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Raymond Edmond Narleski
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: November 25, 1928, Camden, NJ
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as a free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1954-1958; Detroit Tigers 1959
Died: March 29, 2012, Clementon, NJ (age 83)
South Jersey's own Ray Narleski was one of the game's top relievers in 1955, appearing in a league-leading 60 games and securing a league-leading 19 saves. His record that season was 9-1 with a 3.71 ERA over 111 2/3 inning pitched, earning him 6th place in the A.L. MVP voting. Narleski would be named to two All-Star teams in 1956 and 1958. He gradually worked his way into the Indians' starting pitching rotation, winning 11 games in 1957 and 13 games in 1958. In November 1958, Narleski was traded with Ossie Alvarez and Don Mossi (#39) to the Tigers for Al Cicotte and Billy Martin (#181). He and Tom Morgan were the two top relievers for the Tigers in 1959, with Narleski appearing in 42 games and converting 5 saves.
Narleski missed the entire 1960 season following back surgery that left him hospitalized for six weeks. Attempting to make a comeback in 1961, Narleski refused an assignment to the minor leagues and was released by the Tigers. In six short seasons in the majors, he compiled a record of 43-33 with a 3.60 ERA and 58 saves.Interestingly enough, and since we're also from South Jersey, my family knows Narleski's family. His daughter-in-law became a family friend when our sons attended her music classes as toddlers. It was her classes that had a huge impact on both our sons, but especially our youngest son Ben as he's since become an excellent piano player.
Building the Set
October 2, 1993 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #120
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 $6 for this Narleski card and $9 for the Bill Renna (#82) 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.
The Card / Indians Team Set
The large photo is the same used for Narleski's 1955 Topps rookie card. The back of the card pays tribute to Narleski's league leading appearances in 1955, and the middle panel contains a clever (for the time) allusion to the Wild West and the cowboys and indians trope popular throughout the 1950s. The final cartoon panel refers to the one start Narleski made in 1955, during the second game of a double header against the Red Sox on June 17th. He went all nine innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits.
Building the Set
October 2, 1993 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #120
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 $6 for this Narleski card and $9 for the Bill Renna (#82) 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.
The Card / Indians Team Set
The large photo is the same used for Narleski's 1955 Topps rookie card. The back of the card pays tribute to Narleski's league leading appearances in 1955, and the middle panel contains a clever (for the time) allusion to the Wild West and the cowboys and indians trope popular throughout the 1950s. The final cartoon panel refers to the one start Narleski made in 1955, during the second game of a double header against the Red Sox on June 17th. He went all nine innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits.
Narleski would have cracked the Indians' starting pitching rotation earlier than he did, but at the time they possessed perhaps the best rotation in baseball with Early Wynn (#187), Herb Score (#140), Bob Lemon (#255) and Mike Garcia (#210).
1956 Season
Narleski was nearly unhittable at the start of the 1956 season, and he went 24 2/3 innings without allowing a run between May 25th and June 20th. On July 2nd, he suffered an elbow injury that cost him two months of the season. Selected to the All-Star Game, Narleski was unable to participate because of the injury. He finished the season with a record of 3-2 and a 1.52 ERA over 32 relief appearances. Due to the time he missed, closing duties fell to Don Mossi (#39), who recorded a team-leading 11 saves.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #96
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1955-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #161
24 - Narleski non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/8/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #96
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1955-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #161
24 - Narleski non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/8/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card / Next Card
Order Collected: #82 Bill Renna - Kansas City Athletics / #261 Bobby Shantz - Kansas City Athletics
That WFU picture! You can almost see our suite.
ReplyDeleteJust came here to "like" that comment, but you can't do that in Blogger. : )
ReplyDeleteI wanted to add a quick comment that I received a wonderful thank you note from Mr. Narleski's daughter-in-law noting that this post had been shared with the family and she called it a "beautiful tribute." I love doing this for no other reason than I enjoy these cards and learning about the players featured but a thank you note from a player's family member is amazingly cool.
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