Who Wins MVP When Everyone Plays Well?
I guess we’ll just award it to a relief pitcher (for the first time in history).
1952 Topps
The Utility Infielder That Beat the 1927 Yankees
George Strickland generated just over 1 win above replacement for the Cleveland Indians. That was the same margin by which the team beat the record of the Yankees’ famous Murderers’ Row team from 1927.
A Manager Depicted “In Action”
This is just an all-around interesting card. While only depicting a manager, the card manages to get one of the only “action” shots in the set. White Sox skipper Paul Richards is shown simultaneously wih his eyes on the field and carrying a conversation with someone in civilian clothes to his right. He was probably multitasking even further, devising new ways to shift players around the diamond.
Suicide Among Professional Athletes
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study covering suicide rates among professional athletes. Former big leaguer Red Stallcup was one of several ballplayers who died in a short span in 1989.
Dale Mitchell Was More Likely to Hit a Double Than Strike Out
Dale Mitchell struck out looking for the final out of Don Larsen’s perfect 1956 World Series game. What is so interesting about this fact is not that Larsen had just made history, but rather that anyone could get a strike past Mitchell.
A Desire to Remain Firmly Grounded
A seemingly unstoppable football and baseball talent was pushed off the field by recurring panic attacks.
1952 Topps #83 Billy Johnson
Cardinals third baseman Billy Johnson wasn’t going to make it to the big leagues on name recognition alone: He has one of the most generic sounding names in the sport.