#252 Vernon Law - Pittsburgh Pirates

Vernon Sanders Law
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
Born:  March 12, 1930, Meridian, ID
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1950-1951, 1954-1967

Vern Law spent his entire 16-year big league career with the Pirates and his dominating season in 1960 led to a World Series ring and the National League Cy Young Award.  Law made his debut in 1950 and pitched for two seasons as a swingman for the Pirates before missing two entire years while serving in the military.  He earned a spot back in the Pirates' starting pitching rotation in 1954.  Law won at least 10 games in nine different seasons and his 18-9 record in 1959 was a precursor to his career year in 1960.  He was 20-9 with a 3.08 ERA and a league leading 18 complete games that season, throwing 271 2/3 innings as the Pirates won the National League pennant for the first time since 1927.  Law was the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4 against the Yankees, and started the decisive Game 7 before being relieved in the sixth inning with the Pirates holding a 4-1 lead.  The Yankees would battle back, but Bill Mazeroski hit his walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates the Series.  Law had also started and won the second All-Star Game in 1960, pitching two scoreless innings.

While he never again enjoyed the success he found in 1960, Law continued to be a key member of the Pirates' pitching staff, winning 17 games in 1965 and earning National League Comeback Player of the Year honors.  He retired following the 1967 season with a career record of 162-147, a 3.77 ERA and 1,092 strikeouts over 2,672 innings pitched - 4th on the Pirates' all-time franchise leaderboard.  Following his playing days, Law served as the Pirates pitching coach in 1968 and 1969.  He'd go on to coach at the collegiate level, in the minor leagues and for three seasons in Japan for the Seibu Lions.  His son, Vance Law, was an All-Star in 1988 and played 11 years in the majors for the Pirates (1980-1981), White Sox (1982-1984), Expos (1985-1987), Cubs (1988-1989) and Athletics (1991).

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #33
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 Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this Law card is the 15th of 16 from series three.

The Card / Pirates Team Set
Law returned to Topps with this card after appearing exclusively with Bowman in 1955.  Like many of the Pirates cards before this, Law is shown wearing the helmet required by then Pirates General Manager Branch Rickey.  I found this summary from SABR explaining Rickey's introduction of the helmets in September 1952, to be worn at all times by Pirates players and coaches - at bat and in the field.  Clicking on the link below for the Pirates team set will take you to a gallery of Pirates cards found in the set so far, with a majority of the players wearing these helmets.

I never noticed the Bing Crosby cameo on the back of this card, and when the card came into our collection originally, I likely didn't know who Crosby was.  Per Law's SABR biography, Crosby was a minority owner of the Pirates when the team was courting Law during his senior year of high school in 1947.  Crosby was instrumental in convincing Law, who was in high demand, to sign with the Pirates, with the crooner going so far as to call Law's house and speak to his mother.  I wonder if Crosby has made any more cameo appearances on other baseball cards?

1956 Season

Law suffered through a rough season, pitching in 39 games and going 8-16 with a 4.32 ERA for the seventh place Pirates.  He made 32 starts, with only Bob Friend (#221) and Ron Kline (#94) making more starts, with 42 and 39 respectively.

1951 Bowman #203

1954 Topps #235

1961 Topps #400

1966 Topps #15

1985 Topps #137

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #203
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1952, 1954, 1956-1967, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-VL

117 - Law non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/20/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #251 New York Yankees Team Card / #253 Irv Noren - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #251 New York Yankees Team Card / #255 Bob Lemon - Cleveland Indians

#251 New York Yankees Team Card

Topps included full team photos in its baseball card set for the first time in 1956, having previously experimented with team cards in a limited edition 1951 stand-alone set.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #32
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 Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this Yankees team card is the 14th of 16 from series three.  This is one of three team cards included within the Original 44 along with the Indians (#85) and Cardinals (#134) team cards.  I remember thinking how much cooler team cards used to be, listing out everyone in the photo, including a diagram of the team's home ballpark on the back, along with all-time season records.  The team cards I would have been used to in the early 1980s included a little picture of the manager in the top corner and a checklist on the back.

