#478 Roberto Clemente

This is the last card to be posted from my 1959 Topps set. And this Roberto Clemente is one of my favorites. It doesn't show him an any sort of action pose which might reflect his skills but maybe more fittingly it's a portrait that has him with a half-smile focused off-camera. It's in 'fair' condition at best but given what they go for I think I'll pass up a chance to upgrade it. Hard to say where the shot was taken. Many Pirate cards have pictures from Seals Stadium in San Francisco but I get a vague 'L.A. Memorial Coliseum vibe' with this one.

You may have noticed that the card shows Roberto Clemente's first name as 'Bob'. I've always referred to as 'Roberto' so I'll go against my 'use what the card uses' convention and call him 'Roberto' here. I know Bob Prince called him 'Bobby' but... Bob Prince, well.... the less said the better. I understand that early in his career he was frequently referred to as 'Bob' but I have read that he didn't like it.

Just about anything I can say about the career and life of Roberto Clemente has been said in many places already by far, far better writers than me. Here are just a few highlights and a few memories of him.

From Clemente's Baseball Reference Bullpen page:

Notable Achievements

• 12-time NL All-Star (1960-1967 & 1969-1972)
• NL MVP (1966)
• 1971 World Series MVP
• 12-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1961-1972)
• 4-time NL Batting Average Leader (1961, 1964, 1965 & 1967)
• 2-time NL Hits Leader (1964 & 1967)
• NL Triples Leader (1969)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1961, 1966 & 1967)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1966 & 1967)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1961, 1966 & 1967)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 4 (1961, 1964, 1966 & 1967)
• Won two World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1960 & 1971)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1973

I'm not sure what else there is to say after reading that list. I won't try to sing Clemente's praises but rather I'll recall my three most powerful memories of him.

In the summer I moved to Houston I saw the Pirates in the Astrodome a few times. One night (and I can't find the exact game) Clemente grabbed a fly with a runner on second and threw the ball on an absolute rope to third to keep the runner from moving up. Sounds routine but to see that throw and hear the crowd buzz, well, you knew that Clemente was just special.

Next is a catch he made in 1969 at Shea Stadium. In a game that was to be the only no-hitter I've ever witnessed in person he went full speed across the right-field line as he grabbed a shot by the Met's Wayne Garrett in the 6th inning. I remember him hitting the railing along the stands after the catch.

And finally I remember how he just whipped the Orioles in the 1971 World Series. I was so happy when the O's came back to tie the Series up in Game Six in Baltimore. I figured my Birds had it won with ace Mike Cuellar starting on Sunday at home. But when Clemente homered to put the Bucs ahead I got a bad feeling that he was destined to have another World Series ring. And I was right.

Here is his Hall of Fame bio:

Roberto Clemente Walker's pride and humanitarianism won him universal admiration. Despite an unorthodox batting style, the Pirates great won four batting crowns and amassed 3,000 hits. He was equally brilliant in right field, where he displayed a precise and powerful arm. Clemente earned National League MVP honors in 1966, but achieved his greatest fame in the 1971 World Series, in which he batted .414. Tragically, Clemente's life ended at age 38 -- the victim of a plane crash while flying relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.

Some other Clemente related links of interest:

• This is a terrific book written by David Maraniss that explores Clemente's life and death. I've read it and it's well worth the time. Amazon has used hardback copies for a penny plus shipping.
• MLB's Roberto Clemente Day page.
• Clemente's New York Times obituary.
• The Smithsonian Institute's Clemente virtual museum exhibit and classroom. 

Some Clemente pics from Corbis' Clemente page:

That's the last card, but not the last post on this blog. I'll have a wrap-up tomorrow and maybe a few things brewing down the road. As always, thanks for reading!

#536 Dan Kravitz

Born to Russian immigrant parents, Danny Kravitz was signed out of Lopez, Pennsylvania by the Pirates in 1949. He hit well, especially for a catcher of that era and climbed up through the Bucs' system with a two year detour to play ball while serving Uncle Sam in the U.S. Marines.

He made the Pirates' roster as back-up receiver in 1956 and debuted in the second game of the season against the Giants in New York. He went hit-less but doubled and drove in a run the next day. He was sent back to the minors that June but again made the team in 1957 only to find himself back in the minors for most of the year.

Kravitz was with the Pirates for all of the next two seasons as a reserve and began the 1960 season with them as well but he was traded to the Athletics on the first of June and he played more in half a season in KC than he had in any previous year with Pittsburgh. But while by being traded he saw the most action of his career he also missed out on that fall's World Championship run by the Pirates.

