#177 Hank Bauer - New York Yankees

Henry Albert Bauer
New York Yankees
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  192
Born:  July 31, 1922, St. Louis, IL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1948-1959; Kansas City Athletics 1960-1961
As a Manager:  Kansas City Athletics 1961-1962; Baltimore Orioles 1964-1968; Oakland Athletics 1969
Died:  February 9, 2007, Lenexa, KS (age 84)

Hank Bauer was a hero during World War II before joining the Yankees and winning seven World Series rings with the club as their regular right fielder.  Bauer was consistently dependable throughout his Yankees tenure, and between 1950 and 1959 he batted .279 with an average of 15 home runs and 60 RBIs per season.  Bauer owned a 17-game World Series hitting streak, still a record today as tied by Derek Jeter, and contributed a three-run triple in the decisive Game 6 fo the 1951 World Series.  He slugged four home runs in the 1958 World Series, his final postseason action as a player.  Bauer was a three-time All-Star between 1952 and 1954, and earned MVP votes each year between 1952 and 1956.  He was dealt to the Athletics in December 1959 as part of the deal that brought Roger Maris to the Bronx.  While Maris went on to set the single-season home run record, Bauer played in parts of two seasons with the Athletics, becoming their player-manager in June 1961, before retiring as a player and focusing on his managing career.  Bauer retired with 1,424 hits, 164 home runs, 703 RBIs and a .277 career average.

His first managerial stint with the Athletics lasted only through the 1962 season.  He joined the Orioles as a first base coach in 1963, and was promoted to their manager following the season.  Bauer guided the Orioles to their first ever World Series title in 1966, sweeping the heavily favored Dodgers in four games.  His success with the Orioles waned after a few years and he was fired on July 10, 1968, to be replaced by Orioles' first base coach Earl Weaver.  Bauer managed one last time, returning to the Athletics, now in Oakland, for the 1969 season.  His lifetime managerial record was 594-544-1.  Bauer managed the Mets' top farm team in Tidewater in 1971 and 1972, before leaving the dugout for good.  He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1990.

March 4, 2007 - Dad and Doug

Building the Set
February 7, 2007 in Voorhees, NJ - Card #292
This is one of six cards I purchased at the Echelon Mall Baseball Card show in February 2007, spending $70 total, including $12.50 on this Bauer card.  At the time, Doug was a few days away from turning two months old and we had just celebrated my Dad's 63rd birthday a few weeks earlier.  I also realized as I was composing this post that Bauer passed away just two days after we had added his card to our set.

I think Jenna had been out shopping on this day when she texted (or called) me to let me know there was a baseball card show being held at what used to be the Echelon Mall.  The former mall has since been converted as part of the Voorhees Town Center. 

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Bauer is one of only eight players featured in the set's second series who were also in the 1954 and 1955 Topps sets, and who appeared with the exact same photos.  This is a sharp drop from the 32 players appearing in the set's first series for whom their photo was the same used in 1954 and 1955.  The majority of players in the set's second series were those who had been exclusive to Bowman over the past few years, so Topps had to come up with new photos for those players.

I'm calling Bauer safe on the play at the plate.  If the photo is from 1955, the only two American League catchers who were #9 that season were the Senators' Bob Oldis and the Tigers' Jay Porter.  Porter didn't catch in any games against the Yankees that season, but Oldis caught in two games against the Yankees in April 1955.  My best guess is the action photo is from April 13, 1955 when the Yankees destroyed the Senators, 19-1.  In the seventh inning, with Oldis catching, Bauer was the last of three runners to cross the plate on a bases-clearing triple from Bob Cerv (#288).

1956 Season

Bauer was again the opening day right fielder for the Yankees, with Mickey Mantle (#135) in center and Elston Howard (#208) in left, and it was the fourth straight season in which he earned that honor.  He'd start three more opening days for the Yankees before moving on to the Athletics in 1960.  Bauer hit career highs with his power numbers, slugging 26 home runs and driving in 84 runs, but his average slipped to .241.  He appeared in 147 games overall, making 128 starts in right and seven starts in left.  When the Yankees reached the World Series for the second consecutive year, and the seventh time in Bauer's eight seasons so far with the club, he hit safely in all seven games against the Dodgers, beginning his then record 17-game World Series hitting streak.

1950 Bowman #219

1954 Topps #130

1959 Topps #240

1967 Topps #1

1969 Topps #124

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1951-1952, 1954-1962, 1964-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2010 Topps New York Yankees 27 World Series Championships #YC13

289 - Bauer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/19/21.

