Better Late Than Never: A Rookie Card Two Years After His Last At-Bat
Mickey Mantle’s rookie card is not in the 1952 Topps checklist, but Bob Wellman’s is.
Mickey Mantle’s rookie card is not in the 1952 Topps checklist, but Bob Wellman’s is.
Eddie Robinson, a dependable Chicago White Sox first baseman with a terrific eye for the strike zone, appeared in 155 games in the 1952 baseball season. This is remarkable, not because of the durability needed to play every game, but rather because the team was scheduled to play 154 games in their 81-73 season.
A player is told he is too old to play, and then gets replaced by someone the same age. The newcomer proceeds to make the swap look like a genius move.
Baseball and snacking on Cracker Jacks have been inseparable since a pair of songwriters who had never seen the game wrote Take Me Out to the Ballgame 116 years ago. A different sort of Cracker Jack changed Bob Lemon’s career.
Almost by sheer force of will, Topps crammed as many hometown Brooklyn Dodgers as possible into the bubble gum maker’s 1952 set.
Can it get any better than a trash talking catcher? How about a pitching/catching battery that roast batters?
Lots of card collecting stuff happened in the first quarter of 2024. I’m confident that I will not be able to top the latest additions for at least a year.
Three packages arrived from three states in a period of four days. One came from a former AL MVP.
I just landed a card I never thought I would get to see. The rarest card in my collection now hails from one of the most overproduced products of all time.