That 1960 season was to be his last in the majors as he was traded to the Reds that winter and then moved on to the Orioles' and Yankees' systems but he never again played in a big league uniform. He retired after the 1963 season. His obituary states that he moved 32 times during his baseball career. That's a lot of box packing. Kravitz worked for GTE-Sylvania until his retirement in 1995.

Kravitz passed away in 2013. He was preceded in death by seven brothers. All eight of the Kravitz boys had served in the U.S. military. Good for them!!

There are now only five 

more cards to go before we put it to bed.

#523 Harry Bright

When you are 22 years old with five years of pro experience and an organization turns over the reigns of a team to you, even a Class D minor league team, it's clear that someone sees you as a 'baseball guy'. And so it was with Harry Bright. In 1952, six years after signing his first contract with the Yankees (at 16!), Bright was named player/manager of the Janesville Cubs in the Wisconsin State League. One of his opposing managers, btw, was Hall of Famer Travis Jackson who, at 48, likely had spikes older than Bright.

Despite some impressive numbers it took Bright 12 years to make the major leagues after his signing in '46. He played some for the Pirates in the second half of 1958 and spent the whole of '59 with them playing on a limited basis.

He was traded to the Senators and in '61 was a platoon guy but in '62 he had his best big league year hitting 17 homers to go with a .273 average as the Nats' regular first baseman. He bounced around with several different clubs through 1965. That included a stint with the Yankees that got him his only post-season action, two at bats (both whiffs) in the '63 Series against the Dodgers. He was Sandy Koufax' 15th strike out in Game One, ending the game as a footnote to what was then a new Series single game K record. He later lamented that after waiting so long to make it to a Series the whole country was pulling for him to strike out.

Following his retirement as an active player Bright coached and managed in the minors and served as a scout for the Expos up until his death in 2000 at the age of 70.

And finally, just because it's a challenging read, here is Harry Bright's transaction log, as seen on Baseball Reference. Please take notes as a quiz will follow.

• Before 1946 Season: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent.
• May, 1947: Released by the New York Yankees.
• Before 1950 Season: Sent from Miami (Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri) to the Chicago Cubs in an unknown transaction.
• December 3, 1951: Drafted by York (Interstate) from the Chicago Cubs in the 1951 minor league draft.
• Before 1952 Season: Returned (earlier draft pick) by York (Interstate) to the Chicago Cubs.
• Before 1953 Season: Sent from the Chicago Cubs to the Chicago White Sox in an unknown transaction.
• November 30, 1953: Drafted by the Detroit Tigers from the Chicago White Sox in the 1953 rule 5 draft.
• May, 1955: Purchased by Sacramento (PCL) from the Detroit Tigers.
• July 21, 1958: Purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates from Sacramento (PCL).
• November 30, 1959: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1959 rule 5 draft.
• April 7, 1960: Returned (earlier draft pick) by the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• December 16, 1960: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Bennie Daniels and R C Stevens to the Washington Senators for Bobby Shantz.
• November 24, 1962: Traded by the Washington Senators to the Cincinnati Reds for Rogelio Alvarez. Rogelio Alvarez returned to original team on April 20, 1963.
• April 21, 1963: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Cincinnati Reds.
• September 11, 1964: Released by the New York Yankees.
• March 15, 1965: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.

Harry Bright Transactions quiz:

• How many times was Harry 'returned' to his original team within months of a transaction?
• How many times was Harry released by the Yankees?
• How many times times was Harry involved in an 'unknown transaction'?
• How many of Harry's transactions involve the Cubs?
• How many years elapsed between Harry first being acquired by the Cubs and the first game he played for them?

And finally...

• ...Which of these transaction methods did the Cubs employ in deals involving Harry?

---Sent to the Cubs

---Sent from the Cubs
---Drafted from the Cubs
---Returned to the Cubs
---Returned by the Cubs
---Signed as Free Agent by the Cubs

Answers: 2, 2, 2, 7, 15 and All of the Above.

It's easy to see that Bright's card has escaped my 'upgrade purges' over the past few years. Condition-wise it sits right in between "I'm  OK with it" and "Maybe I should I'll spring for the $3.75 to get a better one". I think I'll just keep this copy. Harry's bright-eyed 'happy-to-be-in-majors-after-eleven-years-in-the-minors' look seems fitting on a card that's much closer to "F" than it is to "G" on the Fair-to-Good scale.

#446 Rocky Nelson

Glenn 'Rocky' Nelson had such a varied and interesting career I hardly know where to start, so let's try the beginning. Nelson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a 17 year-old first baseman in 1942. After a year in the minors Uncle Sam called and he spent three years in the Army during WWII. My usual sources don't provide many details but it's a good bet he was overseas during that time.

Upon re-entering baseball Nelson had three seasons in the well stocked Cardinals chain hitting over .300 in each of them. He made his big league debut with the Cards in 1949 but, in what became the story of his career, he just didn't approach his minor league numbers. He split the next season between the majors and minors (hitting over .400 at AAA in almost 50 games!) and in 1951 was traded to the Pirates for his first stint with the Buccos.

He finished the 1951 season with the White Sox after being waived and then was traded to the Dodgers after the season. That deal meant that Nelson had been the property of four different franchises within 9 months! The Dodgers won the NL pennant in 1952 and Nelson, having been recalled from the minors in August, got into the '52 Series with a handful of pinch hit opportunities.

He spent '53 and most of '54 with the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers' AA club and had a monstrous run. Particularly impressive was Nelson's 1953 season when he hit .308 with 36 homers and 131 RBIs and won the International League MVP award. The Dodgers, with Gil Hodges holding down first base, had no room at the top for the minor league slugger. They had traded him to the Indians after that remarkable '53 year but bought him back in May and watched him tear up the IL again.

Back with the Royals in 1955 Nelson won his second of three IL MVPs with impressive ease and was threatening to repeat in '56 when the Dodgers recalled him in June. He struggled for two months in Brooklyn and was traded to the Cardinals for his second run in St. Louis.

He played for Toronto, the Cards' AA club for two years and again excelled. He won the 1958 IL MVP and for that he was rewarded by being drafted away by the Pirates. Finally, at 34 years old, Nelson managed to get himself a steady big league gig. He played as a platoon first baseman for Pittsburgh for three seasons, putting together productive years in '59 and 1960. He played a part in the '60 Series against the Yanks. I'll let his Baseball Reference Bullpen page recount that:

Nelson started Game 2 of the 1960 World Series and had 2 singles against the New York Yankees' Bob Turley. But Stuart, who led the Pirates in home runs that year, started games 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. With the series tied at 3 wins apiece and Stuart struggling with just 3 singles in 20 at-bats and no RBIs, manager Danny Murtaugh started Nelson at first base in Game 7, as the Yankees again started Turley. Nelson responded with a two-run home run in the 1st inning to stake the Pirates to an early lead. But he was also involved in a strange play that allowed the Yankees to tie the game 9-9 in the top of the 9th inning of that game. With the Pirates leading 9-8, Yogi Berra at bat, Gil McDougald on third base and Mickey Mantle on first, Berra hit a hard shot at Nelson. Nelson fielded the ball inches from first base and stepped on the bag for the second out as McDougald raced for the plate with the tying run. Mantle, with a short lead off first base, hesitated when the ball was hit, possibly unsure if Nelson caught it in the air. But although the ball had not been caught in the air, Mantle was not forced to advance to second base because Nelson had already eliminated the force when he stepped on the first base bag. Nelson turned to throw to second base, expecting Mantle to be advancing. But Mantle dove back toward first base. Nelson then dove at Mantle and missed. With both players sprawled on the ground and Mantle safely back at first base, McDougald scored the tying run to make the score 9-9. However, that changed quickly when Bill Mazeroski led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a home run against Ralph Terry to win the game, 10-9, and give the Pirates the championship. Stuart, who was on deck to pinch-hit for winning pitcher Harvey Haddix, did not appear in the game. At age 35, Nelson had his finest season in the majors and finished it by homering as the cleanup hitter in a championship game. Nelson hit .333 (3 for 9) in the World Series.

His bat finally failed him in 1961 and in '62 he kicked around the minors with three clubs before he retired. He finished his big league career with 31 homers but in the minors he hit 234 and in 1960 he was named to the International League Hall of Fame. Given that his huge seasons came with Montreal and Toronto it's little wonder he is also a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Along the way he played on four pennant winning teams, the '52 and '56 Dodgers, the '54 Indians and of course the 1960 Pirates.

Lots of interesting Nelson internet resources. The Hardball Times has a detailed and entertaining Rocky Nelson career retrospective. The official MiLB site has a page with emphasis on his minor league exploits.

The card has one of those 'painted over' portraits that makes it difficult (ok, impossible) to determine where it was taken and what uni Nelson is actually wearing.

#401 Ron Blackburn

Ron Blackburn was a pitcher for the Pirates in the late Fifties therefore he wore a batting helmet while pitching. Supposedly it was Branch Rickey's idea that players were to wear helmets in the field. May have been a good idea but it still looks odd to me no matter how often I see it.

Blackburn signed with the Pirates in 1953 and the North Carolina native worked as a starter for five seasons in the minors before he made the Pittsburgh roster as a reliever in 1958. He picked up a win in relief in his big league debut on Opening Day against the defending champion Braves. Here is how Blackburn recalled it as quoted by Baseball Reference:

"Hank Aaron was the first hitter I faced. It was Opening Day, 1958, at Milwaukee County Stadium. I remember it right down to the last patron: 44,344 fans in the stands. I came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, the score was tied and Hank tapped a grounder between short and third and Dick Groat went over and fielded it straight in front of me and was unable to make a throw. So he beat it out for a single. I faced nine more hitters and no one else got on base and I got the victory that day, 3-2."

Wikipedia picked up that ball and ran with this:

His major league debut was on Opening Day 1958 against the Milwaukee Braves. The first batter he pitched against in his major league career was Hank Aaron. Aaron hit a single off of Blackburn, but Blackburn managed to keep the next nine batters off base for his first Major League win.

Cool story but here is how it actually went, at least according to Retrosheet's boxscore:

BRAVES 11TH: BLACKBURN REPLACED POWERS (PITCHING); WISE BATTED FOR MCMAHON; Wise flied out to left; Pafko struck out; Logan
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3,
Braves 3.

PIRATES 12TH: CONLEY REPLACED WISE (PITCHING); Groat flied out
to left; Skinner grounded out (pitcher to second to first);
Stevens singled; Thomas flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Pirates 3, Braves 3.

BRAVES 12TH: Crandall grounded out (second to first); Roach
flied out to center; Schoendienst made an out to second; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Braves 3.

PIRATES 13TH: Clemente grounded out (shortstop to first); Baker
struck out; Foiles struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3,
Braves 3.

BRAVES 13TH: Hazle grounded out (catcher to first); Mathews
grounded out (second to first); Aaron singled; Conley struck
out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Braves 3.

PIRATES 14TH: P. SMITH BATTED FOR BLACKBURN; P. Smith flied out
to center; Virdon grounded out (pitcher to shortstop to first);
Groat doubled; Skinner singled to pitcher [Groat to third];
Stevens singled [Groat scored, Skinner to second]; Thomas flied
out to right; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 4, Braves 3.

BRAVES 14TH: RAYDON REPLACED P. SMITH (PITCHING); Pafko made an
out to first; Logan singled; Logan was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop); Crandall walked; Roach struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 4, Braves 3.

So it appears Blackburn came on in the 11th, not the ninth and faced Casey Wise, not the Hammer. Aaron did single, but it was in the 13th, Blackburn's third inning of work. He pitched to one more batter and obviously didn't retire nine straight after Aaron. He got the win with Raydon getting the save. Final was 4-3, not 3-2.

 I frequently tell stories of my days as a kid and games I attended. I'm sure sometimes I've mixed up dates and facts so this is not to demean Blackburn in any way. I guess my point is that memories can be imprecise and BR's quoting of Blackburn without a reference is proof that you can't always believe what you read, even if it's on the internet (sarcasm intended). And of course if you rely on Wikipedia for facts you pretty much get what you deserve.

Beyond all that Blackburn did in fact go on to have a successful rookie season. He appeared in 38 games and turned in an ERA of 3.39 in almost 64 innings with three saves to go with a 2-1 record. He even had two hits in seven at bats and both were doubles.

Blackburn was back in Pittsburgh in 1959 but as the season went along his earned runs allowed kept mounting and he was farmed out in July. He pitched in the minors, mostly in the Pirates chain through 1964 before he hung up his spikes.

After retiring Blackburn earned a degree and became a teacher and baseball coach at North Carolina's Catawba College and then the recreation director at the Western Correction Center in Morganton, North Carolina.

This is one fine card condition-wise. Bright and clean. It's off center but very close to mint otherwise. Many other Pirate players are pictured in this set in Seals Stadium in San Francisco. This might be where this shot was taken although it's hard to tell without a clear view of the signature red railings. There is a chance that it's in L.A.'s Coliseum.

BTW.... Blackburn had three Topps cards in all. Each of them pictured him wearing that darn batting helmet.

Here is the '58 Topps (from COMC):

And here is the '60 Topps (also from COMC):

#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.

#105 Lee Walls

Lee Walls was a high school phenom as a pitcher in California and he caught the eye of Pittsburgh GM Branch Rickey. Walls was also an outfielder with hitting skills and that is what interested Rickey. After signing with the Pirates in 1951 as an 18 year old Lee Walls spent a productive year in the lower minors and opened the 1952 season as a major league outfielder. But a slow start sent Walls back for more seasoning and it wasn't until 1956 that he returned to the bigs.

And when he did come back it was with a nice season hitting .274 with 11 homers and 54 RBI. About a month into the '57 season he was dealt to the Cubs. His '57 numbers were below the previous season but he peaked in 1958 and represented the Cubs on the NL All Star squad and got into the games as a pinch hitter and played left field. His season of 18 doubles, 24 homers, 72 RBI, and .304 average were all career highs.

