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Vernon Sanders Law
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
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.
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.
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.
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.
1956 Season
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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
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Order Collected: #251 New York Yankees Team Card / #255 Bob Lemon - Cleveland Indians
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