Someone opening a pack of baseball cards in 1952 would have been quite happy to find card #106 between folds of wax paper wrapping. It pictured Washington Senators first baseman Mickey Vernon. The former batting champion was the best player on his team, racking up respectable totals in home runs and doubles.
Those looking for upper tier on-field performance couldn’t expect much better than this card given Topps’ large checklist and a bevy of marginal talent filling out much of the set. In terms of absolute number of hits Vernon finished his career with the third highest total of players depicted in the set. Only Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn logged higher totals.
Vernon missed multiple seasons near his physical peak, suppressing a career hit total that could have reached 3,000. There’s something about that big, round number that grants a ballplayer membership in the sport’s collective memory.
As it stands, Vernon finished his career with 2,495 hits. This was good for 39th all-time at the time of his retirement, a ranking that indicates a strong bat but not one that left a lasting impression on the sport. Baseball Reference lists ’90s hit machine Mark Grace as the most similar player to Vernon in baseball history, a comparison that looks very good. Nearly identical lifetime hit, HR, and 2B totals match up very well for the two first basemen. Both players were favorites of their respective team fanbases before fading a bit to the background after missing milestone career numbers.
I Have No Clue What Is Happening Here
The ’52 Topps Mickey Vernon card is pretty straight forward: Here is a mugshot of a smiling ballplayer against a solid color background. His 1956 card is another matter. That year Topps included action shots in addition to closeup portraits. There is some sort of play happening with a lot of flying dust and not a lot of context. Is he stepping on first to complete the pick-off of a runner that took too big of a lead? Is he the runner, sliding headfirst into a base? Is he the umpire?