Walls never again approached his 1958 totals but he did remain a regular for a year or so and than as a part time outfielder and pinch hitter for the Reds, Phils and Dodgers. He was gone from the majors after 1964 but he played a season in Japan before returning stateside to manager in the minor leagues.

One note of interest is that Walls was the 22nd and final player selected by the Mets in the expansion draft of 1961 but he was traded to the Dodgers (along with $100,000) for Charlie Neal two month later.

Topps had a handful of capless Walls pictures and used them for several years.

1961 Topps, Walls in Pirates gear(?) on a Reds card. Hard to say if the piping is Cubs' red and blue or Pirates gold and black.

Above and below are his two issued 1962 Topps cards. The photo above seems to have been taken at Connie Mack Stadium and the pinstripes on Walls' jersey colored gray to hide the Phillies' red ones.

This second '62 uses the same picture as the '61 and I'm leaning towards Cubs' colors on his color.

Third time is a charm for this shot as it appears on his '63 cards. Now I'm pretty certain the picture is one that was taken during his days in Chicago.

#110 George Witt

George 'Red' Witt took seven minor league seasons and a year in the service after signing with the Dodgers in 1950 to make it to the big leagues. When he got there on September 21 of 1957 with the Pirates he was treated pretty harshly. That day he got a start against the New York Giants at Forbes Field and he didn't make it past the second inning. He was shelled for six earned runs in an inning and a third.

But in the spring of 1958 he was ready and that season he went 9-2 with a sterling 1.82 ERA and he had three shutouts among his five complete games in 15 starts. He had two wins over the Champion Milwaukee Braves one was a two hitter and the other a ten inning shutout. His 1959 season sadly saw a reversal in his fortunes as he went 0-7 due in large part to elbow issues. In fact Witt won only two more games over the course of the next three partial seasons he spent in the majors in Pittsburgh as well as stops with the Angels and Colt 45s.

But Witt did win a ring with the 1960 Pirates. In fact he was the only one of the ten pitchers used by the Bucs who did not give up an earned run in the World Series. He was out of baseball after a 1963 season spent in the minors and he went on to earn a Masters of Education at Cal State-Long Beach and had a long teaching and coaching career at Tustin High School in California. After he retired from that noble profession he pursued an amateur singing career with various Christian groups.

George Witt died earlier this year at the age of 81. Certainly for him a life well led.

Here is a tribute to him played at his services I found on YouTube:

#489 John C. Powers

Outfielder Johnny Powers signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1949 and spent one year in their system before he was traded to the Pirates. A two year military stint interrupted his travels towards the big leagues but he hit with power at every stop.

He earned increasingly longer trials with the Bucs from 1955 trough 1957 and he made the club in '58 and stayed all season. But he had very little opportunity to show his talents and was traded to the Reds for 1959 and thus gets the Reds' logo on this card. But even there he didn't play much and was sold to the Orioles in the off season. 1960 proved to be a busy year for Powers. He was the opening day right fielder for the Orioles but quickly played his way out of a job and was sold to the Indians in May. They in turn dealt him back to the Pirates three weeks later. He spent the rest of 1960 and the next five seasons in the high minors, never getting another shot at the majors.

Powers finished with six homers in 151 big league games. He had nearly 300 in his long minor league career. He died in 2001 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. A few side notes came up in checking his career:

--I came across a few references to a story of a foul ball hit by Powers hitting and killing a fan in Miami in 1960 when he played for AAA Columbus.

--There was no other 'John Powers' in the majors at the time of this card yet Topps chose to use 'John C. Powers' on the front. 'Johnny Powers' is used on the reverse. Interestingly there was a Rockabilly performer of some note who was popular at the time and he bears a passable resemblance to 'our' Johnny Powers. Check it out:

OK, maybe it's just the hair. Powers' 1960 card:

#134 Jim McDaniel

Because he never played in the majors I had trouble finding info on Jim McDaniel until I found him listed as 'Jimmie' on the Baseball Reference 'Bullpen' site. Oddly he's not linked there from his BR minor league page. But be that as it may, McDaniel was a big swinging outfielder for numerous organizations during the 1950s and early '60s. Hit about 120 homers in the four seasons prior to this card being issued and that's likely what prompted Topps to include him in the Rookie Star subset as a 26 year old.
Topps states on the back of the card that McDaniel 'has a fine chance to break into the Pirates outfielder as a regular [in 1959]. With Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon and Roberto Clemente already holding down spots I'm not sure where he would have fit in.
McDaniel played for 12 different clubs over 14 minor league seasons. He broke into professional ball with the Reno Silver Sox and soon thereafter the Class C Riverside Rubes. Really. He did a bit of pitching along the way which I suspect wasn't unusual in those days, particularly when it came to independent minor league teams.
This is his only Topps card.
:::update:::
I kept digging for stuff on Jimmie McDaniel and found a tidbit on the SABR page which is basically an excerpt from the 1952 California League press guide:

