#519 Infield Power

I guess 'Power' is a relative term. This card features Pete Runnels, Dick Gernert and Frank Malzone of the Red Sox.

In 1958 Gernert hit 20 homers, good for 12th in the AL. Malzone had 15 which placed him in a tie for 20th but Runnels had which tied his career high to that point and was only the second time he had hit more than three. To be fair, Runnels did nearly win the batting title in '58 but 'power'? I can't see it.

Malzone and Runnels played in the first games I ever saw at Memorial Stadium in June of 1962 when they both started both ends of a doubleheader against the Orioles. Neither did anything special. I did see Carl Yastrzemski homer off Milt Pappas and Boog Powell hit a titanic homer over the hedges in center field. He was the first to ever reach that spot with a dinger.

#51 Rip Coleman

Walter Gary Coleman, better known as 'Rip' Coleman was a Yankee signee out of Syracuse and Wake Forest Universities in 1952. It took him four seasons to climb the ladder and he debuted with the Yanks in August 1955 after winning 12 games in Denver that season. 

His first game was a start against the Orioles. He was pretty shaky allowing five hits, five walks and six earned runs in five plus innings. Luckily for Rip the Yanks had their hitting shoes on that day and had staked him to a big lead. Bob Grim finished the game and Rip Coleman had a win. The O's starter and loser was Ray Moore whose card was recently profiled here.

Coleman pitched in nine more games that season and got into Game Four of the '55 Series against the Dodgers. He was hit hard in his inning plus allowing five singles and a couple of runs. He was also with the Yanks during the 1956 Series but didn't appear. Likely got a ring, though. 

After a 3-5 1956 season as a spot starter and reliever he was shipped to Kansas City (surprise!) for '57. He was in the minors for a portion of that year and then was knocked around and saddled with an 0-7 mark with the Athletics. Note that the back of his card calls it a "rough 1957 campaign". 

After spending 1958 in the minors he went 2-10 in KC in 1959 before he was waived and picked up by the Orioles. He pitched sparing for the Orioles but kept posting some decent minor league stats before hanging up his spikes after the 1962 year. 

Some of these white cardboard cards give my scanner the jumps. I've tried to adjust the brightness and contrast with Google's online tools because I'm too lazy to re-scan it. Topps airbrushed the "A" onto Rip's cap. Probably over the "NY". They probably cropped it 'tight' to eliminate the need to do much with the pinstripes which are barely visible. I replaced a centered but bruised copy with this sharper but mis-cut version. 

#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.

#61 Dick Brown

Dick Brown was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1953 after attending Florida State University and made his debut with them four years later. In an interesting subplot, Brown was dating Herb Score's sister when Score was being signed by Cleveland and she is said to have suggested that the Indians sign Brown as well. He went on to play nine seasons in the big leagues for four clubs, all in the AL. 

His busiest year was with the Tigers in 1962 when he caught 132 games and was 12/40/.241. Those numbers were down from the previous year when he had played fewer games.

He played as a platoon catcher for the next three years in Baltimore but was forced to retire from playing after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor following the 1965 season. 

After some time spent scouting for the Orioles he passed away in April of 1970 at the age of 35. His brother Larry enjoyed a 12 season career in the American League from 1963 to 1974. 

Other than being miscut this card is in pretty nice shape. My scanner didn't do it any favors.

#235 Valmy Thomas

Oh, the stuff one learns. I was vaguely aware of Valmy Thomas only because he was once, briefly (8 games qualifies as 'briefly'), an Oriole. His home was the U.S. Virgin Islands although he was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico because his mother wanted what she believed would be better medical care. He's considered the first native of the Virgin Islands to play in the bigs.

Thomas, a catcher, played in Canada and across the Caribbean between the late 40's and 1951 when he played for the Pirates minor league club north of the border. A pay cut prompted him to 'retire' and he starred in the Dominican Republic for several seasons. SABR has a cool story of his years there online. 

He emerged as a Giants farmhand in 1956 after a year back in Canada for the Pirate chain. He debuted in 1957 for the Giants in New York. He travel to the West Coast when the Giants moved and played for the Phillies, Orioles and Indians in the three subsequent years. By doing do he became the only player to play in five cities in five seasons.

After his playing days he was a successful businessman and public servant in his native Virgin Islands. He passed away in 2010 and was honored by the Congressional Delegate from his homeland. Here is another article which highlights his life and career.

One odd note.... Thomas was shot and nearly killed by another ballplayer in a dispute over a woman in 1962. The link goes to a Sarasota Herald story that's a real eye opener, in several ways.

I'm guessing that the picture of Valmy Thomas on his '59 card was taken while he was a member of the Giants. I'm fairly certain that the Los Angeles Coliseum provides the background. As with the Ruben Gomez card of a few days ago this one has been re-done with a Phillies cap and pinstripes. My scanner cut off the top of the card, it's not as miscut as it appears.

Here's Valmy in his later years.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Ellie Hendricks, another native of VI who became a catcher for the Orioles. Try and find and O's fan who didn't love Ellie. 

Here is Ellie:

Two proud sons of the Virgin Islands.

