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James Lamar Rhodes
New York Giants
Outfield
Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6'0" Weight: 178
Born: May 13, 1927, Mathews, AL
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1952-1957; San Francisco Giants 1959
Died: June 17, 2009, Las Vegas, NV (age 82)
Never quite a regular in the Giants line-up, "Dusty" Rhodes played in parts of seven seasons with the Giants, compiling a lifetime batting average of .253. He was manager Leo Durocher's top choice as a pinch-hitter between 1952 and 1955. He won a World Series ring with the Giants in 1954, hitting a torrid .667 (4 for 6) with two home runs and seven RBIs against the Indians. His pinch-hit three-run home run off Bob Lemon (#255) in the 10th inning of Game 1 won the game for the Giants. In Game 2, he collected a key pinch-hit in the fifth to tie the game off Early Wynn (#187) and the Giants took the lead shortly thereafter. In Game 3, he pinch-hit again - and for the third time for future Hall of Famer Monte Irvin (#194) - getting another clutch hit and driving in a pair of runs. The Giants completed the sweep of the Indians in Game 4.
Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #162
This was one of ten cards I purchased for our 1956 Topps set from the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem. This card cost me $4, and I wrote about Season Ticket back in March in my post for the Rudy Minarcin (#36) card.
The Card
He's one of 25 players in the set with a nickname in quotes on the front of his card. I had always been under the impression that Rhodes was a star or at least a semi-star, given his assignment of the "hero number" of #50 in this set. Turns out, Topps wouldn't get into the habit of assigning hero numbers (cards ending in 10, 50 or 100) for a few more years. Then again, Topps gave Rhodes the coveted #1 card in its 1955 set, so maybe the #50 assignment was due to the lingering joy Rhodes had brought to New York Giants fans following the 1954 World Series win.
His 1954 World Series heroics are insensitively celebrated in the final panel on the back of the card.
1956 Season
Rhodes appeared in a career high 111 games in 1956, hitting .217 (53 for 244) with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. 61 of those 111 games were starts in either left field (59 games) or right field (2). Center field at the time was locked down by Willie Mays (#130). His SABR biography notes he didn't get along with new manager Bill Rigney, who replaced Durocher following the 1955 season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Topps #170
First Topps Card: 1954 Topps #170
Last Topps Card: 1957 Topps #61
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DR
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1954-1957
I find it fascinating that Topps created a 1959 Topps card for Rhodes in 2008 so that they could include his card in the Real One Autographs insert set. Rhodes did not appear in the actual 1959 Topps set, with his final card as an active player appearing in the 1957 Topps set.
45 - Rhodes non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/15/19.
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: #36 Rudy Minarcin - Cincinnati Redlegs / #84 "Babe" Birrer - Detroit Tigers
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