Friday, December 29, 2023

#271 Foster Castleman - New York Giants


Foster Ephraim Castelman
New York Giants
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  January 1, 1931, Nashville, TN
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1954-1957; Baltimore Orioles 1958
Died:  November 9, 2020, The Villages, FL (age 89)

Foster Castleman played in parts of five big league seasons, only playing regularly with the Giants in 1956 and with the Orioles in 1958.  Casteleman worked his way through the Giants system between 1949 and mid-1954, missing two full seasons in 1951 and 1952 due to military service.  In his 13 games with the Giants in 1954, and his 15 games with the Giants in 1955, he was used almost entirely as a pinch-hitter.  But in 1956, he made the team out of spring training and took over regular third base duties from Hank Thompson (#199).  Castleman appeared in a career high 124 games, batting only .226, and he'd be back to limited use by the Giants in 1957.  In March 1958 he was sold to the Orioles, and he'd play in 98 games, making 64 starts at shortstop and a pair of starts at second base.  Again, his hitting was his weakness as he batted just .170 during his only season in Baltimore, and his final season in the majors.

Castleman played for two more seasons in the minors with the Orioles, Senators and White Sox organizations before retiring in 1960.  In 268 major league games, Castleman collected 136 hits and batted .205 with 20 home runs and 65 RBIs.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #333
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.

December 24, 2007 - Doug and Dad
Our son Doug had just turned one, and on Christmas morning 2007, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our families to our house to celebrate the day.  I've had a few rough Christmases, but this was one of the worst as my Dad ended up in the hospital that day and it was the beginning of his health struggles that would continue until he passed away in late 2011.  He was discharged from the hospital three days later, and it was only then we celebrated Christmas together, on December 28th, and I opened the package containing the last of the cards needed for our 1956 Topps set.

Dad was understandably distraught that Christmas, but not solely because of his own health issues.  Because of his unselfish nature, he was worried that he had ruined Christmas for everyone since we had spent the holidays in a hospital.  He was also upset that his surprise package containing those last 29 baseball cards sat in the back seat of his car for three days until he recovered enough to come home.  I was just happy to have him out of the hospital, but I do remember feeling confused and somewhat hopeless as we weren't quite sure yet what was wrong with him.

I don't have any pictures from December 28th, which is unusual for me.  I'm assuming I was just happy that Dad was out of the hospital and taking pictures never crossed my mind.  Among the "big" cards in that final haul were the cards of Roberto Clemente (#33), Monte Irvin (#194), Whitey Ford (#240), Pee Wee Reese (#260) and the Checklist covering Series 1 and 3.  I remember thinking I had never seen this Castleman card before, which was odd considering we had been collecting the set for over 20 years at this point.

The Card / Giants Team Set
This is Castleman's rookie card, and he'd appear in two more Topps flagship sets in 1957 and 1958.  If that's Castleman in the action shot, it looks as if he's wearing a uniform number ending in "2" so the picture could be from early in the 1956 season?  He wore #18 during his brief stints with the club in 1954 and 1955, switching to #18 in 1956.  He played two games at third base in August 1954 against the Braves and Pirates, and one more game at third base on April 28, 1955 against the Cardinals.  Since it appears to be a Cardinals' baserunner, I thought maybe the photo was from that April 28th game, but there doesn't appear to be any plays at third while Castleman was in the game.  His next action at third base against the Cardinals didn't come until early May in 1956.

(Another theory:  The third baseman is actually Joey Amalfitano, who wore #12 with the Giants in 1955.)

Topps misspells Castleman's middle name on the back of the card.  The three cartoon panels explain how he missed time in 1955 due to injuries, tout his ability to switch infield positions, and highlight his .302 average in 1955 (in 43 games) with the Minneapolis Millers.

1956 Season
Castleman batted just .226, but his 14 home runs were tied for third on the Giants behind Willie Mays (#130), who hit 36, and Bill White, who hit 22.  Shortstop Daryl Spencer (#277) also hit 14 home runs.  He made 97 starts at third base as manager Bill Rigney tried to find some offense for the Giants' line-up.

1957 Topps #237
1958 Topps #416

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #271
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1956-1958
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA The 1950s #225

7 - Castleman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/22/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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