#166 Brooklyn Dodgers 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
December 25, 2003 from Turnersville, NJ (TemDee) - Card #244

How my Dad came to purchase this particular card is a bit of a mystery.  My notes show he/Santa brought me nine cards for our set for Christmas 2003, with all but this card coming from Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  TemDee was a baseball card store formerly located on the Black Horse Pike in Turnersville, New Jersey, originally behind the plaza where there's a current-day Arby's and later moving to the plaza next to White Glove Car Wash.  Sadly, it's now a Domino's Pizza.  Back in the day, it was a glorious mess in there.  

December 12, 2003 - My family at the Buena Tavern

Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, we'd often take a Saturday drive to TemDee and spend a good chuck of time browsing through the piles of baseball cards scattered throughout the store that mainly housed comic books, toys and other collectibles.  There were boxes upon boxes of vintage baseball cards, but most of them were fairly beat up and we'd often leave the shop with just a few packs of newer cards and maybe a couple of commons from whatever Topps set we were collecting at the time.  But we rarely, with the exception of this card apparently, made any major purchases from the store.  I have no memory of how or why this card entered our collection from TemDee or how much we paid for it.  In later years, after our oldest son Doug started showing an interest in Star Wars men, we'd visit the store in search of an action figure he didn't yet have.  The place was still a complete and total mess, but it was wonderful.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set

This card is one of the priciest team cards to be found in Topps' run of its flagship sets, given the overall popularity of the team and the overall nostalgia collectors feel today towards the Brooklyn Dodgers.  This card, featuring the 1955 World Champions, would have been particularly popular among kids of the day.  It's a same the Topps artist who colorized the photo chose to use blue for the numbers on the fronts of everyone's jerseys instead of the correct color, red.  Listed below are the players, coaches, batboy and club personnel featured on the card and the team photo was taken at some point during the 1955 season.  Frank Kellert, shown on the second row, was claimed off waivers by the Cubs on October 11, 1955.

The card was reprinted and included in the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.

Front Row Batboy Charlie DiGiovanna in front George Shuba Don Zimmer (#99) Coach Joe Becker Coach Jake Pitler Manager Walter Alston (#8) Coach Billy Herman Pee Wee Reese (#260) Dixie Howell Sandy Amoros (#42) Roy Campanella (#101)

2nd Row Custodian John Griffin Carl Erskine (#233) Sandy Koufax (#79) Secretary Lee Scott Roger Craig (#63) Don Newcombe (#235) Karl Spooner (#83) Don Hoak (#335, Cubs) Carl Furillo (#190) Frank Kellert (#291, Cubs) Trainer Doc Wendler

Back Row Russ Meyer (#227, Cubs) Jim Gilliam (#280) Billy Loes (#270) Clem Labine (#295) Gil Hodges (#145) Ed Roebuck (#58) Don Bessent (#184) Duke Snider (#150) Johnny Podres (#173) Rube Walker (#333) Jackie Robinson (#30)

I found a color version of the photo with a quick internet search, shown below, and Topps opted to go with a photo without the batboy holding up the "1955" year markers.  I think it's great that club custodian John Griffin made it into the team picture, and that's Griffin on the far left on the second row in the white t-shirt.  The man in the suit is traveling secretary Lee Scott.

Flipping to the back, here are the updated categories through the 2020 season:

Most Home Runs - 279 in 2019

Most Double Plays - 198 in 1958

Most Games Won - 106 in 2019

Most Runs Scored in One Game - 24 in 1996
Additional Pennant Winning Teams - 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Additional Championship Teams - 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, 2020

The Dodgers of course left Ebbets Field following the 1957 season, moving west to Los Angeles.

2021 Topps Throwback Thursday #24

1956 Season
The Dodgers repeated as National League Champions in 1956, but fell in seven games to the Yankees in the World Series.  All of the major players from the 1955 club returned and the club made only a few roster adjustments.  On December 9, 1955, Don Hoak, Russ Meyer and Walt Moryn were all traded to the Cubs with Don Elston and Randy Jackson (#223) going to Brooklyn.  Jackson took over as the team's regular third baseman as Jackie Robinson was in the midst of his final season.  Duke Snider was the team's top slugger with 43 home runs and 101 RBIs while Jim Gilliam won the Dodgers' batting title with a .300 average.  Don Newcombe went 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA on his way to winning the National League MVP Award and the Major League Cy Young Award.  Clem Labine led the bullpen with 19 saves.  In the memorable World Series, Don Larsen (#332) pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in Game 5 and the Dodgers momentarily held the Yankees off from victory when Labine pitched a 10-inning complete game shutout in Game 6.

Dodgers Cards That Never Were
The Dodgers are very well represented in the 1956 Topps set, but If I were put in charge of a fifth series, here are the Dodgers cards I'd include:

• Don Drysdale (pitcher) - The future Hall of Famer would receive his rookie card in the 1957 Topps set.  Topps produced a "what-if" card for Drysdale this year as part of its 2021 Throwback Thursday online offering.
• Gino Cimoli (outfield) - Cimoli also had to wait for the 1957 Topps set for his rookie card.  Among all Dodgers players in 1956, Cimoli appeared in the most games (73) without earning a card in the set.
• Rocky Nelson (first base) - Nelson bounced around quite a bit, originally playing for the Dodgers back in 1952.  He was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals on July 30, 1956, making it into 31 games for the eventual National League Champions.
• Sal Maglie (pitcher) - Former Giants All-Star and Dodger nemesis Maglie was sold by the Indians to the Dodgers on May 15, 1956.  He went 13-5 with a 2.89 ERA in 30 games for Brooklyn.
• Billy Herman (coach) - Hall of Famer Herman coached for the Dodgers between 1952 and 1957.
• Charlie DiGiovanna (batboy) - Why not?  Charlie "the Brow" DiGiovanna was a long-time batboy for the Dodgers who was widely known to have forged hundreds of player signatures on baseballs and other memorabilia throughout the 1950s at the request of the Dodgers and on behalf of star players too busy to sign.  There's a PSA article, linked here, detailing DiGiovanna's signing habits.

Sources

Baseball Reference