#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:

#33 Ed Fitzgerald

Ed Fitz Gerald was rarely an everyday catcher and never an All Star during his 12 year career. But he certainly had his moments and he was able to put together a quite respectable .271 lifetime average and he gained a reputation as a reliable, strong-armed backstop.

He was signed by the Pirates out of St. Mary's of California in 1946 after serving in the Pacific during WWII. Fitz Gerald hit very well in two minor league seasons before he debuted in '48 with the Buccos. He returned to the minors for most of the 1950 season and was primarily a reserve and pinch-hitter in Pittsburgh until he was sold to the Senators early in the 1953 season.

As a Nat he had a nearly two year run as a starter and then spent 1955 in a platoon situation with Clint Courtney before losing that job in 1956. During his tenure as a starter he had his best season in 1954 when he hit .289 with 40 RBIs.

He remained with the Nats through May of 1959 being used as a pinch-hitter and second catcher. He finished his career with the Indians in '59. The Reds signed and then released him prior to opening day of 1960. In total he had played in over 800 games, hit a career .260 and had thrown out 40% of attempted base stealers.

Fitz Gerald caught Cliff Chambers' no-hitter in 1951. In June of 1958 he broke up Chicago White Sox pitcher Billy Pierce's bid for a perfect game by doubling with two out in the ninth. The ball landed just inches inside the first-base line. Pierce discusses his memories of that day in this blog post. Following his playing days he coached for several different big league teams and managed for a couple of seasons in the minors.

Definitely a Yankee Stadium picture used here. His last name is actually two words which I think is rather unusual. I hadn't noticed until I saw it that way on Baseball Reference and then I looked closer at his card and saw that Topps, which didn't seem all that devoted to such details back then, separated 'fitz' and 'gerald' on the card front. Ed's signature properly reflects the two words as well.

#572 Billy Pierce '59 All Star Selection

Is there a term for the highest numbered card in a set? If so you can apply it to Billy Pierce's All Star card. It's #572 in a 572 card set. But not nearly the last one to be posted, God willing.

This is the third Pierce card that has appeared here, following his 'special' Ace Hurlers card he shared with Robin Roberts and his Baseball Thrills card.

I'm fairly certain the this July, 1960 game, the opener of a Yankee Stadium doubleheader, pitched by Pierce, was the first game I saw in person.