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Murry Monroe Dickson
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher
Born: August 21, 1916, Tracy, MO
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1937 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1939-1940, 1942-1943, 1946-1948; Pittsburgh Pirates 1949-1953; Philadelphia Phillies 1954-1956; St. Louis Cardinals 1956-1957; Kansas City Athletics 1958; New York Yankees 1958; Kansas City Athletics 1959
Died: September 21, 1989, Kansas City, KS (age 73)
Murry Dickson was an 18-year big league veteran, winning World Series rings with the 1942 and 1946 Cardinals, as well as the 1958 Yankees, and making the National League All-Star team in 1953. Dickson led the league in losses in three consecutive seasons, losing 21, 19 and 20 games from 1952 to 1954. He found early success with the Cardinals, and after missing all of 1944 and 1945 while serving in the military, he helped lead his team to the 1946 World Series with 15 wins. He was on the mound in the decisive tie-breaking game against the Dodgers to determine the winner of the National League pennant that season, and was also the starting pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series with the Cardinals ultimately defeating the Red Sox. Dickson was a 20-game winner for the Pirates in 1951.
He pitched as a reliever late in his career, retiring at the age of 42 following the 1959 season. In 625 career games, including 338 starts, Dickson was 172-181 with a 3.66 ERA and 1,281 strikeouts over 3,052 1/3 innings pitched. Upon his retirement he ranked second among pitchers with home runs allowed with 302, with former teammate Robin Roberts (#180) surpassing his mark in 1957.
Building the SetOctober 1, 1987 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #50
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, New Jersey a few days before my 14th birthday. We acquired three Phillies card that day - manager Mayo Smith (#60), this Dickson card and Frank Baumholtz (#274) and I don't know how much we paid for the trio. My memories of Hummel's are hazy at best, but I seem to recall it was a large building with a sprawling liquor store on the first floor and a baseball card shop on the second floor. With baseball card stores booming in the mid to late 1980s, we'd often take a ride to one of the four or five local card shops we were lucky enough to have near us. October 1st was a Thursday, so it's strange to me that we would have made the 20 minute or so drive to Hummel's on a week night after work and school. My approaching birthday might have contributed to the motivation for the trip.
I tried to find Hummel's on Google Maps a few years ago and sure enough a liquor store came up, but not the one I remember. I remember a bigger builder, with the second floor, and this clearly isn't it.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
Topps opted not to crop Dickson's facsimile autograph here, going with his full name, including his middle name of Monroe. This card marks his return to Topps after a three-year absence, and he received Phillies cards in the 1954 and 1955 Bowman sets. The cartoon panels on the back of the card highlights his 12-11 record in 1955, which included four shutouts, and his 20-win season in 1951. I'll take the cartoonist's word for it on Dickson being a "Phil Favorite" as I couldn't find anything indicating that to be the case. I'm guessing he would have been a bit of a novelty on the club, given he was roughly ten years older than their average player.
On January 13, 1954, the Phillies acquired Dickson from the Pirates for Andy Hansen, Jack Lohrke and $70,000. He led the league in losses in 1954 with 20, going 10-20 overall but with a respectable 3.78 ERA. As the oldest pitcher on the Phillies' staff in 1955, Dickson made 28 starts with only Roberts and Herm Wehmeier (#78) taking the ball more that season. He was 12-11 with a 3.50 ERA in 216 innings pitched, throwing ten complete games and one shutout. Dickson was in the team's starting rotation to begin the 1956 season, but he made only three starts before being traded back to his original team, the Cardinals. On May 11, 1956, Dickson and Wehmeier were sent to St. Louis for Ben Flowers, Harvey Haddix (#77) and Stu Miller (#293). Dickson appeared in 79 games overall for the Phillies, and was 22-34 with a 3.71 ERA.
He pitched very well for the Cardinals for the duration of the 1956 season, going 13-8 with a 3.07 ERA in 28 appearances.
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #8
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1951-1952, 1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Topps 1952 Reprint Series #266
37 - Dickson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/19/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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