Sources:  

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

#176 Alex Kellner - Kansas City Athletics

Alexander Raymond Kellner
Kansas City Athletics
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Born:  August 26, 1924, Tucson, AZ
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1941 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1948-1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955-1958; Cincinnati Reds 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959
Died:  May 3, 1996, Tucson, AZ (age 71)

Lefty Alex Kellner signed with the Reds at the age of 17, but had to pause his baseball career after just one professional season when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Citing exhaustion, Kellner didn't report back to Reds upon his discharge in 1946 and the club released him.  He'd eventually sign with the Athletics, enjoying a career year in 1949 when he was named to the American League All-Star team and he'd go on to win 20 games.  He became the first Athletics pitcher with 20 wins since Lefty Grove accomplished the feat in 1933, and he was second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Browns' slugger Roy Sievers (#75).  Kellner would enjoy successful seasons over the next decade, but he never quite replicated his performance from that 1949 season.  He'd lose 20 games in 1950 and was a member of the Athletics' starting pitching rotation during their final years in Philadelphia and their first several years in Kansas City.

Kellner eclipsed the 200-inning mark five times during his career.  He was a solid defender, leading all American League pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage in both 1952 and 1954.  Kellner was also a decent hitter, sporting a lifetime .215 average with four home runs.  In 321 career games pitched, Kellner was 101-112 with a 4.41 ERA and 816 strikeouts over 1,849 1/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set
January 18, 2003 in Plymouth Meeting, PA - Card #237
In January 2003, I added seven cards to our set, purchased at a baseball card show held inside the Plymouth Meeting Mall.  I paid $45 for the seven cards, which included this Kellner card.  My Topps set building had stalled out somewhat in 2003 as I had switched over to become primarily a Phillies collector, and I was also spending my disposable income trying to put together the early Topps Heritage sets.  This was the first of only 18 cards we added to our set in 2003, but we did cross the threshold of needing less than 100 cards to complete the set late in the year.

The Card / Athletics Team Set
Kellner had signed exclusively with Bowman, and this card marks his return to Topps for the first time since 1952.  The first half of his uniform number 22 is visible in the action shot here.  Credit again goes to the Topps artist for coming up with three panels' worth of material for the back of Kellner's card.  With the Athletics entrenched within the second division for much of Kellner's tenure with the team, the first panel celebrates his .579 won-loss percentage after going 11-8 in 1955.  The second panel highlights the team's emergence from the American League basement and the final panel is reserved for Kellner's 20-win season in 1949.

1956 Season

Kellner was the Athletics' opening day pitcher, his fourth and final opening day assignment, after earning the honor in 1952, 1953 and 1955.  He suffered a left elbow tendon injury in May that seemingly affected him throughout the rest of the season.  Kellner appeared in less than 100 innings of the first time since 1948, going 7-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 20 appearances, including 17 starts.

1949 Bowman #222

1952 Topps #201

1954 Topps #51

1957 Topps #280

1959 Topps #101

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #222
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1952, 1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1983 Topps 1952 Reprint Series #201

37 - Kellner non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

#175 Del Crandall - Milwaukee Braves

Delmar Wesley Crandall
Milwaukee Braves
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  March 5, 1930, Ontario, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1949-1950; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1963; San Francisco Giants 1964; Pittsburgh Pirates 1965; Cleveland Indians 1966
As a Manager:  Milwaukee Brewers 1972-1975; Seattle Mariners 1983-1984
Died:  May 5, 2021, Mission Viejo, CA (age 91)

An often overlooked but important member of the Braves' line-up throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Del Crandall was an 11-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove winner and he won a World Series ring with the Braves in 1957.  Crandall's work behind the plate was impressive.  He led the league in runners caught stealing five times and had the league's top fielding percentage for a catcher four times.  His receiving aided the careers of Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (#10) along with Lew Burdette (#219) and Bob Buhl (#244).  He hit at least 15 home runs or more every season between 1953 and 1960 and drove in over 50 runs in six of those seasons.

Following the 1963 season, and with Joe Torre waiting in the wings to take his place, Crandall was part of a seven-player deal that sent him to the Giants.  He finished his career as a back-up catcher with the Giants, Pirates and Indians between 1964 and 1966.  Crandall caught three no-hitters and batted .254 over 1,573 games.  He later managed the Brewers (1972-1975) and Mariners (1983-1984) compiling a managerial record of 364-469 with none of his teams finishing above fifth place.  He also spent time as a broadcaster with the White Sox and Brewers and as a minor league manager for various organizations.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set
December 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #213
I went nuts and bought 16 cards for our 1956 Topps set on this day at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show in Raleigh.  My records show the 16 cards set me back $55 which I would have considered to be a small fortune back then.  I hadn't yet moved back north yet, so I was still living in Raleigh at this time planning for my eventual escape.  I would have provided my Dad with an updated checklist following this show as he was back in New Jersey.

The Card / Braves Team Set
Crandall was exclusive to Bowman in 1955, and this marks his return to Topps after a one year absence.  The main photo is different than the photo used for his 1954 Topps card.  I'm calling the runner out in the action shot, as it appears as if Crandall has possession of the ball and has successfully blocked the plate from the runner's attempted hook slide.  The middle cartoon panel on the back of the card references his strong throwing arm and above-average fielding.

