#116 Eddie O'Brien - Pittsburgh Pirates

Edward Joseph O'Brien
Pittsburgh Pirates
Shortstop-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  165
Born:  December 11, 1930, South Amboy, NJ
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, March 19, 1953
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1953, 1955-1958
Died:  February 21, 2014, Seattle, WA (age 83)

Eddie O'Brien and his twin brother Johnny (#65) played together for parts of five seasons with the Pirates in the mid to late 1950s.  Eddie appeared in fewer games than Johnny with the Pirates - 231 to 283.  On May 10, 1953, the O'Brien's became the first twins to play on the same team in the same game, and they also were the first of four brothers to serve as double play combinations on the same team.  The others being Garvin and Granny Hamner (#197) in 1945 with the Phillies, Frank and Milt Bolling (#315) in 1958 with the Tigers and Billy and Cal Ripken in the 1980s with the Orioles.

For his career, O'Brien hit .236 with no home runs and 25 RBIs.  He served as the bullpen coach for the Seattle Pilots in 1969, their only year of existence.

1998 birthday haul, including
1998 Topps factory set

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #167
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 O'Brien 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 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.  Sadly, a recent Google Maps search shows that Season Ticket has gone the way of a lot of hobby shops, and there's now something called Beauty Touch in its place.  But I bet there are still random stacks of baseball cards hiding in a nook or crevice somewhere in the shop.

The Card / Pirates Team Set
This is O'Brien's third Topps card and his second without his brother.  It looks as if the Giants runner at second is out and O'Brien is attempting to turn the double play.  If it is a Giants runner, my best guess for the game date is September 20, 1955.  That's the only date O'Brien faced the Giants during the 1955 season during which he played shortstop.  He appeared as a center fielder or pinch-runner in his other appearances against the Giants that season.  My best guess is the player sliding is Hank Thompson (#199).  But based on the incomplete data from Retrosheet, there's no indication Thompson reached base after the sixth inning, which is when O'Brien came into the game, so who knows?

This is the only instance of the "SS-Outfield" position combination in the entire set.  On the back, O'Brien's college basketball exploits are highlighted as is his then rare position combination.  For his career, he played 108 games at shortstop and 62 games in the outfield.

1956 Season

O'Brien was a super utility player for the Pirates in 1956, playing every position except catcher and first base.  In 63 games, he hit .264 (14 for 53) with no home runs and 3 RBIs.  He pitched two scoreless innings of relief against the Cardinals on July 31st, relieving his brother (!) who had also pitched two scoreless innings of relief (!!).

Apparently, his pitching appearance wasn't an anomaly as Topps listed his position as "SS-P" on his 1957 card.  Amazingly enough, following the 1956 season, his next four (and final) big league games, all in 1957 and 1958, came as a pitcher.  In five total games pitching, O'Brien went 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA over 16 1/3 innings.  He started the first end of a double header on September 14, 1957 against the Cubs, pitching a complete game 3-1 victory while allowing only one run.

1953 Topps #249

1954 Topps #139

1957 Topps #259

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #249
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1953-1954, 1956-1957
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-EOB

11 - O'Brien non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/17/20.

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.

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Set Order: #115 Jackie Jensen - Boston Red Sox / #117 Virgil Trucks - Detroit Tigers

Order Collected: #95 Milwaukee Braves Team Card / #156 Wes Westrum - New York Giants

#115 Jackie Jensen - Boston Red Sox

Jack Eugene Jensen
Boston Red Sox
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180
Born:  March 9, 1927, San Francisco, CA
Acquired:  Traded by the Oakland Oaks (PCL) with Billy Martin (#181) to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later (Eddie Malone) and cash, October 13, 1949
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1950-1952; Washington Senators 1952-1953; Boston Red Sox 1954-1959, 1961
Died:  July 14, 1982, Charlottesville, VA (age 55)

Jackie Jensen was a two-sport star, appearing in the Rose Bowl with the University of California, and reaching his peak with the Red Sox in 1958 when he was named the A.L. MVP.  Jensen was the first athlete to play in the Rose Bowl (1949), the World Series (1950) and the MLB All-Star Game (1952, 1955 and 1958).  A good fielding right fielder and a threat on the base paths, Jensen also demonstrated power throughout his 11-year big league career.

