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John Joseph Podres
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 5'11" Weight: 170
Born: September 30, 1932, Witherbee, NY
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1955, 1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966; Detroit Tigers 1966-1967; San Diego Padres 1969
Died: January 13, 2008, Glens Falls, NY (age 75)
Johnny Podres forever joined the ranks of Dodger greats when the lefty won 1955 World Series MVP honors for his two fantastic starts against the Yankees in the Fall Classic. Podres started Game 3, pitching a complete game in the Dodgers' win, and then started the decisive Game 7, pitching a complete game shutout to give the team their first and only World Series title while in Brooklyn. Podres settled in as a reliable starter for Brooklyn and then Los Angeles, winning at least 12 games over the next seven seasons and making four All-Star teams. He led the league with six shutouts in 1957 while winning the ERA title with a 2.66 mark. Podres attained a career-high 18 wins in 1961, and he'd win two more World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959 and 1963. He retired as a player following a half-season with the expansion Padres in 1969. Podres was 148-116 over 440 career games, pitching 77 complete games and 24 shutouts. He struck out 1,435 over his 15-year big league career, currently 249th on the all-time leader's list. Podres' 136 career wins with the Dodgers currently ranks 10th all-time for the franchise.
Podres served as a long-time pitching coach in the majors, working for the Padres (1973), Red Sox (1980), Twins (1981-1985) and Phillies (1991-1996).
Building the Set
June 20, 1992 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #108
This is one of 11 cards (and the 10th I've covered on this blog) my Dad and I bought in June 1992 at the Ocean City baseball card show held on the boardwalk at the Music Pier. We paid $60 for the lot of 11 cards, which at the time was most likely a steal. Chronologically, I have this listed as the 108th card we added to the set. Like the other cards in this lot, this card is gorgeous with four sharp corners. I'd love to get into my time machine and buy whatever other 1956 Topps cards this dealer had for sale as they're some of the finest cards in our set.
It would seem as if we paid the full admission price of $6 as we didn't relinquish the postcard below to receive $0.50 off. I still have a collection of these postcards and flyers dating back to the early 1980s from the various Ocean City baseball card shows. My Dad wasn't much of a night owl, which explains why we wouldn't have waited around for an autograph from Del Ennis (#220) the Saturday of this show. It's a shame too. Ennis was one of my Dad's favorite players and it would have been an amazing keepsake if I had somehow gotten a picture of the two of them together.
Building the Set
June 20, 1992 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #108
This is one of 11 cards (and the 10th I've covered on this blog) my Dad and I bought in June 1992 at the Ocean City baseball card show held on the boardwalk at the Music Pier. We paid $60 for the lot of 11 cards, which at the time was most likely a steal. Chronologically, I have this listed as the 108th card we added to the set. Like the other cards in this lot, this card is gorgeous with four sharp corners. I'd love to get into my time machine and buy whatever other 1956 Topps cards this dealer had for sale as they're some of the finest cards in our set.
It would seem as if we paid the full admission price of $6 as we didn't relinquish the postcard below to receive $0.50 off. I still have a collection of these postcards and flyers dating back to the early 1980s from the various Ocean City baseball card shows. My Dad wasn't much of a night owl, which explains why we wouldn't have waited around for an autograph from Del Ennis (#220) the Saturday of this show. It's a shame too. Ennis was one of my Dad's favorite players and it would have been an amazing keepsake if I had somehow gotten a picture of the two of them together.
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The Card / Dodgers Team Set
The main photo on the card was also used on Podres' 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, and I found the source photo from April 1954 after a quick search of Getty Images. The back of the card focuses on Podres' recent heroics on the 1955 World Series and mentions his extremely effective fastball in the final cartoon panel. The card is reprinted as part of the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.
1956 Season
Podres was hired as the Phillies pitching coach on October 31, 1990, after spending the prior five seasons as a minor league coach with the Dodgers. He joined manager Nick Leyva's coaching staff as the replacement for Darold Knowles, who had departed after two seasons at the post. Podres stuck around following Leyva's dismissal 13 games into the 1991 season, and he was a key member of new manager Jim Fregosi's coaching staff throughout the early 1990s. Podres is credited with helping Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene, Ben Rivera, and other young Phillies pitchers find early success in their careers. He went to his final World Series with the club in 1993, with the Phillies falling in six games to Joe Carter and the Blue Jays. Podres left the team during the 1996 season to deal with health issues and was replaced on an interim basis by Jim Wright. Following the 1996 season, and in connection with the hiring of new manager Terry Francona, Podres was replaced by Galen Cisco as the team's full-time pitching coach.
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First Mainstream Card: 1953 Topps #263
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1953-1967, 1969, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Stepping Up #SU-4
367 - Podres non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/21.
Sources:
1991 Phillies Media Guide
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