#326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox

Clifford Johnson
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  200
Born:  December 27, 1922, Stone Mountain, GA
Acquired:  Purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the St. Hyacinthe Saints (Canadian Provincial League) for $6,500, August 31, 1951
Major League Teams:  Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords 1940; Kansas City Monarchs 1941-42, 1946-48; Chicago White Sox 1953, 1955-56; Baltimore Orioles 1956-58

Died:  November 28, 2004, Kansas City, MO (age 81)

Connie Johnson spent 17 seasons pitching professionally throughout North America, with his career beginning as an impressive 17-year-old with the minor league Atlanta Black Crackers and the Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords.  Johnson was named to the East-West All-Star Game as a member of the Crawfords in 1940, the youngest player to earn that distinction.  With Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith, Johnson helped lead the Kansas City Monarchs to back-to-back pennants in 1941 and 1942, before missing three full seasons while in military service during World War II.  He'd return to baseball in 1946, pitching three more seasons with the Monarchs.  Johnson made his American League debut with the White Sox in 1953, and his best seasons in that league came in 1956 and 1957 with the White Sox and Orioles.

Johnson was a combined 9-11 with a 3.44 ERA in 31 games in 1956, throwing nine complete games and a pair of shutouts.  He was 14-11 in 1957 with the Orioles, with a 3.20 ERA and a career-high 177 strikeouts.  Johnson would spend parts of two seasons with the Orioles' top farm team in Vancouver and he'd finish his career after pitching three games with the Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League in 1961.  During most of his offseasons, Johnson continued to pitch in the Panamanian and Cuban Leagues.  In the American League, Johnson was 60-50 in 176 games, including 127 starts.  He threw 51 complete games, nine shutouts and struck out 676 in 974 2/3 innings.

December 25, 2007

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #340

I recently shared this full story with the Rocky Bridges (#324) post earlier this month, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here.  The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.  

This Johnson card was one of the final 29.  It was one of the commons included in a memorable haul that included the cards of Pee Wee Reese (#260), Roberto Clemente (#33), Whitey Ford (#240) and a spotless checklist card for the 1st and 3rd Series.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
Despite having already pitched professionally for 15 years, this is Johnson's rookie card.  The cartoon panels on the back of the card highlight his promotion to the White Sox in 1955, his success in the Canadian Provincial League and his consistently low ERA.  This is the final White Sox card in the 1956 Topps set.

1956 Season

Johnson began the season with the White Sox, and control problems led to an early season slump.  In five games with the White Sox, including a pair of starts, he was 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA, six strikeouts and seven walks in 12 1/3 innings pitched.  On May 21st, he was dealt with Mike Fornieles, George Kell (#195) and Bob Neiman (#267) to the Orioles for Dave Philley (#222) and Jim Wilson (#171).  Johnson turned his season around in Baltimore, going 9-10 with a 3.43 ERA in 26 games, all but one of those games as a starting pitcher.  He regained his control, striking out 130 and walking 62 in 183 2/3 innings pitched.  He threw a six-hit, 11 strikeout shutout against the Nationals on August 14th. 

1957 Topps #43

1958 Topps #266

1959 Topps #21

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #326
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #21

14 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/21/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #325 Don Liddle - New York Giants / #327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs / #327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals

#325 Don Liddle - New York Giants

Donald Eugene Liddle
New York Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  165
Born:  May 15, 1925, Mount Carmel, IL
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Milwaukee Braves 1953; New York Giants 1954-56; St. Louis Cardinals 1956

Died:  June 5, 2000, Mount Carmel, IL (age 75)

Don Liddle pitched in four big league seasons, appearing in 117 games, but he was on the mound for one of the most historic moments in baseball history.  Originally signed by the Braves, Liddle was a swingman for the club in his rookie season of 1953, pitching to a 7-6 record and a 3.08 ERA in 31 games and 15 starts.  He was part of a blockbuster six-player deal with the Giants before the start of the 1954 season, and he'd have his best season that year with New York.  Liddle was 9-4 with a 3.06 ERA during the regular season, and when the Giants won the National League pennant, he'd make two memorable appearances in the World Series against the Indians.  Liddle was called upon in the eighth inning of Game 1 to face Vic Wertz (#300) with game tied 2-2.  Wertz launched a ball to deep center, artfully and memorably tracked down by Willie Mays (#130) with an overhead, back-to-the-field catch.  Liddle would start and win the decisive Game 4 agains the Indians, giving the Giants the World Championship.

