 |
 |
Fred Donald Bessent
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher
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 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.
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.
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.
 |
| December 24, 2007 - Dad with his first grandson |
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.
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
1956 Season
|
|
|
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
No comments:
Post a Comment