#94 Ronnie Kline - Pittsburgh Pirates

Ronald Lee Kline
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  205
Born:  March 9, 1932, Callery, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1952, 1955-1959; St. Louis Cardinals 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961; Detroit Tigers 1961-1962; Washington Senators 1963-1966; Minnesota Twins 1967; Pittsburgh Pirates 1968-1969; San Francisco Giants 1969; Boston Red Sox 1969; Atlanta Braves 1970
Died:  June 22, 2002, Callery, PA (age 70)

A veteran of 17 big league seasons and 736 career appearances, Ron Kline enjoyed a career as a dependable reliever for 10 different teams.  His longest stint with any one team came at the beginning of his career with the Pirates, his hometown team, where he pitched for eight seasons primarily as a starting pitcher.  Kline missed two seasons early in his career due to military service in 1953 and 1954.  Despite his record of 14-18, 1956 was probably his best season as he started 39 games and had an ERA of 3.38.  It wasn't tracked at the time, but his WAR for pitchers in 1956 (4.9) was fourth in the N.L. behind Johnny Antonelli (#138), Bob Friend (#221) and Warren Spahn (#10).

As a reliever later in his career, Kline finished in the top ten in saves four times, topping the A.L. leaders list in 1965 with 29 saves for the Senators.  After retiring from baseball, Kline returned to his hometown of Callery, PA where he served as the town's mayor for several years.

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #165
This was one of ten cards I purchased for our 1956 Topps set from the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem.  This card cost me $4, and I wrote about Season Ticket in detail back in March 2019 in my post for the Rudy Minarcin (#36) card.

1955 Topps #173

The Card
That's not Ron Kline's facsimile autograph on the front of the card.  "J. Robert Kline" is actually Bobby Kline who appeared in 77 games for the 1955 Senators, his only year in the majors.  Bobby Kline's only baseball card appearance came within the 1955 Topps set, and Topps correctly uses his signature on that card.  Topps used Ron Kline's actual signature on his 1959 and 1967 cards.  Also, he's Ronnie in 1956, 1957 and 1958, but then he graduates to Ron beginning with his 1959 Topps card.

The back of his card makes mention of the Pirates being his hometown team and his two years of military service.  His 18-4 season in 1951 came with the Bartlesville Pirates, the Class D team for the major league club, located in Oklahoma.

Pirates Team Set

1956 Season

As mentioned above, this was one of Kline's best seasons.  The Pirates struggled, finishing in seventh place in the N.L. with a 66-88 record.  Friend, Kline and Vern Law (#252) were the three primary starters for the Pirates, starting a combined 113 of the team's 154 games.  Kline hit his career high for innings pitched with 264, a mark he'd come closest to eclipsing in 1958 when he threw 237 1/3 innings.  His SABR biography mentions his success in 1956 could be attributed to two new pitches he developed in the offseason while pitching in the Dominican Republic - a slider and a knuckleball.

1953 Topps #175

1959 Topps #265

1963 Topps #84

1965 Topps #56

1969 Topps #243

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #175
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1953, 1956-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #175

Kline's last three Topps flagship baseball cards, from 1967, 1968 and 1969, feature almost identical (and hatless) photos with Kline looking in slightly different directions.

58 - Kline non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/14/20.

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: #93 George Susce, Jr. - Boston Red Sox / #95 Milwaukee Braves Team Card

Order Collected: #92 "Red" Wilson - Detroit Tigers / #95 Milwaukee Braves Team Card

#93 George Susce, Jr. - Boston Red Sox

George Daniel Susce
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  September 13, 1930, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1955-1958; Detroit Tigers 1958-1959
Died:  May 8, 2010, Matlacha, FL (age 79)

The first thing I learned when reading about George Susce, Jr. was that he wasn't really technically a Jr. at all.  His father, also a major leaguer, was George Cyril Methodius Susce, and for sake of ease the younger Susce was occasionally given the suffix of Jr. early in his playing career.  In five seasons with the Red Sox and Tigers, Susce went 22-17 with a 4.42 ERA.  His best season was his first, as he went 9-7 with the Red Sox in 1955, pitching to a 3.06 ERA.

On July 20, 1955, he threw a complete game, one-hit shutout against the Athletics in Kansas City, in perhaps the best pitching performance of his career.  His Dad was there to witness the game as well, serving as the bullpen coach for the Athletics.

