#86 Ray Jablonski - Cincinnati Redlegs

Raymond Leo Jablonski
Cincinnati Redlegs
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  175
Born:  December 17, 1926, Chicago, IL
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1953-1954; Cincinnati Reds 1955-1956; New York Giants 1957; San Francisco Giants 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959; Kansas City Athletics 1959-1960
Died:  November 25, 1985, Chicago, IL (age 58)

With the Cardinals in 1953 and 1954, Ray Jablonski's first two seasons in the big leagues were by far his best.  He drove in over 100 runs in each season.  He finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1953 and was the starting third baseman for the N.L. in the 1954 All-Star Game.  Jablonski was traded to the Reds before the 1955 season as the Cardinals wanted to make room for rookie Ken Boyer (#14), a better defender at third.  After two seasons in Cincinnati, Jablonski moved onto the Giants where he was the team's regular third baseman during their final season in New York.  He served as a bench player the final three years of his Major League career with the Cardinals and Athletics.

Jablonski played until 1964 in the minor league systems of the Angels and Twins.  Over his eight seasons in the Majors, he hit .268 with 83 home runs and 438 RBIs.

Building the Set
August 29, 1988 in Millville, NJ - Card #63
I shared this story back in March 2019 when I posted the Tom Brewer (#34) card and again this past August with the Ed Roebuck (#58) card, but I'll repeat it again here.  This Jablonski card was one of four cards I acquired for our 1956 Topps set via a trade, and all I had to surrender were a bunch of 1988 Topps doubles.

We were about a year in to officially collecting the 1956 Topps set when I added four cards to the set through a trade with a friend of mine.  Now my friend probably has no recollection of this, but I'm going to omit his name to protect the innocent.  In the summer of 1988, I was aware of a few different baseball card collectors from my school.  Most of them were busy accumulating as many "Future Stars" cards from the 1988 Topps set as possible, convinced these cards would be worth hundreds of dollars in a matter of a few short years.  The Kevin Elster card was a particularly hot commodity, as was anything with a Topps Rookie Cup on it such as the cards for Mark McGwire, Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks and Casey Candaele.

My friend had four 1956 Topps cards set aside in an "oldies" pile, and I'm guessing he had added these to his collection by accident or maybe through an older relative.  In any event, I went over to his house this late summer day in August, equipped with my 1988 Topps doubles, and ready to deal.  I don't remember the specifics of the trade, but I ended up with four 1956 Topps commons, including this Jablonski card, and he ended up with a small stack of 1988 Topps rookies.  We were both happy with our respective hauls, so in our minds it was a fair deal.

I've lost track of this friend over the years, but his name lives on in my official records of how each card in our 1956 Topps set was obtained.

The Card
Any action shot on a baseball card that features dust being kicked up as a result of a slide is a good action shot.  I might be imagining it, but I think that's a Cardinal on the front of Jablonski's jersey.  Topps used a different photo for Jablonski's 1954 Topps card, but the same photo for his 1955 Topps card.  Jablonski would have been coming off a tough first season with the Reds when this card was issued, but his two first 100+ RBI seasons would still be in collectors' memories.

A successful minor leaguer, Jablonski was the league MVP in 1951 for the Carolina League, winning the league's triple crown while playing for the Winston-Salem Cardinals.

Redlegs Team Set

1956 Season

Jablonski was the Reds' regular third baseman in an infield that consisted of Ted Kluszewski (#25) at first, Johnny Temple (#212) at second and Roy McMillan (#123) at shortstop.  He got off to a hot start, and finished the month of April tied with teammate Wally Post (#158) for the league lead in RBIs with 13.  But he slumped badly throughout the rest of the season, ultimately losing his starting job to Alex Grammas (#37).  In 130 games, Jablonski hit .256 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs.  The Reds finished in third place behind the pennant winning Dodgers and the second place Braves.

On November 13th, the Reds traded him with Elmer Singleton to his hometown Cubs for Warren Hacker (#282), Don Hoak (#335) and Pete Whisenant.  Although his 1957 Topps card features him with the Cubs, he never played a game for the team as they traded him to the Giants on April 16, 1957.

