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Alexander Peter Grammas
St. Louis Cardinals
Shortstop
Born: April 3, 1926, Birmingham, AL
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1949 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1954-1956; Cincinnati Reds 1956-1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959-1962; Chicago Cubs 1962-1963
As a Manager: Pittsburgh Pirates 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1976-1977
Known mainly for his glove, Alex Grammas was a steady National League shortstop for 10 seasons between 1954 and 1963. In 913 games with the Cardinals, Reds and Cubs, he hit .247 and was in the top 3 for fielding percentage among shortstops in 1954, 1955 and 1959.
Following his playing days, Grammas served as a coach or manager between 1965 and 1991 for the Pirates (1965-1969), Reds (1970-1975), Brewers (1976-1977), Reds again (1978), Braves (1979) and Tigers (1980-1991). He was known as one of the best third base coaches in the game for over two decades. One of Sparky Anderson's main lieutenants, Grammas was part of the success of the Big Red Machine in the early 1970s, and the 1984 World Champion Tigers, winning three World Series rings with Anderson.
Building the Set
January 8, 2000 in Raleigh, NC - Card #193
Having survived Y2K, I was back in Raleigh for the new year and I acquired this card for $3 at the Raleigh Sportscard & Memorabilia Show. I bought two other cards that day - Dale Long (#56) and Frank Sullivan (#71). I have no doubt I would have attended this show by myself, as my Dad was still working and back in Millville.
The Card
That's definitely Grammas making the back-handed stab at shortstop, as he wore #4 for the Cardinals during his first stint with the club between 1954 and 1956. Topps is two years off on his birth year, as Grammas was born in 1926 and not 1928 as the back of his card states. Referenced in the middle panel on the back of the card, Grammas was traded by the Reds to the Cardinals for Jack Crimian (#319) and $100,000 on December 2, 1953.
1956 Season
On May 16th, Grammas continued his pattern of bouncing back and forth between the Reds and Cardinals. Originally acquired by the Reds in 1951, he was traded to the Cardinals in 1953, back to the Reds in 1956 and one more time to the Cardinals in 1958. In the 1956 trade, he was sent with Joe Frazier (#141) to the Reds for Chuck Harmon (#308). In 83 games for the two clubs, Grammas hit .243 and drove in 17 runs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Topps #151
First Topps Card: 1954 Topps #151
Last Topps Card (as a player): 1963 Topps #416
First Topps Card (as a manager): 1976 Topps #606
Last Topps Card (as a manager): 1977 Topps #51
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-AGR
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1954-1963, 1973-1974, 1976-1977
As a coach for the Reds, Grammas also appears on Sparky Anderson's card in the 1973 Topps (#296) and 1974 Topps (#326) sets.
62 - Grammas non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/12/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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: #79 Sandy Koufax - Brooklyn Dodgers / #56 Dale Long - Pittsburgh Pirates
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