In Washington, where they have learned to make excuses, they will tell you that Eddie Yost is far over the hill, and that Rocky Bridges doesn’t have the range to play short. But to get them Detroit had only to part with such as Jim Delsing and Ron Samford, two baseball Marco Polos who had demonstrated their inadequacies in several major-league (and minor-league) ports. If the Tigers acquired two has-beens, the price was only a couple of never-wases.
Mann, Jack. (1959, April 7). Everyone Wants to Beat Casey’s Yankees-But What With? Newsday.
Never was. That was the assessment of Jim Delsing, the Washington Senators’ newest outfielder after having been acquired in a six man December 1958 trade with Detroit. While he logged more time with the Tigers (417 games) than any other club, you can’t really call him a longstanding member of any particular team. He suited up for the Tigers, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Kansas City A’s, and two stints with the Chicago White Sox. Topps followed up the ’58 trade by depicting Delsing with Washington in the 1959 set, though despite the evidence provided by the photographer, the well-traveled outfielder never played a game for the team. Batting .094 in the previous season will do that to you.
Players with little name recognition and a lifetime of performing replacement duties tend to be forgotten. Not this one. For starters, his bouncing around with so many clubs led many a local sportswriter to spend a few words on his presence. For that he became a bit wider known than he otherwise would. A 1968 column from sportswriter Stan Isaacs invited readers to submit their Fabulous Fifties “Most Mediocre” lineup. Delsing was named by popular acclaim to the American League starting lineup.
His baseball reputation received further life from his association with the St. Louis Browns’ most famous game: The contest in which 3’7″ Eddie Gaedel drew a walk on four consecutive pitches. Gaedel, who wore the number ⅛ on his back, was duly replaced by the 5’10” Delsing wearing the full number 18.
Despite being described as a “mediocre” in more than one newspaper, Delsing still ranks #260 out of 407 players appearing in the 1952 Topps checklist. That’s not too bad and certainly better than what would be expected given the commentary accompanying his career. A glance at the stats show a player that was marginally below average but perfectly serviceable with many teams of the era. He wasn’t so much foisted upon a half dozen clubs so much as having been requested to join their lineups.
Delsing’s family involvement with sports didn’t end there. His grandson is Taylor Twellman, an MLS MVP and scoring champion who played out his career with the New England Revolution.
1952 Topps Card #271
Delsing is shown as a part of the St. Louis Browns roster in the fifth series of the ’52 Topps set, cards that were issued towards the end of the season. Near the time of the card’s release he was traded to Detroit in an eight-player deal.
One of the things that catches my eye with this card is the bright green underside of Delsing’s baseball cap. I don’t know when green became the dominant color this part of ballcaps, but its presence on this card and a few others attests to having already been well-established by this point.
A quick programming note: With the addition of Browns outfielder Jim Delsing to my collection I find myself 158 cards away from completing the 1952 Topps set. Exactly half of those remaining names are from the difficult sixth series, implying that from here on out any new additions have a 50/50 shot at being a high number. Expect the pace of acquisition to begin slowing as these toughies begin to constitute a larger portion of my want list.