He'd only pitch two more seasons int he majors, and was traded to Cardinals mid-way through the 1956 season.  Liddle was 28-18 lifetime, with a 3.75 ERA and one memorable pitch thrown during the 1954 World Series.

Building the Set

December 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #222
I went nuts and bought 16 cards for our 1956 Topps set on this day at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show in Raleigh.  My records show the 16 cards set me back $55 which I would have considered to be a small fortune back then.  I hadn't yet moved back north yet, so I was still living in Raleigh at this time planning for my eventual escape.  I would have provided my Dad with an updated checklist following this show as he was back in New Jersey.

The Card / Giants Team Set
Liddle appears in two Topps flagship sets, with both of his cards using the same photo.  He returned to Topps in 1956 after only appearing in the Bowman set in 1955.  I'm not sure about Topps' assertion on the back that Liddle "is one of the best control pitchers in baseball."  He walked a ton of batters and finished his career with 203 walks, compared to 198 strikeouts.  I was also puzzled by how the cartoonist represented the Cardinals in the final cartoon panel.  The Braves and Pirates are represented by the stereotypes of the day, but the "Cards" are represented by a guy in a top hat holding a deck of cards?

1956 Season

Liddle started the season in the Giants' bullpen and had his first start on May 16th, a complete game victory over the Cubs.  On June 14th, Liddle, Al Dark (#148), Ray Katt, Whitey Lockman (#205) and cash were traded to the Cardinals for Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarni (#247) and Red Schoendienst (#165), along with two players to be named later.  Liddle struggled with the Cardinals.  In 14 games, including a pair of starts, he was 1-2 with an 8.39 ERA in 24 2/3 innings pitched.  His final big league appearance came against the Dodgers on September 19th in a 17-2 blow-out loss.  Liddle allowed a home run to Don Demeter and an RBI-double to Randy Jackson (#223) before striking out Bob Aspromonte in his last appearance on a big league mound.

1953 Johnston Cookies Milwaukee Braves #9

1954 Topps #225

1955 Bowman #146

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #225
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1954, 1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #225

15 - Liddle non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/15/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs / #326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox

Order Collected: #302 Eddie Robinson - New York Yankees / #292 Luis Aparicio - Chicago White Sox

#324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs

Everett Lamar Bridges
Cincinnati Redlegs
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'8"  Weight:  170
Born:  August 7, 1927, Refugio, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1951-52; Cincinnati Redlegs 1953-57; Washington Senators 1957-58; Detroit Tigers 1959-60; Cleveland Indians 1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961

Died:  January 28, 2015, Coeur d'Alene, ID (age 87)

The popular and at times comedic Rocky Bridges played in parts of 11 major league seasons with seven different teams.  Drafted by the Dodgers, there was no hope of Bridges cracking the middle infield for the club as it was already covered by Pee Wee Reese (#260) and Jackie Robinson (#30).  He was dealt to the Redlegs as part of big, four-team trade in February 1953.  Bridges was Cincinnati's everyday second baseman in 1953, but he'd go back to a bench role with the club for the next three seasons.  Claimed off waivers by the Senators in May 1957, Bridges would have the best span of his career between 1957 and 1959.  He was an All-Star in 1958, finishing the season with a .263 average and a career-best five home runs.  Bridges was on the move frequently in the final two years of his career, playing for four different teams.  In 919 games, he collected 562 hits and batted .247 with 16 home runs and 187 RBIs.

At the end of his career, Bridges was quoted as saying, "I've had more numbers on my back than a bingo board."  He'd coach with the Angels (1962-63, 1968-71) and Giants (1985), and when he wasn't coaching at the major league level, he was a minor league manager in the Angels, Giants, Padres and Pirates organizations through the 1989 season.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #339
The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.