Traded by the Yankees to the Senators in 1952, he saw modest success until taking off with the Red Sox in the mid-1950s.  Jensen led the league with stolen bases in 1954 with 22 and triples in 1956 with 11.  He led the league three times in RBIs in 1955, 1958 and 1959.  Jensen was one of the Red Sox players featured in the Norman Rockwell painting, The Rookie, which I covered in the post for Frank Sullivan's (#71) card.  In his 1958 MVP season, Jensen hit .286 with career highs in both home runs (35) and RBIs (122).  A steady defender, he won his only Gold Glove in 1959.

He initially announced his retirement from baseball in January 1960, citing an intense fear of flying and his desire to spend more time with his family.  He returned to baseball in 1961, but retired for good following the season.  Despite multiple forms of therapy, Jensen could not overcome the anxiety and panic attacks he'd suffer prior to each airplane flight.  For his career, Jensen batted .279 with 199 home runs and 929 RBIs.

Building the Set
October 3, 1999 in Raleigh, NC - Card #185
We bought this card on October 3rd at the Raleigh Sports Card Show, and it ended up being part of a birthday present to me from my Dad.  I was still living in Raleigh in late 1999, and my parents made the trip south to visit me for my birthday.  We bought 8 cards that day (that I knew about) paying $5 for seven of the cards, including this Jensen card, and $2 for the Grady Hatton (#26) card.  Unbeknownst to me, my Dad also purchased the Sandy Koufax card (#79) but he squirreled that one away until Christmas morning 1999.

From the back of a checklist from this time period, my notes show we were simultaneously collecting the 1972 Topps set during this timeframe.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Topps recycled the main photo from Jensen's 1954 and 1955 cards for this card too.  On the back, I continue to be impressed with how much thought and effort the Topps' cartoonists put into these panels.  Jensen's 116 RBIs in 1955 tied him with the Tigers' Ray Boone (#6).  His 22 stolen bases in 1954 were four more than White Sox outfielders Minnie Minoso (#125) and Jim Rivera (#70), who both had 18.  Jensen makes a cameo appearance on Norm Zauchin's (#89) card, greeting Zauchin at home plate presumably following a home run.

1956 Season

Jensen had another solid season, manning right field for the Red Sox and roaming the Fenway Park outfield with Ted Williams (#5) in left and Jim Piersall (#143) in center.  Jensen appeared in 151 games, starting 150 of the Red Sox' 155 games in right.  Faye Throneberry (4 starts) and Gene Stephens (#313 and 1 start) accounted for the other five starts in right whenever Jensen received a rare day off.  He hit a career high .315, second on the team only to Williams and his .345 average.  As mentioned above, he led the league in triples with 11, while hitting 20 home runs and 97 RBIs.

His SABR biography mentions that in August 1956, Jensen agreed for a film of his life to be produced with Jensen himself making a cameo appearance at the end of the film.  Younger actors played Jensen throughout his young football and baseball careers and the finished film was primarily screened in high schools.

1951 Bowman #254

1952 Topps #122

1954 Topps #80

1958 Topps #130

1961 Topps #540

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #254
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1952-1959, 1961, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2001 Topps Archives Reserve #37

88 - Jensen non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/5/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
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: #114 Jim Owens - Philadelphia Phillies / #116 Eddie O'Brien - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #70 Jim Rivera - Chicago White Sox / #140 Herb Score - Cleveland Indians

#114 Jim Owens - Philadelphia Phillies

James Philip Owens
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180
Born:  January 16, 1934, Gifford, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1956, 1958-1962; Cincinnati Reds 1963; Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965-1967

Jim Owens found brief success as a Phillies starting pitcher in the late 1950s, and later remade himself as a top reliever for the Colt .45s/Astros in the early to mid 1960s.  He missed the entire 1957 season and all but one game of the 1958 season due to military service and then rebounded with his best season in the big leagues in 1959.  For the eighth place Phillies that season, Owens served as one of the team's top four starters with Robin Roberts (#180), Gene Conley (#17) and Don Cardwell.  He won a career high 12 games, going 12-12 with a 3.21 ERA over 30 starts.  His strikeout total of 135 was just two behind Roberts' 137.