James (Jimmie) Ray McDaniel is single and lives in Coachella, California per the 1952 California League Gold Book (Fourth Edition). He graduated from Coachella Valley High School in 1950 and was a member of the baseball, basketball, football, swimming and track teams. He is a surveyor during the off-season. His hobby is cars. His previous professional experience has been as a pitcher primarily.Information is from the 1952 California League Gold Book (Fourth Edition)

#218 Roman Mejias

Here is a cocktail party trivia winner (all of you go to cocktail parties don't you?). Who hit the first major league home run in the state of Texas?

The answer is Roman Mejias. In the bottom of the third inning in the first game played by the expansion Houston Colt 45s Mejias knocked a Don Caldwell pitch through the humid Houston air and made city history. He hit another homer in the eighth as part of a 3 for 5, 6 RBI game. His 45s won 11-2.

Mejias was signed by the Pirates out of Cuba where he had played high school ball and worked the sugar cane fields and became a winter ball star. He hit well during his minor league days. He spent several seasons trying to crack the Pirates outfield lineup but with Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and some guy named Roberto Clemente ahead of him he was doomed to 4th outfielder and pinch hitting duties when he wasn't being shuttled to minors.

Being taken with the 11th pick of the expansion draft by Houston led to his one year as a major league regular. He was hitting .311 and had 19 homers at the All Star break in '62 but wasn't selected for the NL team. Supposedly he was pretty disappointed by that.

Despite (or because of) his '62 hitting exploits the Colts were able to trade him to the Red Sox for Pete Runnels. He played for the Sox as a semi-regular in '63, played sparingly in '64 and then found himself back in the minors and then he played a year in Japan before he left the game.

This is another pretty sweet card. Just one corner ding mars it. Mejias is posed in Seals Stadium with a glove that looks pretty big, especially for that time. There are a couple of informative and entertaining pages devoted to Mejias on the 'net. That second one has a ton of pictures. Always nice to see the great Colt 45s jersey.

#181 Bob Porterfield

Virginia righty Bob Porterfield had one truly exceptional year in his twelve year career and it came in 1953. After kicking around the Yankee organisation for 5 years or so, making yearly visits to the majors and being sent back down, he was acquired by the Senators in June of 1951.

Unlike Casey Stengel, Nat skipper Bucky Harris (who had been Porterfield's first manager) had some faith in him. He put Porterfield in the rotation and the steady work paid off. He went 9-8 with a nice ERA the remainder of that year and came back in '52 to win 13 games.

His 1953 season saw Porterfield lead the AL with 22 wins. This on a 76-76 club that finished fifth. He led the league with 24 complete games and nine shutouts. Hell, he even hit well compiling a .255 average and hitting three of his six career dingers. He was named the Sporting News' AL Pitcher of the Year. He managed to do all this while striking out just 77 batters in 255 innings. that's the lowest amount of whiffs by any twenty games winner since the Second World War.

While he never again approached his '53 numbers Porterfield came back to win 24 games over the next two seasons with the Senators before being traded to the Red Sox. By 1958 he was in the Pirates' bullpen and picked up six saves. 1959 was his last season in the majors and he bounced back and forth between the Pirates and Cubs. He pitched two more seasons in the minors before retiring.

Porterfield worked as a welder after his baseball days and died of lymphoma at the age of only 56 in 1980.

He was lucky enough to avoid being photographed for his card wearing the Pirates batting helmet. Looks to be the Coliseum in LA in the background. Maybe Branch Rickey skipped that road trip.

#415 Bill Mazeroski

Hall of Famer and Ohio native Bill Mazeroski was about 21 when this picture was taken. He looks about 16. He was a few years away from his great moment in the sun....the famous World Series winning homer off Ralph Terry to win the 1960 World Series for the Pirates.

Maz is a Hall of Famer having been elected 12 years ago by the Veterans' Committee. There was talk at the time that he wasn't deserving due to his batting numbers. But for me there needs to be some recognition of the part that defense plays in the game. And besides, if Pop Haines can be in the Hall, Maz should be there as well. Hell, if Pop Haines can be in the Hall so should Mike Cuellar, Dennis Martinez, Virgil Trucks and about 150 other pitchers I can name off the top of my head. But I digress.