The Card / Yankees Team Set

This is the 16th and final team card in the set, and Topps saved the best for last.  There are no team cards to be found within the fourth and final series.  Listed below are the players, coaches, and club personnel featured on the card.  Bat boys Ed Carr and Joe Carrieri are seated in front.  Don Larsen's name is misspelled on the front of the card.

The photo was likely taken after a trade on May 11, 1955, when Johnny Sain and Enos Slaughter were dealt to the Athletics for Sonny Dixon and cash.  None of those three players are pictured here.  (Slaughter would come back to the Yankees as a waiver claim on August 25, 1956.)  This card features an impressive six Hall of Famers, highlighted below. 

Front Row Whitey Ford (#240) Billy Martin (#181) Phil Rizzuto (#113) Bobby Richardson Coach Frankie Crosetti Manager Casey Stengel Coach Bill Dickey Coach Jim Turner Irv Noren (#253) Yogi Berra (#110) Charlie Silvera Gil McDougald (#225)

2nd Row Trainer Gus Mauch Frank Leja Tommy Byrne (#215) Jerry Coleman (#316) Bob Turley (#40) Eddie Robinson (#302) Jim Konstanty (#321) Marv Throneberry Don Larsen (#332) Tom Carroll (#139) Bob Cerv (#288) Johnny Blanchard

Back Row Tom Sturdivant Bill Skowron (#61) Andy Carey (#12) Johnny Kucks (#88) Bob Wiesler Hank Bauer (#177) Mickey Mantle (#135) Bob Grim (#52) Tom Morgan Gary "Rip" Coleman Elston Howard (#208) Joe Collins (#21)

Topps had to parse down the list of Yankee Greats to include on the back of the card, and they went with Bob Meusel, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey (who is on the front of the card as a coach), Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, Tony Lazzeri, Red Rolfe, Joe DiMaggio, Tom Henrich and George Selkirk.  The Yankees would call the original Yankee Stadium home until 2008, with extensive renovations taking place during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.  As part of the renovations, the center field fence, which had at one point been up to 466 feet away, was moved in to a mere 408 feet.  

Here's a look at which records would need to be updated through the 2022 season: 

Most Home Runs - 306 in 2019

Most Double Plays - 214 in 1956

Most Games Won - 114 in 1998

Additional Pennant Winning Teams - 1956-1958, 1960-1964, 1976-1978, 1980-1981, 1995-2007, 2009-2012, 2017-2020, 2022
Additional Championship Teams - 1956, 1958, 1961-1962, 1977-1978, 1996, 1998-2000, 2009

1956 Season
The Yankees easily won the American League pennant, as they were in sole possession of first place for all but five games during the season.  Mickey Mantle starred for the club, eventually winning the Triple Crown with a .353 average, 52 home runs and 130 RBIs.  Mantle was also the unanimous choice for the league's MVP.  Yogi Berra added to his Hall of Fame resume by hitting .298 with 30 home runs and 105 RBIs.  On the mound, Whitey Ford was 19-6 with a 2.47 ERA and Johnny Kucks was 18-9.  Tom Morgan and Tommy Byrne were the top fireman, although with 50 complete games by the pitching staff, they weren't needed often.  Morgan recorded 11 saves.

On September 18th, Mantle's 50th home run of the season came in the 11th inning in a game against the White Sox.  Mantle became the first Yankee slugger with 50 home runs since Ruth in 1928, and the eventual win would also clinch the pennant for the club.  The Yankees would defeat the Dodgers in seven games in the World Series, with Don Larsen hurling a perfect game in Game 5.

Yankees Cards That Never Were
Here are the Yankees cards I would have included had Topps asked me to put together a fifth series checklist.  Time travel would have been involved.  It's not a surprise the Yankees are already fairly well represented in the 1956 Topps set. 

• Casey Stengel (manager) - Only two manager's card were included in the set, and it's odd that Stengel wasn't one of them.
• Enos Slaughter (of) - As mentioned above, Slaughter returned to the Yankees in the summer and he's already in the set on an Athletics card.
• Norm Siebern (of) - Norm Siebern appeared in 54 games for the Yankees, the highest total of any player not in the 1956 Topps Yankees team set.
• Bobby Richardson (2b) - Bobby Richardson made his debut on August 5, 1955, and he'd appear in 16 games before his 1957 break-out season.
• Tom Sturdivant (rhp) - Tom Sturdivant went 16-8 with a 3.30 ERA in 32 appearances, and his rookie card appeared in the 1957 Topps set.
• Tom Morgan (rhp) - As mentioned above, Tom Morgan led the team with 11 saves.
• Rip Coleman (lhp) - Lefty Rip Coleman would appear in the 1957 Topps set with the Athletics.

