star reliever in the AL. Staley began his baseball career with a couple of very impressive seasons in independent ball in the early 1940s before heading off to serve his country in WWII. After returning, and having been signed earlier by the Cardinals, Staley debuted in the teams bullpen in 1947. By '49 he had become a starter, at least part time, and by 1951 he was winning 19 games and he sustained that pace through two consecutive All Star seasons.

By 1954 his fortunes had reversed and the Cards sent him to the Reds and then he moved to the Yankees before finding his 'second wind' with the White Sox in 1956. In '57 became the Sox' main bullpen weapon and remained so through 1960 when his 13-8, 10 save season earned him another All Star appearance.

He made four appearances with the Sox in the 1959 World series gaining a save and taking a loss in Game Four when he allowed a homer to Gil Hodges in the eighth inning. He retired the other six batters he faced that day and overall had a very nice Series.

Staley's SABR page is chock full of info on his career including his time in the service and unique way he ended up with the Cardinals.

Looks like another Yankee Stadium shot although I don't see those 'windows' in many of these shots. Seems like every White Sox pitcher in the set has the same pose in the same place.

I always like to search out featured players' other cards. While looking at Staley's I saw his 1958 Topps card (love that cap s-o-x and the Flying Sox logo!):

Then I looked at the 1961 Topps:

He aged about a decade between those two shots, yes?  Maybe it's the lighting.

#107 Norm Larker

Norm Larker began as a pro in 1949 in his hometown of Hazleton, Pennsylvania and caught the eye of Brooklyn scouts who signed him for the 1950 season. Larker began a long trek through the loaded Dodger system as an outfielder before he finally emerged with the now-Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958.

In his rookie season he batted .277 in 99 games. The following year, 1959, he played mostly first base and picked up a World Series ring playing in all six games and hitting .188. In 1960 he moved to first base spelling Gil Hodges and had by far his best season. Hitting .323 he finished 2nd in the batting race and made the NL All Star squad.

His production and playing time declined in 1961 and he was drafted by the expansion Houston franchise for which he played one year. He was traded to the Braves and then to the Giants late in 1963. That was his last season in the majors although he played some minor league ball and also played in Japan through 1966.

Pretty standard card for this set. That's the LA Coliseum in the background.

The September 10, 1962 issue of Sports Illustrated featured a bit of by-play that included both Norm Larker and a player whose card was featured a week or so ago, Hal Woodeshick:

The Houston Colts put on quite a show for early arrivals in Cincinnati's Crosley Field recently. First, Pitcher Hal Woodeshick and Catcher Jim Campbell almost had a fight when Campbell tried to hurry his teammate out of the batting cage. Woodeshick refused to be hurried, saying, "I'm taking my cuts." "What for?" said Campbell. "You're never around long enough to bat." Woodeshick went for Campbell and the two had to be separated.
Then Infielder Bob Aspromonte, upset because First Baseman Norm Larker wouldn't let him use one of his bats, threw it the length of the dugout and broke the knob end. Then he pulled all of Larker's bats out of the rack onto the concrete floor. Larker didn't go for Aspromonte—just for Aspromonte's bats, pulling them out of the rack and flinging them to the floor, too. When none broke, he took one and started hitting it against the concrete steps.
"What in hell is going on here?" suddenly roared Manager Harry Craft, and an uneasy peace settled over the Houston Colts.

#16 Joe Pignatano

Catcher Joe Pignatano was signed off the streets of Brooklyn in 1948. Debuting for the Dodgers that very year was a guy named Roy Campanella. If Joe had only known. And he nearly didn't make a career of it according to his SABR bio. Read the part about his mother calling the Dodgers front office. Nice.

But he patiently worked his way up the Dodger system, served two military years, and made the big club in 1957. When Campy suffered his spinal injury that winter Pignatano was plugged in behind the plate along with Johnny Roseboro. He played with the Dodgers through 1960 and earned a World Series ring in '59. He was sold to the A's for the '61 season and had his best season while getting a career high of nearly 300 at bats. After a season (1962) split between the Giants and Mets Pigatano was back in the minors for a few years before he became a coach with the Senators, Mets and Braves. In those first two coaching jobs he was working under his friend and former teammate Gil Hodges.