Maz was signed by the Pirates in 1954 and debuted with the Bucs in 1956. A year later he took over a 2nd base job that he held for 12 seasons. He was a seven time All Star and won seven Gold Gloves. While never know for his stick it's not like he was an automatic out. He had a .260 career average which is pretty respectable given the era he played in. And he hit 138 homers, six times totalling in double digits. His postseason batting average of .323 is something to be proud of as well. This is Maz' second appearance here, his All Star card in this set was posted almost a year ago.

Maz has two World Series rings. Although he was close to the end of his career and was no longer an everyday player he did help the '71 Bucs to a title.

Interesting article posted here that compares the careers of Maz and another fine fielding second baseman, the Royals' Frank White. The author makes the case that Maz and White had similar careers but Maz made the Hall based on his WS homer.

Sports Illustrated looked back at the 1960 World series with a 40 year anniversary story in 2000. I have not read it all but it looks interesting.

Hard to imagine anyone not having seen this before but here is the late, great Chuck Thompson's call of the Maz homer.

Here is a 10 minute newsreel report of the final game of the Series.

#569 Bob Friend The Sporting News All Star

Poor miscut, badly scanned Bob Friend. Seems his '59 All Star card can't catch a break. This is his third and final appearance in this set. He had his regular card featured here in 2011 and then he showed up on a special multi-player card, Buc Hill Aces, with Ron Kline, Vern Law and Roy Face last year.

Friend made the NL All Star team in 1956, '58 and '60. He started in 1956 and 1960 (first of two games) and got the win both times. He didn't allow a run in either of those games going three inning both times. In 1958 he came out of the bullpen and went 2 1/3, allowed four hits and two walks taking the loss.

I hadn't realized that he started the fateful ninth inning in Game 7 of the 1960 Series. He came in with a shot to close it out but quickly allowed two hits before he was replaced by Harvey Haddix. Haddix allowed those runners to score and the Yanks to tie the game at 9-9. We all know what happened in the bottom of that inning. The card of the central figure in that dramatic game is queued to post in a few days.

As is the case with most of the Pirates photographed around this time, Friend is shown wearing a batting helmet. The batting helmet was designed by Charlie Muse, an executive of Branch Rickey's company and Rickey, at the time the Pirates' president, decided that all his players would wear one both at bat and in the field.

#548 Elmer Singleton

Righty pitcher Elmer Singleton threw his first pitch as a pro in 1940 in Wenatchee, Washington as a newly signed Yankees prospect. 24 seasons later, in 1963, he completed a circle of sorts as he threw his last one in Seattle, Washington for the PCL Seattle Rainiers.

In between Singleton pitched in 8 major league seasons for the Braves, Pirates, Nats and Cubs. His two complete seasons in the bigs came with the '47/'48 Pirates. He never won more that four games in a year and finished with an 11-17 mark. His last big league season was the year this card was issued, 1959.

He made 526 minor league appearances including 342 staters. His record was 184-186 and that a lot of decisions. His best seasons came in the early to mid 50s with the PCL's San Francisco Seals a a couple of other clubs. From 1952 through 1961 he won in double digits 8 of 9 seasons including 17, 18 and 19 win years. His ERA was never over 3.40 in those years and frequently much lower.

After finally retiring Singleton worked for a car dealership in his native Ogden, Utah. He died in 1996.

On his card Singleton has the slightly road weary look of a guy who has 20 seasons of baseball behind him. I'm not really sure where this was taken. Even blown up the picture doesn't reveal much in the way of clues. It doesn't quite strike me as the Polo Grounds or either of the West Coast parks. There is a slight Ebbets Field 'vibe' to the picture but the seating/wall arrangement looks wrong. I'll have to keep digging, because this stuff is oddly important to me.

#97 Jerry Lynch

If I had a buck for every guy in this set that played one season of minor league ball and then went into the service, well I'd have enough to upgrade this set quite a bit. But my Jerry Lynch wouldn't require upgrading, it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, Lynch, who played six and a half seasons with the Pirates sandwiched around six and a half with Cincinnati, is known as one of the game's best pinch hitters. As of this writing his 116 pinch hits ranks him tenth on the all time list. When he retired his 18 pinch homers was the best of all time and he still ranks third in that category.

When he returned from the service after the Korean War he played a season in the Yankee chain and then was drafted by the Pirates. He got 300 plate appearances  with them in 1954 and '55 but he hardly played in 1956 (injury?). The Reds drafted him from the Pirates and he he carved out a place for himself there as an outfielder and key man off the bench.

