#526 Bob Speake

Outfielder Bob Speake had a major league 'moment in the sun' in 1955. As a Cubs rookie he was given the role as a starting outfielder due to an injury to Hank Sauer and he went on a home run tear with 10 in his first 90 big league at-bats. He capped his run with five RBIs in a Memorial Day doubleheader on a 4 for 8 day that saw his average hit .304. But it was downhill from there and he ended the season with just two more homers and a .218 average.

Sports Illustrated had taken note of Speake during his hot 1955 run and published the following in this June 13 issue in an article on the Cubs surprising success:

The lead in the melodrama has been played by a lean young man named Bob Speake, who hit all of .264 for Des Moines last year and who had been to bat only eight times for the Cubs prior to May 2. Then veteran Outfielder Hank Sauer ate tainted shrimp and became ill with food poisoning. Speake, a first baseman by trade, was pressed into service as an outfielder and promptly caught fire. He hit a three-run triple against the Giants, a two-run homer to beat the Reds, a two-run homer to beat the Phils, a tenth-inning two-run homer to beat the Braves. He hit a home run to beat the Cardinals 1-0 in the first game of a double-header on May 25 and a run-producing double that provided the margin of victory in the second game. He hit a two-run homer in a 3-0 game against the Cards the next day. On Memorial Day he hit a two-run home run and batted in four runs as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 9-5 in the first game and won the second game with a home run in the eleventh inning. It was a very merry month of May for young Mr. Speake.

Unfortunately for Speake and the Cubs, as we have seen, by the time this was on newstands the slipper had been lost and the coach was again a pumpkin on the North Side.

He had begun as a pro by signing with the Cubs in 1948. He sandwiched a two year Army stint around four seasons in the Cubs chain where he proved to be a power hitter who wasn't much for average or OBP. But a 20 homer, .264 average season at the Class A level in 1954 got him that shot with the '55 Cubs.

He spent 1956 with the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL and his 25-111-.300 stat line got him back to Wrigley in 1957. He played that year nearly full time in the Cubs lineup and hit .232 with 16 homers but the Cubs moved him to the Giants that off season for Bobby Thomson.

With San Francisco in '58 he had less that 100 at bats and a terrible start to the 1959 season resulted in a trip back to the minors, a move noted on the back of this card. He finished out that year at AA and retired. He was in the bowling business in his native Springfield, Missouri before starting up an insurance company with a partner.

What caused his short career after such a promising start? One theory, advanced on a Cubbie message board, alleges that NL opponents discovered he had a 'blind spot' and that was the end of his salad days. Maybe, maybe not. With all the ex-major leaguers who played against Speake in the PCL in 1956 one would think his numbers would of suffered as they had in Chicago after May of 1955.

#520 Don Elston

Ohio native Don Elston spent eight seasons as a starting pitcher in the Cubs' farm system after he signed with them in 1948. Those years were pretty impressive as a whole and one wonders what kept him 'down on the farm', especially in an organization as mediocre as the Cubs were at the time. The answer is likely his lack of control.

He did get a brief two game look at the end of the 1953 season and was banged around pretty hard. After pitching (and going 17-6) in the tough PCL as property of the Cubs in 1955 Elston was dealt to the Dodgers. Another season in AAA followed and then he made the Brooklyn staff in 1957.

That didn't last long however and after just a single one inning appearance in Ebbets Field in May he was traded back to the Cubs. He finished out that year as a starter/reliever on Chicago's North Side and then in 1958 he emerged as one of the better relief pitchers in the NL. He led the league with 69 appearances, had 10 saves (for a club with just 72 wins) and teamed with lefty Bill Henry to form an effective left/right closing combo.

In 1959 he made the NL All Star squad, pitched an inning and got the save in the first of the two ASGs played that year. He allowed a two out single to Nellie Fox in the top of the ninth at Forbes Field but got Harvey Kuenn to pop out to end it and preserve the NL's 5-4 win. that season he had career highs in wins (10) and saves (13). The save category for pitchers was reportedly created by Chicago newspaperman Jerome Holtzman as a way to show Elston's contributions. Holtzman saw Elroy Face getting wins after blowing leads with the Pirates and thought Elston's work as a reliever was better and deserved recognition.

