#303 Marty Keough

Marty Keough was California kid who signed as an outfielder with the Red Sox in 1952. He hit well enough as a prospect to move up the ladder and he got a couple of looks by the Sox before he made the club in 1958 as a bench player. He got into almost 70 games and although he didn't hit much he was back in 1959 having won over the team with his speed and much improved fielding. He improved his hitting and got into nearly a hundred games with Boston that year. But the Red Sox had more outfielders than they could use and early in 1960 he was traded to the Indians. 

He finished that season with a .248 average and was selected by the Senators in that winter's expansion draft. 1961 in Washington proved to be Keough's busiest season as he had over 430 plate appearances and hit 9 homers to go with a .249 average.

He was traded once again that winter, this time to the Reds where he spent four uneven seasons, sometimes in a platoon role and sometimes, like in 1965, with no role at all. The Reds sold him to the Braves on the eve of the 1966 season but within six weeks or so he was traded yet again, this time to the Cubs. 

He was done with playing in the majors after that but he did spend another year in the minors before putting in a year of baseball in Japan. He has stayed in the games as a minor league manager and scout for several organizations since he ended his playing days.

Keough is part of a baseball family that includes two brothers, a son and grandson all of whom played at least at the minor league level. His brother Joe played in the majors for six years with the A's, Royals and White Sox. Brother Tom was briefly in the minors and also played college baseball and football for Cal including All American honors and a Rose Bowl appearance.

While working as a scout Marty Keough recommended his son Matt as a third base prospect. Matt Keough was drafted by the A's as a pitcher and went on to have a nine year career with several clubs, mostly the A's and was a member of the 1978 AL All Star squad. Finally Matt's son Shane was a prospect in the Athletics organization for four seasons beginning in 2007.

Marty Keough's story is best told on his SABR bio page. His card shows him in what appears to be a smirk, obviously pleased with whatever was happening out near the mound as he posed near the third base dugout at Yankee Stadium.

Worth noting is that this entry easily broke a personal record for "Most Open Tabs While Researching". That happens when you look up a guy with four other ball playing family members.

#396 Bob Rush

Bob Rush gets his card in this set as a member of the Braves but he was a Chicago Cub for most of his career. He was so much a Cub that he married a woman whose maiden name was Addison. 

Signed out of South Bend, Indiana by the Cubs in 1947 Rush spend one season in the minors (a pretty successful one btw) and earned a place on the roster in '48. He made it into 36 games that year including 16 starts and he went 5-11 with a sub 4.00 ERA. The next season he won 10 and that was the first of seven seasons in which he won in double digits for some less than stellar Cub teams. 

He went 13-20 in 1950 but had a respectable ERA and made the NL All Star squad. On June 11 Rush and pitcher Warren Spahn of the Braves each stole a base against each other; no opposing pitchers again stole a base in the same game until 2004. His best year came in 1952 when he posted a 17-13 mark to go along with a 2.70 ERA and a win in the rain-shortened All Star contest. He won 13 games in three of the next five years on the North Side but his below par 1957 season caused the Cubs to deal him to the Braves. 

That year he started (and lost) Game Three of the World Series against the Yankees. He went six innings that day and while he only allowed three hits to the Bombers he issued five walks. Two of them scored and that was all the Yanks needed.

He pitched into the 1960 season with Milwaukee, becoming a reliever, and was sold to the White Sox that summer. He finished that year with the Sox ans was released. He then retired.

Bob Rush's Wikipedia page claims he was the 'best granpa ever' which I think is kind of a neat think to have edited in by a loving family member. A South Bend sports writer eulogized Rush after his 2011 death in an online posting. His middle name is Ransom which is only significant because I was reminded of 'Handsom Ransom' himself, Randy Jackson.

Bob Rush wasn't much past 30 when the picture on his card was taken but he already looks like he'd be a great candidate for being the 'best granpa ever', don'tcha think?

#422 Hobie Landrith

One of seven brothers, all of whom played catcher at Northeast High in Detroit, Hobie Landrith got his first taste of the major league life as a 15 year old kid. He was asked to catch batting practice for his hometown Detroit Tigers by a Tiger scout. The story behind this (and the rest of a really neat interview) can be found right here. Landrith went on to play at Michigan State University before signing with the Reds in 1949.

He debuted with the big club in 1950 while getting a four game taste and did the same in 1951. In '52 he got a slightly longer look and he made the Reds as a back-up catcher in 1953. He spent three seasons as a part-timer in Cincy before being traded to the Cubs for 1956. That year he played in 111 games and had career highs in at bats and RBI. But the next season saw him in St. Louis where he played two seasons before moving to the Giants for three.

In 1961 the Mets made Landrith the first player selected by the team in the expansion draft. Casey Stengel is credited with an oft repeated quote. When asked why they chose Hobie Landrith Casey explained that you have to have a catcher or you'll have a lot of passed balls! On May 12 of that first Mets' season Landrith homed to give the team a walk off win.

But Landrith played in only 23 games for the Mets before he was traded to the Orioles who in turn dealt him to the Senators early in 1963.  In 14 full or partial seasons in the majors Landrith batted .233 and hit 34 homers. His longevity came be credited to his defensive skills and handling of pitchers more than any hitting prowess. He coached for the Senators briefly after retirement and then went into public relations and sales for California Volkswagen dealerships.

That looks to be the Polo Grounds behind Landrith in his card. He sports a poorly inked-in Giants logo on what was probably a Cardinals cap in the original photo. My copy of this one is pretty much near mint. My scan doesn't make the colors look as vibrant as they really are.