Later in Houston, Owens made at least 40 appearances in three straight seasons between 1964 and 1966.  He was the Astros' closer in 1965, leading the club in appearances with 50 and saves with 8.  In 286 career appearances, Owens went 42-68 with a 4.31 ERA and 21 saves.  He pitched until the end of June 1967 with the Astros and retired in July to become the Astros' new pitching coach.  He'd hold that position until 1972, working for managers Grady Hatton (#26), Harry Walker, and briefly Leo Durocher.

Building the Set
August 29, 1996 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #144
I attended college at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  On humid days, or after a heavy rain, the air was heavy with the faint smell of tobacco.  I absolutely loved my time as a Demon Deacon and I realize how lucky I was to be able to attend such a phenomenal college.

July 9, 1996 - Dad and me at the 1996 All-Star Game

There was a baseball card store called Season Ticket on Silas Creek Parkway I discovered half-way through my senior year, and I'd frequent the store whenever I had a little extra spending money - which honestly wasn't very often.  Given the timing of this purchase, I don't remember if my Dad was with me or not.  Save for a visit north for the 1996 All-Star Game, I spent the summer of 1996 living in Winston-Salem and this might have been a pre-start of the semester purchase that I made on my own.  I paid $10 for a lot of four cards needed for our 1956 Topps set, which included this Owens card.  $10 would have bought a lot of Taco Ball back then (and it still would now) but adding four more cards to our set was worth the sacrifice.  Joining the Owens card were the cards of Carlos Paula (#4), Bobby Avila (#132) and Joe DeMaestri (#161).

I haven't been back to North Carolina in almost 20 years and whenever I get around to taking my wife and my sons on a road trip to visit my old campus, I'd love to see if Season Ticket is still there.

The Card
Owens' rookie card can be found in the 1955 Topps set, although this card uses the same main photo. Flipping to the back, the sky was the limit for Owens in 1956, given his minor league accomplishments.  He recorded a league leading 161 strikeouts in 1955 while pitching for the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League.  And Baseball Reference backs up the claim in the middle panel, showing Owens' record in 1954 was 17-9 with 5 shutouts.

Phillies Team Set

1956 Season

Owens was only 22 at the start of the 1956 season, and he had a rough time in the 10 games he pitched for the Phillies.  He went 0-4 with a 7.28 ERA, making five starts and five relief appearances. The rest of his season was spent pitching for the Miami Marlins - the team's new top farm club.  He made 15 appearances with the Marlins, going 5-7 with a 2.86 ERA.

Phillies Career
Owens appeared in 13 games for the 1955 and 1956 Phillies before missing almost two full seasons while serving in the military.  When he came back, and as described above, he found his most success.  Apparently, Owens was known on the party circuit and he along with fellow Phillies pitchers Turk Ferrell, Jack Meyer (#269) and Seth Morehead were known as the Dalton Gang at the time.  In parts of seven seasons with the Phillies, Owens went 24-46 with a 4.54 ERA.  On November 27, 1962, the Phillies traded him to the Reds for their long-time infielder Cookie Rojas.

1955 Topps #202

1959 Topps #503

1964 Topps #241

1967 Topps #582

1973 Topps #624

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #202
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1955-1956, 1959-1967, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JOW

43 - Owens non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/4/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
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: #113 Phil Rizzuto - New York Yankees / #115 Jackie Jensen - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #4 Carlos Paula - Washington Nationals / #132 Bobby Avila - Cleveland Indians

#113 Phil Rizzuto - New York Yankees

Philip Francis Rizzuto
New York Yankees
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'6"  Weight:  150
Born:  September 25, 1917, Brooklyn, NY
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1937 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1941-1942, 1946-1956
Hall of Fame Induction:  1994
Died:  August 13, 2007, West Orange, NJ (age 89)

Holy cow, it's the Scooter!  Phil Rizzuto was the everyday shortstop for the Yankees for 11 seasons between 1941 and 1954, missing three full seasons due to his service in the Navy during World War II.  A great defender at short, Rizzuto was a five-time A.L. All-Star, a seven-time World Champion and the A.L. MVP in 1950.  He was a prototypical small ball player and known as one of the best bunters in baseball.  He led the league in sacrifice bunts for four straight seasons between 1949 and 1952.  A teammate of Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra (#110), Whitey Ford (#240), and Mickey Mantle (#135), Rizzuto is one of the most popular Yankees of all-time.  He formed a steady double play combination with second baseman Billy Martin (#181) between 1952 and 1956.

