#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:

#70 Harvey Kuenn

Note: This and the next few posts will be rather short and sweet as I am currently on the road between Houston an Lincoln, Nebraska on family business and putting these together on the fly. 

Harvey Kuenn spent a mere 63 games in the minors before the Tigers decided he had what it took to play as a big league shortstop and called him up for an 18 game trial in 1952. Hitting .340, even at the 'B' league level, will do that.

Kuenn made the Tigers starting lineup in 1953 and never looked back. That year he led the league in hits as a rookie, won Rookie of the Year honors and made the first of his eight straight AL All Star squads.

In eight seasons in Detroit he hit .314 , led the league in hits four times, in doubles three times and won the 1959 AL batting crown with a .353 average. It's what happened next that is the pivotal point in his career.

On the eve of the 1960 season Kuenn was traded to Cleveland for the Indians' immensely popular Rocky Colavito. It was a trade that shook two cities to their baseball roots. Rather than reinvent the wheel I'll refer you to this interesting write up and recap of the circumstances surrounding the deal and it's aftermath. In a nutshell, Indian fans were not happy with GM "Trader' Frank Lane.

Kuenn played only one season for the Indians, was dealt to the Giants where he played in the 1962 World Series and then faded from the scene as a player after short stints with the Cubs and Phils.

Kuenn later managed the Milwaukee Brewers for a couple of seasons. His powerful hitting clubs were nicknamed Harvey's Wallbangers and they won the 1982 AL pennant.

Harvey Kuenn's Milestones as seen in Wikipedia:

• 1953 AL Rookie of the Year Award
• 8-time AL All-Star (1953-1960)
• AL Batting Average Leader (1959)
• 2-time AL At Bats Leader (1953 & 1954)
• 4-time AL Hits Leader (1953, 1954, 1956 & 1959)
• AL Singles Leader (1953)
• 3-time AL Doubles Leader (1955, 1958 & 1959)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1955)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 2 (1953 & 1954)
• Division Titles: 1 (1982)
• AL Pennants: 1 (1982)

Kuenn died at the age of 57 after suffering from several bouts of ill health, Here is his NY Times obit. And here is his SABR bio.

Kuenn's card here is rather off center and suffers from a ink 'inscription' I hadn't noticed in my occasional trips through my set album in search of upgradable '59s. Stray ink on the back, while less than ideal, isn't a 'card killer' for me, especially when the overall condition is as decent as this card is.

#275 Jack Sanford

If the term 'bad ass' had been popular back when pitcher Jack Sanford was active, he'd have been called one. He threw hard, didn't always know (or care) where the ball was going, and once was suspended for 10 games for refusing to give up the baseball when his manager came out to take him out of a game. That's bad ass.
Sanford tried out at a Red Sox camp in 1948 after high school but they thought he was too small and he wasn't signed. A Phillies scout had seen his performance and offered him a contract and he pitched until 1954 in their chain. He spent a year in the military and in 1957, his first full season in the bigs, he won 19, lost only 8 and posted a 3.08 ERA to earn NL Rookie of the Year honors.
He was hit with the sophomore jinx in 1958 and his numbers slipped. The Phils traded him to the Giants for Valmy Thomas and Ruben Gomez in a move they regretted soon enough. Sanford rebounded and pitched very well in San Francisco for five seasons. His best year was 1962 when he won 24 games and finished second in the Cy Young voting. 16 of those 24 wins came consecutively. In 1963 the workhorse started a league high 42 games. (It's a different game today, Phil Niekro was the last pitcher to start that many, taking the mound 44 times in 1979.)
Sanford started three games in the 1962 Series for the Giants. He went 1-2 against the potent Yankee squad. He pitched very well in the series and in Game 7 he started and allowed only one run. Sadly for the Giants his club was shutout by Ralph Terry in the deciding game. Each of his Series starts, in fact, came against Terry.
He remained in the majors with the Giants, Angels and A's before retiring after the 1967 season and left with 137 career wins. Following that he coached for a couple of seasons in Cleveland and worked as a country club director.
Sanford died in 2000 of brain cancer. A well written blog post reminisces about his career. That's likely a Polo Grounds shot of Sanford in his Phils uni with a barely visible airbrushed SF logo on his cap.