Four Cards From 1952 Topps

I was digging around in my "cool cards" box the other day and found these, most of which I'd forgotten I had. The 1952 set is something I like to dabble in, even though I know I'll never be able to afford the major cards from the set on my budget. However, if I can find commons cheap enough, then I'll definitely grab some. Some of these I've show on my old blog but for a quick blog post on a lazy Tuesday, I figured they'd be fun to revisit.

Cass Michaels played 12 seasons in the majors from 1943-1954. In 1952 though, he was well traveled. He started with the Washington Senators, was then traded to the St Louis Browns in mid-May. The Browns placed him on waivers in August and he was scooped up by the Philadelphia A's. I think it's pretty cool that he played for three different defunct teams in one season. I can't tell what stadium is in the background here. I don't think it was Griffith Stadium because they didn't have bleachers in right field. Also, the people in the far left of the background look like their in a boat for whatever reason.

Ken Raffensberger was probably the top pitcher on a 6th place 1952 Reds squad that won 69 games and went through three managers during the course of the season. Pitching in 38 games during the 1952 season, he went 17-13 with a 2.81 ERA and led the league with 6 shutouts. All of that was good enough to finish in the top 25 of MVP voting. Over a 15-year career (1939-1941, 1943-1954) with the Reds, Cubs, Phillies and Cardinals, he had one all-star appearance (1944) and finished in the top 20 of MVP voting (1949, 1951). As far as this card goes, the background seems like the Polo Grounds but I can't be totally sure.

This was the first ever 1952 Topps card I bought. I remember seeing it for like 3 or 4 bucks in a bargain bin at a local card shop. I figured I'd at least get it so I could at least say that I had a 1952 Topps in my collection. Anyway, Friend wasn't even in the majors in 1952 but bounced around with several teams like the Browns in addition to the Red Sox, Tigers, Indians and Cubs. 

Dale Mitchell was an all-star in 1952 for a really, really good Indians team that finished in 2nd place with a 93-61-1 record, a mere two games behind the Yankees. He was also an All-Star in 1949. He finished in MVP voting four times (1947, 1949, 1951 and 1952) and played the majority of his career in Cleveland, with the exception of 19 games as a member of the Dodgers at the end of the 1956 season. Of the 1952s I have, this is probably my favorite because Cleveland Stadium is the background and it just has a feel of being bright and fun.

Hope you enjoyed this quick post and these cards. I've got another one of these type posts lined up with 1955 Bowman coming soon. 

 

Single Card Post: 1953 Topps #187 Jim Fridley

Happy Opening Day everyone! I hope that whatever team(s) you're a fan of do good today and have a fun season!

Let's take a look at Jim Fridley and this 1953 Topps card.

I pulled it out of the top loader it resides in to take these pictures and it felt like it was going to disintegrate in my hands as this card has definitely seen better days. The corners are pretty much non-existent and there's a bunch of creases and what not all over it. However, to me that doesn't mean "poor condition" or anything, that means it was well loved. 

Here Fridley is pictured as a member of the Cleveland Indians against a blue sky. You can see the scoreboard behind him as well. Not sure that's just a generic scoreboard the artist drew in or if it's based on the scoreboard of the Indians home park. I believe they were fully moved out of old League Park by this time so it can't be that scoreboard. Technically this is his "sunset card" as well as he only had this and a card in the 1952 set issued by Topps. Most of the rest of his cards are oddball issues from 1954.

Fridley's career consisted of parts of 14 seasons in the minor leagues at various levels. He spent 7 seasons in AAA ball with Houston, Denver, Richmond (VA) and Indianapolis. He also played with Nashville, where he won the 1958 Southern League batting title, San Antonio and Dallas at the Double-A level and low level affiliates Dayton and Spartanburg. 

It's kind of hard to read the career summary with the autograph on top of it but it covers most of his time in the minors. He only played parts of three seasons in the majors. Debuting with Cleveland in 1952, he appeared in 62 games with a .251 avg, 4 HR and 31 RBI. He was the first rookie in major league history to have a 6-for-6 game. Just before the 1953 season, he was selected off waivers by the Browns but never appeared in a game for them. When the Browns moved to Baltimore following that season, Fridley was in the organization and made it into 85 games for the newly christened Orioles with a .246/.311/.371 slash line.

In December 1954, Fridley was part of a package of PTBNLs that Baltimore sent to the Yankees to complete a massive trade prior to Thanksgiving. He never appeared for the Yankees. He bounced around from organization to organization, never appearing in a major league game between 1955-1957 before finishing up his major league career in a 5-game stint with the Reds in 1958.

Enjoy Opening Day everyone!