Friday, January 28, 2022

#187 Early Wynn - Cleveland Indians


Early Wynn
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher


Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  January 6, 1920, Hartford, AL
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before 1937 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1939, 1941-1944, 1946-1948; Cleveland Indians 1949-1957; Chicago White Sox 1958-1962; Cleveland Indians 1963
Hall of Fame Induction:  1972
Died:  April 4, 1999, Venice, FL (age 79)

One of the game's toughest competitors, Early Wynn used a blazing fastball and his willingness to pitch inside to batters, more than occasionally hitting them, to craft a Hall of Fame career.  Wynn began his career with the Senators and enjoyed an 18-win season in 1943 when he first crossed the 200-inning plateau and led the league with 33 games started.  He made his first All-Star team in 1947, but his career really took off after a December 1948 trade sent him to the Indians.  With Cleveland, Wynn was part of one of the strongest starting pitching rotations in the game's history, joining Bob Feller (#200), Mike Garcia (#210) and Bob Lemon (#255).  Wynn was a 20-game winner in four seasons with the Indians, winning an ERA title in 1950 and helping the club reach the World Series in 1954.  His best seasons came in 1955 and 1956.  Wynn was 20-9 in 1956 with a 2.72 ERA in 35 starts.  A blockbuster trade that saw Minnie Minoso (#125) head to the Indians sent Wynn to the White Sox for the 1958 season.

With the White Sox, Wynn won the Cy Young Award in 1959, going 22-10 with a 3.17 ERA and leading the league with 255 2/3 innings pitched.  He'd again reach the World Series, but the White Sox would fall to the Dodgers in six games.  Wynn would pitch through the 1963 season, signing with the Indians that June in an attempt to win his 300th career game.  He finally reached the milestone on July 13th and was released following the season.  Wynn was a nine-time All-Star.  He retired with a career record of 300-244 over 691 games pitched with an ERA of 3.54.  His 4,564 innings pitched are currently 22nd all-time, his strikeout total of 2,334 is 54th all-time, and he's ranked 21st all time in shutouts with 49.  He'd later serve as the pitching coach for the Indians (1964-1966) and Twins (1967-1969) and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #8
This Wynn card was one of the Original 44 and the last time I told the full story of the Original 44 was over a year ago within the Ed Mathews (#107) post, so I'll repeat it again here.  This is one of eight Hall of Famers from the Original 44 and the next Hall of Famer coming up is Larry Doby (#250).

June 1983 - Ocean City Baseball Card Show
Technically speaking, my Dad and I actually began collecting the set in the summer of 1987, but this card (along with the other Original 44) first entered my collection three or four years before that.

I think it was either the summer of 1983 or 1984 when a shoebox of vintage baseball cards, football cards and a few non-sports cards arrived into my world.  The box contained about a hundred cards dating between 1950 and 1956, and for the most part, they were all in excellent shape.  A friend of the family was in the process of cleaning up and moving into her new house when she found the old shoebox and she wondered if the only kid she knew who collected baseball cards (me) would be interested in looking through it – maybe even taking the box off her hands.

She dropped the box off to my parents and asked them to have me look through the box and take what I was interested in. Turns out, I was interested in everything.  Up to that point, the oldest cards in my collection were cards from the early '70s I had obtained through trades or cards that my Dad had picked up for me at yard sales or small baseball card shows.  (My Dad had given me a few dog-earred and rough Topps cards – Juan Pizzaro and Jim Busby – a few years prior, and I completely forget how or why he had purchased these cards for me.)

My parents asked me to pick out a few cards from the box, and then we’d return the rest to the family friend.  Problem was, I wanted them all.  I really wanted them all.  I diligently and meticulously went through one of my price guides and determined the “value” of the treasure chest. I probably used my Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide No. 4, edited by Dr. James Beckett, and I had no way to value the football or non-sports cards.  My memory is fuzzy, and I can't find the original tally, but I think I came up with the box being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 to $400, which I knew my parents definitely did not have in their discretionary spending budget.  But they could tell how much I wanted those cards, as I lovingly studied each and every one and handled each as if it were some long-lost artifact.