December 24, 2007 - Doug and Dad

Our son Doug had just turned one, and on Christmas morning 2007, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our families to our house to celebrate the day.  I've had a few rough Christmases, but this was one of the worst as my Dad ended up in the hospital that day and it was the beginning of his health struggles that would continue until he passed away in late 2011.  He was discharged from the hospital three days later, and it was only then we celebrated Christmas together, on December 28th, and I opened the package containing the last of the cards needed for our 1956 Topps set.

Dad was understandably distraught that Christmas, but not solely because of his own health issues.  Because of his unselfish nature, he was worried that he had ruined Christmas for everyone since we had spent the holidays in a hospital.  He was also upset that his surprise package containing those last 29 baseball cards sat in the back seat of his car for three days until he recovered enough to come home.  I was just happy to have him out of the hospital, but I do remember feeling confused and somewhat hopeless as we weren't quite sure yet what was wrong with him.

I don't have any pictures from December 28th, which is unusual for me.  I'm assuming I was just happy that Dad was out of the hospital and taking pictures never crossed my mind.  Among the "big" cards in that final haul were the cards of Roberto Clemente (#33), Monte Irvin (#194), Whitey Ford (#240), Pee Wee Reese (#260) and the Checklist covering Series 1 and 3.

The Card / Redlegs Team Set
The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book said Bridges "looked like a ballplayer. In fact, he may have looked more like a ballplayer than any other ballplayer who ever lived."  

That's quite an action shot on the card of Bridges mid-air, about to dive into second base.  This card marks Bridges' return to Topps after being exclusive to Bowman between 1953 and 1955.  He's wearing a Dodgers' road jersey here, colored red, as the Redlegs' uniforms did not have any piping around the color and the Dodgers' did.

1956 Season

In 71 games with the Redlegs, Bridges batted .211 (4 for 19) with nary an extra-base hit and not a single RBI.  Manager Birdie Tebbetts didn't pencil Bridges' name into the starting line-up once all season.  His contribution to the team was as a defensive replacement at each infield position, but most frequently filling in for third baseman Ray Jablonski (#86).  Bridges only pinch-hit twice all year, and was used as a pinch-runner 21 times.  It's amazing Topps included him in this set, as those numbers would definitely see him omitted from the 2025 Topps set. 

1952 Topps #239

1957 Topps #294

1958 Topps #274

1959 Topps #318

1961 Topps #508

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #239
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1952, 1956-61
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2010 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-RB

63 - Bridges non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/7/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #323 Willard Schmidt - St. Louis Cardinals / #325 Don Liddle - New York Giants

Order Collected: #311  Hal Naragon - Cleveland Indians / #326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox

#323 Willard Schmidt - St. Louis Cardinals

Willard Raymond Schmidt
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  187
Born:  May 29, 1928, Hays, KS
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1952-53, 1955-57; Cincinnati Redlegs 1958; Cincinnati Reds 1959

Died:  March 22, 2007, Newcastle, OK (age 78)

Willard Schmidt spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, mostly as a Cardinals' reliever.  After brief stints with the club in 1952 and 1953, and an entire season back in the minors in 1954, Schmidt was promoted to the Cardinals in July 1955 and he'd soon settle in as the club's fifth starter.  The 20 games in which he appeared with the Cardinals in the second half of the 1955 season was to be the best stretch of his career, as he went 7-6 with a 2.78 ERA, making 15 starts and throwing eight complete games, including one shutout.  He had another solid season with the Cardinals in 1956, going 6-8 with a 3.84 ERA while throwing a career-high 147 2/3 innings.

