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John Thomas O'Brien
Pittsburgh Pirates
Second Base
Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 5'9" Weight: 170
Born: December 11, 1930, South Amboy, NJ
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, March 19, 1953
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1953, 1955-1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1958; Milwaukee Braves 1959
Johnny O'Brien, along with his twin brother Eddie (#116), became the first twins in Major League history to play for the same team in the same game, first accomplishing the feat on May 10, 1953. Johnny was originally a basketball star (with Eddie) at Seattle University and he was the first player in NCAA history to score 1,000 points, despite his less than six-foot stature. As an infielder (and occasional relief pitcher), O'Brien played in parts of six seasons, hitting .250 with four career home runs. He pitched in 25 games between 1956 and 1958, tallying a 1-3 record and a 5.61 ERA over 61 innings.
Following his playing days, O'Brien served as the head of security, sales and promotion at Seattle's Kingdome, the home of the expansion Seattle Mariners.
Building the Set
December 25, 2004 from San Diego, CA - Card #256
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| Dad - Christmas Eve 2004 |
This is the fourth of six cards my Dad gave me for Christmas 2004, and I've already covered the cards for Andy Carey (#12), Bob Kennedy (#38) and "Windy" McCall (#44). I have no record of how much my Dad paid for the six cards, ordered from Kit Young's Cards in San Diego. It couldn't have been much as all six cards purchased would have been considered commons.
The Card
This is O'Brien's fourth Topps card, but only his third solo card as he and his brother Eddie shared a card in the 1954 Topps set. The portrait photo is the same photo used for his 1955 Topps card. That's O'Brien sliding head first back into the base (first base?) in what looks to be a pick-off play.
There's no mention of his twin brother on the back of his card, but it does mention his successful college basketball career. O'Brien hit .299 for the 1955 Pirates, but I don't think he had enough plate appearances (304) to technically qualify for the team lead. Dale Long, who hit .291 had 479 plate appearances and is credited with winning the Pirates batting title that season.
Only after scanning did I realize the back of my card is crooked and miscut.
1956 Season
O'Brien missed all of the 1954 season while in military service and he struggled in his third season in the Majors. Appearing in 73 games, O'Brien hit .173 (18 for 104) and served as back-up infielder to Bill Mazeroski. He actually found more success as a relief pitcher, first appearing in relief on June 27th and pitching a shutout inning while striking out two Reds batters - Frank Robinson and Roy McMillan (#123). O'Brien would go on to make eight relief appearances in 1956, throwing 19 total innings with an impressive ERA of 2.84. His worst outing came during a blow-out loss to the Giants in which he allowed three runs on three hits and four walks.
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First Mainstream Card: 1953 Topps #223
First Topps Card: 1953 Topps #223
Last Topps Card: 1959 Topps #499
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JO
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1953-1956, 1958-1959
17 - O'Brien non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/1/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Also, here's a great article from a 2018 edition of The Seattle Times providing more detail on the O'Brien twins legacy in the state.
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: #44 "Windy" McCall - New York Giants / #80 Gus Triandos - Baltimore Orioles
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