Friday, March 31, 2023

#245 Billy Goodman - Boston Red Sox


William Dale Goodman
Boston Red Sox
Second Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  165
Born:  March 22, 1926, Concord, NC
Acquired:  Purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the Atlanta Crackers (Southern Association) for $75,000
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1947-1957; Baltimore Orioles 1957; Chicago White Sox 1958-1961; Houston Colt .45s 1962
Died:  October 1, 1984, Sarasota, FL (age 58)

The versatile Billy Goodman played in 16 seasons in the majors, spending 11 years with the Red Sox and helping the White Sox reach the World Series in 1959.  Goodman was named to his first of two All-Star teams in 1949 and he'd enjoy one of his best seasons in 1950, winning a batting title with a .354 average and finishing as runner-up for American League MVP honors behind the Yankees' Phil Rizzuto (#113).  Goodman appeared at every position except catcher and pitcher during his career, playing mostly first and second base while with the Red Sox.  He batted at least .297 every season between 1948 and 1954, topping the .300 mark five times.  Goodman is one of several Red Sox players depicted in the Norman Rockwell painting The Rookie, with Goodman at the far right of the painting, covering his mouth.  (I featured the painting in the post for Frank Sullivan's (#71) card found here.)

Goodman joined the White Sox before the 1958 season, and he'd assume regular third base duties for the club as they pushed for a pennant at the end of the 1959 season.  He'd start Games 1, 3 and 4 in the six game series won by the Dodgers, batting .231 (3 for 13).  After a final season with the expansion Colt .45s, used mainly as a pinch-hitter, Goodman retired.  He batted an even .300 for his career, with 1,691 hits.  Goodman would later work as a scout, minor league instructor and minor league coach in the Red Sox, Athletics and Braves organizations before retiring from the game in 1976.  In 2004, Goodman was posthumously inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Building the Set
September 2, 2000 from Shore Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #206
This is one of two cards purchased at the Shore Mall Baseball Card Show, held in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey on the first Saturday in September 2000.  I can't say for certain, but I'm assuming my Dad and I attended this show together.  The Shore Mall was once one of the best malls in South Jersey, and it had one of the largest and coolest hobby stores around - Beachcomber Coins & Collectibles.  The store was huge and contained a large assortment of baseball cards, coins, comic books, action figures, trains, memorabilia and a whole host of other treasures.  The store has apparently since left the Shore Mall and it now occupies an old Wawa on the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township.  Again, I'm making assumptions here, but Beachcomber was most likely the sponsoring dealer at this show.

We spent $20 on this Goodman card and the Frank Torre (#172) card, as dutifully noted in red ink on the back of one of our checklists dated August 31, 1999.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Goodman was absent from Topps sets in 1953, 1954 and 1955, and this marks his return.  Looking at the action photo, I found a few opposing players who wore #3 during the 1955 season - Dale Mitchell (#268) from the Indians, Jim Brideweser from the White Sox, Ferris Fain from the Tigers, Don Bollweg and Tom Saffel from the Athletics, Billy Cox and Dave Pope (#154) from the Orioles and finally Mickey Vernon (#228) from the Senators.  I didn't do a forensic deep dive on the game logs, but my best guess is the sliding player is Mitchell, Fain or Vernon.

I did do a forensic deep dive on the note contained in the first cartoon panel on the back of the card.  Using Baseball Reference tools, the active American League players with at least a .300 batting average entering the 1956 season, with a qualifying number of at-bats, are listed below.  Topps appears to have left Skowron off their tally, as he only had 551 plate appearances through 1955.
  1. Ted Williams (#5) - .348
  2. Bill Skowron (#61) - .328
  3. Dale Mitchell (#268) - .314
  4. George Kell (#195) - .310
  5. Al Kaline (#20) - .309
  6. Billy Goodman - .308
  7. Harvey Kuenn (#155) - .308
  8. Minnie Minoso (#125) - .305
  9. Bobby Avila (#132) - .300
1956 Season
In his last full season with the Red Sox, Goodman appeared in 105 games, batting .293 for the fourth place club.  He was the team's opening day second baseman, making 95 starts overall at the position, with Ted Lepcio getting most of the rest of the playing time there.  This was one of only two seasons during which Goodman would only appear at one position, the other being 1949 when he played 117 games exclusively at first base for the Red Sox.

1950 Bowman #99
1952 Topps #23
1953 Bowman Color #148
1957 Topps #303
1961 Topps #247

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #39
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1951-1952, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2001 Fleer Boston Red Sox 100th Anniversary #46

62 - Goodman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/25/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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