Elston remained the club's workhorse for several more seasons although his numbers never again matched his '58/'59 run. After spending the 1965 season pitching in the minors Elston retired as an active player although he did manage briefly in the Cubs' system. He then spent the rest of his life in sales and working on behalf of Chicago area charities including the Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities organization for which he served as co-chairperson with another Chicago pitching standout, Billy Pierce.

Elston died at the age of 65 from heart failure in 1995. He had a long history of heart problems extending back to the beginning of his playing days, a fact he never shared with his teammates.

His Chicago Tribune obit has a lot of background and stories from his playing days. This big chunk of that work is worthy of being repeated here:

Don Elston, who died Monday at the age of 65, was like many pitchers of his time. He couldn't get Willie Mays out. Having exhausted his usual repertoire, Elston tried a spitter. Mays hit it over the fence in left center. Next time he threw a knuckler. Again, Mays connected-into the center-field bleachers, a few feet below the Wrigley Field scoreboard. "I don't know what we're going to do with him," catcher Dick Bertell told Elston."And Don said, `Tell him what's coming. He won't believe it, anyway.' "And so Bertell, when he went into his catcher's crouch, asked Mays: "What do you want to hit?"As Bertell recalled Wednesday, Willie didn't reply. "He just gave me a funny look. So I said, `It's going to be a curveball.' And for the rest of that at-bat, I called every pitch."Did Willie take Elston deep again?"No," Bertell replied. "He popped up. From then on, I wouldn't say Don had Willie in his pocket but he didn't get any more big hits off him."

#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.

#512 George Altman

George Altman's card is the first in a run of high number cards that will be posted over the next couple of weeks. The red, black and white motif on the back is a giveaway that it's a '59 high number.

Not many of the cards that have been posted here are so devoid of stats and have such long write-ups as this one. Altman's pro experience was limited in 1959 but by the time he was through with baseball Altman had enjoyed an interesting and varied career, to say the least.

1959 was the rookie season of Altman's 'first' career. He had already played at Tennessee A & I* (which was renamed Tennessee State University in the late 60s) and for the the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues after college. Signed by the Cubs in '56 Altman played for two seasons in the minors flashing some power and speed. He sandwiched those two seasons around a year in the Army during which he played service baseball.

Altman had respectable if not eye-opening numbers in his first two major league years playing the outfield and some firstbase and then he broke through in 1961. That year he made the NL All Star squad, led the league with 12 triples and had career highs with 27 homers and 94 RBI to go along with a .303 average. His average jumped to .318 in 1962 and he made his second All Star team but the rest of his numbers failed to match the previous season's and the Cubs packaged him that October in a trade to St. Louis.

His one season with the Cardinals wasn't more than just ordinary and he was traded again, this time to the Mets. He spent the '64 season in New York and his numbers diminished still. Finally he found himself back with the Cubs for 1965 and he played there for just a bit over two seasons as a part-time outfielder and was in the minors for most of '67. In his nine season MLB career he had 101 homers and hit for a .269 average.

That marked the end of his stateside ball but in 1968 he accepted an offer from the Tokyo Orions and for eight seasons he was a popular power-hitting outfielder in Japan. Below is a You Tube video which is actually a recorded phone interview with Altman done by two Chicago radio sports show hosts. In it they mention that Altman began his career with a franchise owned by a gum company (Cubs/Wrigley) and nearly ended it with another one (Lotte Orions/Lotte Holdings). Actually Altman played one more year in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers in 1969 and then called it a career.

All in all Altman played for a high school and college team, in the Negro Leagues, on a U.S. Army team, in the minors, the majors, in winter ball in Cuba and in Japan. Quite the resume.

There is a nice blog bio of Altman to be found here. The Negro League e-Museum has an Altman bio page. Last, but certainly not least Altman wrote an autobiography that was published last fall. It's available here on Amazon.

*- Altman had actually attended TSU on a basketball scholarship and helped lead the Tigers to three national Black Collegiate championships. More details (and the same video shown below) are available on this Altman page on the Tennessee State Athletic site.

#404 Hank Sauer

At the age of 42 in 1959 Hank Sauer was the third oldest player to have a card in the set. Only Enos Slaughter and Murray Dickson had a year on the guy whose nickname was 'Honker'. While he's shown with his last team, the Giants, Sauer's glory days came with the Chicago Cubs with whom he played from 1949 through 1956.

