1956 Topps - 4th Series Phillies Alumni

After 10 years and exactly 342 posts for each of the 342 cards in the set, my 1956 Topps blog is coming to a close.  Within the next few weeks, I'll wrap up the final few posts and put the finishing touches on both a 4th Series review and an overall review of this wonderful baseball card set.  

As I've done with the prior three series, I wanted to display a gallery of Phillies Alumni from the set's fourth series, or cards #261 to #340.  Here are those 16 players who either played, coached or managed the Phillies.

 

#261

#266

#269

#274

#275

#282

#290

#293

#296

#297

#308

#321

#331

#334

#335

#337

Phillies Alumni in 1956 Topps Set

1st Series - 18

2nd Series - 14

3rd Series - 14

4th Series - 16

Thanks Santa! Time to Update My Most Wanted List (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1950 Bowman #121

1952 Topps #158

1952 Bowman #184

We made it!  It's 2017 and the sun is (sort of) shining, the coffee is hot and I've decided to spend the first day of the year sorting baseball cards.  My first order of business is to once again completely update my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list on the sidebar, which until the day after Christmas looked like this:

For the past six Christmases, my Mom has been chipping away at my Phillies team set needs one card at a time.  For as long as I can remember, Santa (with help from my parents I suppose) has gifted me with amazing baseball cards each and every Christmas morning.  Through my college years, the Dark Times and even after I had married and had kids of my own, my Dad continued the tradition of hunting down baseball cards that would amaze me and become treasured additions to my collection. My Mom has continued that tradition since my Dad passed away in 2011.

She truly outdid herself this year for the annual Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (SBWTMABCTJ) extravaganza, completely wiping out my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list.  Here's a run-down of the 10 vintage cards from this year's haul.  (Click on any of the photos of the cards to enlarge.)

1950 Bowman #121 Andy Seminick
This brings me down to needing just two more cards to complete the 1950 Bowman 19-card Phillies team set.  Once I have the final two cards, I'll definitely be showing off the complete set in a gallery-style post.

1952 Bowman #184 Curt Simmons
I'm also close to completing the 16-card Phillies team set from 1952 Bowman.  After adding this Simmons card to my collection, I'm only four cards away.  The back of this card references Simmons' return from military service.  Although it's slightly miscut, this may be my favorite card of the bunch.

1952 Topps #158 Eddie Waitkus
The bio on the back of this card begins, "Shot by a crazed girl in June, 1949, Ed was close to death." Most of the remaining Phillies cards I need from the 1952 Topps set are from the scarce and pricey high number series.

1952 Bowman Black & White #58

1953 Bowman Color #133

1958 Topps #90

1959 Topps #8

1953 Bowman Black & White #58 Jim Konstanty
1953 Bowman Color #133 Willie Jones
It's always exciting to add cards of any of the Whiz Kids to my collection.  I've seen these two cards for years both at baseball card shows and online, and it's a fantastic feeling to have them both in my collection now.  Kids opening packs of baseball cards in 1953 had no idea how good they had it.

1958 Topps #90 Robin Roberts
1959 Topps #8 Phillies Team Card
With the exception of cards needed from the 1952 Topps set, I'm surprisingly close to having a complete run of Phillies cards from the Topps sets of the 1950s.  I'm pretty sure I have this Roberts card in my collection in reprint form, so it's nice to finally have the original.

1965 Topps #4

1967 Topps #560

1967 Topps #595

1965 Topps #4 N.L. Home Run Leaders
Johnny Callison's head appearing in the bottom left of this card meant that I needed it to complete my 1965 Topps Phillies team set.  It's also great to have an excuse to add a card featuring three Hall of Famers (Willie Mays, Billy Williams and Orlando Cepeda) to my collection.

1967 Topps #560 Jim Bunning
1967 Topps #595 Cookie Rojas
Wrapping up the vintage portion of the annual SBWTMABCTJ are two Phillies cards I needed for my 1967 Topps team set.  These are both from the tougher high-number series, and the Rojas card is a close runner up to the 1952 Bowman Simmons card as my favorite addition.

But wait, there's more!  My Mom also crossed off two extremely oddball wants from my Ten Most Wanted - Modern list and I'll feature those two cards in a future post.