Sources

Baseball Reference

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #250 Larry Doby - Chicago White Sox / #252 Vernon Law - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #250 Larry Doby - Chicago White Sox / #252 Vernon Law - Pittsburgh Pirates

#250 Larry Doby - Chicago White Sox

Lawrence Eugene Doby
Chicago White Sox
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  December 13, 1923, Camden, SC
Signed:  Signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians, July 2, 1947
Major League Teams:  Newark Eagles 1942-1944, 1946-1947; Cleveland Indians 1947-1955; Chicago White Sox 1956-1957; Cleveland Indians 1958; Detroit Tigers 1959; Chicago White Sox 1959

As a Manager:  Chicago White Sox 1978
Hall of Fame Induction:  1998

Died:  June 18, 2003, Montclair, NJ (age 79)

Larry Doby was the first African-American player in the American League and the first Black player to go directly from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues.  A star with the Newark Eagles, he and teammate Monte Irvin (#194) helped that club with the Negro League World Series in 1946.  Upon joining the Indians in 1947, Doby spent eight and half seasons as the team's everyday centerfielder, helping Cleveland reach and win the World Series in 1948.  He was named to seven straight All-Star teams between 1949 and 1955, leading the league in RBIs with 126 in 1954, and in home runs twice in 1952 and 1954.  He was the league's MVP runner-up in 1954 behind Yogi Berra (#110), as his Indians once again reached the World Series.  Doby would finish out his career with the White Sox, a return trip to the Indians and the Tigers, making a brief comeback in 1962 with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan.

He retired with a .283 average in 1,533 games played, with 1,515 hits, 253 home runs and 970 RBIs.  Doby served as a coach with the Expos (1971-1973, 1976), Indians (1974) and White Sox (1977-1978), briefly taking over as manager of the White Sox when Bob Lemon (#255) was fired in June 1978.  He'd later work in the front office of the NBA's New Jersey Nets.  Doby had his #14 retired by the Indians in 1994, and the Veteran's Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame in 1998.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #31
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 Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this Doby card is the 13th of 16 from series three.  Doby is one of eight Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) from that Original 44 haul, along with Ed Mathews (#107), Berra, Willie Mays (#130), Red Schoendienst (#165), Early Wynn (#187) and Lemon.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
I'm a little stunned to find out, after owning this card for close to 40 years, that it's not an Indians card but a White Sox card.  Topps apparently updated the action photo of Doby to show him in a White Sox uniform, but they didn't update his hat in the portrait, which is the same photo used for his 1954 Topps card.  I've looked at this card hundreds of times and never registered the Chicago White Sox team designation on the front.  Crazy.

The back of the card highlights his trade to Chicago, his big years with Cleveland in 1952 and 1954, and his hitting for the cycle on June 4, 1952 against the Red Sox.

1956 Season

On October 25, 1955, the Indians traded Doby to the White Sox for Jim Busby (#330) and Chico Carrasquel (#230).  (Topps was able to update the hats on the Busby and Carrasquel cards to feature the Indians logo.)  Chicago acquired Doby in the hope of adding a power bat to their line-up, and Doby would hit 24 home runs and drive in 102 runs for the year.  Despite the combined offense of Doby in center field and Minnie Minoso (#125) in left, the White Sox still finished in third place, 12 games behind the Yankees.

