#82 Bill Renna - Kansas City Athletics

William Beneditto Renna
Kansas City Athletics
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  218
Born:  October 14, 1924, Hanford, CT
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1953; Philadelphia Athletics 1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955-1956; Boston Red Sox 1958-1959
Died:  July 19, 2014, San Jose, CA (age 89)

After serving in World War II, Bill Renna played in parts of six seasons in the majors, enjoying his best season in 1954 with the Athletics, the final year the team played in Philadelphia before moving west to Kansas City.  That season he hit .232 with career highs in runs scored (52), home runs (13) and RBIs (53).  Originally signed by the Yankees, Renna hit .314 in 1953 and was on the club's World Series roster that year, but never made it into a game.  He was one of 11 players swapped by the A's and Yankees on December 16, 1953.  Renna headed to Philadelphia along with Don Bollweg, Jim Finigan (#22), Johnny Gray, Vic Power (#67) and Jim Robertson while Loren Babe, Harry Byrd, Tom Hamilton, Carmen Mauro and Eddie Robinson (#302) were packaged to New York.

In the final two years of his career with the Red Sox, Renna served as a back-up to Ted Williams (#5).  In total, he hit .239 with 28 home runs and 119 RBIs over 370 games.

Building the Set
October 2, 1993 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #119
This is one of two cards purchased right before my 20th birthday in 1993 from Tommy's Collectibles in Winston-Salem, not far from the Wake Forest campus.  We paid $9 for this Renna card (probably too high) and $6 for the Ray Narleski (#133) card.  As a college freshman in the spring and a sophomore in the fall, we only added 13 cards total to our 1956 Topps set in 1993.  This is the first of seven cards we purchased for our set from Tommy's Collectibles between October 1993 and December 1996.

I have mostly wonderful memories of my early college years, as I was in that sweet spot between leaving behind high school and figuring out what I would do next.  Majors hadn't yet been declared and while there was plenty of studying, I also recall having my share of fun too.  My family visited for my birthday in early October 1993, and I suspect this card was purchased while they were visiting.  One of my favorite pictures from this time is one of my Grandmother, my Mom and me standing on the Wake Forest Quad during their visit.  (Before I get to the Narleski card, I'll need to check with my Mom to see if a picture of my Dad and me exists from this visit.)

The Card
Renna's main photo is recycled from his 1955 Topps card.  I don't talk enough about the design of the 1956 Topps set, but this card has always been aesthetically pleasing to me.  I think it's the combination of the bright colors (red, yellow, blue, green) and the symmetry of the white line around the on-deck circle and the third base foul line.

Topps shaves two years from Renna's birth year, as he was actually born in 1924.

Reference is made to Santa Clara University on the back of Renna's card, and he was one of the first of a few Santa Clara graduates to make it to the majors.  Among his contemporaries to have played at Santa Clara are Duane Pillette and Lou Berberet (#329).  Bruce Bochte, Mike Macfarlane and Randy Winn would all come through Santa Clara in later decades.

1956 Season

Renna opened the 1956 season as the back-up to the A's everyday right fielder, Enos Slaughter.  He hit .271 over 33 games for the A's before the club traded him back to the Yankees on June 14th with Moe Burtschy for Eddie Robinson (again) and Lou Skizas.  The Yankees sent him to their farm team in Richmond, where he'd stay for the rest of the 1956 season.  With the Richmond Virginians, Renna hit .312 over 87 games and he led the club with 20 RBIs and 76 RBIs.

He was dealt to the Red Sox during spring training 1957, and he'd spend the entire 1957 season with the San Francisco Seals (the Red Sox top farm team) before getting another chance in the majors in 1958.

1954 Topps #112

1955 Topps #121

1958 Topps #473

1959 Topps #72

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #112
First Topps Card:  1954 Topps #112
Last Topps Card:  1959 Topps #72
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2008 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BR
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1954-1956, 1958-1959

20 - Renna non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/1/19.

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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Set Order: #81 Wally Westlake - Philadelphia Phillies / #83 Karl Spooner - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #75 Roy Sievers - Washington Nationals / #133 Ray Narleski - Cleveland Indians