#217 Billy Klaus - Boston Red Sox

William Joseph Klaus
Boston Red Sox
Shortstop

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  160
Born:  December 9, 1928, Spring Grove, IL

Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953; Boston Red Sox 1955-1958; Baltimore Orioles 1959-1960; Washington Senators 1961; Philadelphia Phillies 1962-1963

Died:  December 3, 2006, Sarasota, FL (age 77)

After a few false starts with the Braves organization, Billy Klaus was given the chance to be an everyday player with the Red Sox in 1955 and he'd finish as runner-up to Herb Score (#140) in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.  Klaus had three solid seasons with the Red Sox between 1955 and 1957, playing as their every day shortstop or third baseman.  He batted .283 with a career high 60 RBIs in 1955, and clubbed a career high 10 home runs in 1957.  Klaus spent 11 seasons overall in the majors, serving as a valuable back-up infielder or pinch-hitter towards the end of his career.

He batted .249 in 821 major league games, collecting 626 hits, 40 home runs and 250 RBIs.  After being released by the Phillies in May 1963, Klaus played out the balance of the season in Japan, batting .257 in 62 games for the Chunichi Dragons.  He managed in the Senators minor league system between 1966 and 1968, compiling a record of 139-259.  Finally, his younger brother Bobby Klaus also played in the majors with the Reds (1964) and Mets (1964-1965).

June 1988 - Dad mowing the lawn on 12th Street

Building the Set
February 27, 1988 in Bridgeton, NJ (Hummel's) - Card #54
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, New Jersey in February 1988 along with the Jack Meyer (#269) card.  This was a Saturday, and I'm guessing my Dad and I needed to get out of the house so we made the quick drive to Bridgeton to purchase some baseball cards.  I'm also assuming I was anxious to get my hands on more new packs of 1988 Topps, and we knew Hummel's most likely had a box or two for sale.  My set collecting records show we had completed the 1974 Topps set earlier in the month, we were about half-way through with the 1976 Topps set and we'd start to collect the 1973 Topps set that June.  It was a very good year.

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.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Klaus' rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set, and this is his first Topps card.  In the action photo, I'm assuming that's Klaus forcing the runner out at second and looking to turn a double play with a throw to first.  He wore #35 while with Boston, and that appears to be a #5 peaking through on the fielder's back.  On closer inspection, is that the baseball between the "Bill" and "Klaus" of the facsimile autograph?  Did Klaus spike the runner with the ball?

The middle cartoon panel on the back highlight his fantastic season in 1947 while playing for the Centralia Cubs of the Illinois State League.  The first cartoon panel says Klaus was second among Boston regulars in batting average in 1955, and that's not actually accurate.  Klaus batted .283 while regular second baseman Billy Goodman (#245) batted .294 and left fielder Ted Williams (#5) topped them all with a .356 average.

1956 Season

Klaus moved over to third base to start the 1956 season as rookie Don Buddin was given the starting shortstop job.  In 135 games, Klaus batted .271 with seven home runs and 59 RBIs, one short of his career-high from the year before.

Phillies Career
The Phillies purchased Klaus on April 5, 1962 from the Senators, reuniting Klaus with manager Gene Mauch who had been his teammate briefly with the Red Sox.  He served as a back-up infielder for Mauch's team, making it into 102 games and starting 54 games at either second base, third base or shortstop.  Klaus batted just .206 with four home runs and 20 RBIs and was released by the Phillies following the season.  But Mauch most have realized they needed Klaus' skillset prior to start of the 1963 season, as he was re-signed on April 1, 1963.  The reunion lasted only 11 more games, with Klaus batting .105, before he was released on May 24, 1963, and made his way to Japan.

1955 Bowman #150

1957 Topps #292

1959 Topps #299

1962 Topps #571

1963 Topps #551

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #150
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1956-1963
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA 50's #251

28 - Klaus non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/12/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #216 Jerry Schoonmaker - Washington Nationals / #218 Joe Nuxhall - Cincinnati Redlegs

Order Collected: #180 Robin Roberts - Philadelphia Phillies / #269 Jack Meyer - Philadelphia Phillies

#216 Jerry Schoonmaker - Washington Nationals

Jerald Lee Schoonmaker
Washington Nationals
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  190
Born:  December 14, 1933, Seymour, MO
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent (bonus baby), May 29, 1955
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1955, 1957

Died:  March 18, 2018, Dyer, IN (age 84)