Upon his retirement, he was second in Major League history in double plays turned (1,217) trailing only Luke Appling (1,424).  His .968 career fielding percentage was second to Lou Boudreau's .973 among all A.L. shortstops.  Rizzuto accumulated 1,588 career hits and was a lifetime .273 batter.  He appeared in 52 World Series games with the Yankees, betting .246.  In 1957 he began his second career as the long-time radio and TV voice of the Yankees where he called games for 40 seasons, retiring in 1996.  Rizzuto's #10 was retired by the Yankees in 1985 and the Veterans Committee elected him into the Hall of Fame in 1994.

July 1982 - Pop-Pop and his grandkids

Building the Set
December 25, 1987 - Card #52
This card represents a significant milestone in our set, as it was the first "big" card we added through a purchase after having decided to collect the set in the summer of 1987.  Santa left the card for me under the tree on Christmas morning and I have no record of where the card actually came from or how much Santa had paid for it.  Up until this point, we had our Original 44, four cards acquired from the Walker Gallery in Cooperstown in August 1987 and three more cards bought from Hummell's in Bridgeton, New Jersey that October.  We could say we were dabbling with collecting the set up until the point this Rizzuto card entered our collection.

Connected to this, my maternal grandfather, my Pop-Pop, passed away suddenly on Christmas Eve, the night before I received this card.  Christmas 1987 was extremely difficult for my family, so it's not surprising I have really no recollection of opening the package containing this card that Christmas afternoon.  What I do remember is that throughout the 1980s, my Pop-Pop often yelled back at his television set when watching the Yankees after Rizzuto inevitably made a comment or observation that didn't make much sense.  The Scooter was beloved among Yankees fans, but held in low esteem by my Pop-Pop.  (He hated the Yankees in general.)  We were usually able to choose among three baseball games to watch every day while living in South Jersey during this time period.  The Phillies were on Channel 17, but if they were having a bad night, we could flip over to the Mets on Channel 9 or the Yankees on Channel 11.  I have vivid memories of my Pop-Pop, who loved the Phillies' broadcast duo of Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn (#120), yelling at Rizzuto on Channel 11 or Tim McCarver on Channel 9.  And McCarver got it worse than Rizzuto.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Has the baserunner on this card ever been identified?  My first guess was that it's an Indians player, and both Wally Westlake (#81) and Gene Woodling (#163) played for the Indians in 1955 and wore #31.  Woodling is the more likely candidate here as he played in more games against the Yankees that year, although Rizzuto had lost his everyday shortstop job to Billy Hunter at this point.  And who knows if the photo is even from 1955?  In any event, I'm calling the runner out on the play.

The back of the card hits all the highlights - Rizzuto's nickname, his bunting proficiency and his 1950 A.L. MVP win.  This card was reprinted for the 2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps insert set.

1956 Season

Rizzuto began the 1956 season as the back-up to regular shortstop Jerry Lumpe who soon gave way to Gil McDougald (#225).  Rizzuto appeared in 31 games, making 15 starts at short, and hit .231 (12 for 52) with no extra base hits.    The 38-year-old made his final appearance on August 16th, pinch-running for Mickey McDermott (#340) in an eventual 2-1 loss to the Red Sox.  On August 25th, having just two game appearances up until that point in August, general manager George Weiss informed Rizzuto he was being released to make room on the roster for Enos Slaughter (#109).  Rizzuto was shocked saying, "I couldn't believe it.  The pinstripes meant so much to me."

Rizzuto had offers from the Cardinals and the Dodgers, but he opted to retire as a player and had an interim stint as a Giants' broadcaster in September 1956.  He was hired into the Yankees broadcast booth in 1957 where he'd stay for the next 40 seasons.

1941 Double Play #61

1948 Bowman #8

1950 Bowman #11

1952 Topps #11

1961 Topps #471

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1941 Double Play #61
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1951-1956, 1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Decades' Best #DB-10

918 - Rizzuto non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/3/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
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: #112 Dee Fondy - Chicago Cubs / #114 Jim Owens - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #274 Frank Baumholtz - Philadelphia Phillies / #180 Robin Roberts - Philadelphia Phillies