1956 Season

Crandall was the opening day and regular catcher for the Braves, making his fourth All-Star team in a row.  In 112 games, he batted .238 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs.  The Braves came close to winning the pennant in 1956, finishing in second place and just a game behind the Dodgers with a 92-62 record.  Fred Haney had replaced former manager Charlie Grimm in June, and Haney went with his big three starting pitchers - Spahn, Burdette and Buhl - to start 15 of the team's final 17 games.

1950 Bowman #56

1954 Topps #12

1961 Topps #390

1974 Topps #99

1984 Topps #721

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #56
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1952-1954, 1956-1966, 1973-1975, 1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-DC

143 - Crandall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/21.

Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

#174 Glen Gorbous - Philadelphia Phillies

Glen Edward Gorbous
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  175
Born:  July 8, 1930, Drumheller, Canada
Acquired:  Send from Medford (Far West) to the Brooklyn Dodgers in an unknown transaction, before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1955; Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1957
Died:  June 12, 1990, Calgary, Canada (age 59)

Glen Gorbous began his American baseball career in 1949 with the Medford Nuggets, an unaffiliated team in the Far West League, playing its home games in Medford, Oregon.  He caught the attention of the Dodgers, and he joined the Brooklyn organization following that 1949 season.  Gorbous played in the Dodgers' organization between 1950 and 1954, and was selected by the Reds in the annual rule 5 draft following the 1954 season.  He was then required to stay on a big league roster for all of 1955 or be offered back to the Dodgers.  Gorbous made his big league debut on April 11, 1955 and appeared in eight games with the Reds before a trade on April 30th sent him to the Phillies.  He'd appear in a career-high 91 games with the Phillies, and platooned with righty Jim Greengrass (#275) in right field, making 44 starts.  Gorbous would only appear in a total of 18 more big league games in the following two seasons, appearing in his final Phillies game on May 5, 1957.  On August 1, 1957, he set a world record for the longest recorded throw, throwing a baseball 445 feet, 10 inches, with a six-step running start.

Gorbous would spend the entire 1958 season back with the Dodgers' organization, and played in 132 games in Spokane before retiring.  In 117 major league games, Gorbous collected 66 hits and batted .238 with four home runs and 29 RBIs.

Building the Set
July 23, 1988 in Williamstown, NJ - Card #60
In the summer of 1988, I was between my eighth grade and freshman years of school, and I have nothing but pleasant memories of that time growing up in South Jersey.  There were maybe five or six baseball card stores in our area, although only a few of them were known to carry older baseball cards.  One of those stores was located in Williamstown, New Jersey, which ironically enough is where my wife and I would settle and start to raise our family some 15 years later.  I had to dig into my notes from our other set quests to find the store's name - Collector's Corner.  We had finished off our 1974 Topps set earlier that year, in February, at Collector's Corner.   

July 23rd was a Saturday, my Dad would have been off work for the weekend, and I imagine we had the hankering for a new card for our relatively new 1956 Topps set quest.  We had also recently started collecting the 1973 Topps set, and with our 1956 and 1973 checklists in hand, we made the half hour drive from Millville to Williamstown.  The trip could be considered somewhat of a bust as we came away with only two new cards - this off-center Gorbous card for $4, and the 1973 Topps Rick Reuschel card for $0.50.  As a current Williamstown resident, I'm not even sure where this store would have been located back in the day, as a lot of the ubiquitous strip malls all look pretty much the same to me.  But it was in a strip mall, I remember that much.  A Google Maps search turned up a temporarily closed Collector's Corner in Williamstown on the Black Horse Pike, but I don't think that's connected to the old Collector's Corner we visited way back when.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
Gorbous is the first (and only?) Canadian to appear in the 1956 Topps set, and this is also the first orange-blue color bar combination in the set.  I admittedly knew little about Gorbous before composing this post, and was surprised to learn he was an outfielder and not a pitcher.  For some reason, I always thought of him as a pitcher whenever I'd glance this card.  This is also Gorbous' first and last contemporaneous mainstream baseball card, and he'd appear in the 2011 Tristar Obak set 55 years later, celebrating his longest throw feat from 1957.  The back of this card references his acquisition by the Phillies, his successful first professional season in 1949 and his enjoyment of some offseason hockey.

1956 Season

Gorbous was on the Phillies' opening day roster and appeared in 15 games with the club, making six starts in right field.  He'd play in his final big league game of the season on May 20th, and he'd spend the remainder of the year playing for the Phillies' top farm team in Miami.  With the Marlins, Gorbous batted .262 in 79 games with three home runs and 29 RBIs.  He was the team's fourth outfielder with Cal Abrams, Bob Bowman and Larry Novak receiving more playing time.

Phillies Career
On April 30, 1955, the Phillies acquired Gorbous, Greengrass and Andy Seminick (#296) from the Reds for Smoky Burgess (#192), Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.  Wearing #37 in 1955, #9 in 1956 and #50 in 1957, Gorbous would appear in 109 games for the Phillies, batting .232 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.  On May 10, 1957, the Phillies dealt him to the Cardinals for utility player Chuck Harmon (#308).

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #174
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Tristar Obak #22

3 - Gorbous non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia