#521 Gary Geiger

And we are back to some high number series cards with Gary Geiger. Black replaced green on the reverse of these high numbers. Elsewhere it has been stated that the switch was done as part of Topps' efforts to gear up for the printing of their 1959 football cards. Sounds logical to me.

Gary Geiger was a standout player for Gorham high school in rural Illinois and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954. He began as a pitcher and, after a rough first year, was a twenty game winner in 1955. He was having some success as a reliever in '56 when the Cards decided that given their pitching depth and Geiger's bat, speed and continued control problems as a hurler that he would help them more as an outfielder. And so he was switched.

He struggled with his hitting at the AAA level in 1957 and the Cards ended up exposing him to the Rule 5 draft that winter. In an interesting twist it was Frank Lane who, as Cardinal's GM made the decision to risk losing Geiger....and it was the same Frank Lane who, having taken the same position with the Cleveland Indians, selected Geiger in that draft in his first act with his new club.

Geiger hit .231 as the fourth outfielder with the Indians in 1958, a year during which he had to remain on the big league roster or be returned to St. Louis. In winter ball later that year he injured his neck and came home to the states over Lane's objections. He was then traded to the Red Sox where he would play next to two Hall of Fame outfielders, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski over the course of his seven seasons in Fenway.

Geiger turned out to be injury prone and had trouble putting full seasons together. But he had speed and some power and was even able to hit over .300 in 1960 playing in nearly half the games. But much more was expected of him given the talent he flashed and in the end the Sox let him get drafted away by the Braves where he spent two seasons. Geiger finished his career with a couple of years in Houston after spending 1968 in the minors.

In 1996 Geiger died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of just 59. He had lived the last 20 years of his life battling alcoholism. His family says his issues were a result of his fear of flying. He used drink to calm his nerves and in the end the habit caught up with him.

Gieger's SABR bio is the 'go to' place for more insight on his interesting life and career. This obit from a local paper is a quicker but also interesting read. Lots of stories from his family and friends in that one.

This card and the other 'light green' card (the previously posted #545 Tom Morgan) in the high number series have a distinct 'lime green' look about them. It's certainly a different shade of light green than that which is seen on the lower series cards. For a comparison here are the Geiger and Dale Long cards scanned side by side. The difference seems more pronounced when viewing the cards in person but it is plain enough to see in the scans.

#474 Moe Thacker

The Yankees signed catcher (and three sport Kentucky high school star) Moe Thacker in 1952 and he moved up through their farm system despite some poor hitting numbers and a strong crew of catchers ahead of him in that organization. After six seasons they sent him to the Cubs for whom he hit .293 in AA ball in 1958. He was up with the Cubs for a brief stretch in August and he hit .250 in 11 games. He had homered in his first game at Wrigley but subsequently hurt his knee.

Unfortunately he never approached even the .200 level after that in his career. Thacker played in the minors in '59 but was the Cubs' back-up catcher for most of the next three seasons. During that time he hit .187 or less and he was traded to St. Louis for 1963.

Outside of a handful of at bats for the Cards that year he finished his career in the minors. After baseball he returned to his native Louisville, Kentucky and owned a string of fast food franchise outlets. He died in 1997.

#493 Jim Landis

California native Jim Landis was a five time Gold Glove winner  for the White Sox and as a member of the '59 Go-Go Sox he helped that club win the American League pennant. He began his baseball career by signing with Chicago in 1952 and played two seasons of minor league ball before spending two years in the military.

Landis returned to baseball in 1956 and hit well enough to earn a spot in the Sox' outfield in 1957. He seemed over-matched by big league pitching and was sent to the minors for five weeks in late summer. In '58 he blossomed and hit .277 with 15 homers and was the everyday center fielder.

His '59 season was good enough to garner some MVP votes and in the Series against the Dodgers he hit .292 and made some crucial defensive plays in a losing effort. In 1960 he began his string of Gold Glove seasons and in 1962 he played in the All Star game. He was in the top three in many defensive categories among A.L. outfielders between 1958 and 1963.

But his offensive numbers had been sliding since his 22/85/.283 season in 1960 and he was traded to Kansas City for 1965 where his hitting had a slight uptick. But after a year there the A's dealt him to the Indians and he spent the '66 season watching his stats slide again. His last season in the game was 1967 which he split between the Astros, Tigers and Red Sox. His stay with Boston was only about a week and he wasn't able to stay around to possible play in the '67 Series with them.

He was in the sign business after retiring. SABR is as always the best place to read up on Landis' career and Baseball Almanac has an interesting interview with him. Jim's son Craig Landis played minor league baseball and is currently a player agent

#482 Russ Meyer

Ol' Russ Meyer looks benign in this, his last Topps card. But in his heyday he had a reputation for being more than just slightly 'off the wall'. He had issues with anger and an inability to keep himself out of trouble. Not legal trouble but, well, 'baseball trouble'. I mean his nickname was the 'Mad Monk'... and he got it as a schoolboy so that should tell you a little about him.