Building the Set
December 2, 2000 in Raleigh, NC - Card #208
I was still living in Raleigh in 2000, and I was able to briefly find some happiness at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show most likely held at the Raleigh state fairgrounds.  My records show I purchased a whopping 15 cards that day, spending a little over $52.  I believe the list shown here would have been the checklist I took with me to the show, and I would have called my Dad back in Millville afterwards so that he could update his list as well.  It's hard to see, but the date in the footer is 11/7/00.

I mentioned this somewhere before, but we found when looking for 1956 Topps cards at baseball card shows, cards were rarely found in number order.  For this reason, I revamped our checklist to place the cards in alphabetical order to make the cards we needed easier to find.

The Card
This is Susce's first Topps card, and his true rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set.  He appeared in the Topps flagship sets between 1956 and 1959, and this is the only time Topps added the Jr. to his name.

On the back, Susce's birth year is off by two years as he was actually born in 1930.  He was second on the Louisville Colonels in wins in 1954, as Ike Delock (#284) was the ace of that staff, going 17-10.  The elder Susce makes a cameo in the final cartoon panel as he was the Red Sox bullpen coach between 1950 and 1954.  If you look closely, you can see that Coach Susce is bursting the buttons on his jersey out of pride for his son.  Ironically, the elder Susce was fired as the team's bullpen coach shortly after the younger Susce was recalled from Triple-A Louisville.  The elder Susce quickly caught on as a coach with the Athletics.

Red Sox Team Set

George Susce - 1929 Phillies

1956 Season

Injuries hampered Susce's 1956 season, and he was limited to only 21 appearances (6 starts) with the Red Sox, going 2-4 with a 6.20 ERA.  His problems started in spring training when he was drilled in the ankle by a line drive off the bat of teammate Frank Malzone (#304).  And then in June he was admitted to the hospital with arm swelling later diagnosed to be a circulatory problem.  He'd bounce back somewhat in 1957 and 1958 appearing in 29 games each season, but he never duplicated the success he had found in his 1955 rookie campaign.

Phillies Connection
Susce's father began his eight-year big league career by playing in 17 games for the 1929 Phillies.  He hit .294 (5 for 17) in those few appearances and caught a total of 31 innings for the club.  The elder Susce was a long-time coach for the Indians, Red Sox, Athletics, Braves and Senators/Rangers between 1941 and 1972.

1955 Bowman #320

1957 Topps #229

1958 Topps #189

1959 Topps #511

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #320
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #511

7 - Susce non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/14/20.

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: #92 "Red" Wilson - Detroit Tigers / #94 Ronnie Kline - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #76 Ray Crone - Milwaukee Braves / #108 Laurin Pepper - Pittsburgh Pirates

#92 "Red" Wilson - Detroit Tigers

Robert James Wilson
Detroit Tigers
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Born:  March 7, 1929, Milwaukee, WI
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1951-1954; Detroit Tigers 1954-1960; Cleveland Indians 1960
Died:  August 8, 2014, Fitchburg, WI (age 85)

Before beginning his 10-year career in the Majors, Red Wilson was a star college football and baseball player at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Following his senior year, he won the Big Ten MVP award in 1949 while serving as team captain for the Badgers.  Wilson was drafted by the NFL's Browns but he opted for a baseball career, signing with the White Sox.

After playing in parts of four seasons with the White Sox, Wilson was traded to the Tigers in May 1954.  His seven seasons in Detroit marked the best years of his career with the 1956 and 1958 seasons standing out.  When serving as Tigers' pitcher Frank Lary's (#191) personal catcher, Wilson caught Lary as he put together a 16-3 record against the powerhouse Yankees earning the pitcher the nickname of "Yankee Killer."  Wilson hit .354 in those games against the Yankees while catching Lary.

Wilson hit a career high .299 in 1958, appeared in a career high 103 games and caught Jim Bunning's no-hitter against the Red Sox on June 20th.  In 602 games, Wilson owned a career batting average of .258 with 24 home runs and 189 RBIs.

With my friends John and Heather
at a wedding, October 12, 1998

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #164
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 Wilson 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.  Looking back at pictures from this period, I was in town for a wedding for a good friend of mine.

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 general 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
The Topps photographer positioned Wilson in foul territory most likely prior to a game and got Wilson to give him the old "look like the batter just smoked a pitch to right field" look.  His college football achievements are mentioned on the back of the card and Wilson was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.

