#228 Don Gross

I'm not really sure what prompted Topps to pose pitcher Don Gross holding a bat in Seals Stadium much less use the shot on his 1959 card. It's not like he was a good hitting pitcher or a converted position player. Just a curiosity of the set I guess.

Anyway, the left-handed Gross signed with the Reds in 1950 after playing (though not lettering apparently) at Michigan State University. He worked his way up through the Reds' chain with some impressive numbers, spent 1953 in the military, and debuted in July of 1955 with Cincinnati.

He went 4-5 that first half season in 11 starts over 17 appearances. He split the '56 season between the Reds and AAA Havana and then was 7-9 in a spot starters role in 1958. He was traded to the Pirates after that season in a deal that brought Bob Purkey to the Reds. While Purkey went on to All Star status with the Reds Gross won only six more games as his career finished with him bouncing around the minors through 1963.

A near no-hitter against the Braves that turned into a tough luck 1-0 loss on May 28th of 1958 was his career highlight. Or maybe not. Gross was part of a wacky 9 run bottom of the ninth rally that the Giants put together on May 5, 1958 in Seals Stadium.

Cruising along with an 11-1 lead Vern Law looked to finish off the Giants with three more outs. Then this happened:

Leading off, Ray Jablonski singles, and so does Orlando Cepeda. Hank Sauer reaches on an error and the bases are loaded. Willie Kirkland flies out. Jim King hits a pinch double to score two. John Antonelli doubles in two more to make it 11-5. Bob Speake hits a pinch double, the third in a row by the Giants and it's now 11-6. Curt Raydon replaces Law and promptly walks Willie Mays who is then forced at second, the second out of the inning.

Ray Jablonski then hits a 3 run homer to draw the Giants to within two at 11-9. Ron Blackburn comes on to pitch and gives up a homer to Cepeda and it's suddenly a one run game! But were are not quite done. Sauer walks, representing the tying run and on to pitch comes our guy, Don Gross. He walks pinch hitter Bob Schmidt and Jim Finigan, hitting for King grounds to short where it's booted for an error. The bases are now loaded. Any of the 5,502 Giants fans who had stayed to the end on a runaway game must have thought the were about to witness one of the best comebacks in baseball history.

But Don Taussig, the fifth pinch hitter of the inning, pops out to second to end the fiasco and give Don Gross a save, his first of seven that season.

Bottom line on the Giants ninth inning:
9 runs, 7 hits including three consecutive doubles and back-to-back homers, 3 walks, 
5 pinch-hitters, a pinch-runner, 2 errors and 3 LOB.

The line score:

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Pirates         0  2  0   0  0  1   5  0  3   11 14  3
Giants          1  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  9   10 12  1

And now that I think about it, given the the picture on this card was taken in '58 at Seals Stadium in San Francisco, might Gross have been trying to send some subliminal message by holding up a bat? Taunting the Giants on the day following that crazy game? I guess we'll never know.

#506 Bob Purkey

Pittsburgh native Bob Purkey began and ended his major league career with the Pirates but it was the seven seasons he pitched in Cincinnati that were the most productive. Signed by the Bucs in 1948 Purkey worked his way up through the minors, battling injuries and taking two years off for military service (he pitched for some highly successful Army teams) and getting several short looks with the big club before he established himself in 1957. He had learned the knuckleball from Branch Rickey along the way and he went 11-14 that year for a 62-92 seventh place club. Traded that winter to the Reds for Don Gross (who won only seven games in 2+ seasons in Pittsburgh) Purkey became one of the better pitchers in the NL, winning 17 games and making the All Star team.

He won double digit games in all but one of his seasons with the Reds, was a three time All Star, and in 1962 he went 23-5 with a 2.81 ERA and finished a distant third in the Cy Young voting behind winner Don Drysdale despite having numbers that compared quite well with the Dodger righty.

He pitched and lost Game Three of the 1961 World Series against the Yankees. In that game he allowed only six hits in a nine inning effort but homers he gave up late to Johnny Blanchard and Roger Maris cost him a 3-2 decision. He came back to appear in the fifth and final game of that Series as one of seven guys that Fred Hutchinson dragged out of the bullpen in a futile effort to stop the Yankee momentum.

He pitched one season for the Cardinals (1965 winning 10 games) and then returned to Pittsburgh for 1966 where he appeared in just 10 games before being released and retireing.

After baseball he founded an insurance agency which still operates under his name. As always the black frame on this card makes the red Reds uni stand out. Looks like Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the scene of the photo shoot.