Sauer's pro baseball career began way back in 1937 when he signed with the Yankees after the western Pennsylvania native had spent a couple of years working in a New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps job to help support his family. He spent three years playing in the Yankee's system and displaying a powerful bat before he was drafted away by the Reds. Over the next seven years Sauer played mostly in the minors for Cincinnati while getting three major league trials of various lengths and putting in a year of military service. His minor league exploits led to his being elected to the Minor League Baseball Hall of Fame.

He took over the left-field job for the Reds in 1948 and proceeded to blast 35 homers while hitting .260 and driving in 97 runs. But a slow start to 1949, combined with a propensity to strike out caused the Reds to trade Sauer to the Cubs in June. He made the most of the change in scenery and in less than 100 games he had 27 homers, 83 RBI and a .291 average. His hitting captured the hearts of Cub fans and they would shower him with pouches of his favorite chewing tobacco during games.

His hitting had improved when he switched to a heavy 40 ounce bat and it never let up during a five season stretch on Chicago's North Side. Dubbed the 'Mayor of Wrigley Field' Sauer hit over thirty homers in each of the next five seasons except one. In 1952 he led the NL in home runs with 37 and RBI with 121. He won the NL MVP Award for that production.

His numbers plummeted in 1955 and he had lost his starting job when the Cubs traded him to the Cards. He played well in a reserve role in St. Louis but was released due to what Sauer claims was his being a bad influence on Stan Musial. Sauer discusses this in his SABR bio:

Sauer, playing as a reserve in 1956, batted 151 times, but he averaged .298 with five home runs and 24 RBIs, despite being hit in the face with a bat during one of the team’s practice sessions. Also, he and his roommate stayed out until after midnight two or three nights a week, which, Hank recollected, Musial enjoyed.
The Cardinals’ management, however, did not favor late-night carousing. Sauer observed, “In September of ‘56, the manager [Fred Hutchinson] came up and said, ‘Hank, we’ve got to let you go.’ I said, ‘Let me go! I’m having a pretty damn good year. Why are you letting me go?’
“He said, ‘Yeah, you’re having a good year, but your roommate is having a lousy year. He’s only hitting .315.’ I said, ‘What the hell’s the matter with .315?’ He said, ‘Musial is not a .315 hitter. He’s a .330 hitter. You’re on your way!’ So I was the one who had to go.”

Sauer revived his career with the Giants in 1957 and earned Comeback of the Year honors but in '58 he was back to a reserve role and in '59 he played sparingly before becoming a coach at mid-season. That ended his playing days. He remained with the Giants in various capacities for 35 years. He died at the age of 84 in 2001 while playing golf.

That's Seals Stadium behind Sauer with it's distinctive red railings. The 'Honker' looks every bit of his 42 years, doesn't he?

Sauer's brother Ed played the outfield for three NL teams in the 1940s. His son Hank Jr. played three years in the lower minors in the 1970s. There are several articles about his days in Chicago on the Chicago Tribune web site. And here is his obit in that paper.

#367 Cal Neeman

Signing as a catcher in 1949 with the New York Yankees Cal Neeman faced the unenviable task of moving up the minor league ladder with a roadblock named Yogi Berra at the top of it. He spent two seasons in the military but even eight years after first signing Neeman wasn't going to make the Yanks and displace Charlie Silvera or Elston Howard, much less Berra.

The Cubs took him in the minor league draft and he took over in 1957 as the starting catcher on Chicago's North Side. He hit 10 homers to go along with a .258 average and 39 RBI which represented a sizable improvement over the previous Hobie Landrith/Harry Chiti platoon. Ironically Neeman was backed up in 1957 by former Yankee Silvera.

Neeman's time as a starter was short however as the Cubs gave the job to Sammy Taylor in '58 and by '59 Neeman was an afterthought. Early in 1960 he was part of a trade that also sent Tony Taylor to Philadelphia and after that Neeman spent about four seasons banging around through several different organizations getting big league time here and there for the Pirates, Indians and Senators.

He was out of the game after the '63 season and went through several career changes after that including being a railroad switch-man, college student at Illinois Wesleyan University, a teacher and coach, school supply salesman and retail store manager.

He lives in Florida these days and the MLB BlogNetwork caught up with him a year or so ago and Neeman reflected on his career including getting his first big league hit (off Warren Spahn) and first big league homer (off Lew Burdette).

That is a nice big fat tape stain in the middle of the cardback. Not enough of a issue for me to upgrade this one.