I don’t know the exact details, but I believe my Dad went back to the friend and told her we’d take the whole box, but only if she let him give her some money for it.  I believe she was genuinely shocked that the box of old cardboard pictures had some value, and that someone was willing to give her cash for it.  My Dad shared the list I had created showing the “book value” of the cards and he mentioned how it was going to be close to impossible to get me to pick and choose which ones I wanted.  When all was said and done, the family friend, who had absolutely no intention of making money on this endeavor, walked away with (I think) something in the neighborhood of $100 for the whole lot.

Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

And so a few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few ’56 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

The Card / Indians Team Set
This card is badly off center, but I don't mind that much, given its sentimental value.  Wynn returned to Topps sets with this card after a two-year absence and exclusive appearances in Bowman sets.  His facsimile autograph includes his nickname, "Gus."  The middle cartoon panel on the back of the card highlights Wynn's pitch repertoire, which included his aforementioned fastball and a knuckleball.  The left panel highlights Wynn's 200th career victory attained during the 1955 season.  At the time, the only other active 200-game winner was teammate Feller, who had 266.

1956 Season
As mentioned above, this was probably Wynn's career year as he tallied a 7.8 WAR, tops in the league.  Wynn, Lemon and Herb Score (#140) were all 20-game winners for the second place Indians.  Wynn pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the 1956 All-Star Game, retiring Henry Aaron (#31), Ken Boyer (#14) and Willie Mays (#130) in order and striking out Mays to boot.

1949 Bowman #110
1951 Bowman #78
1953 Topps #61
1959 Topps #260
1962 Topps #385

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #110
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1951-1953, 1956-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2021 Panini Mosaic #27

390 - Wynn non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/15/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Friday, January 21, 2022

#186 Ron Jackson - Chicago White Sox


Ronald Harold Jackson
Chicago White Sox
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'7"  Weight:  225
Born:  October 22, 1933, Kalamazoo, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent, June 15, 1954
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1954-1959; Boston Red Sox 1960
Died:  July 6, 2008, Kalamazoo, MI (age 74)

A bonus baby signed during the 1954 season, the rules of the day compelled the White Sox to keep Ron Jackson on their big league roster for two seasons.  He played sparingly with the White Sox between 1954 and 1957, and Jackson found greater success in the minor leagues.  He enjoyed a career year in 1957 with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, where he was an All-Star and batted .310 with 21 home runs and 102 RBIs.  Jackson's performance that season led to a full year in the majors with the White Sox in 1958.  He did see stretches of regular playing time as the White Sox starting first baseman, appearing in 61 games overall and batting .233 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.  That was to be the last regular action in the majors Jackson would see, as he'd appear in 10 games for the pennant-winning White Sox in 1959 and 10 games for the Red Sox in 1960 following an offseason deal that sent him to Boston.

In May 1960, Jackson was dealt to the Braves for former teammate Ray Boone (#6).  He'd play in the minors for two more seasons before retiring.  Jackson had a .245 average over 196 big league games, with 17 home runs and 52 RBIs.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #320
The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.

December 24, 2007 - Dad with his first grandson
Our son Doug had just turned one, and on Christmas morning 2007, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our families to our house to celebrate the day.  I've had a few rough Christmases, but this was one of the worst as my Dad ended up in the hospital that day and it was the beginning of his health struggles that would continue until he passed away in late 2011.  He was discharged from the hospital three days later, and it was only then we celebrated Christmas together, on December 28th, and I opened the package containing the last of the cards needed for our 1956 Topps set.

Dad was understandably distraught that Christmas, but not solely because of his own health issues.  Because of his unselfish nature, he was worried that he had ruined Christmas for everyone since we had spent the holidays in a hospital.  He was also upset that his surprise package containing those last 29 baseball cards sat in the back seat of his car for three days until he recovered enough to come home.  I was just happy to have him out of the hospital, but I do remember feeling confused and somewhat hopeless as we weren't quite sure yet what was wrong with him.