EDIT (March 2014) A tip received as the blog wound down has clarified the site of the photo on this card:.

"There's some confusion over where the photo for #422 Hobie Landrith was taken. It's Wrigley Field. If the stands aren't a giveaway, look under his right arm - the angled brick wall down the left field foul line made famous many years later by Moises Alou and Steve Bartman.
Topps didn't shoot any photographs in Chicago in 1956, unsure about 1957, so this is probably Landrith in a Cardinals' road jersey with the cap airbrushed, taken in 1958."

Landrith, by the way, is the only major leaguer with the given name of Hobart. There have been over a dozen in the minors however. My favorite name among them has to be Hobart Van Alstyne. With a name like that he should have been the King of Prussia instead of a late 19th century ballplayer for teams like the 1886 Binghamton Crickets.

#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:

#379 Bob Miller

There have been four guys named 'Bob Miller' to play in the big leagues, all of them pitchers and three of them nearly pitched in the bigs at the same time. Our featured Bob Miller, the only one to appear on a '59 Topps, was a member of the 'Whiz Kids' Phillies club of 1950. That was his first full season in the majors and he won 11 games as he finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. Late that season, after beginning the year 8-0, Miller hurt his back and his effectiveness diminished.

He started (and lost) the fourth and final game of the World Series. In that game he allowed two runs (just one earned) on a pair of hits and a wild pitch. A game opening error contributed to his demise. With the Phils facing elimination he was on a very short leash that day.

His back woes continued to plague him into 1951 and in fact he was never able to match that rookie year. He spent 1952 in the minors and then returned to the Phillies and pitched through 1958, pitching primarily as a starter for a couple of years before moving to the bullpen. On August 9, 1953 Miller tossed a six hit shutout and had four hits of his own in a 7-0 win over the Cubs.

He finished his career with a 42-42 mark and a 3,96 ERA. He had been signed out of the University of Detroit by the Phils and he had served (and pitched) in the Army before his pro career began. After his playing days he went back to coach his old team at the University of Detroit for 39 years and worked in the insurance business. A very nice interview with Bob Miller appeared last summer on MLB.com.

He's pictured on this card as a Cardinal but he was only a member of that club for a short time and he never pitched for them. Late in 1958 he was sent to St. Louis in a conditional deal but the Cards returned him to the Phils the following April. He pitched in the minors very briefly that year before hanging up his glove. Topps re-used a picture of Miller that had been around for awhile and just airbrushed in a St. Louis cap logo.

Here are some of the cards of Miller that used that same photo:

1950 Bowman

1952 Topps

1958 Topps

#376 Hal Naragon

Catcher Hal Naragon spent all or part of 10 seasons in the majors between 1951 and 1962. He averaged about fifty games a year in his eight complete big league campaigns. Signed by the Indians in 1947 Naragon worked his way through the team's minor league system while hitting adequately but without any power.

In 1951 he got a look at big league pitching with a late season call-up but then proceeded to spent the next two years in the military. He returned in 1954 just in time to play behind Jim Hegan on the Indians' A.L. championship club. He continued to spell Hegan for most of his time with the Indians through 1957. He was farmed out for much of '58 and was traded to the Senators in May of 1959.

He managed to play a bit more than he was used to with the Nats that year and ended up with over 240 plate appearances. He played sparingly through the franchise's move to Minnesota, mostly sitting while Earl Battey played, and ended his active career after the '62 season.

He stayed on with the Twins as bullpen coach through their 1965 Series effort and then moved on to do the same job with the Tigers. He earned a ring in Detroit in 1968. On both clubs he worked with pitching coach Johnny Sain. He also lost both jobs when Sain lost his after having issues with the clubs' managers.

He currently resides in Ohio where he was raised and the high school stadium in his hometown of Barberton is named for him. His SABR bio is here and you can here his opinions on the 2013 Indians in a recent interview on and Ohio TV station site.

Yet another Yankee Stadium shot with Naragon resplendent in the classic Indian uni of the era.

Here is Hal Naragon going into the crowd to try for a foul ball.

#91 Herb Moford

Kentucky righty Herb Moford spent enough time in the minors that his '59 Topps cardback doesn't have room for a cartoon. That sort of thing is usually reserved for longtime stars like Warren Spahn and Stan Musial.

Moford signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1947 and worked his way through the Cards' system for eight seasons pitching for nine different clubs before he made the big league roster in 1955. He pitched in 14 games through mid-June. All his appearances came in relief until he got a start in the Polo Grounds, got cuffed around by the Giants, and was farmed out once again.

In 1957 the Cards dealt Moford to the Tigers and he spent the second half f the '58 season as a swing man for Detroit, going 4-9 in 11 starts.His 361 ERA during that stretch was easily the best of his spotty career. Traded to the Red Sox that winter Moford made a couple of April starts for the Sox and was his very hard.

The Orioles acquired him and after a couple of minor league seasons he was purchased my the Mets for whom he made his last big league appearances in 1962. He was one of four pitchers who appeared in the first ever game in that franchise's history. He retired to tobacco farming and ranching soon thereafter and even dabbled in politics as the campaign manager for wacky Jim Bunning's run for the governorship of Kentucky.

It seems he was a decent sort of guy and maybe he should have run for governor instead of Bunning. This is Moford's only card and he's airbrushed into a Red Sox hat. Under that garish 'B' is likely a Tigers' 'D' since he'd been traded in December this early series card was probably out by March.