After a successful college career at the University of Missouri, Jerry Schoonmaker was signed as a bonus baby by the Senators, meaning he had to remain on their major league roster for the beginning of his professional career.  Schoonmaker was used infrequently in 1955, appearing in 20 games and batting .152 (7 for 46).  He hit his first and only career home run on July 23, 1955 off the Tigers' Steve Gromek (#310).  Missing the entire 1956 season while serving in the military, Schoonmaker returned to the Senators and played in 30 games with the club in 1957.  He spent the entire 1958 season in the minor leagues, and underwent eye surgery following the season to remove a sliver of metal that had hit him in his left eye while on a construction job.  With his eyesight impaired, Schoonmaker retired from baseball at the age of 25.  In 50 major league games, he batted .130 (9 for 69).

1957 Topps #334

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #25
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 Schoonmaker card is the seventh of 16 from series three.

The Card / Nationals Team Set
It sure does look as if the action shot portrays a ball getting past Schoonmaker in the outfield.  If the photo was taken during an actual game, it most likely came from the August 16, 1955 contest against the Orioles.  Schoonmaker started that game in center field and committed his only major league error in the eighth inning.  With two outs and Hal Smith (#62) on first base, Chuck Diering (#19) singled to center with Smith scoring and Diering advancing to second base on an E8.

The cartoon panels on the back highlight his successful college baseball career.  The final panel highlights that Schoonmaker was on the U.S. team that won a silver medal at the 1955 Pan American Games.  Winning the gold medal that year was the team from the Dominican Republic, which included future major leaguers Felipe Alou and Julian Javier.

1956 Season

Schoonmaker missed the entire 1956 season while serving with the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #216
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1956-1957
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1957 Topps #334

2 - Schoonmaker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/12/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #215 Tommy Byrne - New York Yankees / #217 Billy Klaus - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #210 Mike Garcia - Cleveland Indians / #218 Joe Nuxhall - Cincinnati Redlegs

#215 Tommy Byrne - New York Yankees

Thomas Joseph Byrne
New York Yankees
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  182
Born:  December 31, 1919, Baltimore, MD
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1940 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1943, 1946-1951; St. Louis Browns 1951-1952; Chicago White Sox 1953; Washington Senators 1953; New York Yankees 1954-1957

Died:  December 20, 2007, Wake Forest, NC (age 87)

An alumni of Wake Forest College, Tommy Byrne had his 13-year big league career interrupted by World War II when he spent two years serving in the U.S. Navy.  Known for his wildness, Byrne was still an effective pitcher although he led the league in hit batters five times and in walks three times.  Byrne was a starting pitcher until the end of his career, winning at least 15 games three times as a member of the Yankees.  He was 15-7 in 1949, and 15-9 in 1950, pitching a career-high 203 1/3 innings and making the American League All-Star team.  He was a member of four Yankees teams to win World Series Championships in 1943, 1949, 1950 and 1956, although he only appeared in two of those four winning series.  Byrne was the last pitcher used by the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1957 World Series, as his team was shutout by the Braves' Lew Burdette (#219).  That would be the final big league action of Byrne's career, as he retired following the series loss.

Byrne was 85-69 for his career with a 4.11 ERA.  In 1,362 innings pitched he struck out 766 and allowed 1,037 walks.  He was also a decent hitter, batting .238 lifetime with 26 doubles, 14 home runs and 98 RBIs.  He returned to Wake Forest University following his playing days to complete his college career, and was later mayor of Wake Forest, North Carolina between 1973 and 1987.

Building the Set
June 20, 1992 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #109
This is the 11th and final card my Dad and I bought in June 1992 at the Ocean City baseball card show held on the boardwalk at the Music Pier.  We paid $60 for the lot of 11 cards, which at the time was most likely a steal.  Chronologically, I have this listed as the 109th card we added to the set.  Like the other cards in this lot, this card is gorgeous with four sharp corners.  I'd love to get into my time machine and buy whatever other 1956 Topps cards this dealer had for sale as they're some of the finest cards in our set.