#342 Ray Jablonski

Ray Jablonski was a member of the Cardinals when this card was issued and that fact is noted on the back. In fact Jablonski did a lot of traveling during his career, something that is usually attributed to his lack of defensive ability.

He signed with the Red Sox in 1947 after a military term and played two years in the low minors before he was drafted away by the Cardinals. He bashed his way up the Cardinals minor league ladder and debuted as their regular third baseman in 1953. He had a sterling year with the bat slugging 23 doubles, 5 triples, 21 homers with 112 RBIs to go with a .268 average. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting behind Junior Gilliam and Harvey Haddix. He came back the next year to make the All Star team with an improved batting average (.296) and nearly matching or improving in other categories. During his stay in St. Louis he was known as part of the 'Polish Falcons' a heavy hitting trio of Cards of Polish-American heritage including Rip Repulski and Steve Bilko.

But his fielding deficiencies and the emergence of a young Ken Boyer prompted a trade that sent Jablonski to that Reds. He split time between AAA ball and the Reds in 1955 and had decent numbers in '56 but again found himself on the move. He was dealt to the Cubs after the '56 season. He made it known that he was thrilled to get a chance to play in his hometown of Chicago but he was dealt on to the New York Giants before the 1957 season could get underway. He hit .289 for the Giants but his numbers tailed off in '58 and he was traded to the Cardinals. That deal also sent Bill White to St. Louis so the fact that Jablonski only lasted until August before being waived is just a footnote.

The Athletics claimed him and he played in K.C. for parts of '59 and 1960 before finishing his career with some power hitting minor league seasons through 1964. In 1961 he hit the first homer for the newly formed Hawaii Islanders who were affiliated with the A's.

Ray Jablonski died at the age of 58 in 1985 in his native Chicago.

#226 Art Ceccarelli

Lefty Art Ceccarelli signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 and pitched for four seasons in their minor league system and squeezed in a couple of years of military service, too. He never made the Bums roster and was sold to the Yankees in 1954 before being drafted away by the A's later that year.

He made 16 starts among 31 appearances in his rookie season of '55 for Kansas City and went 4-7 with a high ERA. He spent the next season mostly in the minors but managed to lose one decision for KC. He was traded to the Orioles and went 0-5 in 1957, pitched well in the minors in 1958, was drafted by the Cubs and spent the first part of 1959 in their system.

Ceccarelli was brought up by the Cubs in July of that year and won his first four starts, three with complete games and one on a shut-out. Then hard times hit and he finished the year 5-5. He opened the 1960 season with the Cubs but was traded to the Yanks in May and ended his career in the minors after the 1963 season. He was 9-18 for his careen with an ERA of just over 5.

After baseball Ceccarelli returned to his native Connecticut and taught and coached high school for many years and coached baseball at Southern Connecticut State University. He passed away in July, 2012.

This card uses an airbrushed version of his 1958 Topps on which he is shown in an Orioles uni.

#105 Lee Walls

Lee Walls was a high school phenom as a pitcher in California and he caught the eye of Pittsburgh GM Branch Rickey. Walls was also an outfielder with hitting skills and that is what interested Rickey. After signing with the Pirates in 1951 as an 18 year old Lee Walls spent a productive year in the lower minors and opened the 1952 season as a major league outfielder. But a slow start sent Walls back for more seasoning and it wasn't until 1956 that he returned to the bigs.

And when he did come back it was with a nice season hitting .274 with 11 homers and 54 RBI. About a month into the '57 season he was dealt to the Cubs. His '57 numbers were below the previous season but he peaked in 1958 and represented the Cubs on the NL All Star squad and got into the games as a pinch hitter and played left field. His season of 18 doubles, 24 homers, 72 RBI, and .304 average were all career highs.

Walls never again approached his 1958 totals but he did remain a regular for a year or so and than as a part time outfielder and pinch hitter for the Reds, Phils and Dodgers. He was gone from the majors after 1964 but he played a season in Japan before returning stateside to manager in the minor leagues.

One note of interest is that Walls was the 22nd and final player selected by the Mets in the expansion draft of 1961 but he was traded to the Dodgers (along with $100,000) for Charlie Neal two month later.

Topps had a handful of capless Walls pictures and used them for several years.

1961 Topps, Walls in Pirates gear(?) on a Reds card. Hard to say if the piping is Cubs' red and blue or Pirates gold and black.

Above and below are his two issued 1962 Topps cards. The photo above seems to have been taken at Connie Mack Stadium and the pinstripes on Walls' jersey colored gray to hide the Phillies' red ones.

This second '62 uses the same picture as the '61 and I'm leaning towards Cubs' colors on his color.

Third time is a charm for this shot as it appears on his '63 cards. Now I'm pretty certain the picture is one that was taken during his days in Chicago.

#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?

#249 Bobby Adams

Infielder Bobby Adams was 37 years old and in the last season of his pro career when this card was issued. He had signed with the Cincinnati Reds way back in 1939 and spent four seasons in the minors, three of the hitting well over .300. Interestingly he was signed by the Reds as part of a sort of 'family deal' that included his brother Dick Adams.

After the 1942 season both Adams brothers were called to military service and they played alongside Joe DiMaggio in California. Bobby Adams remained in the service through 1945 and re-joined the Reds organization the following spring. He made the big club and played in a platoon/utility roles until he worked into the Reds' full time third base job in the early 1950s.

Always a good fielder, Adams led the league in games played and at bats in 1952 while hitting .283 on 180 hits which was good for third in the league. He even garnered a few stray MVP votes that year. He played everyday again the following season but after that his performance and playing time waned until he was dealt to the White Sox in 1955. He moved on to the Orioles in '56 and then to the Cubs in '57. He played sparingly through 1958 and after three games played in 1959 he was sent to the minors where he saw his final action as a pro.

After his active days Adams served in several capacities in baseball, as a coach, league executive and players association executive. He also raised a major leaguer, son Mike Adams who played for three different clubs in the 1970s.

From the site I linked above comes this picture of the 1943 Santa Ana Army Base team. Bobby Adams is front row, fourth left. His brother Dick is back row, sixth left and Joe DiMaggio is front row, second right.

In the late '40s picture below Bobby Adams is the guy (#12) greeting the runner who is scoring on a wild throw to the plate. I'm always fascinated by how close to the action they allowed photographers to get in those days. 

#328 Lou Skizas

As soon as you get to Lou Skizas' Baseball Reference page and you see that he was known as "The Nervous Greek" you know that there is an interesting story here. And when you check out the first paragraph of his SABR bio, you know that there most certainly is:

“I was a character in baseball. I saw it as an interim type of career,” Lou Skizas told Bill Gleason. Skizas, known as “The Nervous Greek” during his four-season major-league playing career, was perhaps best known for an unusual ritual that he followed before coming to bat. Before reaching the plate, the right-handed-batting Skizas dropped his bat, covering it with dirt. Then, wiping the bat off by rubbing it between his pants legs, he kissed the end of the bat before reaching into his back pocket at least three times to touch an object that was said to be a good-luck piece. Placing all of his weight on his right leg, Skizas kept his left foot off of the ground until just before the pitch reached the plate. This was the unorthodox style that belonged to the man Casey Stengel once called “the greatest natural-looking hitter I've ever seen.”

Skizas was born in Chicago and raised in a home where only Greek was spoken. He claims to have been labeled as 'retarded' (his words) when he first entered school because he didn't know what his teacher was saying. As a ballplayer in high school he caught the eye of Yankee scouts and was signed in 1949 and while playing in their farm system he developed a close friendship with Mickey Mantle that remained in place all their lives. Skizas spent two seasons in the military along with his five years in the minors before he got a token shot with the Yankees in 1956. He was dealt (as all marginal Yankee players were then) to the Kansas City Athletics in May of '56.

He hit .316 in about 300 at bats that year and held down a regular outfield spot for the club in '57. That winter he was part of a huge 12 player deal that sent him to the Tigers with whom he split the '1958 season between the majors and minors. The White Sox drafted him prior to 1959 but traded him to the Reds early in the season. He was therefore technically a part of the Sox' AL champion club but he was long gone by the fall. He played for three season in the Reds' chain and one more in Detroit's, never again making a major league appearance. He also played in Cuba during the winter of 1959.

He finished with a .270 lifetime average and had 30 homers. After retiring Skizas finished a bachelor's degree he'd been working on for over a decade and then went further by adding a masters and doctorate in biology. He was a college professor in Illinois at Illinois State and the University of Illinois-Champaign along with coaching the schools' baseball teams.

As late as the 1990s he continued to be part of the game as a part-time scout for the Cubs in the Chicago area.

#79 Harry Chiti

Harry Chiti debuted with the Chicago Cubs at the age of 17 in 1950 after being signed earlier that year. He bounced back and forth between the Cubs and the minors for three seasons before spending two years in the service during the Korean War.

He was the Cubs' starting catcher when he returned in 1955 but he played as a platoon catcher in '56. Then he was dealt to the Yanks and he spent the '57 year in the minors. Traded again, this time to the Athletics, Chiti played in over a hundred games for the A's in 1958 but his playing time decreased through the later part of the decade and he was traded three more times within the American League, to the Tigers, the Orioles (for whom he never played) and then the Indians.

It's a long told story that in 1962 the Indians traded Chiti to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. That player turned out to be Chiti himself and thus he was one of the few players ever traded for himself. The truth is that he was originally sold to the Mets and then returned to the Indians for cash. So it was not exactly being traded for himself but it's close enough to make a good story.

After a couple more seasons in the minors Chiti retired. He had a .238 career average. He led the NL is a couple of defensive categories during his career including CS percentage. His son Dom was a minor leaguer in the Braves and Orioles' chains and coached and scouted for the Texas Rangers.

As a bonus here is a really nice 1954 Bowman of Chiti. Note that he is described as a 'husky youngster' and that the write-up mentions that he would be in the service that season. Nice Polo Grounds background.

#334 Glen Hobbie

Righty Glen Hobbie signed with the Cubs in 1955 out of tiny Witt, Illinois. After three so-so years in the minors he got a quick look at the bigs late in 1957 and took a pounding in two appearances. Nonetheless he made the club in '58 and did well going 10-6 in 55 games. Those 10 wins actually led the Cub staff. Among the starters only Moe Drabowsky had as many as 9 wins. He made 16 starts that year and was moved into the rotation for 1959.

He won 16 games in '59 including a pretty spectacular one hitter on April 21 in which he was perfect until, with two outs in the seventh, Stan Musial doubled. Hobbie won the game 1-0. He came back with another 16 win season in 1960 but suffered the indignity of losing 20. The fact that the Cubs were pretty terrible had a lot to do with that. Hobbie's ERA in his 16 win seasons was 3.69 and 3.97.

Hobbie's career went off the cliff beginning in '61 and he never again had a winning record. He went 21-47 through 1964, a season that saw him dealt to the Cardinals for Lew Burdette. Interestingly Hobbie's last big league win was a big one. In June of '64 the Cardinals were in San Francisco and Hobbie started the second game of a doubleheader. It was his second start for St. Louis after the trade. He allowed a run on a couple of hits to open the game before settling down to retire 25 of 26 batters to gain the win. As is pointed out in this blog post, the Cards won the '64 pennant by a single game so that one win by Hobbie has some real significance.

The Cards traded him to the Tigers but a bad shoulder limited him to some minor league action in 1965 and he then retired at the age of 28. Hobbie's short career could be traced to his being used as both a starter and reliever for the bulk of his time in Chicago.  I did some checking and found that in 1958 Hobbie pitched in 55 games which was second highest in the NL behind Johnny Klippstein, a pure reliever. In '59 he made 33 starts and pitched in a total of 46 games, second only to Sam Jones among regular starting pitchers. And in 1960 he made 36 starts and once again pitched in 46 games, the most of any pitcher with 25 starts.

Glen Hobbie died earlier this month at the age of 77 in his home state of Illinois.

#75 Sam Jones

Sam Jones was signed by the Indians in 1950 and put up some very impressive minor league numbers for the next four seasons. But in his one extended trial in the bigs he was hit pretty hard. The Indians dealt him to the Cubs as the '54 season ended in a somewhat complicated trade that Baseball Reference tracks like this:

September 30, 1954: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with players to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. The Chicago Cubs sent Ralph Kiner (November 16, 1954) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade. The Cleveland Indians sent $60,000 (November 16, 1954) and Gale Wade (November 30, 1954) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

Someone diagram that one for me, please.

The tall right-hander, known as 'Toothpick Sam' (see the card's cartoon) and 'Sad Sam' Jones, took a spot in the Cubs rotation in '55 and went on to lose 20 games for a sub-.500 club. Against the Pirates on May 12 of that year he became the first African-American pitcher to throw a major league no-hitter. He walked seven in that game and survived a crazy ninth inning in which he walked the bases loaded with a wild pitch sandwiched in and then proceeded to strike out Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas to end it. The next year the Cubs were horrendous and Jones went 9-14.

