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Glen Edward Gorbous
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield
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.
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.
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
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).
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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
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