Saturday, February 11, 2023

#238 Walt Dropo - Chicago White Sox


Walter Dropo
Chicago White Sox
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'5"  Weight:  220
Born:  January 30, 1923, Moosup, CT
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1949-1952; Detroit Tigers 1952-1954; Chicago White Sox 1955-1958; Cincinnati Reds 1958-1959; Baltimore Orioles 1959-1961
Died:  December 17, 2010, Peabody, MA (age 87)

A three-sport star at the University of Connecticut, Walt Dropo was drafted by professional basketball and football teams, but turned down those offers to sign with the Red Sox in 1947.  He enjoyed a career-year in his rookie season of 1950, batting .322, hitting 34 home runs and leading the league with 144 RBIs on his way to winning Rookie of the Year honors.  He was also the starting first baseman in the All-Star Game that season, going 1 for 3 for the American League team with a triple off Don Newcombe (#235).  Dropo suffered a broken wrist in 1951, never recapturing the success of his rookie season, but still produced several solid years primarily with the Tigers and White Sox.  Dealt to Detroit on June 3, 1952, he collected 12 consecutive hits between July 14th and July 15th to tie the current major league record.

Over his 13-year big league career, Dropo batted .270 with 152 home runs and 704 RBIs.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #29
This Dropo card was one of the Original 44 and the last time I told the full story of the Original 44 was over a year ago within the Early Wynn (#187) post, so I'll repeat it again here.

June 1983 - Ocean City Baseball Card Show
Technically speaking, my Dad and I actually began collecting the set in the summer of 1987, but this card (along with the other Original 44) first entered my collection three or four years before that.

I think it was either the summer of 1983 or 1984 when a shoebox of vintage baseball cards, football cards and a few non-sports cards arrived into my world.  The box contained about a hundred cards dating between 1950 and 1956, and for the most part, they were all in excellent shape.  A friend of the family was in the process of cleaning up and moving into her new house when she found the old shoebox and she wondered if the only kid she knew who collected baseball cards (me) would be interested in looking through it – maybe even taking the box off her hands.

She dropped the box off to my parents and asked them to have me look through the box and take what I was interested in. Turns out, I was interested in everything.  Up to that point, the oldest cards in my collection were cards from the early '70s I had obtained through trades or cards that my Dad had picked up for me at yard sales or small baseball card shows.  (My Dad had given me a few dog-earred and rough Topps cards – Juan Pizzaro and Jim Busby – a few years prior, and I completely forget how or why he had purchased these cards for me.)

My parents asked me to pick out a few cards from the box, and then we’d return the rest to the family friend.  Problem was, I wanted them all.  I really wanted them all.  I diligently and meticulously went through one of my price guides and determined the “value” of the treasure chest. I probably used my Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide No. 4, edited by Dr. James Beckett, and I had no way to value the football or non-sports cards.  My memory is fuzzy, and I can't find the original tally, but I think I came up with the box being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 to $400, which I knew my parents definitely did not have in their discretionary spending budget.  But they could tell how much I wanted those cards, as I lovingly studied each and every one and handled each as if it were some long-lost artifact.

I don’t know the exact details, but I believe my Dad went back to the friend and told her we’d take the whole box, but only if she let him give her some money for it.  I believe she was genuinely shocked that the box of old cardboard pictures had some value, and that someone was willing to give her cash for it.  My Dad shared the list I had created showing the “book value” of the cards and he mentioned how it was going to be close to impossible to get me to pick and choose which ones I wanted.  When all was said and done, the family friend, who had absolutely no intention of making money on this endeavor, walked away with (I think) something in the neighborhood of $100 for the whole lot.

Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

And so a few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few ’56 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
I clearly remember annoying my Dad with the pronunciation of Dropo's name when we acquired this card, and for many years afterwards.  I thought his last name was pronounced Drop-o, with my Dad having to consistently remind me it was DRO-po, with a long O.  I missed by a little over a week of posting this on what would have been Dropo's 100th birthday.  (Baseball Reference lists him as being born in 1923, while the back of this Topps card shows 1924.)

This is his return to Topps after a one-year absence, having appeared in just the 1955 Bowman set.  The back of the card celebrates his rookie season in 1950 and his 12 consecutive hits during the 1952 season.  The big six-man deal referenced in the middle panel happened on December 6, 1954, with Dropo, Ted Gray and Bob Nieman (#267) going to Chicago in exchange for Leo Cristante, Ferris Fain and Jack Phillips.  The deal sending Dropo from the the Red Sox to the Tigers in 1952 involved nine players.

1956 Season
In his second year with the White Sox, Dropo was the club's opening day first baseman, starting 91 games overall at the position throughout the season.  In 125 games, he batted .266 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs.

1950 Bowman #246
1952 Topps #235
1954 Topps #18
1959 Topps #158
1961 Topps #489

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #246
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1952-1954, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2010 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-WD

53 - Dropo non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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