#485 Ryne Duren

I remember seeing Ryne Duren pitch a time or two in Yankee Stadium and recall the buzz that accompanied his entry into a game. With his powerful arm and thick glasses he was Charlie Sheen's 'Wild Thing' from Major League in real life. And from all accounts that carried over to his off the field life a well.

Duren was famous for habit of firing his warm-up pitches into the backstop to 'impress' the upcoming hitter. It never hurt that he would squint in from the mound as if he had no clue as to where the plate was located. He was also known, but probably not publicly, as a hard living drunk who fit right in with the Mantle/Ford/Cerv/Bauer Yanks of the late 50's. 

Duren was a St Louis Brown's signee in the late 40s and made his debut with a one game stint as a 1954 Oriole call up. Dealt to the Athletics and then the Yankees he established himself in the New York bullpen in 1958 and led the AL with 20 saves. He was runner-up in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

He pitched for the Yanks long enough to be in a couple of World Series' but not surprisingly he wore out his welcome and in 1961 began a journey that took him to five other clubs before he retired after the 1965 season. He finished with 57 career saves and likely at least that many hair-raising stories told about him.

Many of those stories can be found in his obit in the NY Daily News and in a terrific article written for the Marquette Law School faculty blog and is well worth the read. It mentions Duren's efforts on behalf of his African-American minor league teammates at a time that being a civil rights advocate was not a widely held trait.

After his playing days Duren became an advocate for alcohol abuse education and was honored by the Yanks for his determination in overcoming his alcoholism. He also authored a book, I Can See Clearly Now. Ryne Duren, for whom Ryne Sandberg was named, died earlier this year.

Check out the cartoon on the card's reverse featuring a G.I. armed flame-thrower. What a great card. Classic '59.

#370 Pete Runnels

Not sure if it's still the case but I know Topps used to send a box of a players's cards to each player who appeared in a set. And knowing what I do of Ted Williams I'd have loved to been there when Pete Runnels opened his box of this card. Runnels 'making a play' with one foot in the dugout surrounded with a hot pink frame? Yikes.

But despite all that we press on and look at Pete Runnels for a bit. I had no idea that Runnels 1) was a Texas native; 2) attended Rice University in Houston; 3) lived in Pasadena Texas, close to me, prior to his death in 1991; 4) finished his career with the Astros (I was dimly aware he played for the Senators prior to his Red Sox days); and 5) had the fewest RBIs ever for a batting champ with his 35 in 1960.

In seven seasons in D.C. he hit .300 once but Runnels spent five season with the Sox and never hit lower than .314. He won the batting title in the AL twice and played on three AL All Star squads. He just missed another batting crown in 1958 when he lost out by 6 points to teammate Williams. He tied a record on August 20, 1960 when he had nine hits in a doubleheader. 

Interestingly Runnels was coming off his second batting title when he was traded to the Astros for the 1963 season. By that time he had pretty much given away his fielders gloves and had become a first baseman full time. The Sox had picked up Dick Stuart in a trade from the Pirates six days prior to dealing Runnels in an effort (I presume) to gain pop at a power spot. They seemed to know what they were doing since Runnels numbers fell off in Houston and Stuart ended up leading the AL in RBIs in '63.

#69 San Francisco Giants

Bill Rigney's 1959 San Francisco Giants were a couple of years away from their World Series trip of 1962 but they were laying the groundwork for that season.

Centered around superstar Willie Mays they placed youngsters like Orlando Cepeda, Jose Pagan, Jim Davenport, Felipe Alou and Rookie of the Year Willie McCovey.

Sad Sam Jones led the club with 21 wins but over the next year or two the staff would be retooled to feature Juan Marichal and Billy O'Dell, Jack Sanford and Billy Pierce. That keyed a title run.

My version of the card is cleaner on the back than the front and is waaaay off center. That's OK by me. Growing up my best friend and his father were huge Giant fans so I saw a lot of the early 60s clubs and knew quite a bit about them. This card invokes some good memories.

#210 Ed Bailey

After a couple of previous trials and a military stint Ed Bailey was handed the bulk of the Reds' starting catching work in 1956 and responded with a fine season. He was leading the NL in hitting at the All Star break and earned the first of five selections to play in that game. 

He ended up the '56 campaign with his best career numbers hitting .300 with 28 homers and 73 RBIs. While he never reached that plateau again he had a solid career in the National League. He started for the Reds until a 1961 early season trade sent him to San Francisco. 

While that trade cost him a shot at a World Series with the Reds that season he was able to get to the Fall Classic with the 1962 Giants. He had only one hit in that Series versus New York but it was a homer. He hit it with two outs in the top of the ninth inning of Game Three off Bill Stafford and narrowed the Yanks' 3-0 lead in that game but  Jim Davenport's fly ball closed it out. Bailey remained with the Giants in a platoon catching role until he was traded to the Braves in 1964 and then back to the Giants in '65. 

His second whirl in the Bay Area was brief as he was traded to the Cubs early in '65 and then on to the Angels in 1966 for a few token AL at bats. Bailey finished with a .256 career batting average and 155 homers. 

Ed Bailey briefly played with his younger brother Jim Bailey in 1959 when Jim, a pitcher, was given a September call-up by the Reds. Jim Bailey got a start and a couple of relief appearances and behind the plate for all of them was Ed. The unusual circumstance was made more unusual because the National League had another family battery. The Sherry brothers were also a brother battery duo at that same time for the Dodgers. 

Pretty good centering on this card and the black frame is cool as always. Looks like road uniform shot but I don't recognize the stadium view. I might try some research on it based on the wall and distance marker.

#545 Tom Morgan

I was ready to dismiss Tom Morgan as another short time guy because I wasn't familiar with him. Then I flipped over his card and checked Baseball Reference and saw that he had a nice career over 12 seasons including a stint with the Yanks that got him into three World Series. 

He came up to the Yanks in 1951 and then missed part of '52 and all of '53 due to military service. Returning to New York he resumed his spot starting/long relief role through 1956. For the 1957 season he went the way of all non-star Pin-Stripers.... out to Kansas City. He was part of the same deal that sent Billy Hunter to the A's that was discussed a few days back.

He was a spot starter for the A's in 1957 before being traded to the Tigers for '58 as part of another huge trade that seemed to be in fashion back them. He spent two and a half mundane years in Detroit, half a year with the Senators and finished with a stint in Los Angeles where he made a comeback of sorts as stopper for the Angels in 1961. He retired after 1963 and spent many years as a scout, minor league manager and as pitching coach for the Angels, Padres and briefly for the Yankees.

He finished with a 67-47 record and a World Series batting average of 1.000! He led off the bottom of the fourth inning of Game Two of the 1956 Series with a single off Don Bessent and came around to score. That was the good news. The bad news is that Morgan was shelled in his two innings of relief work and took the loss. 

This sure is an old school looking picture on the card, isn't it? I think it's the pose and the fact that the uni looks so plain from that angle. That plus the fact that Morgan appears to be about 60. It's got soft corners but being a high numer it would cost a bit to replace it so I don't have it on my upgrade list.

#390 Orlando Cepeda

Here's something I didn't know about Orlando Cepeda (but should have): his 'Baby Bull' nickname comes from his father, a local baseball legend in Puerto Rico, being called 'The Bull'. 

Orlando Cepeda broke in with a bang in 1958 with the Giants after several big years in their minor league system. Cepeda led the NL in doubles a a rookie to go along with 25 homers and 96 RBI. Grabbed himself the NL Rookie of the Year award and enough MVP votes to finish in the top ten for that award.

Cepeda starred for the Giants, making All Star teams, through the 1964 season. In '65 he was injured much of the times and in '66 was traded to the Cardinals. In 1967 Cepeda won the MVP and helped the Cards win the World Series over the Red Sox.

Cepeda had some productive seasons in Atlanta and Boston and sprinkled in some time with the A's and Royals before he retired. He is said to be the first player ever signed solely as a DH when he joined the Sox in '73.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans' Committee in 1999. After retirement Cepeda has been the Giants' Community Representative and serves in other capacity for the club. He's involved in several charitable pursuits.

Nice portrait card here. The corners of mine are a bit soft and it is off center but Cepeda's smiling face makes it a nice one to own.

#11 Billy Hunter

Billy Hunter was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. But when you can't hit a lick and Pee Wee Reese is ahead of you on the organizational depth chart you are probably better off somewhere else. Like with the St. Louis Browns. And so it went for Hunter. He debuted with the Browns in 1953 and, despite an anemic bat, made the All Star team in the AL. 

Hunter moved along to Baltimore with the Browns franchise in 1954 and spent a year as the Orioles' regular shortstop. In November of that year he was dealt to the Yankees in a giant transaction that ended up involving  17 players all told. I believe that's the biggest ever.

Two years later he went where darn near all Yankees went in the 50s, Kansas City. The trade that got him to the A's involved 13 players. So, if you are keeping score, Billy Hunter was traded twice within a bit over two years, in deals that included 30 players. Jeez.

A season plus with the A's produced more good fielding, no hitting action and Hunter was traded to Cleveland in June of '58. He never made it back to the majors as a player after that stint with the Tribe. He had a .219 lifetime average.

But Hunter never left the game. After serving as a coach (notably for the Orioles for many years) Hunter managed the Texas Rangers in 1977/78. He was fired at the end of the '78 campaign for his poor player relation skills. Pitcher Dock Ellis famously compared the old school Hunter to Hitler. After his managing stint in Arlington Hunter expressed disillusionment with the pro game and became head baseball coach and athletic director at Maryland's Towson State University, retiring in 1995. He's a member of the Orioles' Hall of Fame.

In this '59 card Hunter is pictured with the Yankee Stadium left field upper deck and facade in the background. That's a familiar sight in a lot of these cards. In fact the left field seats in Yankee Stadium are so often seen in vintage cards of this era that the guy behind the Carl Crawford Cards blog has featured quite a few and formed the Left Field Hall Of Fame. LOL

With the orange frame, the old school Indian uni and the Yankee Stadium background I think this card is among the most '1959-ish' of the 1959 set.