On December 5, 1957, Schmidt, Marty Kutyna and Ted Wieand were traded to the Redlegs in exchange for Curt Flood and Joe Taylor.  In 1959, his final season in the majors, Schmidt earned the distinction of being hit by a pitch twice in the same inning in a game against the Braves.  On April 26, 1959, Schmidt was hit by Lew Burdette (#219) at the start of the bottom of the third, and then by Bob Rush (#214) at the end of the frame.  In the top of the fourth, now on the mound, Schmidt was drilled by a line drive off the bat of Johnny Logan (#136) and had to leave the game.  He'd spend three more seasons in the minor leagues before retiring in 1962.  In 194 games, including 55 starts, Schmidt was 31-29 with a 3.93 ERA in 586 1/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #43
This Schmidt card was one of the Original 44 and the last time I told the full story of the Original 44 was a year ago with the Walker Cooper (#273) post, so I'll repeat it again here.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three.   This is the ninth of ten cards to come from the final series four, and I'll likely copy and paste this entry one last time when I get to the card for Mickey McDermott (#340).

June 1983 - Ocean City Baseball Card Show

Technically speaking, my Dad and I actually began collecting the set in the summer of 1987, but this card (along with the other Original 44) first entered my collection three or four years before that.

I think it was either the summer of 1983 or 1984 when a shoebox of vintage baseball cards, football cards and a few non-sports cards arrived into my world.  The box contained about a hundred cards dating between 1950 and 1956, and for the most part, they were all in excellent shape.  A friend of the family was in the process of cleaning up and moving into her new house when she found the old shoebox and she wondered if the only kid she knew who collected baseball cards (me) would be interested in looking through it – maybe even taking the box off her hands.

She dropped the box off to my parents and asked them to have me look through the box and take what I was interested in. Turns out, I was interested in everything.  Up to that point, the oldest cards in my collection were cards from the early '70s I had obtained through trades or cards that my Dad had picked up for me at yard sales or small baseball card shows.  (My Dad had given me a few dog-earred and rough Topps cards – Juan Pizzaro and Jim Busby – a few years prior, and I completely forget how or why he had purchased these cards for me.)

My parents asked me to pick out a few cards from the box, and then we’d return the rest to the family friend.  Problem was, I wanted them all.  I really wanted them all.  I diligently and meticulously went through one of my price guides and determined the “value” of the treasure chest. I probably used my Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide No. 4, edited by Dr. James Beckett, and I had no way to value the football or non-sports cards.  My memory is fuzzy, and I can't find the original tally, but I think I came up with the box being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 to $400, which I knew my parents definitely did not have in their discretionary spending budget.  But they could tell how much I wanted those cards, as I lovingly studied each and every one and handled each as if it were some long-lost artifact.

I don’t know the exact details, but I believe my Dad went back to the friend and told her we’d take the whole box, but only if she let him give her some money for it.  I believe she was genuinely shocked that the box of old cardboard pictures had some value, and that someone was willing to give her cash for it.  My Dad shared the list I had created showing the “book value” of the cards and he mentioned how it was going to be close to impossible to get me to pick and choose which ones I wanted.  When all was said and done, the family friend, who had absolutely no intention of making money on this endeavor, walked away with (I think) something in the neighborhood of $100 for the whole lot.

Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

And so a few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few ’56 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Schmidt's rookie card can be found in the 1953 Topps set, and this marks his first appearance back in the flagship set after a two-year absence.  The back of the card highlights his minor league accomplishments and notes his "strikeout power."  In parts of 10 minor league seasons, Schmidt struck out 1,194 batters in 1,615 innings pitched.

1956 Season

This was Schmidt's first full season without any time in the minor leagues.  He was the fifth most-used starter by the Cardinals, behind Vinegar Bend Mizell (#193), Tom Poholsky (#196), Murry Dickson (#211) and Herm Wehmeier (#78) in the rotation.  Schmidt threw a pair of complete games and earned a save with three innings of shutout relief on July 4th.

Phillies Connection
Schmidt spent part of the 1962 season with the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, a shared American Association team of the Phillies and Angels at the time.  It was to be his last action in professional baseball.  With the Rangers, Schmidt was 5-9 with a 4.55 ERA in 19 games and 14 starts.

