 |
 |
Charles Klein Stobbs
Washington Nationals
Pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6'1" Weight: 185
Born: July 2, 1929, Wheeling, WV
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1947 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1947-1951; Chicago White Sox 1952; Washington Senators 1953-1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959; Washington Senators 1959-1960; Minnesota Twins 1961
Died: July 11, 2008, Sarasota, FL (age 79)
 |
| 1961 Topps #406 |
Stobbs was a 20-game loser in 1957 and he pitched mostly in relief following that season until his final year in 1961. He followed the Senators to Minnesota for the 1961 season, and he was an "Original Twin," appearing in 24 games before being released by the franchise following the season.
Building the Set
September 25, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #259
This was a late edition to our set and one of 11 cards we purchased at the 92nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington. My records show we paid $6 for this card. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington at the time or the occasional mall baseball card show.
My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location. Our next show together was a few months later in December, also in Ft. Washington. Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set after that December show.The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house, so we had a pretty good excuse not to be purchasing baseball cards at the time.
I've scanned the checklist I would have had with us at both the September and December Ft. Washington shows, at the listing at the bottom left corner displays the nine remaining "big" cards we needed. At the time, Roberto Clemente (#33) and Hank Aaron (#31) led the way. Aaron would enter our collection on Christmas Day 2006 and the Clemente card ended up being one of the final cards added to complete our set on December 28, 2007.
The Card
It's pretty unusual to see an action shot involving a pitcher diving back head first into first base. In fact, until learning more about this post for Stobbs, I didn't realize he was a pitcher despite the position designation on the front of his card!
1956 Season
Stobbs enjoyed his best season in 1956 with the Senators, going 15-15 with a 3.60 ERA and pitching a career high 240 innings. He was by far the team's most reliable pitcher, but his efforts weren't enough to keep the Senators from a seventh place finish in the A.L. He had the lowest walks per nine innings pitched ratio (2.025) among every starting pitcher in the league, with Dick Donovan (#18) finishing second (2.263).
Phillies Connection?
I couldn't find any support for Stobbs being named for Phillies great, Chuck Klein, and Stobbs' naming was only a coincidence. Klein was born in 1904 in Indianapolis, and he would have been in his first full year with the Phillies in 1929 the summer that Stobbs was born.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #62
First Topps Card: 1952 Topps #62
Last Topps Card: 1961 Topps #431
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Topps Archives 1954 #185
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1952-1961
46 - Stobbs non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/18/19.
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.
Previous Card / Next Card
Order Collected: #160 Billy Pierce - Chicago White Sox / #74 Jim King - Chicago Cubs
No comments:
Post a Comment