#301 Marv Grissom - New York Giants

Marvin Edward Grissom
New York Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  190
Born:  March 31, 1918, Los Molinas, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1941 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1946; Detroit Tigers 1949; Chicago White Sox 1942; Boston Red Sox 1953; New York Giants 1953-57; San Francisco Giants 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959

Died:  September 19, 2005, Red Bluff, CA (age 87)

Marv Grissom's pitching career took a circuitous route starting with the Giants in 1946, pitching for three different teams between 1949 and 1953, and finally finding success back with the Giants beginning in 1953.  Grissom's professional pitching career began in 1941 and he'd miss four full seasons while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  He made his debut with the Giants in 1946 as a 28-year-old rookie, appearing in four games.  Mostly toiling in the minors between 1947 and 1951, Grissom's only big league action in those years came in 1949 when he appeared in 27 games for the Tigers.  After stops with the White Sox and Red Sox, he was claimed off waivers by the Giants in July 1953 and he'd soon enjoy the best years of his career.  Grissom was an All-Star in 1954, winning a career-high 10 games in 56 relief appearances.  His 17 saves ranked third in the league as the Giants won the National League pennant.

Grissom pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series against the Indians, and he was the pitcher who surrendered the fly ball off the bat of Vic Wertz (#300) to Willie Mays (#130) in center field, forever immortalized as The Catch.  Grissom was the winning pitcher when the Giants prevailed in 10 innings, and he'd not pitch again in the series.  He was a key member of the Giants' bullpen for three more seasons, making 55 and 51 appearances, respectably in 1957 and 1958.  His final big league action, at the age of 41, came in 1959 when he pitched in three games for the Cardinals.  Grissom was 47-45 lifetime with a 3.41 ERA in 356 games pitched.  He recorded 57 career saves.  Following his playing days, Grissom was a long-time pitching coach, spending time with the Angels (1961-66, 1969, 1977-78), White Sox (1967-68), Twins (1970-71) and Cubs (1975-76).

September 15, 2007

Building the Set
September 19, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #303
Our first son Doug was born in December 2006, and this happy event led directly to my Dad visiting us on a more regular basis.  Dad was living by himself at this point in Mays Landing, New Jersey and he didn't enjoy the 40 minute drive north to our house.  Among all the very positive memories I have of my Dad, one of my few negative memories is the fact he absolutely seemed to loathe driving and that loathing increased exponentially if there was traffic or if it were dark.  But he made the trips anyway, sometimes staying no more than an hour, because he was so incredibly anxious and excited to spend time with his grandson.

By the time his second grandson (Ben) was born in April 2010, my Dad's health had started to fail and whatever visits we had were pre-arranged or consisted of us visiting him.  Which is why these visits during Doug's infancy and first few years are so special to me.  My Dad would show up usually unannounced, ecstatic to see Doug, there would be some small talk and we'd complain about the Phillies, and then he'd leave.  But on his way out, he'd always say he'd see us again in a few days and I'd look forward to these visits.

This background is needed to better explain how this Grissom card came into our set.  In 2007, My Dad's days mostly consisted of an occasional round of golf, calls and visits to his kids - my sister and me, watching cable news, an afternoon nap and scouring eBay.  Most (but not all) of his eBay purchases benefitted me in the form of 1956 Topps cards we needed for our set.  He'd show up at our house for a visit with Doug and nonchalantly hand me one of his recent purchases.  He brought this Grissom card, by itself, on September 19, 2007.

Throughout 2007, I suspect he had a backlog of purchased 1956 Topps cards piled up on his desk at his house, and he'd grab one or two to deliver to me as he was heading out the door to make the 40 minute drive to visit Doug.

The Card / Giants Team Set
Grissom's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set, and this is his first Topps card.  The cartoons on the back of the card highlight his successful role on the 1954 Giants team and his journeyman status before finding a home in New York in 1953.