1953 Topps #168

1957 Topps #206

1958 Topps #214

1959 Topps #171

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #168
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1953, 1956-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #168

17 - Schmidt non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/28/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals / #324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs

Order Collected: #313 Gene Stephens - Boston Red Sox / #340 Mickey McDermott - New York Yankees

#322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals

Karl Arthur Olson
Washington Nationals
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  205
Born:  July 6, 1930, Ross, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1951, 1953-55; Washington Nationals 1956 Washington Senators 1957; Detroit Tigers 1957

Died:  December 25, 2010, Reno, NV (age 80)

Karl Olson was a back-up outfielder in parts of six big league seasons with the Red Sox, Nationals/Senators and Tigers.  He appeared in five games for the Red Sox in 1951, and then missed the entire 1952 season while in military service during the Korean War.  Olson appeared in 101 games for the Red Sox in 1954, making 44 starts, and being used primarily as a pinch-hitter or late inning defensive replacement for Ted Williams (#5) in left or Jim Piersall (#143) in right.  Dealt to the Nationals in November 1955 as part of a nine-player deal, he'd have his strongest season in 1956.  Olson was the club's opening day center fielder, and he'd play in a career-high 106 games for the 95-loss Nationals.  Batting .246, Olson collected hit his career bests for both home runs (four) and RBIs (22).

He'd play in just 16 more major league games following the 1956 season, spending most of 1957 playing for the Tigers' farm teams in Charleston and Birmingham.  In 279 games, Olson batted .235 with 25 doubles, six home runs and 50 RBIs.

August 1989 - Trip to Cooperstown

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #89
We went nuts at the Bridgeton Baseball Card Show in August 1989, buying 12 different cards for our 1956 Topps set, all at $1.50 a piece.  That's an impressive haul for $18!

I have no other information on the location of this show, other than it was held in the nearby city of Bridgeton, New Jersey.  What I do have however is the checklist I brought with us to the show.  I believe this is the second full checklist we carried around, having retired the prior version I created in 1988 and posted with the William Harridge (#1) card.

Just looking at this checklist (shown here) brings back fond memories of finding the cards, deciding to make a purchase, negotiating a price and then finding a flat surface so that we could cross off the newest additions.

The Card / Nationals Team Set
We've got a rare, third series trifecta with Olson's card, given Topps had used the exact same photo of Olson on his 1954 and 1955 Topps cards.  They did have to replace the "B" on his hat with a "W" for this 1956 card, however.  Olson looks absolutely massive in the action shot, sliding back into first base after presumably a pick-off throw from the pitcher.  The cartoon panels on the back of the card highlight his minor league success, his .260 average in 1954 and his arrival in Washington during the 1955 offseason.

1956 Season

As summarized above, this was to be Olson's best season.  He made 75 starts in center field (Whitey Herzog had 79) and five starts in left field.  On opening day against the Yankees, Olson connected for a pair of home runs off Don Larsen (#332), but Mickey Mantle (#135) countered with two home runs of his own, leading the Yankees to a 10-4 victory.

1952 Topps #72

1954 Topps #186

1955 Topps #72

1957 Topps #153

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #72
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1952, 1954-57
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-KO

11 - Olson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/23/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #321 Jim Konstanty - New York Yankees / #323 Willard Schmidt - St. Louis Cardinals

Order Collected: #316 Jerry Coleman - New York Yankees / #328 Preston Ward - Pittsburgh Pirates

#321 Jim Konstanty - New York Yankees

Casimir James Konstanty
New York Yankees
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  202
Born:  March 2, 1917, Strykersville, NY
Acquired:  Sent from the Springfield Nationals (Eastern League) to the Cincinnati Reds in an unknown transaction before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1944; Boston Braves 1946; Philadelphia Phillies 1948-54; New York Yankees 1954-56; St. Louis Cardinals 1956

Died:  June 11, 1976, Oneonta, NY (age 59)

