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John William McCall
New York Giants
Pitcher
Born: July 18, 1925, San Francisco, CA
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1948-1949; Pittsburgh Pirates 1950; New York Giants 1954-1957
Died: February 5, 2015, Tucson, AZ (age 89)
Windy McCall was one of the Giants' primary lefty releivers in the mid-1950s, appearing in 121 games for the club between 1954 and 1956 and compiling a 3.55 ERA over 233 1/3 innings pitched. a native of San Francisco, his Major League career ended in 1957, the season before the Giants moved west from New York. Although he didn't appear in the World Series, he won a ring in 1954 when the Giants swept the Indians in four games. His SABR biography (linked below) tells the story of how Ted Williams gave him his nickname while McCall was in spring training with the Red Sox in 1948.
McCall served with the Marines during World War II, serving time at both Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the Pacific theater.
Building the Set
December 25, 2004 from San Diego, CA - Card #255
This is the third of six cards my Dad gave me for Christmas 2004, and I've already covered the cards for Andy Carey (#12) and Bob Kennedy (#38). I have no record of how much my Dad paid for the six cards, ordered from Kit Young's Cards in San Diego. It couldn't have been much as all six cards purchased would have been considered commons.
The Card
McCall is one of 25 players in the 1956 Topps set to have a nickname in quotes on the front of his card. The full list is as follows:
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1956 Season
At 30 years old, McCall was one of two lefty relievers used by the Giants in 1956 along with Dick Littlefield. He appeared in 46 games with 4 spot starts, going 3-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 77 1/3 innings. The 1956 Giants finished in 6th place in the National League with a record of 67-87 under new manager Bill Rigney.
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #42
First Topps Card: 1955 Topps #42
Last Topps Card: 1957 Topps #291
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-WM
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1955-1957
14 - McCall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/24/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
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Order Collected: #38 Bob Kennedy - Chicago White Sox / #65 Johnny O'Brien - Pittsburgh Pirates
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