1956 Season

His manager Bill Rigney called Grissom "the best relief pitcher in the league," and Grissom was used 43 times throughout the 1956 season, making a pair of spot starts.  He was 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA in 80 2/3 innings pitched.  Sharing "closer" duties with Hoyt Wilhelm (#307) and Windy McCall (#44), Grissom recorded seven saves.

1955 Bowman #123

1957 Topps #216

1958 Topps #399

1959 Topps #243

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #123
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #243

24 - Grissom non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/26/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #300 Vic Wertz - Cleveland Indians / #302 Eddie Robinson - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #319 Jack Crimian - Kansas City Athletics / #315 Milt Bolling - Boston Red Sox

#300 Vic Wertz - Cleveland Indians

Victor Woodrow Wertz
Cleveland Indians
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  186
Born:  February 9, 1925, York, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1947-52; St. Louis Browns 1952-53; Baltimore Orioles 1954; Cleveland Indians 1954-58; Boston Red Sox 1959-61; Detroit Tigers 1961-63; Minnesota Twins 1963

Died:  July 7, 1983, Detroit, MI (age 58)

Vic Wertz was a four-time All-Star during a career that spanned 17 seasons in the American League, and his name is most associated as being the victim of "The Catch" made by Willie Mays (#130) in the 1954 World Series.  Wertz had his best seasons with the Tigers in the late 1940s and early 1950s, driving in 133 and 123 runs respectively during the 1949 and 1950 seasons.  He was an All-Star with the Tigers in 1949, 1951 and 1952, and later with the Indians in 1957.  Wertz began the 1954 season with the newly relocated Orioles, and was the right fielder for Baltimore's opening day line-up.  Dealt to the Indians that June 1st, Wertz would help Cleveland win the pennant and advance to the World Series against the Giants.  Mays made his historic catch in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the series, preserving a 2-2 tie.  The Giants would win the game in extra innings and ultimately sweep the Indians in four games.

Wertz spent the final years of his long career as a back-up first baseman and pinch-hitter, last playing for the Twins in 1963.  He drove in over 100 runs in five different seasons, and hit at least 20 home runs in six different seasons.  Wertz retired having played in 1,862 games, collecting 1,692 hits and batting .277 with 266 home runs and 1,178 RBIs.

Building the Set
September 25, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #269
This was a late edition to our set and one of 11 cards we purchased at the 92nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington.  My records show we paid $5 for this card, which is surprising given I'd consider Wertz at least a semi-star. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington at the time or the occasional mall baseball card show.

My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location.  Our next show together was a few months later in December, also in Ft. Washington.  Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set after that December show.

The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house, so we had a pretty good excuse not to be purchasing baseball cards at the time.  Amazingly enough, while composing this post, I remembered our son Doug had once played a game at Vic Wertz Field in Leesport, Pennsylvania.  Here are a few pictures from that weekend in October 2019, showing Doug up at bat and with his grandmother before one of the games, standing in front of Vic Wertz Field.

The Card / Indians Team Set
Exclusive to Bowman sets in 1954 and 1955, this marks Wertz's return to Topps.  Wertz wore #23 with the Indians, so that's likely him sliding back into second base.  I'm assuming the opposing infielder has either been painted out or is hiding behind Wertz's portrait.  The back of the card comments on his return from a bout with polio (see below), and his successful 1954 World Series.  There's no mention of "The Catch" on Wertz's card.

1956 Season

Wertz was the regular first baseman for the Indians, having moved in from the outfield a few years prior.  He had overcome a serious bout of polio which cut short his 1955 season, and resulted in manager Al Lopez frequently resting him during 1956.  Still, Wertz hit a career-high 32 home runs in 136 games, batting .264 with 106 RBIs.  He led the team by far in both power categories, as Al Smith (#105) was second on the club with 71 RBIs and Rocky Colavito was runner-up with 21 home runs.