1952 Topps #108 Jim Konstanty

I started this blog almost four years ago to serve as an outlet for my love of the Phillies and their baseball cards.  Back then, my daily postings also gave me another way to connect with my Dad as he was the first and most faithful follower of The Phillies Room.  I had (and have) no intention of ever turning this blog into an outlet for me to gripe or whine about the trials and tribulations of my professional life.  Everyone has bad days/months/weeks at work and no one wants to read about mine.  You've clicked on the link to my blog because we all love baseball, baseball cards and the Phillies, in probably that order, and sharing with those with whom these bonds are shared is good for the soul.

That being said, a few months back I made reference to my quest for a new job.  I haven't been a free agent for almost 15 years, but for various reasons the time had come for me to peddle my wares elsewhere.  I'm happy to report I have found a new employer and I'm about to bear witness to the greenness of their grass.  It's been a challenging few months with my soon to be former employer, but I'll leave with nothing but good memories and I'll push the bad stuff aside.  As Michael Young recently pointed out about his 13 years with the Texas Rangers, "I take nothing but great memories away from my time there . . . As far as everything else that took place, to be honest, that's all noise to me."

I wanted to add a significant Phillies baseball card to my collection to mark my departure from my former employer.  I wanted the letter K to be somehow associated with the card, and I thought this awesome 1952 Topps card of Phillies reliever Jim Konstanty was a perfect fit.  I never thought Konstanty looked like much of a ballplayer; he always looked like more of an accountant to me.  And on this baseball card, he looks like a smiling accountant, looking forward to future challenges.

1961 Topps Phillies

1961 Topps #468, #93, #433 and #502

The 1961 Phillies lost 107 games in 1961, their highest loss total since losing 108 games in 1945.  Fortunately, they haven't come close to matching that loss total since.  It's almost fitting that perhaps the drabbest baseball card set in Topps' 60-year history features cards of the worst Phillies team of the past 60 years.

The Set

1961 Topps #468 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The set is numbered to 589, but cards 426, 587 and 588 were never issued.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  While the 1960 Topps set seems classic with an innovative design, the 1961 Topps set seems dull with an extremely minimalist design.  However, I'd still chose this set over the 1957 Topps set solely for the first ever league leader cards and checklists included within the set.

Notable competition:  Post issued a 200-card set with its cereal boxes, including 10 Phillies cards.

1961 Phillies

Record and finish:  47-107, dead last in the National League, 46 games behind the first place Reds, and 17 games behind the 7th place Cubs.

Key players:  Don Demeter was acquired from the Dodgers in May, and he'd lead the team in home runs (20) and RBIs (68).  Johnny Callison (.266, 9 home runs, 47 RBIs) and Tony Gonzalez (.277, 12 home runs, 58 RBIs) didn't have great years, but their unremarkable stats were the best the offense had to offer.  Pancho Herrera hit 13 home runs and drove in 51 runs, but he also struck out 120 times.  Art Mahaffey led the pitching staff with 11 wins, but he also lost 19.  The next two starters with the most wins were John Buzhardt and Chris Short who each won 6 games.  Robin Roberts played in his last season with the Phillies, going 1-10 with a 5.58 ERA.

Key events:  The '61 Phillies put the Ug in Ugly.  They lost a record straight 23 games in a row.  The Orioles lost 21 games to start the 1988 season, but no other team has even come close to matching the futility of the '61 Phillies club.

1961 Topps #20, #103, #299 and #411

1961 Phillies in 1961 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 30 cards in a 1961 Topps Phillies team set.  The tally so far - 65 Topps Phillies cards from the '60s and 238 Topps Phillies cards from 1951 to 1961.

Who’s in:  24 cards feature players who actually suited up with the Phillies in 1961.  The other six cards feature three guys who didn't play with the team that year (Al Neiger, Tep Lepcio and Ruben Gomez), a manager card for Gene Mauch, a team card and a card for 1950 National League MVP Jim Konstanty.  Topps featured a subset of league MVPs from 1950 through 1960 on cards 471 through 486.

1961 Topps #3, #219, #359 and #479

Who’s out:  Third baseman Charley Smith, acquired from the Dodgers in May with Demeter for Turk Farrell and Joe Koppe got left out of the set completely.  Relievers Jack Baldschun (65 games, 503 with 3 saves) and Ken Lehman (41 games, 1-1) saw significant time out of the bullpen but neither appear in the set.  And Short (6-12 in 39 games with a 5.94 ERA) will be a recurring name on this list, as he didn't have his first Topps card until 1967.