To date, Jim Konstanty is the only National League relief pitcher to win MVP honors, a feat he accomplished as the top reliever for the Phillies' 1950 pennant-winning team, the Whiz Kids.  Konstanty pitched briefly for the Reds and Braves in the 1940s, missing the entire 1945 season while serving in the U.S. Navy.  He'd earn a September call-up from the Phillies in 1948, joining the club's bullpen for good in 1949.  His career year came in 1950 when he was 16-7 with a 2.66 ERA while leading the league with 74 relief appearances.  Konstanty threw 152 innings, using a slider and change-up to help him record a league-best 22 saves.  Even though he hadn't started a game in the majors since 1946, Phillies' manager Eddie Sawyer named Konstanty as his starting pitcher for Game 1 of the 1950 World Series against the Yankees.  Konstanty would allow a run over his eight innings of work, but was out-dueled by Vic Raschi in a 1-0 win for the Yankees.  The Phillies would be swept in the series, and not return to the postseason until 1976.

Konstanty received 18 first place votes in the league's MVP voting, with Stan Musial finishing a distant second.  He'd never again repeat the success from that 1950 season, pitching in 3 1/2 more seasons with the Phillies, parts of three seasons with the Yankees and a final 27 games with the Cardinals in 1956.  In 433 big league games, Konstanty was 66-48 with a 3.46 ERA and 76 saves.  He served as a pitching instructor in the Cardinals and Yankees systems throughout the 1960s.

Building the Set
December 25, 1993 from Deptford, NJ - Card #123
On Christmas morning 1993, I unwrapped two cards needed for our 1956 Topps set - this Konstanty card and the Ted Williams (#5) card.  Unfortunately for Konstanty, the addition of the Williams card far out shadowed the addition of his card.  I would have known who Konstanty was, given my interest in the Phillies and their history, and I can vaguely recall not knowing he had ever pitched for the Yankees.  My records show my Dad had secretly purchased this Konstanty card at a Deptford Mall baseball card show held earlier in the fall, paying just $6 for the card.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
This is Konstanty's final appearance in a Topps set during his career, and he'd pop up again in the 1961 Topps set as one of the MVP subset cards.  There's a Yankees teammate making a cameo appearance behind Konstanty, carrying what appears to be a winter coat?  The back of the card highlights his success in 1950 and since joining the Yankees' bullpen.  The final cartoon panel mentions his two important wins down the stretch for the Yankees in 1955, but Konstanty would not appear in the 1955 World Series against the Dodgers.

1956 Season

Konstanty began the season in the Yankees' bullpen, appearing in eight games and pitching to a 4.91 ERA with no record.  The Yankees released him on May 18th, and he'd sign a few weeks later, on June 4th, with the Cardinals.  He'd appear in his final 27 big league games with the Cardinals, going 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in 27 games, and 39 1/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career
It's always seemed like a huge oversight to me that Konstanty was never inducted onto the Phillies' Wall of Fame.  His 1950 MVP campaign alone makes him a more likely candidate than some of the recent inductees, but the Phillies probably realize they wouldn't sell many more tickets on a day featuring a pregame ceremony to honor the bespectacled pitcher from the 1950s.

The Phillies acquired Konstanty before the 1948 season as part of a minor league working agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would soon become the Phillies' Triple-A team.  He appeared in six games, all in relief, in September 1948.  Konstanty was a workhorse coming out of the bullpen for the Phillies between 1949 and the first part of the 1953 season, appearing in 53, 74, 58, 42, 48 and 33 games, in each of those seasons.  1950 was by far his career year, but he'd put up respectable numbers in each season with the Phillies thereafter.  On August 22, 1954, the Yankees selected him off waivers, ending his Phillies career.  Konstanty was 51-39 with a 3.64 ERA and 54 saves in 314 games with the Phillies.

He'd work in the Cardinals' minor league system in the early 1960s, where he's credited with teaching a young Steve Carlton how to master his slider and change-up.  That alone could be worthy of a Phillies Wall of Fame induction.

1950 Bowman #226

1951 Bowman #27

1952 Topps #108

1953 Bowman Black & White #58

1961 Topps #479

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1952, 1956, 1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1987 TCMA 1950 Philadelphia Phillies #3

47 - Konstanty non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/8/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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