1949 Bowman #164

1952 Topps #244

1954 Bowman #21

1957 Topps #78

1963 Topps #348

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #164
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1951-53, 1956-63
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #142

88 - Wertz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/21/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #299 Charley Neal - Brooklyn Dodgers / #301 Marv Grissom - New York Giants

Order Collected: #267 Bob Nieman - Chicago White Sox / #18 Dick Donovan - Chicago White Sox

#299 Charley Neal - Brooklyn Dodgers

Charles Lenard Neal
Brooklyn Dodgers
Second Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  165
Born:  January 30, 1931, Longview, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1956-57; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-61; New York Mets 1962-63; Cincinnati Reds 1963

Died:  November 18, 1996, Dallas, TX (age 65)

Charlie Neal's career year in 1959 corresponded with the Dodgers winning the National League pennant and ultimately the World Series.  Making his debut in 1956, Neal served as a back-up second baseman to Jim Gilliam (#280) and started Game 3 of the 1956 World Series against the Yankees and Whitey Ford (#240).  He became the club's regular shortstop in 1957, with future Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese (#260) making the move to third base.  In 1958, and now playing in the Dodgers' new home in Los Angeles, Neal tied Gil Hodges (#145) for the team lead in home runs with 22.  Neal and left fielder Wally Moon (#55) were the two top sluggers for the Dodgers in 1959.  Neal became a World Series hero when he hit two home runs in Game 2 against the White Sox, with the Dodgers eventually won the series in six games.  He batted .370 in that World Series, and for the regular season he batted .287 with a league-leading 11 triples, 19 home runs and 83 RBIs.  Neal won his only Gold Glove following the 1959 season, and he'd also be named to three All-Star teams between 1959 and 1960.

Dealt to the Mets for their inaugural season, Neal was the opening day second baseman for Casey Stengel's expansion team.  He'd bat .260 for the 120-loss Mets in his last full year as a regular.  He'd play one more season in 1963 with the Mets and Reds before retiring.  Neal batted .259 in 970 big league games, collecting 858 hits, 87 home runs and 391 RBIs.

January 28, 2006 - Celebrating Dad's 62nd birthday

Building the Set
December 3, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #275
This was a relatively late edition to our set and one of eight cards we purchased at the 93rd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington.  My notes say we purchased this Neal card for a little over $7.  With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington or the occasional mall baseball card show. 

My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location.  Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set.

The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Bowman beat Topps with Neal's rookie card appearing in their 1955 set.  Topps reprinted this card in their 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.  The action shot on the front looks to be a spring training sliding drill, as the player tagging out Neal is also wearing a Dodgers' hat.  The cartoons on the back of the card summarize Neal taking on the second base job in 1956 and his speed on the basepaths.  He'd steal a career-high 17 bases in 1959, and had 48 stolen bases for his career.

1956 Season

Neal was the opening day second baseman for the Dodgers, with incumbent second baseman Gilliam moving to left field.  With manager Walter Alston (#8) needing more offense out of his line-up, Neal was benched in early May and would make a handful of starts throughout the rest of the season.  Gillliam would end up with the majority of the starts at second, with Jackie Robinson (#30) sliding back over to second base for 22 starts.  Neal batted .287 in 62 games, collecting a pair of home runs and 14 RBIs.

Given the start at second base in Game 3 of the World Series, Neal went 0 for 4 and made an error, leading to an unearned run.  It would be his only postseason action until he redeemed himself in the 1959 World Series.

1955 Bowman #278

1959 Topps #427

1960 Topps #386

1963 Topps #511

1964 Topps #436

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #278
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1956-64
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers #163

74 - Neal non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/13/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #298 Johnny Schmitz - Boston Red Sox / #300 Vic Wertz - Cleveland Indians

Order Collected: #195 George Kell - Chicago White Sox / #303 Jim Dyck - Baltimore Orioles

#298 Johnny Schmitz - Boston Red Sox

John Albert Schmitz
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  November 27, 1920, Wausau, WI

Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1938 season
Major League Teams:   Chicago Cubs 1941-42, 1946-51; Brooklyn Dodgers 1951-52; New York Yankees 1952; Cincinnati Reds 1952; New York Yankees 1953; Washington Senators 1953-55; Boston Red Sox 1956; Baltimore Orioles 1956

Died:  October 1, 2011, Weston, WI (age 90)

Johnny Schmitz appeared in 28 games for the Cubs in 1941 and 1942 before his baseball career was put on hold while he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre of World War II for three years.  Upon his return in 1946, Schmitz had one of his best seasons, going 11-11 for the Cubs and leading the league with 135 strikeouts.  Schmitz made the National League All-Star squad in 1946 and 1948 and was the losing pitcher in the 1948 game when he allowed three runs during his outing.  He pitched in over 200 innings each season between 1946 and 1949.