Phillies on other teams:  Demeter appears as a Dodger on card #23 and outfielder Wes Covington (see below) appears as a Brave on card #296.  Farrell appears as a Dodger on card #522 although he's sporting a Phillies hat.  Finally, Elmer Valo wrapped up his 20-year career with 50 games with the Phils, mostly as a pinch-hitter.  He appears with the Twins on card #186 and the Phillies picked him up following his release from the Twins in June.

What’s he doing here:  Neiger is perhaps the biggest stretch, especially since his card indicates he's a "1961 Rookie" within a gold star.  He pitched in six games with the Phillies in 1960.

Cards that never were candidates:  Smith, Demeter, Covington, Baldschun, Lehman and Short.

Favorite Phillies card:  I'll go with the rookie card of one Clarence "Choo Choo" Coleman, although I also really like Roberts' final card with the Phillies as an active player.

2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #97, 2010 Topps Heritage #154, #479 and #78

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps used this design for its 2010 Heritage set, and I've featured most of the Phillies cards in previous posts.

Blogs/Websites:  The keeper of the Sports Card Blogroll, JayBee, has created the Topps 300.  Basically, this is his attempt to compile the 300 best baseball cards from Topps' sixty year history, five cards per set.  He's chosen some great cards, and the 1961 proposed representatives can be found here.

Did You Know?: Wes Covington was a busy man in 1961.  In May, the White Sox selected him off waivers from the Braves.  In June, the White Sox included him in an eight-player trade with the Athletics.  In July, the Athletics traded him to the Phillies, where he'd spend the next 4 1/2 seasons.  He played in 101 games in 1961 as follows - 9 with the Braves, 22 with the White Sox, 17 with the Athletics and 57 with the Phillies.

1950-1959 Phillies

1988 Pacific Legends #8, 1998 Upper Deck Richie Ashburn #1,
2007 SP Legendary Cuts #70, 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game #6

Before moving along to the Topps sets from the 1960's, I thought I'd take one last look back to the Phillies of the 1950's and their Topps baseball cards.

Decade MVPs
Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts run away with the honors.  With the exception of home runs and RBIs, Ashburn led the Phillies in every major offensive statistical category for the ten seasons between 1950 and 1959 - games (1,523), batting average (.313) runs (952), hits (1,875), doubles (252), triples (82), stolen bases (158) and walks (828).  Ashburn's 19 home runs were a little behind the top three home run hitters of the decade - Del Ennis (175), Willie Jones (159) and Stan Lopata (108).  And his 422 RBIs placed him fourth behind Ennis (765), Jones (657) and Granny Hamner (593).  Ashburn went to three All-Star Games during the decade and was the National League batting champ in 1955 and 1958.

Roberts led the team in every major pitching category - wins (199), complete games (237), shutouts (30), innings pitched (3,009.1), strikeouts (1,516) and ERA (3.32).  No other pitcher even came close to matching those numbers, although Curt Simmons, Bob Miller, Jim Konstanty and Russ Meyer show up in the top five of most of those categories.  Konstanty had the most saves during the decade with 45, but Roberts was actually fourth on the list with 19!

2010 Topps Tribute #33, 1992 Upper Deck Heroes Highlights #HI 7,
2004 eTopps Classic #ETC51, 2004 SP Legendary Cuts #100

1951-1959 Topps
The Breakdown:  141 baseball players wore the Phillies uniform between opening day in 1950 and the last game of the dreadful 1959 season.  Topps released 173 Phillies baseball cards in its main sets between 1951 and 1959, featuring 78 different players, 2 different manages, 2 coaches and 6 players who did not play a game for the Phillies during the decade.