He spent a lot of his big league seasons as what I'd call a 'semi full timer', getting 300 to 400 at bats. His best season came in 1961 when he hit .315 and drove in 25 runs as a pinch hitter. That year the Reds took the NL crown. This comes from Lynch's obit (he died last year):

In his New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, James made a case for Lynch being named MVP for his 1961 heroics:
"He hit over .400 as a pinch hitter with power and played 44 games in the outfield. His slugging percentage of .624 and 50 RBI in 181 at-bats was a far better rate than Roger Maris had that same season, hitting 61 home runs," James wrote. "More than that, Lynch had big, big hits; game after game, when the Reds were in danger of falling short, Lynch came up with the big hit to put them back in front, and the Reds, picked to finish sixth, won the pennant."

Lynch got three at bats in the '61 Series and went hitless but was issued an intentional walk. After retirement he and former teammate and friend Dick Groat were in the golf course management business together.  He was selected as a member of the Reds' Hall of Fame in 1988.

#490 Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas has appeared here previously on a 'special' multi-player card. And I ragged on that card a lot. Time to give 'The Original One' his due.

Thomas was signed in 1947 by the Pirates. He got a taste of the big leagues in 1951 when he was called up in mid-August and played as a regular through the end of the year. Did do badly either. But he spent most of the '52 season in the minors before getting a starting job with the Bucs in their outfield in 1953. He hit 30 homers and drove in 102 runs and got some MVP votes but not a peep in the ROY balloting. I'm guessing he was ineligible because of his '51 experience. It should be noted that the '52 Pirates went 42-112 so that fact that Thomas wasn't up for much of that season was probably a blessing.

The Original Thomas had what could be called an 'interesting' career. First there is his nickname, 'The Big Donkey'. Yes, the miracle of Google has informed me that Adam Dunn also has that name so I suppose that Thomas could claim to be the 'The Original Big Donkey'. But anyway Thomas played on seven different national League clubs during his 16 year career. He must have kept a bag ready because his transaction log resembles MapQuest directions from Alaska to Tanzania.

Other high and low lights:

-He was traded by the Phillies to Houston in 1965 for starting a fight with teammate Dick Allen on the field. Now considering that Thomas supposedly earned his nickname because of his lousy people skills a fight with the charisma impaired Dick Allen was probably a hot wager in the Phillie clubhouse.

-He played on the Original (snort) New York Mets in 1962, another team considered among the worst of all time.

-Bill James's win shares (of which I am clueless), sez he was the worst fielding third baseman ever among those among the top 300 in innings played at third.

-In 1958 he made his third NL All Star squad and had his best season. That year he hit 35 homers with 109 RBI to go with a .281 average.

-As the first baseman for the Pirates e made the last putout at the Polo Grounds when it was the home of the New York Giants on September 29th of 1957.

He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in July of 1958. If you open that issue there is a feature story on him with pics of his family. (Also an unrelated swimsuit pic of an attractive French model appears in the letters section. SI hasn't changed all that much I guess). 

You know, for a guy who was supposedly not the most friendly, he has a lot of 'smiley' shots.

#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.

#238 Gene Baker

Sure, Ernie Banks was the first African-American to play for the Chicago Cubs, but Gene Baker was the first African-American to wear a Cubs uni. He was called up shortly before Banks in September of 1953 but wasn't able to play because of an injury and watched his future DP partner take the field a few days prior to his debut.

Both Baker and Banks were shortstops but the Cubs moved Baker, older than Banks by 6 years, to second and in late '53/1954 they formed the first African-American DP combo in major league baseball. Baker played for the Cubs until he was traded to Pittsburgh early in the 1957 season, making the 1955 NL All Star squad along the way. With the Pirates he appeared in the 1960 World Series, something his pal Banks was never able to do.

But it was both before and after Gene Baker's active years that me made a larger impact. Coming out of St. Ambrose College in his native Davenport, Iowa and after a year in the military he played for the powerhouse Negro League Kansas City Monarchs until he caught the eye of the Cubs and was signed in 1949.

After he had retired as a player in 1961 he was named manager at Batavia, NY, the Pirates' Class D farm club thus becoming the first African-American to manage an affiliated minor league team. He later joined the coaching ranks in Pittsburgh and became the second African-American coach in the majors (Buck O'Neil preceded him by a year). 

And finally Baker became the first African-American to manage a big league club when he took over for Danny Murtaugh with the Pirates during a short suspension. He was a top scout for the Pirates in the Midwest for over 20 years. He died in 1999.

The Gene Baker card below is my original one. When I scanned it a few weeks back I saw that it was pretty shopworn, more so than the scan reveals. There is a nice sized crease, somewhat soft corners and it had lot of crud on it in addition to it being faded a bit. So I decided that Gene deserved a better representation and I found the one at the top on eBay for about a buck fifty shipped. 

It may be the last upgrade I'll do in the '59 set.