Phillies Connection
At the age of 35, Jablonski played the 1962 season with the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, a shared AAA team of the Angels and Phillies.  His teammates that year included future Phillies Pat Corrales and Cookie Rojas.

1953 Topps #189

1954 Topps #26

1955 Topps #56

1957 Topps #218

1959 Topps #342

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #189
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1953-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #26

29 - Jablonski non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/4/20.

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: #85 Cleveland Indians Team Card / #87 Dean Stone - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #58 Ed Roebuck - Brooklyn Dodgers / #97 Jerry Lynch - Pittsburgh Pirates

#85 Cleveland Indians Team Card

Topps included full team photos in its baseball card set for the first time in 1956, having previously experimented with team cards in a limited edition 1951 stand-alone set.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #6
This was one of the Original 44, and I've told the story of how my Dad and I began collecting the 1956 Topps set a few times - most recently with the Pedro Ramos (#49) post here.  This was the first team card from the set we added to our collection, and I remember being impressed with how Topps included the names of everyone in the picture on the front of the card.  The back of the card was just as cool, with a diagram of the team's stadium complete with dimensions, a brief history of the club and a listing of the team's all-time season records and pennant wins.  This would have been around the time I was starting to dig more into the history of the game, and I would have had an inkling as to who Napolean Lajoie or Tris Speaker were.

2003 Topps #638

When I originally came across this card, Topps had stopped including team cards in their sets, having last produced a subset of 26 team cards in its 1981 set.  Team cards made a re-appearance in Topps sets beginning in 2001 and through the 2000s, but Topps had to remove or block those people who hadn't signed a contract with the company - most notably batboys and non-player personnel.  That led to weird walls appearing on some cards to hide any non-consenting subjects.  This problem didn't exist in 1956, which is why we're treated to the inclusion of the Indians' batboy, trainer and traveling secretary in their team photo.

The Card
The logo on the card features Chief Wahoo wearing a World Series crown.  This was the team's alternate logo used between 1949 and 1955 to celebrate their World Series title in 1948.  The Indians haven't won a title since.  In case there was any confusion, Topps provides a handy "TEAM CARD" designation above and below the card number on the back.

Here are the subjects featured on the card, including a listing of their 1956 Topps card if they had one.  The photo was taken during the 1955 season at some point after July 31st, as that's the day the Indians claimed Sal Maglie off waivers from the Giants.  Maglie is present in the back row of the photo.

Front Row Jose Santiago (#59) Hal Naragon (#311) Ray Narleski (#133) Gene Woodling (#163) Vic Wertz (#300) Kenny Kuhn Bobby Avila (#132) Batboy Jack Hoban Sam Dente Ferris Fain Hank Foiles

2nd Row Don Mossi (#39) Bob Feller (#200) Al Rosen (#35) George Strickland Coach Red Kress Manager Al Lopez Coach Tony Cuccinello Coach Mel Harder Coach Bill Lobe Bob Lemon (#255) Early Wynn (#187) Mike Garcia (#210)

Back Row Traveling Sec'y Spud Goldstein Al Smith (#105) Dale Mitchell (#268) Stu Locklin Sal Maglie Ralph Kiner Herb Score (#140) Jim Hegan (#48) Hoot Evers Lary Doby (#250 with White Sox) Art Houtteman (#281) Trainer Wally Bock

The Indians called Municipal Stadium home until 1993 when they moved into Jacobs Field, which was renamed Progressive Field in 2008.  I didn't realize there had been a name change, as I still refer to the Indians home ballpark as The Jake.  There are only a few categories on the back of the card that need to be updated:

Most Home Runs - 223 in 2019
Most Consecutive Games Won - 22 in 2017
Additional Pennant Winning Teams - 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018

1955 Variation

No Year, Team Name Left

The Indians team card, along with a few other team cards, is available in three variations.  There's a version with the 1955 date, and then two versions without the year with the team name either centered or to the left.  I have the version with the centered team name in our set, and based on a quick eBay search the centered name variation seems to be the most common of the three.

Indians Team Set

1956 Season

Manager Al Lopez was in his sixth and final season at the helm for the Indians, and for the fifth time in six years the team finished in second place behind the powerhouse Yankees.  The lone exception came in 1954 when the Indians faced off against the Giants in the World Series and were swept in four games.