Schmitz bounced around the majors following his trade from the Cubs in June 1951, playing with the Dodgers, Yankees (twice), Reds, Senators, Red Sox and Orioles.  His last solid season came with the Senators in 1954 when he was 11-8 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 games and 185 1/3 innings pitched.  An excellent fielder throughout his career, Schmitz twice led the league in assists, double plays turned as a pitcher and fielding percentage.  In 13 big league seasons, Schmitz was 93-114 with a 3.55 ERA, 86 complete games and 16 shutouts.

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #85
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 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 / Red Sox Team Set
This is Schmitz's final appearance in a Topps set, and he'd sign reprints of this card for the 2005 Topps Heritage release.  He'd very likely wearing a Senators jersey and hat here, with the Topps' artists doing some quick edits to put him into Red Sox gear.  I believe he's standing inside Yankee Stadium given the rectangular building beyond the outfield scoreboard with the Ballantine Beer advertisement.  The back of the card highlights his journeyman status and his fine control.

1956 Season

On November 8, 1955, Schmitz was traded from Washington with Bob Porterfield (#248), Tom Umphlett and Mickey Vernon (#228) to the Red Sox for Al Curtis, Dick Brodowski (#157), Neil Chrisley, Tex Clevenger and Karl Olson (#322).  Schmitz must not have been one of the key reasons for the Red Sox to pull off the massive nine-player deal, as they sold him to the Orioles on May 14th.  Schmitz appeared in two games for the Red Sox, pitching 4 1/3 innings before the trade.  With the Orioles, he pitched in the final 18 games of his major league career, going 0-3 with a 3.99 ERA.

1949 Bowman #52

1950 Bowman #24

1951 Topps Blue Backs #41

1952 Topps #136

1954 Topps #33

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #52
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1951-52, 1954-56
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #RO-JS

38 - Schmitz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #297 Bob Skinner - Pittsburgh Pirates / #299 Charley Neal - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #296 Andy Seminick - Philadelphia Phillies / #305 Brooks Lawrence - Cincinnati Redlegs

#297 Bob Skinner - Pittsburgh Pirates

Robert Ralph Skinner
Pittsburgh Pirates
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  190
Born:  October 3, 1931, La Jolla, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1954, 1956-1963; Cincinnati Reds 1963-1964; St. Louis Cardinals 1964-1966

As a Manager:  Philadelphia Phillies 1968-1969; San Diego Padres 1977

Bob Skinner spent over 50 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach and scout.  Most of his playing career was spent with the Pirates where he was an All-Star in 1958 and for both games in 1960.  As the regular left fielder for the Pirates, Skinner had his best season in 1958 when he batted .321 with 13 home runs and 70 RBIs, finishing in the top ten in the National League in most major offensive categories and earning MVP votes.  In 1960, Skinner was second on the club with 86 RBIs, behind only Roberto Clemente (#33) for the team lead, helping the Pirates clinch the pennant and eventually win the World Series in seven games over the Yankees.  After a few seasons with the Reds, Skinner ended his playing career as a pinch-hitter and back-up outfielder for the Cardinals.  He had four pinch-hitting appearances in the 1964 World Series, going 2 for 3 as St. Louis prevailed over the Yankees.  In 1,381 career games, Skinner batted .277 with 103 home runs and 531 RBIs.