Here is a strange but apparently true story culled from Pignatano's Bullpen page at Baseball Reference:

Playing for the Fort Worth Cats in 1955, Pignatano was listed as the number 8 batter in the lineup on May 29. In the second inning he went to the plate in the number 7 spot and hit a home run. On appeal by the opposing Shreveport Sports, the hit was nullified and the proper batter, Maury Wills, was called out. Pignatano then batted in the number 8 spot, and hit another homer.

And finally here is Vin Scully broadcasting the Dodgers game on the night of Joe Pignatano's MLB debut as a catcher. He asks anyone who knows the Pignatano family to call Joe's wife at home in Brooklyn to alert her of Joe's impending shot. This is why I love Vin Scully!

Turns out Joe did get into the game, taking over behind the plate for Roy Campanella who had been run for in the fifth as was asked to handle Sandy Koufax' fastballs. He singled in his first at bat and whiffed in his second.

The easily recognizable LA Coliseum looms behind Pignatano smiling face on this card. He sure looks different than I remember him a decade later with the Mets.

#278 Chuck Essegian

Six big league teams employed outfielder Chuck Essegian in six big league seasons. And in only one season, 1962 with the Indians, was he anything close to being a regular. But there is more to Essegian than that. He had a big moment in the sun during the 1959 World Series as a Dodger.

In that Series he pinch hit a pair of homers, the second of which came when he hit for Duke Snider. Essegian tells that story (and a lot more) in this L.A.Times article from 1995. He'd been with the Dodgers for only six weeks before that fateful Series. He had come over in a mid-season deal from the Cardinals and then was in the minors for a few months before being called up.

In a lot of the stuff I dug up on Essegian he seemed to have put baseball completely behind him once his career ended. But during his second career, as a lawyer in California, he seems to have mellowed. Again the L.A. Times relays a story about Essegian and a young fan with whom he reconnected many years later. Yet another L. A. Times article, this one from 2006, elaborates on Essegian's times with the Dodgers.

As a football player at Stanford before his baseball days Essegian played in the Rose Bowl and remains one of very few players to have appeared in that game and a World Series. Essegian's contemporary Jackie Jensen is another other as is Jackie Robinson.

As noted Essegian rarely had a full-time spot with any club but he certainly had a good year in 1962 when he knocked out 21 homers in just under 400 at bats. That was as close as he ever came to matching the power he flashed in his minor league career.

Nice portrait on Essegian on this card. The smile is in contrast to the reputation he had as a glum and dour personality. Obviously an airbrushed logo on his cap. Looks like Connie Mack Stadium behind him. He played in Philadelphia in 1958 and by blowing up the card I could barely make out pinstripes on Essegian's jersey.

#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.

#293 Ray Moore

Right-hander Ray Moore, a Maryland native, was signed by the Dodgers in the mid-40s after being spotted playing ball with his army unit in the Philippines. But he had a long hill to climb in the talent-rich Brooklyn chain. He got looks in 1952 and '53 but it wasn't until he was traded to the Orioles for the 1955 season that he established himself in the bigs.

For three years as an Orioles Moore won double digit games, moving from a job as a spot starter and long reliever to a regular rotation spot in 1957. Traded to the White Sox in 1958 Moore transitioned back to a reliever role and appeared in one game of the '59 Series against the Dodgers, pitching one inning.

He was sold to the Senators midway through 1960 and spent the rest of his career with the Nats/Twins franchise as a better than average closer. He retired after the 1963 season and spent time farming and working with his favorite hounds.

Seeing another of the many red bordered White Sox cards reminds me of my task of cataloging the team/color ratios in this set. I started that once before. I'll get back to it soon.

#5 Dick Donovan

Dick Donovan had a nice career. He's was three time All Star and posted double digit wins seven times. In 1957 he was second to Warren Spahn in the Cy Young Award voting. In the '59 World Series he lost Game Three on a 3-1 decision to the Dodgers despite allowing only a pair of hits and a like number of walks in 6+ innings. But Dick came back a couple of days later to save Game Five. In that appearance he came in to a tough spot, protecting a 1-0 lead and the bases full of Dodgers in the 8th. He got the final two outs in that frame and had a 1-2-3 ninth.

And in this shot he's wearing one of my favorite non-Oriole caps, the classic S-O-X 'stairstep' logo with the red outline. I looked for one of those for a long time before finding one from a custom cap supplier last summer. In fact I love the whole look of the Sox road uni of the era. Striped stirrups, shoulder numbers, plain block lettering. Good stuff.