Pitching in his hometown of Peru, Illinois Meyer attracted scouts and he signed with his 'close to home' club, the White Sox, in 1942. After a season in the minors he was called to military duty and ended up on a service baseball team. He collapsed on the mound during one outing and was diagnosed with a burst appendix. Complications kept him in the hospital for months and got him a medical discharge.

Returning to civilian ball Meyer signed with the Cubs (apparently the White Sox had not listed his absence correctly) and moved up through their chain as a starter/reliever and got a quick big league look in 1946. That was enough to earn him a spot on the club in 1947 and he spent two years in the North Side winning 10 games in '48 after being given a spot in the rotation.

He was sold to the Phils after that and he won 47 games in four years including a 17-9 year in 1949. He pitched briefly in two games in the 1950 Series against that Yankees. He took the loss in Game Three when, after entering a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the ninth, he got two quick outs before allowing three straight hits and the Yanks' winning run.

Meyer was involved in a complicated four team deal prior to the 1953 season and found himself in Brooklyn pitching for the Dodgers. His antics no doubt amused the fun loving Brooklyn fans. From his SABR bio:

[Robin] Roberts in his autobiography recalled an incident in 1953, after the Phillies traded Meyer to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Pitching against the Phillies in Connie Mack Stadium, Meyer walked Richie Ashburn with the bases loaded, forcing in the go-ahead run. Meyer charged off the mound to protest to umpire Augie Donatelli. Meyer’s language got him ejected by Donatelli. But he returned to the mound and just refused to leave until manager Charlie Dressen came out to get him. Finally Russ stomped off the mound. As he stomped off the mound he flipped the rosin bag into the air with disgust. The rosin bag flew 30 feet in the air and came down directly on Meyer’s head. White powder flew everywhere, and even Monk had to laugh a little, Roberts said.Monk wasn’t through, however. When he got to the dugout, Roberts said, he yelled at Donatelli and grabbed his crotch. Unfortunately, the game was the television Game of the Week, and a camera in the dugout caught the whole episode and displayed it to the nation. The network switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. For about the next ten years baseball had a “Meyer” Rule that forbade cameras in the dugout. And Meyer was fined and suspended for three days, one of at least three suspensions he received during his career.

With the Bums Meyer went 26-11 over his first two seasons but his other numbers don't look as impressive and the strong Brooklyn teams helped that win total. He won and lost World Series' with Brooklyn. In the '55 series he entered Game Five with the bases loaded in the third and promptly gave up a grand slam to Mickey Mantle.

Fresh off the '55 Series win he was traded to the Cubs and spent the next few seasons bouncing around the majors with three teams and had a minor league stint before leaving the game and not pitching in 1958. Meyer returned to pitch for the A's in 1959 and he is airbrushed into their cap for this card. He was released in July of that year after 18 appearances.

He went on to coach for the Yankees in their minor league system and for a season as bench coach. He retired in 1992 to operate a bowling alley.

His N. Y. Times obit (he died in 1997) contains this interesting tidbit:

In June 1981, Meyer returned to Brooklyn with his former teammates Carl Erskine and Sandy Amoros to promote a quest to bring the Dodgers back from Los Angeles. But in renewing old times, he lost his treasured rewards from his Dodger days: He was held up at gunpoint and had his 1953 and 1955 Dodger World Series rings stolen. At least it did not happen in Brooklyn -- the scene of the crime was Lexington Avenue and East 25th Street.

Meyer's SABR bio is, as you might expect, an interesting read.

Dodger history fans might enjoy this photo archive site I stumbled across while looking for Meyer facts. Here is one photo and the text that accompanies it:

Close-up of manager and pitcher conferring, apparently on pitcher's mound, with manager pointing finger at pitcher's chest. Caption on verso: "Temper, Temper: Russ Meyer, left, newest Dodger and explosive right-handed pitcher, gets the word to straighten up and fly right from manager Charley Dresses at Vero Beach (Fla.), training camp."

#486 Sammy White

Sammy White made a big jump in 1952. He had been signed out of the PCL, spent three seasons in the Red Sox' system and had a four game taste of the majors when he was handed the starting catcher's job in Boston after having spent the previous season in Class A ball.

And White made the most of it. In 115 games he hit ten homers, drove in 49 runs and hit .281, just a few points below the best average of his career. To top it off he finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting finishing just a tick behind Philadelphia's 15 game winning hurler Harry Byrd and fellow catcher Clint Courtney of the Browns.

For an encore White made the 1953 AL All Star squad. Too bad that Casey Stengel kept him on the bench as Yogi Berra caught the whole game. White never again made it back to the ASG. But he did have a productive career as the Sox full time catcher for eight seasons through 1959 and earning a reputation as a good defensive player. He led all AL catchers in assists from 1953 through 1956.

He hit for some power and even stole a base every now and then. Coming off the '59 campaign in which he hit a career high .284 the Sox, apparently deciding to 'sell high' at that point traded White to the Indians. White, with a new bowling alley venture to run, decided to retire rather than report to the Indians. He sat out the entire 1960 season and the deal was voided.

In June of 1961 the Braves talked White into playing and purchased his contract from the Red Sox. Milwaukee was looking to fill the spot opened by an injury to Del Crandall and he spent the rest of that year backing up rookie Joe Torre. As a side note the Braves paid White $35,000 for that half year of back-up duty which was the most money he had ever made in baseball.

Released after that season White hooked on with the Phils for 1962 and then retired for good to run his business. His SABR page has many details of Sammy White's colorful career including his attempt to field an off-season basketball squad of Sox players that led to a mini-holdout (he had been a basketball star at the University of Washington). And it mentions the conflicting advice he got from every side on how to improve his hitting by changing his stance. He heard from two extremes, Ted Williams and Sox owner Tom Yawkey!

The article out of a Eugene paper in 1953 discusses the young catcher and has glowing quotes fro notables such as Bill Dickey and Berra. Sammy White died in 1991 in Hawaii where he had been living after retiring from his business ventures.

#451 Jimmy Constable

NOTE: I'm now down to less than twenty cards to post in this set which I've come to love so much. After Mr. Constable here I have another pink card, a black framed one, one last All Star card and a superstar Hall of Famer among those remaining. I will be checking to make sure that I haven't missed one but if not I should be wrapped up by Opening Day. 

It took Jim "Sheriff" Constable five and a half years to make it to the majors after signing with the New York Giants in 1951. He was a minor league workhorse as a starter in the Giants chain winning as many as 19 games in a year. He got a call by the Giants in mid-season of 1956 and was knocked around in two of three appearances and returned to the minors.

The Tennessee native was again with the Giants in August of 1957 with better results. He split a pair of decisions and had a 2.87 ERA in 28 innings out of the bullpen. During the 1958 campaign he was waived by the Giants in June, was picked up by the Indians who waived him in July when he was signed by the Senators.

It was following that 1958 season while pitching winter ball in Cuba that Constable suffered what is described as a 'mental breakdown' that eventually caused him to be out of the game for three years. His Baseball Reference Bullpen page quotes him in Steve Bitker's book The Original San Francisco Giants:

Constable said, "My father was manic depressive. It is inherited. It was through the heavy stress I was under in Cuba after the whole year I had, being with three different teams, then down there with Castro taking over and people disappearing, I had quite a breakdown."

After his layoff and recovery Constable was signed by the Braves in 1962. After pitching for their AAA club in Toronto (his other numbers are better than his 9-14 record) he was given a shot in September to return to the majors. He was given a start for the Braves against the Pirates on September 22 and rewarded the team with a five hit complete game shutout.

That wasn't good enough for the Braves to keep him around though and he was waived and claimed by his original team, the now-San Francisco Giants, who used him mostly in the minors for two years. He got a few innings with the Giants in 1963 but was out of baseball for good after that.

Upon retiring Constable returned to East Tennessee, and he worked as a control analyst at Magnavox for 15 years. He then returned to college for an education degree and taught in the the Washington County, Tennessee schools. Second consecutive featured player who turned to teaching after baseball. 

Jim Constable died in 2002. A few weeks later the local paper had a feature on him. They sort of skirt the metal illness issues he suffered by referring to 'health problems' and his 'nervous condition'. He is pictured here posing in Yankee Stadium and framed in pink. Based on his timeline he was out of baseball when this card was issued. His next (and only other Topps card) came out in 1963 when he had returned.  

Here is the '63:

And I found this signed postcard for sale on eBay. He looks like a kid, doesn't he? 

#454 Phil Clark

Pitcher Phil Clark was fortunate enough to get to play in his hometown of Albany, Georgia after being signed by The St. Louis Cardinals in 1951. He was a starter then and put together an 18-7 season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Then Uncle Sam came calling and Clark served for two years.

Returning in 1954 he climbed the Cards' ladder while switching to a bullpen job. He had some impressive years in the high minors and earned a spot on the Cards' staff in 1958. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra Clark was 'riding high in April' (no earned runs and a save in four games) but he was 'shot down in May' (six hits and three earned runs in an inning and a third over three games).

Back in the minors Clark was solid for the rest of that season and got another early shot with the Cardinals in '59 but was rocked pretty hard and farmed out once again. He pitched two final minor league seasons in the Dodgers' chain and then retired to get a degree in education at the University of Georgia and become a high school teacher back in Albany. He spent thirty years in the classroom, good for him.

Phil Clark had a role of author/ballplayer Jim Brosnan's 1961 book The Long Season. Clark and Brosnan were friends yet the contrast between the two makes for good reading: Brosnan was the cerebral, established major leaguer while Clark was a fringe player worried about he ability to stick in the big leagues. It's a 'must read' for those with a 'baseball book habit'.

There isn't much on Phil Clark to be found on the 'net. I did discover his name on the 1950 Georgia High School football all star game roster.

This card features a spring training shot and the pose is very similar to that on his only other Topps card, the '58. Except that Clark is grinning on the '58.