1949 Bowman #233

1952 Topps #243

1954 Topps #70

1959 Topps #455

1974 Topps #531

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #233
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1952, 1954, 1956-1959, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Archives #276

371 - Doby non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/12/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

National Baseball Hall of Fame

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #249 Johnny Klippstein - Cincinnati Redlegs / #251 New York Yankees Team Card

Order Collected: #247 Bill Sarni - St. Louis Cardinals / #251 New York Yankees Team Card

#249 Johnny Klippstein - Cincinnati Redlegs

John Calvin Klippstein
Cincinnati Redlegs
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  173
Born:  October 17, 1927, Washington, DC
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1950-1954; Cincinnati Reds 1955-1958; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1959; Cleveland Indians 1960; Washington Senators 1961; Cincinnati Reds 1962; Philadelphia Phillies 1963-1964; Minnesota Twins 1964-1966; Detroit Tigers 1967
Died:  October 10, 2003, Elgin, IL (age 75)

Johnny Klippstein enjoyed an 18-year major league career, playing for eight different teams and winning a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1959.  Klippstein spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Cubs and Reds as a swing man, appearing in at least 30 games and making at least 11 starts in each season between 1950 and 1957.  He was at his peak in 1955 and 1956 with the Reds, going 21-21 over the two-year period with a 3.82 ERA over 76 games pitched, including 14 complete games and two shutouts.  He went 4-0 for the National League Champion Dodgers in 1959, and was often on the move over the next eight seasons.  Along with Jack Baldschun, he was one of the Phillies' most effective relievers in 1963, pitching to a 1.93 ERA over 49 appearances and saving eight games.  Klippstein also played a key role in the Twins' clinching of the American League pennant in 1965, as he appeared in 56 games, all in relief, while compiling an impressive 2.24 ERA over 76 1/3 innings pitched.

He retired following the 1967 season having appeared in 711 games.  Klippstein had a record of 101-118 with a 4.24 ERA and 1,158 strikeouts to go along with 65 career saves.

Some text for this post appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

October 4, 2007 - Before NLDS Game 2

Building the Set
October 3, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #306
My records show my Dad gave me this card on my actual birthday, and I received five more cards four days later when we officially celebrated with family.  I'm not sure why my Dad pulled this Klippstein out of the pile of five cards I'd receive a few days later, other than maybe he felt Klippstein didn't have the star power of the other five.  On October 7th, he gave me Roger Craig (#63), Bill Bruton (#185), Bob Feller (#200), Don Newcombe (#235) and Don Larsen (#332).

The day after my birthday, I attended my first ever Phillies playoff game with my wife Jenna.  The Phillies were unceremoniously rocked by the Rockies, 10-5, with Kaz Matsui hitting a crushing grand slam off Phillies' reliever Kyle Lohse in the fourth inning.

The Card / Redlegs Team Set
Klippstein was omitted from the 1955 Topps set, and the portrait photo used here is the same as his 1954 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights his success with the Reds in 1955, following his trade from the Cubs on October 1, 1954, with Jim Willis for Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe.  His one-hitter came on September 11, 1955 in the first game of a double header against the Dodgers at Crosley Field.  Pee Wee Reese (#260) singled to right field with one out in the ninth, spoiling the no-hit bid.

1956 Season

Klippstein won a career-high 12 games with the Reds, appearing in 37 games and making 29 starts.  He was 12-11 with a 4.09 ERA, with 11 complete games and 211 (also a career-high) innings pitched.  Klippstein was a solid number three starter for the third place Reds, behind Brooks Lawrence (#305) and Joe Nuxhall (#218), who won 19 and 13 games respectively.

Phillies Career
The Reds sold Klippstein to the Phillies on March 25, 1963, and he was the team's best reliever that season.  He made one spot start, but relieved in 48 games, going 5-6 over 112 innings pitched.  Five of his relief appearances went at least six innings, and he was one of the reasons the Phillies finished with 87 wins, their highest total since 1952.  Klippstein saw his role in the bullpen diminish in 1964 and he was used only 11 times in the team's first 61 games.  Needing a roster spot for returning starting pitcher Cal McLish, Klippstein was placed on waivers and eventually had his contract sold to the Twins.  The Twins and Phillies fortunes went in opposite directions from that point forward.  In 60 games with the Phillies, Klippstein was 7-7 with a 2.28 ERA and nine saves.

1951 Bowman #248

1955 Bowman #152

1959 Topps #152

1964 Topps #533

1967 Topps #588

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #248
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1952-1954, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #31

53 - Klippstein non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/6/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #248 Bob Porterfield - Boston Red Sox / #250 Larry Doby - Chicago White Sox

Order Collected: #254 George Crowe - Milwaukee Braves / #63 Roger Craig - Brooklyn Dodgers