Traded to the Cardinals Jones found better support and won 26 games in two seasons. He had a fine '58 season winning 14 games with a 2.88 ERA and leading the league in strikeouts. Perhaps thinking they had wrung all they could out of the vet the Cards traded Jones to the Giants.

In San Francisco in '59 Jones won a career high 21 games and had a league leading ERA. He won 18 games in 1960 but slipped badly in 1961 and the Giants were transitioning him to the bullpen. He spent the next five seasons working for several organizations and bouncing between the majors and the minors. He was working as a pitching coach and player when he pitched his last game in 1967 in the Pirates chain. Jones died just four years after he retired,

During his career Jones developed a reputation as a headhunter but he denied it. He did lead the lead in hit batters in 1955. His hard breaking curve helped him with three strikeout crowns but his wildness meant he also led the league in walks four times. He was a veteran of both the Negro Leagues and several Caribbean Leagues as well.

A fascinating character, Sam Jones' story is told well on his SABR bio page. It chronicles his early life and how he came to get the name 'Samuel Jones' after being born as Daniel Pore Franklin.

BTW..he is the second 'Sad Sam' Jones to play in the majors. He was preceded by Samuel Pond 'Sad Sam' Jones who pitched for 22 seasons from 1914 thru 1935.

#77 John Goryl

What do Paul Konerko, Gabby Hartnett, Davey Lopes, Hugh Duffy, Nap Lajoie and baseball lifer Johnny Goryl have in common? They were all born in Rhode Island. Now you know. 

Goryl played seven seasons in the minors for three different organisations before he got a late season look from the Cubs in September of 1957. In his first game in the majors he batted lead off for the Cubs facing Warren Spahn. He whiffed, grounded out and drew a walk against the future Hall of Famer. Later he singled and scored a run.

He saw action in about half the Cubs' games in 1958 as either a second- or third- baseman. He played some in '59 as well but spent most of the season in the minors. A trade to the Dodgers led to a couple more seasons in the minors before he was drafted by the Twins in 1962. 

He played sparingly in Minnesota and transitioned into his role as a coach, manager and eventually into numerous jobs in the front offices of the Twins and Indians. He managed the Twins for parts of the '80 and '81 seasons. He was honored last winter for his lifetime of work in the game, receiving the Mike Coolbaugh Award. He continues working for the Indians.

This card is one of several among a group cued for posting that are nearly 'pack fresh', or at least as fresh as a 54-year-old card can be. Corners are sharp, front is glossy and only a little yellowing of the back gives away the vintage-ness. 

#488 Walt Moryn

Outfielder Walt 'Moose' Moryn served a six and a half season apprenticeship in the Brooklyn Dodgers' chain before getting his shot with the Bums in June of 1954. Called up to serve as a left handed hitter off the bench, Moryn got a chance to play every day when Duke Snider got hurt. He took advantage of the chance and went 9 for 14 in his first three games.

Snider returned soon but Moryn remained with the Dodgers, mostly  as a pinch hitter, the rest of the season. He hit .275 for the year but found himself back in the minors for most '55. Such was the life of a guy stuck in the extremely well stocked Brooklyn chain. He was traded to the Cubs after the year and got a chance in Chicago to play every day.

He took over a regular outfield slot in Wrigley and stayed in front of the ivy covered walls until June of 1960. During his time with the Cubs he hit a respectable .272 and slugged 84 homers. He had career highs in batting average (.289) and RBI (88) in 1957. He made his only All Star team in 1958 although he did not get into the game.

Moryn's shining moment on the North Side came when he made an outstanding shoestring catch of a sinking line drive robbing Joe Cunningham of a two out hit in the ninth inning to save Don Cardwell's no-hitter against the Cardinals on May 15, 1960. The Cards must have been impressed with that effort as they obtained Moryn in a trade with the Cubs in June of that year.

He didn't hit much for the Cards and exactly a year after trading for him, the Cards traded Moryn to the Pirates where he spent the second half of his final season. After baseball Moryn worked in his family's retail business before he opened a bar in Cicero, Illinois. 

