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Robert Charles Speake
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6'1" Weight: 178
Born: August 22, 1930, Springfield, MO
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent, November 8, 1948
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1955, 1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1959
Over the course of four big league seasons, Bob Speake appeared in 305 games for the Cubs and Giants, hitting .223 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs. He saw the most action in 1957 when he appeared in 129 games for the Cubs and was the team's primary center fielder.
In April 1958, he was traded to the Giants for fan favorite Bobby Thomson (#257).
Building the Set
June 20, 1992 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #105
This is one of 11 cards (and the 7th I've covered on this blog) that my Dad and I bought in June 1992 at the Ocean City baseball card show held on the boardwalk at the Music Pier. We paid $60 for the lot of 11 cards, which at the time was most likely a steal. Chronologically, I have this listed as the 105th card we added to the set. Like the other cards in this lot, this card is gorgeous with four sharp corners. I'd love to get into my time machine and buy whatever other 1956 Topps cards this dealer had for sale as they're some of the finest cards in our set.
The Card
This is Speake's rookie card and he'd go on to appear in Topps' flagship sets in 1957, 1958 and 1959.
When I first read the middle panel, I had no idea what the "K.O.M." was. Turns out it's the D-Level Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League and Speake played there in 1949 with the Carthage Cubs. D-Level would have been the equivalent of the current Rookie League and Speake's 14 home runs lead the league that season.1956 Season
Speake is the second player in the set (so far) to have not appeared in the Majors in 1956, along with Nelson Burbrink (#27). Speake played in 158 games for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, hitting an even .300 with 25 home runs and 111 RBIs. It's odd that his successful season didn't at least earn him a late season promotion, especially since the 1956 Cubs were destined to finish 8th in the National League with a record of 60-94. The Cubs relied on Walt Moryn, Pete Whisenant, Monte Irvin (#194) and Jim King (#74) in the outfield and apparently they didn't need Speake.
With the Angels, Speake was a teammate of Steve Bilko in 1956 as Bilko was electrifying the minor leagues with his amazing season. Bilko led the PCL in eight offensive categories, hitting .360 with 55 home runs and 164 RBIs. The Angels ran away with the PCL title with a record of 107-61, and perhaps the Angels' historic run was one of the reasons why Speake didn't get a promotion to the Cubs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1956 Topps #66
First Topps Card: 1956 Topps #66
Last Topps Card: 1959 Topps #526
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BSP
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1956-1959
8 - Speake non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/11/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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: #57 "Duke" Maas - Detroit Tigers / #81 Wally Westlake - Philadelphia Phillies
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