#210 Mike Garcia - Cleveland Indians

Edward Miguel Garcia
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  November 17, 1923, San Gabriel, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1948-1959; Chicago White Sox 1960; Washington Senators 1961

Died:  January 13, 1986, Fairview Park, OH (age 62)

Mike Garcia was the fourth starting pitcher in the celebrated "Big Four" rotation for the Indians between 1949 and 1954, along with Bob Lemon (#255), Early Wynn (#187) and Bob Feller (#200).  Despite being the only member of the Big Four not in the Hall of Fame, Garcia had an extremely successful run during those years, winning the league's ERA title in 1949 and 1954, and leading the league in shutouts in 1952 and 1954.  He won 20 games in 1951 and 22 games in 1952, but his career year came in 1954 when he was 19-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 45 appearances.  Garcia helped his club reach the World Series that season, although they fell to the Giants in four games.  He was an American League All-Star in 1952, 1953 and 1954.  Garcia struggled somewhat in the years that followed his World Series appearance, but he still managed to win at least 11 games in 1955, 1956 and 1957.  Released by the Indians following the 1959 season, Garcia signed with the White Sox and he'd spend two final seasons working out of the bullpen for the White Sox and Senators.

In 428 major league games, Garcia was 142-97 with a 3.27 ERA and 1,117 strikeouts over 2,174 2/3 innings pitched.  He's currently 11th on the all-time Cleveland franchise leaderboard for strikeouts, and he was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 2007.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #24
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Early Wynn (#187) post, back in January.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this is the sixth of 16 from series three.

The Card / Indians Team Set
Like a lot of the subjects featured in the set's third series, this marks Garcia's first Topps card since 1953, as he had been exclusively with Bowman in 1954 and 1955.  He's posed here in Yankee Stadium, with the famous Yankee Stadium facade appearing in the background.  On the back, Topps notes Garcia's nickname, "The Bear," which his SABR biography says was given to him by veteran teammate Joe Gordon.  Garcia explained the nickname was because he wore his black hair cut short and "maybe I walk a little like a bear."  Topps credits the nickname to his fastball, but I think the nickname had more to do with his physical appearance.

1956 Season

Garcia was 11-12 with a 3.78 ERA for the Indians in 30 starts and 35 appearances overall.  He failed to meet the 200 innings plateau for the first time in five seasons, reaching 197 2/3 innings pitched.  By this time, two of the original Big Four were barely hanging on with Garcia slumping and Feller limited to only 19 appearances in his final season.  Both Wynn and Lemon, along with newcomer Herb Score (#140), were all 20-game winners in 1956.

1950 Bowman #147

1952 Topps #272

1954 Bowman #100

1957 Topps #300

1960 Topps #532

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #147
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1951-1953, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Ted Williams #26

45 - Garcia non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/20/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #209 Max Surkont - Pittsburgh Pirates / #211 Murry Dickson - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #204 Art Swanson - Pittsburgh Pirates / #216 Jerry Schoonmaker - Washington Nationals