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Henry John Sauer
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Born: March 17, 1917, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before the 1937 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1941-1942, 1945, 1948-1949; Chicago Cubs 1949-1955; St. Louis Cardinals 1956; New York Giants 1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1959
Died: August 24, 2001, Burlingame, CA (age 84)
Hank Sauer spent the decade of the 1940s either serving his country in World War II, playing in the Majors for brief periods of time with the Reds, or playing in the Reds' minor league system trying to earn his way back to the big leagues. He came up for good in 1948 and for the next decade he'd be one of the most feared sluggers in the National League.
A two-time All-Star in 1950 and 1952, Sauer's best season was that 1952 campaign when he won the league's MVP honors. He hit .270 that season with 37 home runs and 121 RBIs. Sauer hit over 25 home runs in 8 different seasons and drove in more than 100 runs three times, falling just short with 99 RBIs in 1949.
A Cubs fan favorite, Sauer was the team's regular left or right fielder during a period of time the Cubs occupied the basement of the National League more often than not.
Building the Set
My Dad and I bought this card at the annual Ocean City baseball card show held within the famous Music Pier during the summer between my sophomore and junior years in college. We spent $41 on six cards for our 1956 Topps set at this show, with the most expensive card being (for some reason) Rip Repulski's card for $9. This Sauer card cost us $5.
From the flyer (right), it looks as if The Eastern Pennsylvania Sports Collectors Club (EPSCC) had abandoned its sponsorship of this baseball card show by 1994. Honestly after they pulled out, the show was never quite the same and the quality definitely suffered. My Dad would have grumbled at the fact that comic books were now encroaching on the floor space of his beloved baseball card show. 1994 and 1995 were strange years for the baseball card hobby as the player's strike that prematurely ended the 1994 season chased a lot of fans away from the hobby, and some of them have never come back.
Johnny Callison was back signing autographs though, and the former Phillies player was ubiquitous at these events back in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The Card
I mentioned in the previous post I always felt like I should know who Bob Turley (#40) was, but I never really knew him until researching his career for this blog. The same can be said for Hank Sauer, who I've always (and still do) confuse with Hank Bauer (#177).
Other than Enos Slaughter (#109), who was born in April 1916, Sauer is the oldest player in the 1956 Topps set. His action shot shows him bumping up against some grated fencing, which might be from Wrigley Field but I'm not entirely certain. Photos I found from that era seem to show an opening in the right field wall, but then I would expect to see some ivy on either side of the fencing and the green wall on Sauer's card is ivy-less.In what is somewhat of a recurring issue, Topps has the wrong birth year (1919) on the back of Sauer's card as he was actually born in 1917.
1956 Season
In 1955, Sauer was reduced to a part-time player, appearing in only 79 games and hitting .211 with 12 home runs. Following the season, he was traded to the Cardinals for Pete Whisenant and $30,000. With St. Louis in 1956, the 39-year-old Sauer was used sparingly, but hit .298 in 75 games.
His SABR biography mentions that he had spent many late nights out on the town with his Cardinals roommate and friend, Stan Musial. Concerned for Sauer's effect on their star player, the Cardinals released him on October 16th and he'd sign with the New York Giants 10 days later.
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First Mainstream Card: 1948 Bowman #45
First Topps Card: 1951 Topps Blue Backs #49
Last Topps Card (as a player): 1959 Topps #404
Most Recent Topps Card (post-career): 1975 Topps #190 (with Bobby Shantz)
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2007 Topps Distinguished Service #DS12
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1951-1959, 1961, 1975
Sauer is also included in the 2013 Topps Archives Cubs set, which was a four-part stadium giveaway at Wrigley Field during the 2013 season.
101 - Sauer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/19/19.
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: #119 Larry Jackson - St. Louis Cardinals / #112 Dee Fondy - Chicago Cubs
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