It would seem as if we paid the full admission price of $6 as we didn't relinquish the postcard below to receive $0.50 off.  I still have a collection of these postcards and flyers dating back to the early 1980s from the various Ocean City baseball card shows.  My Dad wasn't much of a night owl, which explains why we wouldn't have waited around for an autograph from Del Ennis (#220) the Saturday of this show.  It's a shame too.  Ennis was one of my Dad's favorite players and it would have been an amazing keepsake if I had somehow gotten a picture of the two of them together.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Like a lot of the cards in this set's third series, Byrne was absent from Topps sets the prior two years and this is first Topps card since appearing in the 1953 set.  The first cartoon panel on the back of the card mentions Byrne's return to the big leagues in 1955.  He had appeared in just 12 games in 1953 and five games in 1954, spending most of those years in the minor leagues.  I had to read the final panel a few times before understanding it.  Byrne threw two three-hitters and five four-hitters in 1955, which is a strange statistic to highlight.

1956 Season

Appearing mainly out of the bullpen, and now a 36-year-old veteran, Byrne pitched in 37 games overall, making eight starts.  He was 7-3 with a 3.36 ERA, recording six saves.  He and righty Tom Morgan saw the bulk of relief work for the Yankees during the season.  In the 1956 World Series, Byrne faced just two batters in Game 2, entering in relief in the second inning and allowing a grand slam to Duke Snider (#150) before striking out Jackie Robinson (#30) to end the inning.  All the runs were unearned due to a costly error by first baseman Joe Collins (#21) to prolong the inning.

1951 Bowman #73

1952 Topps #241

1953 Topps #123

1955 Bowman #300

1957 Topps #108

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #73
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1951-1953, 1956-1957
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-TB

35 - Byrne non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/12/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #214 Bob Rush - Chicago Cubs / #216 Jerry Schoonmaker - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #173 Johnny Podres - Brooklyn Dodgers / #30 Jackie Robinson - Brooklyn Dodgers

#214 Bob Rush - Chicago Cubs

Robert Ransom Rush
Chicago Cubs
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  205
Born:  December 21, 1925, Battle Creek, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1948-1957; Milwaukee Braves 1958-1960; Chicago White Sox 1960

Died:  March 19, 2011, Mesa, AZ (age 85)

Bob Rush was an effective starting pitcher for a number of fairly bad Cubs' teams throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.  He made his first of two All-Star teams in 1950, and would go on to lead the league with 20 losses while pitching in a career high 254 2/3 innings.  His best season came in 1952 when he was 17-13 with a 2.70 ERA over 34 appearances, and he was the winning pitcher in the rain-shortened All-Star Game played in Philadelphia's Shibe Park.  Rush would make at least 25 starts for the Cubs in nine straight seasons between 1949 and 1957.  Dealt to the Braves following the 1957 season, he'd finally get the chance to play for a playoff contender, winning 10 games for the pennant-winning Milwaukee team.  In the 1958 World Series, won by the Yankees in seven games, Rush started Game 3, pitching six innings and allowing a pair of runs on three hits.  Unfortunately, the Yankees won the game, 4-0, as Don Larsen (#332) and Ryne Duren combined for the shutout.

Rush would pitch for two more seasons with the Braves and White Sox before retiring.  In 417 big league games, Rush was 127-152 with a 3.65 ERA and 1,244 strikeouts over 2,410 2/3 innings pitched.

December 24, 2007 - Dad and Doug

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #327

I first shared this story with the Roberto Clemente (#33) post, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here.  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.  This Rush card was one of the final 29.

The Card / Cubs Team Set
This card marks Rush's return to Topps' sets as he had been featured exclusively in Bowman sets between 1953 and 1955.  It looks as if the action shot shows someone covering second base, as there's dirt being kicked up and the outfield grass seems close by.  On the back, his 130 strikeouts in 1955 are highlighted, a mark good enough for sixth place in the league.  An arm injury that caused a downturn in his innings pitched in 1953 is mentioned in the middle cartoon panel, and his wearing of glasses during night games is mentioned in the final panel.  Rush's SABR biography notes he started to wear glasses during the 1954 season.

1956 Season

The Cubs would lose 94 games in 1956 with Rush, Sam Jones (#259), Warren Hacker (#282) and Don Kaiser (#124) getting the bulk of the team's starting pitching assignments.  Rush, with 32 starts, recorded four more starts than Jones, who had 28.  The staff ace, Rush was 13-10 with a 3.19 ERA.  He threw 13 complete games, including a four-hit shutout against the Giants on August 3rd.

1950 Bowman #61

1952 Topps #153

1954 Bowman #77

1958 Topps #313

1960 Topps #404

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #61
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1952, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2009 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BR

38 - Rush non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/5/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #213 Detroit Tigers Team Card / #215 Tommy Byrne - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #213 Detroit Tigers Team Card / #219 Lew Burdette - Milwaukee Braves