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Joseph Filmore Frazier
St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield
Born: October 6, 1922, Liberty, NC
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1941 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1947; St. Louis Cardinals 1954-1956; Cincinnati Reds 1956; Baltimore Orioles 1956
As a Manager: New York Mets 1976-1977
Died: February 15, 2011, Broken Arrow, OK (age 88)
Joe Frazier spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues, being used as a pinch-hitter in 171 of his 217 total games played. After a brief stint with the Indians in 1947, and making his big league debut on August 31st of that season, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns. He'd spend six seasons playing in the minor league systems of the Browns and White Sox, before finally making it back to the majors with the Cardinals in 1954. Frazier appeared in 81 games with the Cardinals in 1954, another 58 games with the club in 1955, and then spent 1956 in the uniforms of the Cardinals, Reds and Orioles.
Building the Set
February 9, 2002 in Cooperstown, NY - Card #233
This is one of only four cards I purchased in 2002, which was one of the tougher years for me personally. I made a solo unscheduled and unplanned trip to Cooperstown in early 2002 in an attempt to clear my mind one weekend. It was an escape. Thinking back on that time now 19 years later, I realize Cooperstown was a logical choice for me to make my escape as I could leave my present worries behind and live in the past for a few days. I spent a lot of time walking around the Hall of Fame, taking my time and actually relaxing.
I didn't have a lot of money for this trip, but I visited Baseball Nostalgia that Saturday afternoon and purchased four cards for our 1956 Topps set, including this Frazier card. The other three cards purchased were Jim Davis (#102), Don Kaiser (#124) and Tom Gorman (#246) and the four cards together cost me $18.50. That's a fairly low price to pay for some much needed baseball card therapy.
I'm happy to see Baseball Nostalgia is still open. My wife and I have discussed taking a trip back to Cooperstown when everything gets back to normal as neither of our boys have ever visited before. Whenever that trip happens, I'll be sure to pay a visit to Baseball Nostalgia.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
The main photo of Frazier is repeated from his 1955 Topps rookie card, and the action photo shows the edge of his #24, the number he wore with the Cardinals for three seasons. His pinch-hitting skills are highlighted on the back of the card. For his career, Frazier was a .221 pinch-hitter (31 for 140) with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 3 home runs. The power threat mentioned in the final panel is from his minor league days. While he hit just 10 home runs in the majors, he hit 144 in the minor leagues with a career high 22 home runs in 1953 with the Oklahoma City Indians.
1956 Season
This was a busy year for Frazier. He began the season with the Cardinals, appearing in 14 games, and then was traded to the Reds with Alex Grammas (#37) on May 16th for Chuck Harmon (#308). He was with the Reds for a little over a month, appearing in 10 games, and then was sold to the Orioles on June 26th. He finished out the year with the Orioles, appearing in 45 games. For the season, he batted .245 over 69 games with the three different teams. His final major league game came on September 30th when he started in right field for the Orioles, batting clean-up. In his final big league at-bat, Frazier hit a solo home run to deep right field off Senators' pitcher Ted Abernathy.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #89
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1955-1956, 1976-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1977 Topps #259
17 - Frazier non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
This is one of only four cards I purchased in 2002, which was one of the tougher years for me personally. I made a solo unscheduled and unplanned trip to Cooperstown in early 2002 in an attempt to clear my mind one weekend. It was an escape. Thinking back on that time now 19 years later, I realize Cooperstown was a logical choice for me to make my escape as I could leave my present worries behind and live in the past for a few days. I spent a lot of time walking around the Hall of Fame, taking my time and actually relaxing.
I didn't have a lot of money for this trip, but I visited Baseball Nostalgia that Saturday afternoon and purchased four cards for our 1956 Topps set, including this Frazier card. The other three cards purchased were Jim Davis (#102), Don Kaiser (#124) and Tom Gorman (#246) and the four cards together cost me $18.50. That's a fairly low price to pay for some much needed baseball card therapy.
I'm happy to see Baseball Nostalgia is still open. My wife and I have discussed taking a trip back to Cooperstown when everything gets back to normal as neither of our boys have ever visited before. Whenever that trip happens, I'll be sure to pay a visit to Baseball Nostalgia.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
The main photo of Frazier is repeated from his 1955 Topps rookie card, and the action photo shows the edge of his #24, the number he wore with the Cardinals for three seasons. His pinch-hitting skills are highlighted on the back of the card. For his career, Frazier was a .221 pinch-hitter (31 for 140) with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 3 home runs. The power threat mentioned in the final panel is from his minor league days. While he hit just 10 home runs in the majors, he hit 144 in the minor leagues with a career high 22 home runs in 1953 with the Oklahoma City Indians.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #89
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1955-1956, 1976-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1977 Topps #259
17 - Frazier non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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