Skinner began his managerial career in 1967 with the San Diego Padres, then the top minor league affiliate for the Phillies.  He won Minor League Manager of the Year honors after leading the Padres to an 85-63 record and winning the 1967 Pacific Coast League Championship.  On June 16, 1968, Skinner was named as the new manager of the Phillies after Gene Mauch was fired.  Skinner's time as manager of the Phillies would last a little over a year before he'd resign from the position.  Skinner would coach in the majors with the Padres (1970-1973, 1977), Pirates (1974-1976, 1979-1985), Angels (1978) and Braves (1986-1988), and he earned his third World Series ring as the hitting coach for the Pirates in 1979.  He'd work in the Astros organization as a special assignment scout until 2009.  Skinner's son Joel played nine seasons in the majors with the White Sox, Yankees and Indians.  Joel Skinner briefly managed the Indians in the second half of the 2002 season.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set
December 25, 2003 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards) - Card #250
My Dad/Santa brought me nine cards for our set for Christmas in 2003, with all but one of the cards coming from his dealer of choice, Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  The Brooklyn Dodgers team card (#166) was the lone non-Kit Young Cards addition, as that card came from TemDee in Turnersville, New Jersey.  It was a strange mix of commons from Kit Young Cards, with no semi-star or star card to balance out the lot.  We were admittedly in a lull collecting the set, with only 18 cards added during all of 2003 and only six cards added, as Christmas presents, in 2004.

Pictures from the Christmas of 2003 show us opening gifts at my Mom's house on December 26th, which has since become a tradition for us.  So while the official set records indicate these nine cards were added on December 25th, it was most likely a day later I opened the cards while in Millville.

The Card / Pirates Team Set
Skinner's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Topps set, and this card reuses the main head shot photo from that card.  The action shot features an excellent play at the plate, and it would look as if Skinner is out.  But thanks to the magic of the internet, I found the source photo showing the home plate umpire signaling Skinner as safe.  In a play that happened in the first inning of the Pirates-Giants game on April 20, 1954, Skinner slid under the tag of Giants' catcher Ray Katt as the on-deck batter, Jack Shepard, wearing #10, looks on.  It looks as if Topps decided to move Skinner's head in the photo used for the card.

On the back, Topps imagines playing in New Orleans as a non-stop Mardi Gras celebration, complete with a parade and marching band.

1956 Season

Still a few years away from his break-out season of 1958, Skinner spent all of 1955 in the minor leagues and made the Pirates' opening day roster in 1956.  He spent the season learning to play the outfield, and served as a utility player for the club, making starts in left field (21), first base (19) and right field (9).  In 113 games overall, Skinner batted .202 with five home runs and 29 RBIs.

Phillies Career
Skinner's managerial career with the Phillies did not go well, which was somewhat surprising at the time given his success with the Triple-A Padres.  In 1968, Skinner inherited a team from Mauch in fifth place, but only 5 1/2 games out of first place.  The 1968 Phillies finished the season with 86 losses overall and 21 games out of first place.  In 1969, Skinner continued to clash with star Dick Allen.  When Allen skipped a double header in New York on June 24th, he was suspended and missed the next 26 games.  With the Phillies front office seemingly negotiating with Allen behind Skinner's back, the manager abruptly resigned in early August.  The story from the Phillies was that Skinner resigned because the team wouldn't extend his contract beyond the 1969 season, but Skinner maintained the reason for his departure was the constant clashing with Allen.  Third base coach George Myatt managed the team for the remainder of the season.  Skinner was 92-123 overall for the Phillies, in a managerial tenure that lasted a little over one year.

1955 Topps #88

1958 Topps #94

1961 Topps #204

1969 Topps #369

1985 Topps #139

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #88
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1955-1966, 1969, 1973-1974, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Fleer ProCards #503

98 - Skinner non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/1/24.

Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #296 Andy Seminick - Philadelphia Phillies / #298 Johnny Schmitz - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #282 Warren Hacker - Chicago Cubs / #333 Rube Walker - Brooklyn Dodgers

#296 Andy Seminick - Philadelphia Phillies

Andrew Wasal Seminick
Philadelphia Phillies
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  187
Born:  September 12, 1920, Pierce, WV
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1940 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1943-51; Cincinnati Reds 1952; Cincinnati Redlegs 1953-55; Philadelphia Phillies 1955-57

Died:  February 22, 2004, Melbourne, FL (age 83)

A longtime fixture within the Phillies organization, Andy Seminick was the acknowledged clubhouse leader of the 1950 Whiz Kids team that won the National League pennant.  Seminick struggled defensively behind the plate early in his career, but continued to earn playing time because of his bat.  He finished first among catchers for errors five times and for stolen bases allowed four times.  Still, Seminick was a valuable part of the Phillies' line-up through the 1940s and early 1950s, being named as the starting catcher for the National League All-Stars in 1949 and authoring a career year in 1950.  Seminick batted .288 for the Whiz Kids, tying his career highs from the year before in both home runs (24) and RBIs (68).  Despite a broken ankle, he caught all four games of the 1950 World Series, with the Phillies swept by the Yankees in four games.

He was dealt to the Reds in late 1951 in a seven-player deal, with Smoky Burgess (#192) taking over at catcher for the Phillies.  After three full seasons in Cincinnati, Seminick was dealt back to the Phillies with Burgess returning to the Reds.  He'd work within the Phillies organization up through the 1990s as a coach, manager, scout and roving minor league instructor.  In 1,304 career games, Seminick batted .243 with 164 home runs and 556 RBIs.

1983 Philadelphia Phillies Great Players #3

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #84
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 / Phillies Team Set
Seminick was exlcusive to the Bowman sets in 1954 and 1955, and this card marks his return to Topps.  It's also his final appearance in a Topps flagship set.  The back of the card highlights his return to the Phillies in 1955 and his multi-home run inning in 1949 - see below.  And by 1956, Seminick had worked to become one of the best defensive catchers in the league after years as one of the worst.  He led all catchers with a .994 fielding percentage in 1955.

1956 Season

Seminick was nearing the end of his 15-year career, and he appeared in 60 games for the Phillies, batting .199 with seven home runs and 23 RBIs.  He was their opening day catcher for the final time, and he'd start 49 games behind the plate as the back-up to Stan Lopata (#183).  Seminick would retire following the 1956 season, assuming a coaching role with the Phillies, but he'd be activated again in September 1957 due to injuries to the team's catchers.

The Phillies held "Andy Seminick Night" on September 18, 1956 with a ceremony between games of a double header with the Phillies and the Reds.  It was a nice touch by the Phillies to have the ceremony on the night they faced off against Seminick's only other former team.  What's better is the Phillies won both ends of the double header.

Phillies Career
With the exception of his three years in Cincinnati, Seminick was a part of the Phillies organization between the mid-1940s and the mid-1990s.  He was purchased from the Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association in September 1943, making his big league debut with the Phillies on September 14, 1943 as the starting catcher.  Chuck Klein appeared in that game as a pinch-hitter in one of his final big league appearances.  Seminick was the opening day catcher for the Phillies in 1944, 1947 and 1948, and from 1950 to 1951, and one last time in 1956.  He was 0 for 1, and was hit by a pitch in the 1949 All-Star Game, before being replaced by Roy Campanella (#101).  Seminick was the first Phillies player to hit two home runs in an inning on June 2, 1949, a feat since also accomplished by Von Hayes and Trea Turner.

Following his playing days, he was a coach for the Phillies (1957-58, 1967-69) a minor league manager (1959-66, 1970-73) and a long-time scout (1974-mid 1980s).  In the early 1970s, Seminick helped covert Bob Boone from a third baseman to a successful Gold Glove catcher.

1949 Bowman #30

1950 Bowman #121

1951 Bowman #51

1953 Topps #153

1955 Bowman #93

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #30
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1951-53, 1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #153

40 - Seminick non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/21/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #295 Clem Labine - Brooklyn Dodgers / #297 Bob Skinner - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #295 Clem Labine - Brooklyn Dodgers / #298 Johnny Schmitz - Boston Red Sox