The team boasted three 20-game winners with Wynn, Lemon and Score and those three pitchers combined to throw 55 complete games.  The success of those starters meant that closer Mossi (11 saves) or top reliever Narleski (1.52 ERA) weren't needed much.  Wynn, Score and Narleski represented the Indians at the All-Star Game.

Wertz led the offense with 32 home runs and 106 RBIs with Rocky Colavito having a successful rookie season by hitting .276 with 21 home runs and 65 RBIs.

Indians Cards That Never Were
There are a few options here for 1956 Topps cards that never were:

• Al Lopez (manager) - A future Hall of Famer, a manager's card for Lopez in his final year leading the Indians is needed.  (Manager cards that never were will be a common theme for all teams other than the Dodgers and Phillies.)
• Rocky Colavito (right field) - Colavito's rookie card can be found in the 1957 Topps set, but as the team's regular right fielder and one of their top sluggers he could have found his way into the 1956 Topps high series.
• George Strickland (shortstop) - Strickland was the team's starting shortstop in 1955 and he appeared in 85 games in a back-up role in 1956.  He was absent from Topps sets between 1953 and 1956.
• Cal McLish (relief pitcher) - Only Mossi (48 games) relieved more games in 1956 than McLish (37 games).  He'd have his rookie card in the 1957 Topps set as well.
• Ralph Kiner (left field) - Kiner wrapped up his Hall of Fame career with 113 games for the Indians in 1955.  The team released him on October 24, 1955, but he could have had a career capper card in the set.
• Ferris Fain (first base) - The same goes for Fain.  He appeared in 56 games for the 1955 Indians, the final year in a career in which he was the two-time A.L. batting champion with the Athletics and a five-time All-Star.

The late, great Bob Lemke created card #352 for Colavito and he posted it to his blog back in December 2015.  I'm reproducing here, but please head over to Bob Lemke's Blog to view his wonderful collection of cards that never were.


Preston Ward (#328 with the Pirates) and Dave Pope (#154 with the Orioles) both spent time with the Indians in 1956 and they appear in the set with other teams.

Sources
Baseball Reference

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Set Order: #84 "Babe" Birrer - Detroit Tigers / #86 Ray Jablonski - Cincinnati Redlegs

Order Collected: #73 Wayne Terwilliger - New York Giants / #98 Camilo Pascual - Washington Nationals

#84 "Babe" Birrer - Detroit Tigers

Werner Joseph Birrer
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  July 4, 1929, Buffalo, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1955; Baltimore Orioles 1956; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958
Died:  November 19, 2013, Clarence, NY (age 84)

Babe Birrer pitched in 56 games over parts of three seasons for the Tigers, Orioles and Dodgers, but it was his performance on July 19, 1955 that he'll most be remembered for.  Birrer relieved Frank Lary (#191) in the sixth inning and pitched four shutout innings to earn the save.  But at the plate, Birrer hit two, three-run home runs to stun the Orioles along with pitchers George Zuverink (#276) and Art Schallock.

Birrer's career record was 4-3 with a 4.36 ERA and four saves.  Most of his success came in the minor leagues, where he pitched for 18 seasons and compiled a lifetime record of 131-127 in 518 games.  He threw a no-hitter in 1957 while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels, the Dodgers' top farm team.

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #163
In what had to have been a post-birthday purchase, I spent $52 in the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem for 10 1956 Topps cards.  This Birrer card cost me $4.  I say it had to have been a post-birthday purchase as I didn't have a lot of disposable income back then, but I made sure that any birthday money from my parents went towards something fun and not towards something practical.

I spent 5 years living in Winston-Salem, but I still managed to get lost driving around in those pre-GPS days quite frequently.  Season Ticket was one of the few locations in the city that I memorized and I could drive to without having to ask someone to remind me of the directions.  I mean no disrespect to the former owners, but the place was a glorious dump.  Baseball cards were stacked precariously and haphazardly throughout the store, there was hardly any flat surface without something piled on it, nothing was ever in order and if you asked for something specific the owners may or may not remember the generally direction of where they had last seen it.

And I loved it in there.  I took my Dad a few times when my parents visited me, and he couldn't wait to get out of the store and back into some fresh air.

The Card
This is the third card so far in the set to represent a player's first and last Topps card, along with Nelson Burbrink (#27) and Jose Santiago (#59).  Birrer's facsimile autograph on the front features his real name, Werner.  Topps made Birrer a year older than he actually was, giving him a birth date in 1928.

Tigers Team Set

1956 Season

On April 5th, Birrer was selected off waivers by the Orioles, and he'd appear in only four games for the club from mid-April to mid-May.  He had a 6.75 ERA for the Orioles over 5 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits.  Most of his season was spent with the San Antonio Missions, and he led that team with 13 wins.  Birrer went 13-8 for the Missions with a 3.75 ERA and 15 complete games.

1961 Buffalo Bisons team photo

Phillies Connection
His Baseball Reference page doesn't provide any details of how he came to the organization, but Birrer pitched for the Phillies' top farm team in Buffalo for parts of three seasons between 1960 and 1962.  With the Bisons, Birrer appeared in 74 games, going 19-18.

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #84
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #84

8 - Birrer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/1/20.

Sources:  
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/birreba01.shtmlBaseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

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: #83 Karl Spooner - Brooklyn Dodgers / #85 Cleveland Indians Team Card

Order Collected: #50 "Dusty" Rhodes - New York Giants / #92 "Red" Wilson - Detroit Tigers

#83 Karl Spooner - Brooklyn Dodgers

Karl Benjamin Spooner
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  185
Born:  June 23, 1931, Oriskany Falls, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1954-1955
Died:  April 10, 1984, Vero Beach, FL (age 52)

Karl Spooner's biographies from SABR and Wikipedia both utilize the adjective "meteoric" within the first sentences to describe the start of the pitcher's career.  In two September starts for the Dodgers in 1954, Spooner recorded back-to-back complete game shutouts, striking out a total of 27 batters and allowing only seven singles.  He set the records for strikeouts in a debut with 15 and recording six consecutive strikeouts in a debut.  His 27 strikeouts over two games was one less than Bob Feller's (#200) record of 28 over two games.

However, he entered a spring training game in 1955 without properly warming up and suffered an arm injury that would derail the rest of his career.  Spooner struggled throughout the 1955 season, going 8-6 with a 3.65 ERA.  His final appearance came in Game 6 of the 1955 World Series in which he lasted just 1/3 of an inning and gave up five runs on three hits and two walks to the Yankees, including a three-run home run to Bill Skowron (#61).

Left unprotected by the Dodgers in the 1957 minor league draft, he was selected by the Cardinals.  Spooner continued his comeback attempt with the Cardinals over the next season but retired after spring training in 1959.

Dad and Doug - March 4, 2007

Building the Set
February 7, 2007 in Voorhees, NJ - Card #289
This is one of six cards I purchased at the Echelon Mall Baseball Card show in February 2007, spending $70 total, including $7.50 on this Spooner card.  At the time, Doug was a few days away from turning two months old and we had just celebrated my Dad's 63rd birthday a few weeks earlier.

I think Jenna had been out shopping on this day when she texted (or called) me to let me know there was a baseball card show being held at what used to be the Echelon Mall.  The former mall has since been converted as part of the Voorhees Town Center.

The Card
Spooner only appeared on two Topps cards, and both his 1955 and 1956 cards use the same close-up photo.  The back of the card rightfully focuses on Spooner's first two big league starts and his successful minor league campaign.  The "Year" row of statistics tells the story of his 1955 struggles, and by the time this card was issued, Spooner's big league career was over.  The card was reprinted, along with all 1956 Topps Brooklyn Dodgers cards, in the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.

Dodgers Team Set

1956 Season

Still hampered by arm injuries, Spooner only appeared in four games in 1956, pitching for the Double-A St. Paul Saints.  His Baseball Reference statistics are incomplete for the year, only showing that he went 0-1.  He was a September call-up for the Dodgers, but he didn't appear in any games.

1955 Topps #90

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #90
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1955-1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Dem Bums #KS

15 - Spooner non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/1/20.

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

Set Order: #82 Bill Renna - Kansas City Athletics / #84 "Babe" Birrer - Detroit Tigers

Order Collected: #171 Jim Wilson - Baltimore Orioles / #90 Cincinnati Redlegs Team Card