Moryn's (very long) SABR page tells of his days as one of 700 Dodger hopefuls in his early spring trainings and also gives evidence of how well thought of he was by his teammates. Here is a small excerpt:

Among those who remembered Moose was Cardwell, whose no-hitter was nearly overshadowed by the drama of the game-saving catch. “He made me famous,” Cardwell told Jerome Holtzman for an obituary in the Chicago Tribune. “After I threw the pitch, I was leaning down with him and saying, ‘C’mon, Moose, make the catch.’“He was a good man, a ballplayer’s ballplayer. After the game I told him, ‘Moose, I owe you a beer.’ And he said ‘I’ll take you up on it.’ He enjoyed life. And he enjoyed people. He always drew the biggest crowd.”Another Cubs teammate was fellow St. Paul native Jerry Kindall, who was just 21 when he first arrived in Chicago fresh from the University of Minnesota. Kindall told Holtzman about his first encounter with the Moose. “I walked into the clubhouse and there was Walt,” Kindall said. “He was wonderful to me. He shepherded me around. He gave the appearance of a very gruff guy, but if you were a teammate, you saw through that in a hurry. He was really a tender-hearted guy.”

Late edits... I forgot to mention that Moryn already appeared on a special multi-player card in this set and I fixed my mis-spelling of Duke Snider's name. I've fired my editor so maybe Night Owl will forgive that egregious error. 

#153 Jim Marshall

I'd venture a guess to say the two closest things to major league baseball without actually being the majors have been the old independent PCL and the Japanese Leagues. Jim Marshall spent quite a bit of time in both of those, and he got in five seasons in our big leagues as well.

Marshall signed with the White Sox in 1950 and for the next eight seasons he put up some big power numbers with the Oakland Oaks of the PCL and various farm clubs in the Sox, Giants and Orioles' chains.

He debuted with the Orioles in 1958, was the regular first baseman for awhile and in August was waived due to his .215 average and went to the Cubs. His averages continued to be low while his power, so good in the minors, dried up against major league pitching. 1959 was his busiest and best big league season. He got into over 100 games with the Cubs and had 11 homers and 40 RBI in nearly 300 at bats.

That off season was a hectic one for Marshall. He was traded to the Red Sox who in turn traded him to the Indians during spring training of 1960. But when Sammy White, the other player traded to the Indians, refused to report Marshall was returned to the Cubs. Four days later, still before the season started, the Red Sox dealt Marshall to the Giants for Al Worthington.

He spent two seasons with the Giants, was sold to the expansion Mets for '62 and then was traded to the Pirates in May. While a member of the Mets he became the first player to homer in consecutive games for that club.

Following his tour with the Bucs he went to Japan and played three seasons over there.Since his playing days he has been a coach on two continents, managed in the big leagues for both the Cubs and A's and is currently in the front office of the Arizona Diamondbacks as Senior Advisor, Pacific Rim Operations. 

That's an Orioles uni Marshall is wearing at Yankee Stadium on this '59 card. Love the facade and flags flying on top of Yankee Stadium. So many memories.

Marshall is the victim of a very shoddy airbrush treatment on his 1961 Topps card. Just look at the cap. 

#301 Earl Averill

If the name is familiar it's probably because 3rd baseman Earl Averill is the son of Hall of Fame outfielder Earl Averill. Earl the Younger is not a 'Jr.' because his father's name is actually Howard Earl Averill. Sadly our Earl doesn't carry a spiffy nickname like his father's "The Earl of Snohomish" (which was shared, btw, with another Snohomish, Washington native, Earl Torgeson). 

Earl Averill was signed (six days after my birthday) by his father's team, the Cleveland Indians, as a catcher. He was converted to an infielder in the farm system and got quick looks at the majors in 1956 and 1958. He was dealt to the Cubs prior to the '59 season and spent that year shuffling around the field playing 3rd, the outfield, behind the plate and some at 2nd base. He hit 10 homers in 186 at bats that year. 

In 1960 he was traded by the Cubs to the Braves, spent a month in the minors and was then dealt to the White Sox. After that tumultuous year he was drafted by the expansion Angels. He had his best season in '61, hitting .266 with 21 homers and 59 RBI. He tailed off after that, spent a year with the Phils and a couple in the minors before retiring. 

Looks like Topps' airbrush department caught a break with this card. They were able to take the Indians' 'C' on the cap in this photo and smooth it out to resemble the Cubs' logo 'C'. Probably fooled kids in 1959, as long as they didn't really look too close.