Most Featured:  The following Phillies players (along with a team card) were represented the most in Topps' sets from 1951 to 1959:

8 cards - Ashburn, Hamner, Jones
6 cards - Roberts
5 cards - Ted Kazanski, Bob Miller, Simmons
4 cards - Lopata, Jack Meyer, Team Card

1980 TCMA Whiz Kids #22, #21, #23, #5

The Phillies Topps 60
What if Topps released a set of the top sixty Phillies cards from 1951-2010?  It's not likely, but I'll pick ten cards from each decade just in case Topps is looking for my opinion for this set's checklist.  You'll notice the sets from the 1950's with poor player selection or featuring a design I don't care for aren't represented - my set, my rules:

1 - 1951 Topps Blue Backs #8 Dick Sisler
2 - 1952 Topps #59 Robin Roberts
3 - 1952 Topps #357 Smoky Burgess
4 - 1953 Topps #88 Willie Jones
5 - 1953 Topps #146 Granville Hamner
6 - 1956 Topps #120 Richie Ashburn
7 - 1956 Topps #180 Robin Roberts
8 - 1956 Topps #220 Del Ennis
9 - 1958 Topps #433 Pancho Herrera ERR (no "a" on Herrara)
10 - 1959 Topps #338 George Anderson

Cards That Never Were Series
And what if Topps asked for my help in putting together a checklist for the Phillies cards that never were?  Of the 141 Phillies players from the 1950's, 78 made it onto Topps baseball cards as Phillies, while 63 players were never represented wearing the red pinstripes. 

There are three players with over 500 at-bats with the Phillies during the decade who didn't get a Topps Phillies card - first baseman Earl Torgeson, right fielder Mel Clark and second baseman Mike Goliat.  So they need Phillies cards, and they're all in the set.  As is second baseman Putsy Caballero, just because he has one of the greatest baseball names of all-time.  Steve Ridzik (105 games, 311.1 innings pitched) and Bubba Church (71 games, 394 innings pitched) will also be represented.  And I'd like to see a card of long-time Phillies coach Maje McDonnell, who spent 57 years with the organization as a coach, scout, batting practice pitcher and Veterans Stadium tour guide. 

I decided not to limit this to just ten cards per decade.  If there's a Phillies player, coach or manager who should have had a Topps baseball card in any given year, he's in my set:

1 - 1951 Topps Blue Backs Putsy Caballero
2 - 1951 Topps Red Backs Bubba Church
3 - 1951 Topps Red Backs Mike Goliat
4 - 1953 Topps Richie Ashburn
5 - 1953 Topps Robin Roberts
6 - 1953 Topps Del Ennis
7 - 1953 Topps Mel Clark
8 - 1953 Topps Steve Ridzik
9 - 1954 Topps Robin Roberts
10 - 1954 Topps Earl Torgeson
11 - 1954 Topps Terry Moore MG
12 - 1955 Topps Richie Ashburn
13 - 1955 Topps Robin Roberts
14 - 1956 Topps Elmer Valo
15 - 1956 Topps Marv Blaylock
16 - 1956 Topps Harvey Haddix
17 - 1956 Topps Maje McDonnell CO
18 - 1958 Topps Ed Bouchee
19 - 1959 Topps Chris Short
20 - 1959 Topps Eddie Sawyer MG

Stay tuned for more Phillies Topps cards as we're about to enter the 1960's.  It will be groovy.

1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes #32, 1986 TCMA All Time Phillies #7,
1983 Donruss Hall of Fame Heroes #41, 1983 Cramer Baseball Legends #94

1951 Bowman #27 Jim Konstanty

1950 World Series Game 1 - October 4

Yankees 1, Phillies 0

Relief ace and 1950 National League MVP Jim Konstanty started Game 1, as Robin Roberts had started three of the Phillies last five regular season games. (I imagine this would be comparable to Brad Lidge starting Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. Could you picture that?) Without starting a game, Konstanty compiled a 16-7 record and a 2.66 ERA in 1950, while saving 22 games.

In Game 1 at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, Konstanty pitched eight strong innings, allowing just a lone 4th inning run to the Yankees. Yankees starting pitcher Vic Raschi (21-8 in the regular season) allowed just two 5th inning singles to Puddin' Head Jones and Andy Seminick, and that was the extent of the Phillies offense for the day.

Other Game 1 notes: Game time was 1pm, and no one was exhausted at work the next day. (Unlike what will most likely be the case this coming Thursday morning.) The Phillies were without star starting pitcher Curt Simmons for this series. Simmons was called into active U.S. military duty on September 10th. He used his 10-day pass from the Army to attend the World Series games as a spectator only.