#411 Whitey Lockman

Another '59er that looks like your uncle, Whitey Lockman was a baseball 'lifer'. He was playing in the minors at 16 and spent pretty much the entirety of his life in the game in one position or another.

Lockman began his major league career as an 18 year old New York Giant in 1945. After spending the next season in the military he returned and played for the Giants right up through 1958 and their move to the west coast. He did take a detour to St. Louis and played the second half of the '56 season with the Cardinals after a mid-season trade but the Giants, perhaps missing his wavy reddish locks, traded for him in time for 1957.

Playing the outfield and first base Lockman put together a very respectable resume with the Giants making the 1952 All Star Game and challenging the .300 mark fairly regularly. He scored the tying run in the famous 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' Giants-Dodgers 1951 playoff game. He had reached base before the Bobby Thomson blast that ended it. 

As reflected on this card he emerged with the Orioles for 1959 but was dealt to the Reds in June. He was brought back to Cincy in 1960 but played sparingly before being released for good in July.

After his playing days he became a coach for the Reds and then worked his way through the Cubs organization in nearly every capacity possible culminating with his being named their manager in 1972, a job he held into 1974. He continued in the game in the front offices of the Cubs, Expos and Marlins through 2001.

Yahoo Sports ran a nice obit/story after Lockman died in 2009. It's a tribute to a baseball life well lived.

This is a recently upgraded copy of the Whitey Lockman card. Since I have one in my Topps Orioles run I guess I have at least three now. I'm pretty much Whitey Lockman'd out.

#31 Ken Lehman

A nice thing about blogging this set is I'm learning a lot. I was only dimly aware that Ken Lehman had spent two seasons with my Orioles. I looked back and sure enough he's in the '58 set as a Bird. And his hair is so good he could compete with the numerous nice hair guys shown in the '65 Topps Project blog . Looks happy, doesn't he? He should be, wearing that Orioles uniform and posed with that iconic Yankee Stadium upper deck and facade framing his smile and pompadour.

Pictured here on a Phillies card he ended up spending a couple years in their farm system before making it back to the bigs in 1961.

Oh, yeah...... I also discovered that he was pitching in Brooklyn while I was living there as a little squirt just a long fungo from Ebbetts Field. I bet he rode a cab past our rowhouse a few times. I wonder if he ever saw me out front on the steps?

#313 Frank House

Happy Birthday, Frank House. Frank was born on this date in 1930. He passed away at the age of 75 in 2005. He was a part-timer/platoon catcher through the 1950's, beginning and ending his major league career with the Tigers. He squeezed in stints with the A's and Reds as well. He was property of the Orioles during the 1961 season but never got a call-up from Rochester and then was dealt to the Tigers in July of that year.

He's pictured here in his Athletics uni but I think there is a good chance that he posed as a Tiger and was airbrushed enhanced, but maybe I'm just paranoid. I AM sure he is posing at Yankee Stadium. And I bet Topps wasn't lying when they state in House's blurb that he was 'a powerhouse behind the plate'. He looks pretty solid.

This blog will have it's share of cards in nice condition but more than not will appear to have lived a full life as has this example. After all, I am building my set one fair to good card at a time.

#439 Brooks Robinson

Welcome to the first of what I intend to be 572 posts in this blog. I'll be taking what I hope is a fun and informative look at the 1959 Topps set. The '59 set (along with its bookends, the '58 and '60 sets) is a huge favorite of mine. It's the first set I recall owning cards of. I remember friends that had 1958 cards but I don't think I had any. I clearly recall receiving packs of the 1959s at Easter of that year. (A couple of packs of cards in my Easter basket was a tradition in my house.) One '59 card from my youthful collection survived and I'll feature it in my next post. PSA's 1959 set page is entitled "Bring On The Pizazz". The set was a departure for Topps and it features some elements I always like on cards, bright colors and team logos.

I'll discuss more of this great set and my reasons for this collection in future posts but first things first... the Brooks Robinson card. Brooks leads off the blog for the simple reason that he's my favorite player. This is one of the nicer cards with good corners and bright colors. The card is off center but that's very common, at least among the 1959s that I've come across. Another very common aspect of this card is the fact that Topps photographed Brooks at Yankee Stadium. It's a 'feature' that will show up countless times in this set as well as many of the 50s and 60s Topps sets. I'm OK with that as it reminds me of the many visits I made to that historic ballpark in those days alongside my Dad, a big Yankee fan.

I love the O's road uniform that Brooks shows off in this shot. The 'Bird head' sleeve patch is a great uni addition. I wish the O's would bring it back.

This card is printed on 'white' stock as you can see on the scan of the back side of the card. The red and green on 'white' is one of three combos in the set. Many of the cards are also seen on gray cardboard and the last series, a.k.a 'high numbers' are red and black on 'white' cardboard. The cartoon on the back is pretty hum-drum. But we'll see some really good ones as the blog unfolds.

As I mentioned Brooks is my favorite baseball player. My twin sons are named for him and Jim Palmer. We've met Brooks several times and he's as nice as his reputation. When a small story appeared in the Baltimore Sun about my sons carrying the names of Oriole stars Brooks came up with my address and sent us signed pictures.