#196 Tom Poholsky - St. Louis Cardinals

Thomas George Poholsky
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  205
Born:  August 26, 1929, Detroit, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1945 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1950-1951, 1954-1956; Chicago Cubs 1957
Died:  January 6, 2001, Kirkwood, MO (age 71)

With the rosters of professional baseball teams decimated by World War II in the early 1940s, players like Tom Poholsky were given a chance to play.  Poholsky made his debut in the Red Sox system at the age of 15 in 1945, and he'd enjoy his best seasons in the minor leagues.  He was a 16-game winner in 1947 and an 18-game winner in 1950 with a 2.17 ERA for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.  He'd earn a promotion to the Cardinals in 1950 and win the International League's Most Valuable Player honors.  On August 13, 1950, Poholsky earned the win in a game in which he pitched 20 scoreless innings against the Jersey City Giants.

He was a member of the Cardinals starting pitching rotation for parts of four seasons, but he could never repeat the success he had found in the minors.  Poholsky's best season with the Cardinals came in 1955 when he went 9-11 with a 3.81 ERA in 30 appearances.  For his career, Poholsky was 31-52 with a 3.93 ERA in 753 2/3 innings pitched, collecting 316 strikeouts.  He was inducted into the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame in 1990.

Building the Set
September 25, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #263
This was a late edition to our set and one of 11 cards we purchased at the 92nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington.  My records show we paid $5 for this card. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington at the time or the occasional mall baseball card show.

August 14, 2005 - Dad and me at Yankee Stadium

My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location.  Our next show together was a few months later in December, also in Ft. Washington.  Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set after that December show.

The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house, so we had a pretty good excuse not to be purchasing baseball cards at the time.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Poholsky was omitted from the 1955 Topps set, but the photo used here is the same used for his 1954 Topps card.  The cartoon panels on the back celebrate his career year in 1950 with Rochester and mentions his offseason pursuit of an engineering degree.

1956 Season

Poholsky started the season as the third pitcher in the Cardinals' starting rotation, behind Vinegar Bend Mizell (#193) and Harvey Haddix (#77).  With Haddix dealt to the Phillies in May, Poholsky slid into the number two spot in the rotation behind Mizell.  He appeared in 33 games overall, making 29 starts, and was 9-14 with a 3.59 ERA.  Poholsky tallied 203 innings pitched - a career-high.  He threw seven complete games, including two shutouts, in his final season with the Cardinals.

On December 11th, Poholsky, Jackie Collum, Ray Katt and minor leaguer Wally Lammers were traded to the Cubs for Jim Davis (#102), Sam Jones (#259), Hobie Landrith (#314) and Eddie Miksis (#285).

1952 Topps #242

1954 Topps #142

1955 Bowman #76

1957 Topps #235

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #242
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1952, 1954, 1956-1957
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #142

11 - Poholsky non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/30/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia