#104 Del Rice

Whoa. Catcher Del Rice had his first professional at bat in 1941 with the Williamson Red Birds, a Cardinals farm club in Williamson, West Virginia. He had his last professional at bat with the El Paso Sun Kings, an Angels farm club in El Paso, Texas in 1970. That's right, 1970. For the math impaired that's a span of 29 seasons. In fact, Ol' Del had two hits in three trips in 1970. At the age of 47.

In between Del Rice played 17 major league seasons, mostly with the Cardinals and Braves. He debuted with the Cards in 1945 and after a couple of seasons as a reserve his career gained traction and he was the Cards' primary catcher from the late 40's through the 1953 season. He got a World Series ring with the Cards in 1946, a Series that saw him go three for six with a double in three games.

He was never a big hitter but he had some decent batting averages and smacked the occasional long ball. Where he excelled was as a defensive player and as a handler of pitchers. He made the NL All Star team in 1953, a year after leading the league's catchers in putouts and assists. Traded to the Braves in 1955 Rice backed up All Star Del Crandall and served as Bob Buhl's 'designated catcher'.

By the end of the decade he had picked up his second World Series ring with the 1957 Braves club and then in 1960 and '61 he saw action with the Cubs, Cards (again), Orioles and Angels before leaving the field and entering the coaching/managing ranks. It was as a minor league manager that Rice got those last few at bats. He managed the 1972 Angels to a fifth place finish in 1972, his only year as a big league skipper.

He later was a scout for the Giants and was serving in that job when he passed away in 1983 at the age of 60. Rice had been an outstanding two-sport athlete and played pro basketball for the old NBL's Rochester Royals for several years while also playing for the Cardinals. There is a youth baseball league named for him in his native Ohio.

#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.

#29 Jim Bolger

Another in a spate of recent 'hometown' signees, outfielder Jim Bolger was a native of Cincinnati and was signed by the Reds in 1950. Despite being only 18 at the time he saw a bit of action with them that year. He got a couple more looks sandwiched around some impressive minor league seasons but was dealt to the Cubs for 1955 but hit only .207 in 173 at bats.

Another minor league season passed and then in 1957 Bolger enjoyed his best days in the majors. He led the NL pinch hitters with 17 hits and a .354 average. He hit .275 overall for the year. In 1958 he numbers dropped off and he was dealt off to the Indians and then to the Phils getting little action in either place. He spent 3 years in the minors and hit well but never got another shot at the big leagues. He retired to go into private business and still lives in Cincinnati.

Bolger touches on his pinch hitting philosophy and the burden of being a ballplayer wearing glasses in a post on Tom Owens' blog.

My copy is off center but is otherwise in EX shape and I like the green frame. I believe the photo was shot in the Coliseum in LA but I wouldn't put money on it. Might be Seals Stadium.

#98 Arnie Portocarrero

Righty pitcher Arnie Portocarrero was a New York city kid born of Puerto Rican-American descent who signed with the Philadelphia A's in 1949 at the age of 18. Following the pattern we've seen many times here he played a bit in the minors before serving in the military during the Korean War.

When he returned in 1954 he went straight to the majors and claimed a spot in the A's rotation. Making 32 starts Portocarrero went 9-18 with a 4.06 ERA. His hits per inning ratio was good, as was his strike out totals but wildness kept him from having more success. He led the AL with 9 wild pitches.

The following season, with the A's now in KC, saw him get fewer starts but similar results and in 1956 he spent almost the whole season in Birmingham, a Yankee affiliate. I can't find a transaction that sent him to the Yanks, and given the chummy relationship the A's and Yanks had in those days it may well have been a case of a player 'loan'.

He was back in KC in 1957 and didn't see much mound time and was traded to the Orioles prior to 1958. He blossomed there in Baltimore under Paul Richards, at least for one year. On a lousy club he somehow won 15 games and lost only 11 with an ERA of 3.25, easily his best year. He then spent the '59 and '60 seasons trying without success to replicate his banner 1958 campaign. In 1960 he split his pitching between the Orioles and their farm club. He was out of the game by early in the 1961 season.

His obit states that he was involved in amateur baseball in the Kansas City area after his retirement. He died in 1986 at the young age of 54. I came across this article online dated last winter that chronicles an adopted young man's search for his birth parents. It turns out that his father was Arnie Portocarrero.

On this card Arnie is in Yankee Stadium in his home town. I hope his family got to see him pitch there. He got into one game in the Bronx in 1958, the fifth game of the season with a relief appearance. He didn't fair well but his year sure turned out well.

#277 Turk Lown

Turk Lown has to be the 20th White Sox pitcher with a red framed card and a shot taken at Yankee Stadium with the 3rd base side grandstands in the background. OK, maybe not the 20th. But there have been several and they tend to run together and when you add in the nearly identical Detroit Tigers' pitchers' cards.... well, I am getting deja vu all over again.

