Friday, June 24, 2022

#208 Elston Howard - New York Yankees


Elston Gene Howard
New York Yankees
Catcher-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  196
Born:  February 23, 1929, St. Louis, MO
Acquired:  Purchased by the Yankees from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League, July 19, 1950
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Monarchs 1948; New York Yankees 1955-1967; Boston Red Sox 1967-1968
Died:  December 14, 1980, New York, NY (age 51)

The first African American to play for the Yankees, Elston Howard was an American League All-Star nine years in a row between 1957 and 1965.  He helped the Yankees to four World Series titles in 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962.  He enjoyed a career year in 1963, hitting .287 with 28 home runs (a career high) and 85 RBIs and winning A.L. MVP honors over Al Kaline (#20) and teammate Whitey Ford (#240).  He was a two-time Gold Glove winner and his fielding percentage of .993 is currently 51st all-time among catchers.

Bridging the catching gap between Yogi Berra (#110) in the 1950s and Thurman Munson in the 1970s, Howard appeared in 1,605 career games with all but 113 of those coming with the Yankees.  He batted .274 over 14 big league seasons, with 167 home runs and 762 RBIs.  Howard served as the Yankees first base coach between 1969 and 1979, and he added two more World Series rings to his collection in 1977 and 1978.  He passed away in December 1980 from a rare heart condition.  The Yankees wore black armbands during their 1981 season to honor their former catcher and coach, and his #32 was retired by the team in 1984.

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

Building the Set
June 17, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #297
Our first son Doug was born in December 2006, and this happy event led directly to my Dad visiting us on a more regular basis.  Dad was living by himself at this point in Mays Landing, New Jersey and he didn't enjoy the 40 minute drive north to our house.  Among all the very positive memories I have of my Dad, one of my few negative memories is the fact he absolutely seemed to loathe driving and that loathing increased exponentially if there was traffic or if it were dark.  But he made the trips anyway, sometimes staying no more than an hour, because he was so incredibly anxious and excited to spend time with his grandson.

By the time his second grandson (Ben) was born in April 2010, my Dad's health had started to fail and whatever visits we had were pre-arranged or consisted of us visiting him.  Which is why these visits during Doug's infancy and first few years are so special to me.  My Dad would show up usually unannounced, ecstatic to see Doug, there would be some small talk and we'd complain about the Phillies, and then he'd leave.  But on his way out, he'd always say he'd see us again in a few days and I'd look forward to these visits.

This background is needed to better explain how this Howard card came into our set.  (I first shared all of this a few years ago in the post for the Jack Harshman card - #29.)  In 2007, My Dad's days mostly consisted of an occasional round of golf, calls and visits to his kids - my sister and me, watching cable news, an afternoon nap and scouring eBay.  Most (but not all) of his eBay purchases benefitted me in the form of 1956 Topps cards we needed for our set.  He'd show up at our house for a visit with Doug and nonchalantly hand me one of his recent purchases.  He brought this Howard card and the Clint Courtney (#159) card on June 17, 2007, as what most likely was a Father's Day gift.  From pictures at the time, I think we were staying in a house rented in Avalon, New Jersey during this week.

Throughout 2007, I suspect he had a backlog of purchased 1956 Topps cards piled up on his desk at his house, and he'd grab one or two to deliver to me as he was heading out the door to make the 40 minute drive to visit Doug.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Howard's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set, and this is his first Topps card.  I went down a time-consuming rabbit hole trying to identify the action shot on the front of this card, and I came up empty.  It looks as if the player crossing the plate is from the Tigers, as I think that's "Detroit" in script across the front of his jersey.  Our card has a clear blotch on the back, and I suspect at one point this card was affixed inside a scrap book?  I've had this card in my collection for 15 years and I never noticed this blemish before scanning the card for this post.  The cartoons on the back highlight his 1955 rookie campaign and his ability to switch between catcher and outfielder.

This card was reprinted for the 2001 Topps Archives and 2001 Topps Archives Reserve sets.  There's also a Topps Archives Reserve version of the reprinted card available containing a piece of game-used bat.

1956 Season
This was Howard's final season as a back-up.  He'd appear in 98 games overall, making 50 starts in left field, 19 starts behind the plate and one start in right field.  He batted .262 with five home runs and 34 RBIs.  Manager Casey Stengel opted to use Enos Slaughter (#109) in left field for the first six games of the 1956 World Series, but Howard got the start in Game 7 and went 2 for 5 with a fourth inning home run.  The Yankees would defeat the Dodgers 9-0 in that game.

1955 Bowman #68
1959 Topps #395
1962 Topps #400
1968 Topps #167
1975 Topps #201

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #68
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1956-1968, 1973, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Diamond Kings Jersey Kings #JK-EH

361 - Howard non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/14/22.

 Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog
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