I don't have any pictures from December 28th, which is unusual for me.  I'm assuming I was just happy that Dad was out of the hospital and taking pictures never crossed my mind.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
What do you suppose is happening in that action photo?  My best guess is that a ball got loose in the infield and Jackson is scooping it up while checking on a base runner.  Jackson's head shot is the same used for his rookie card, found in the 1955 Topps set.  Jackson's 6'7" height is played up in a few cartoons on the back of the card as is his successful basketball record at Western Michigan University.

1956 Season
Jackson appeared in 22 games for the White Sox in May and September, batting .214 and making 15 starts at first base.  Most of his season was spent with the Vancouver Mounties in the Pacific Coast League, managed by Lefty O'Doul.  Jackson batted .304 for the Mounties as their regular first baseman, with a team-leading nine home runs and 49 RBIs.

1955 Topps #66
1958 Topps #26
1959 Topps #73
1960 Topps #426

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #66
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1955-1956, 1958-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #426

14 - Jackson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/14/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Friday, January 14, 2022

#185 Bill Bruton - Milwaukee Braves


William Haron Bruton
Milwaukee Braves
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  169
Born:  November 9, 1925, Panola, AL
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Milwaukee Braves 1953-1960; Detroit Tigers 1961-1964
Died:  December 5, 1995, Marshallton, DE (age 70)

Bill Bruton used his speed as a weapon on the base paths and to assist in him center field when tracking down fly balls.  Bruton was the regular center fielder for the Braves throughout the 1950s, and he led the league in stolen bases in each of his first three seasons between 1953 and 1955.  He helped lead the Braves to back-to-back National League pennants in 1957 and 1958, although a knee injury kept him out of the 1957 World Series when the Braves defeated the Yankees in seven games.  The Yankees returned the favor in 1958, defeating the Braves, but Bruton had a successful series, going 7 for 17 (.412) and driving in the winning run in the 10th inning of Game 1.  Bruton led the National League in triples in 1956 and 1960, and in runs scored in 1960 with 112.

Traded to Detroit following the 1960 season, Bruton finished up his major league career by playing four seasons with the Tigers.  In 1961, he clubbed a career-high 17 home runs and he drove in a career-high 74 runs in 1962.  Bruton batted .273 for his career with 1,651 hits, 241 doubles, 102 triples and 207 stolen bases.  His games played as a center fielder (1,548) currently rank 32nd all-time.  Bruton worked as an executive for the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit for 23 years following his playing days.

October 7, 2007 - Birthday celebration with family
Building the Set

October 7, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #308
This is one of five cards I received from my Dad for my 34th birthday, with each card belonging to a fairly well-known player and being a star or semi-star card needed for our set.  Along with this Bruton card, I received Roger Craig (#63), Bob Feller (#200), Don Newcombe (#235) and Don Larsen (#332).  My Dad never told me how much he had paid for the cards, where they came from or how long he had stashed them away before my birthday.  My family celebrated together that year at Blue Eyes in Washington Township, which has since gone on to changes hands (and names) a few time and is now currently The Village Pub.

The Card / Braves Team Set
That's Bruton, wearing #38 on the front of his jersey, presumably scoring one of his 106 runs from the 1955 season.  He was absent from the 1955 Topps set, but the photo used here is the same used for Bruton's 1954 Topps card.  The back of the card appropriately highlights his base running skills and his ability to track down balls in center field.  Given his success throughout his career, and his annual league-leading totals, I was surprised to learn Bruton never made an All-Star team.

1956 Season
In his fourth full season in the majors, Bruton was again the Braves' opening day center fielder and he'd make 138 starts at the position with Bobby Thomson (#257) most regularly to his left and Henry Aaron (#31) most regularly to his right.  Bruton's stolen base totals suffered when new manager Fred Haney declared that no baserunner could steal on his own, and he ended up stealing only eight bases after stealing 26, 34 and 25 in the prior three seasons.  Haney was also a big believer in the sacrifice bunt, leading Bruton to tally a career high 18 in that category.  Overall, Bruton batted .272 with a league leading 15 triples and 56 RBIs.

1953 Topps #214
1954 Topps #109
1958 Topps #355
1961 Topps #251
1964 Topps #98

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #214
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1953-1954, 1956-1964
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Heritage Then and Now #TN9

77 - Bruton non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/14/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

#184 Don Bessent - Brooklyn Dodgers


Fred Donald Bessent
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  March 13, 1931, Jacksonville, FL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1955-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958
Died:  July 7, 1990, Jacksonville, FL (age 59)

Originally drafted by the Yankees, Don Bessent would find his greatest success while pitching against his original team in the World Series.  Bessent pitched for two years in the Yankees minor league system before a spinal injury caused him to miss the entire 1952 season.  Selected by the Dodgers in the 1952 minor league draft, Bessent made his big league debut for Brooklyn on July 17, 1955, and immediately provided value out of the Dodgers' bullpen.  In 24 games that season, he went 8-1 with a 2.70 ERA.  He pitched in three games in the 1955 World Series against the Yankees, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings, as the Dodgers would win their only championship in Brooklyn.  Bessent enjoyed a solid 1956 season, pitching to a 2.50 ERA over 38 relief appearances and finishing second on the club with nine saves behind the 19 saves by Clem Labine (#295).  Although the Dodgers lost the 1956 World Series to the Yankees, Bessent pitched well again in the postseason and was the winning pitcher in Game 2.

Arm injuries caused Bessent to struggle over the next two seasons.  He last appeared in the majors in 1958, but pitched four more seasons in the minors before retiring from baseball.  In 108 games with the Dodgers, Bessent was 14-7 with a 3.33 ERA over 211 innings pitched.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #319
The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.

December 24, 2007 - Dad with his first grandson
Our son Doug had just turned one, and on Christmas morning 2007, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our families to our house to celebrate the day.  I've had a few rough Christmases, but this was one of the worst as my Dad ended up in the hospital that day and it was the beginning of his health struggles that would continue until he passed away in late 2011.  He was discharged from the hospital three days later, and it was only then we celebrated Christmas together, on December 28th, and I opened the package containing the last of the cards needed for our 1956 Topps set.

Dad was understandably distraught that Christmas, but not solely because of his own health issues.  Because of his unselfish nature, he was worried that he had ruined Christmas for everyone since we had spent the holidays in a hospital.  He was also upset that his surprise package containing those last 29 baseball cards sat in the back seat of his car for three days until he recovered enough to come home.  I was just happy to have him out of the hospital, but I do remember feeling confused and somewhat hopeless as we weren't quite sure yet what was wrong with him.

I don't have any pictures from December 28th, which is unusual for me.  I'm assuming I was just happy that Dad was out of the hospital and taking pictures never crossed my mind.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
This is Bessent's rookie card, and it's reprinted in the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.  The posed action shot finds Bessent standing along the first base foul line in Ebbetts Field, with a nice look at the right field billboards and scoreboard in the background.  The cartoon panels on the back celebrate his quick rise as a top reliever in the Dodgers' bullpen in 1955.

My version of this card has a thick white line running through the red bar underneath Bessent's name.  The scan of the card featured at the Trading Card Database has the same thick white line, and current auctions on eBay for this card are split between versions with the white line and without.  I don't get too worked up about variations resulting from the printing process, but there definitely seems to be two distinct versions of this card available.

1956 Season
This was a career year for Bessent and he hit career highs in just about every pitching category including innings pitched (79 1/3) and strikeouts (52).  Only Labine and Ed Roebuck (#58) made more appearances out of the Dodgers bullpen than Bessent.  His best performance of the year came on August 16th when he pitched seven scoreless innings of relief against the Giants, in a game the Dodgers would win, 10-9, in 13 innings.  His win in Game 2 of the World Series came after another seven innings of relief, required after starter Don Newcombe (#235) was knocked out after 1 2/3 innings.  Bessent pitched three scoreless innings in the decisive Game 7, with the Yankees again hitting around Newcombe early in the game.