Tigers Team Set

1956 Season

In 78 games, Wilson hit .289 with 7 home runs and 38 RBIs - both career highs for him.  Frank House (#32) saw the bulk of the playing time behind the plate for the Tigers, starting in 78 games to Wilson's 70.  But Wilson finished stronger than House and assumed every day catching duties in the second half of the season.  The House-Wilson tandem was in place for four seasons between 1954 and 1957, allowing Tigers managers to use the left-handed House and the right-handed Wilson in a true platoon.

1953 Topps #250

1954 Topps #58

1958 Topps #213

1959 Topps #24

1960 Topps #379

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #250
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1953-1954, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2009 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-RJW

He's Bob on his 1953, 1954 and 1957 Topps card, and "Red" on his 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 Topps cards.  Topps got a little carried away with his 1958 photo, painting out Wilson's bat and also most of his arm from the elbow down.  And it can't be a coincidence the background color used for most of his Topps cards was Red.

20 - Wilson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/21/20.

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: #91 Gail Harris - New York Giants / #93 George Susce, Jr. - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #84 "Babe" Birrer - Detroit Tigers / #94 Ronnie Kline - Pittsburgh Pirates

#91 Gail Harris - New York Giants

Boyd Gail Harris
New York Giants
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  October 15, 1931, Abingdon, VA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1955-1957; Detroit Tigers 1958-1960
Died:  November 14, 2012, Gainesville, VA (age 81)

Gail Harris played six years in the Majors with the Giants and Tigers, never playing anywhere on the field other than first base.  His best season by far came in 1958 with the Tigers.  Serving as their every day first baseman, Harris hit career highs in average (.273), home runs (20) and RBIs (82).  He didn't match those numbers before or after that season and in 437 career games, Harris had a .240 average.  Traded to the Dodgers prior to the 1960 season, he played in parts of two seasons in the Dodgers' minor league system before retiring.

His son Mark is currently a successful and long-time minor league hitting coach in the Washington Nationals' organization.

Easter Sunday, 2000

Building the Set
April 22, 2000 in Raleigh, NC - Card #196
I paid $2 for this card at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show held in Raleigh, NC a week after tax deadline day and the day before Easter.  I bought six cards that day, paying a grand total of $20.  Pictures from this time in my life are few and far between, but it looks as if my parents paid a visit to Raleigh for Easter weekend as I have photos of them dressed for what has to be for a church service.  We're standing outside the apartment complex where I was living at the time.  And it's quite possible my Dad attended this baseball card show in Raleigh with me, which would have been a rarity in those days.

If my Dad did attend this show with me, I'm surprised we bought this particular Harris card given the clear scuff mark across the team name on the front.  Dad typically wouldn't have allowed a card with a clear surface blemish into our set.

This day is also notable as it's almost 10 years to the day before our youngest son Ben was born.  There were some bumpy roads coming up for a few years following this picture, but eventually things got back on track.

The Card
This is Harris' rookie card, and he'd go on to appear in Topps' sets between 1957 and 1960.  That sure looks as if it could be a "2" on the back of the first baseman's jersey in the action photo, and if that's the case, the player isn't Harris as he wore #15 in 1955.  It could be Whitey Lockman (#205), as he wore #25 in 1955 and started 66 games at first base to Harris' 67.  I'll guess the runner is on the Cardinals and it appears as if he was safe on the play.

This is the first blue-green name/team bar color combination that appears in the set.  It's the 11th different color combination overall.

I couldn't find any records indicating the date of the game mentioned in the middle cartoon panel on the back, but Harris did hit 184 home runs over nine minor league seasons.  He also holds the distinction of being the last New York Giant to hit a home run prior to the team moving to San Francisco.  On September 21, 1957, Harris hit a pair of home runs and drove in 7 runs leading the team to a 9-5 win over the Pirates.  Harris was a star athlete at William King High School in Abingdon.

Giants Team Set

1956 Season

Harris only appeared in 12 games for the  Giants, hitting .132 (5 for 38), and he spent the bulk of the season with the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.  With the Millers, Harris appeared in 133 games, hit .270 and led the team with 82 RBIs.  His 24 home runs was second only to Willie Kirkland's 37.

1957 Topps #281

1958 Topps #309

1959 Topps #378

1960 Topps #152

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #91
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA The 1950s #275

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

Sources:  
Baseball 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.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #90 Cincinnati Redlegs Team Card / #92 "Red" Wilson - Detroit Tigers

Order Collected: #71 Frank Sullivan - Boston Red Sox / #104 Bob Lennon - New York Giants