Anyway, Turk Lown (real name Omar Joseph Lown) came out of Brooklyn and was signed by his home borough Dodgers in 1942. After a year in the minors he spent three years in the military and then returned to pitch his way up through the Dodgers' system. He had some pretty good years along the way. But the Dodgers being the Dodgers Lown had a hard time squeezing himself into a big league role and in 1951 the Cubs rescued him via the old Rule 5 draft.

With the Cubbies through May of 1958 (he spent part of 1954 and all of 1955 in the minors) Lown evolved from a spot starter/reliever into a closer, or at least a game 'finisher'. In '56 he pitched 61 times and in '57 he led the NL in appearances with 67. He had 47 games 'finished' in both of those seasons and saved 25 which was a lot back then. He moved to the Reds and then the White Sox in 1958.

He and Jerry Staley formed a formidable one-two bullpen punch in 1959 for the pennant winning Sox and manager Al Lopez gave them much of the credit for that clubs' success. Lown led the way with a league high 15 saves. He appeared three times in the World Series that year and allowed two hits and no runs in 3.1 innings.

Lown slumped in 1960, rebounded with a good year in '61 and after a decent year in 1962 he left the game. He'd been released by the Sox and turned down an invite to the Reds' spring camp. He took a job with the postal service in Colorado and worked there for many years.

I love the S-O-X caps the White Sox wore in the late 50's. And the touch of red on the cap's lettering was duplicated in the stirrups. Those road unis are pretty sweet. So, maybe having all the Sox pitchers in the same type shot isn't so bad. My copy is a replacement and it's still one of the lesser quality cards in my set. It looks better in person but the scan brings out the surface marks.

#89 Billy Gardner

Billy Gardner began playing professional baseball when he signed with the New York Giants as an 18-year-old infielder in 1945. He banged around their chain and spent a year in the military before he finally debuted in 1954. In April of 1956 he was purchased by the Orioles and stepped into the role of starting second-baseman that year.

In 1957 Gardner blossomed and had the best season of his career, batting .262 while playing every game and leading the league in plate appearances and tying for the lead in doubles. He was voted as the Orioles' MVP and in what had become their first .500 season. While in Baltimore Gardner was known as an 'average Joe' who could be found after most home games enjoying steamed crabs at the popular Obrycki's. 

Gardner, who was known as 'Shotgun' for his powerful arm spent two more seasons as a regular in Baltimore and then was dealt to the Senators where he continued his regular 2nd base duties. Moving with the team to Minnesota, Gardner was lucky enough to be traded to the powerhouse Yankees in June of that year and as a result he picked up a World Series ring. He pinch hit for Luis Arroyo with two down in the bottom of the ninth in Game Two and lined out to short to end the Reds 6-2 win. But his days as an everyday player were over.

He was traded again, now to the Red Sox, in 1962 and played in Boston for one more season before turning his sights to coaching and managing on both the minor and major league levels. As a manager in the Boston organization he was even able to pick up a few at bats as late as 1971 meaning he had a playing career that spanned three American wars.

Gardner managed the Twins from 1981 though part of 1985 with his best season being a third place finish in the AL West and a .500 record. He took over for the ill Dick Howser with the Royals in 1986 but was replaced late in the year. His son, Billy Jr., continues to be a minor league manager.

The Baltimore Sun had a nice article/interview with Gardner in 2011. He currently lives in his home state of Connecticut and seems to be as 'scrappy' as ever..

It's a pretty ordinary card, yellow frame with a Yankee Stadium shot, but Gardner is an Oriole so that's a big plus.

#216 Andre Rodgers

Andre Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues. The story goes that he was a talented cricket player and paid his way to a New York Giants' try out camp in 1954. Lacking polish and baseball experience Rodgers set about 'learning' the game as he played his way up the teams' chain. As a shortstop he had impressive minor league stats, especially for a guy who hadn't played any baseball prior to his signing. The Giants noticed and he debuted in 1957.

He got month+ 'looks' in '57 and '58 and made an impact in 1959 when he played in 71 games and hit 250 while sharing the shortstop job with Eddie Bressoud. After a 1960 season in which his progress seemed to stall he was traded to the Braves and then on to the Cubs on the eve of the 1961 season.

Another year of platooning gave way to a full time shortstop job with the Cubs in 1962 as he replaced Ernie Banks who was moved to first base. He had his best seasons in Chicago hitting .278 in '62 and 12 homers in 1964. He held that job for three seasons and was traded to Pittsburgh where his output and playing time dwindled. After spending 1968 back in AAA he played one partial season in Japan before retiring.

Rodgers, who passed away nine years ago in his hometown of Nassau, had two brothers who played minor league baseball. One was killed in a car wreck just as his career was starting.