1957 Topps #178
1958 Topps #401
1959 Topps #71

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #184
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers #154

14 - Bessent non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/23/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Friday, January 7, 2022

#183 Stan Lopata - Philadelphia Phillies


Stanley Edward Lopata
Philadelphia Phillies
Catcher


Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  September 12, 1925, Delray, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1948-1958; Milwaukee Braves 1959-1960
Died:  June 15, 2013, Philadelphia, PA (age 87)

Long-time Phillies catcher Stan Lopata enjoyed one of the best seasons by any catcher in club history in 1956 and was a popular member of the beloved Whiz Kids in 1950.  As a back-up to regular catcher Andy Seminick (#296), Lopata appeared in 58 games for the Phillies in 1950, as the team won its first National League pennant since 1915.  He struggled for a few seasons after that and was again relegated to back-up duty, this time for Smoky Burgess (#192) in 1952 and 1953.  At the start of the 1954 season, Lopata experimented with tinted glasses and a new, crouched batting stance, inspired by hitting great Rogers Hornsby.  He went on an offensive tear after that and was named to the National League All-Star teams in 1955 and 1956, his best two seasons.  Lopata enjoyed a career year in 1956, batting .267 with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs and finishing 20th in the league's MVP voting.  Nagging injuries contributed to a decline in 1957 and 1958, and the Phillies dealt Lopata to the Braves prior to the 1959 season.  He was released by the Braves following the 1960 season, ending his career.

Lopata collected 661 hits in 853 career games, batting .254 with 116 home runs and 397 RBIs.  His home run and RBI totals in 1956 set franchise records for the Phillies by a player whose primary position was catcher.  While his single season home run total is still tops in franchise history, Darren Daulton broke his single season RBI record with 109 RBIs in 1992. 

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #169
In what had to have been a post-birthday purchase, I spent $52 in the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem for ten 1956 Topps cards.  This Lopata card cost me $4.  I say it had to have been a post-birthday purchase as I didn't have a lot of disposable income back then, but I made sure that any birthday money from my parents went towards something fun and not towards something practical.

I spent 5 years living in Winston-Salem, but I still managed to get lost driving around in those pre-GPS days quite frequently.  Season Ticket was one of the few locations in the city I memorized and I could drive to without having to ask someone to remind me of the directions.  I mean no disrespect to the former owners, but the place was a glorious dump.  Baseball cards were stacked precariously and haphazardly throughout the store, there was hardly any flat surface without something piled on it, nothing was ever in order and if you asked for something specific the owners may or may not remember the general direction of where they had last seen it.

And I loved it in there.  I took my Dad a few times when my parents visited me, and he couldn't wait to get out of the store and back into some fresh air.  Sadly, a recent Google Maps search shows that Season Ticket has gone the way of a lot of hobby shops, and there's now something called Beauty Touch in its place.  But I bet there are still random stacks of baseball cards hiding in a nook or crevice somewhere in the shop.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
Lopata most likely was under exclusive contract with Bowman, as this is his first Topps card, despite being in the league since 1948.  He'd appear in the next four Topps sets as well.  The cartoons on the back focus on his crouched stance and his resulting new-found power.  The final panel seems inaccurate in hindsight, as Lopata led all National League catchers in stolen bases allowed in 1956 and 1957.

1956 Season
As mentioned above, this was Lopata's career year.  Along with the career high marks set for home runs and RBIs, he also attained career highs in games played (146), runs (96), hits (143), doubles (33), triples (7) and stolen bases (5).  His run total is still a record for modern Phillies catchers, with J.T. Realmuto coming close to breaking it in 2019 with 92 runs scored.  His triples mark still stands as the team record as well.

Lopata was actually the team's opening day first baseman, with the returning Seminick behind the plate for opening day.  Lopata would ultimately start 102 games at catcher and 38 games at first base.  He was selected to the 1956 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., but did not appear in the game.

Phillies Career
Lopata was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent before the 1946 season, and he'd make his debut with the club on September 19, 1948.  He was the team's opening day catcher in 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958.  At the end of spring training in 1959, on March 31st, Lopata was dealt to the Braves with infielders Ted Kazanski and Johnny O'Brien for pitcher Gene Conley, outfielder Harry Hanebrink and infielder Joe Koppe.  In his 11 seasons with the Phillies, he appeared in 821 games, batting .257 with 116 home runs and 397 RBIs.  

1949 Bowman #177
1955 Bowman #18
1957 Topps #119
1959 Topps #412
1960 Topps #515

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #177
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2009 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #RO-WW

40 - Lopata non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/21.

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