Friday, January 26, 2024

#275 Jim Greengrass - Philadelphia Phillies


James Raymond Greengrass
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield


Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  200
Born:  October 24, 1927, Addison, NY
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1952-1955; Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1956
Died:  September 9, 2019, Chatsworth, GA (age 91)

Jim Greengrass spent nine years toiling in the Yankees' minor league system, interrupted by two years of military service during World War II, before a trade to the Reds gave him a shot at the majors.  As the regular left fielder for the Reds in 1953, Greengrass batted .285 with a career-high 100 RBIs and he finished in sixth place in the Rookie of the Year voting.  He repeated his success in 1954, batting .280 with 27 home runs and 95 RBIs as one of Cincinnati's big three sluggers along with first baseman Ted Kluszewski (#25) and Gus Bell (#162).  Greengrass' production fell off sharply in the succeeding years due to his struggles with phlebitis, a disease causing vein inflammation.

From the 1956 Phillies Yearbook
Dealt to the Phillies at the start of the 1955 season, Greengrass would appear in 94 games in 1955 and a final 86 games in 1956 before his big league career prematurely ended.  He'd play five more seasons in the minor league systems of the Phillies, Athletics and White Sox before retiring in 1961.  In 504 major league games, Greengrass batted .269 with 69 home runs and 282 RBIs.

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #81
We went nuts at the Bridgeton Baseball Card Show in August 1989, buying 12 different cards for our 1956 Topps set, all at $1.50 a piece.  That's an impressive haul for $18!

I have no other information on the location of this show, other than it was held in the nearby city of Bridgeton, New Jersey.  What I do have however is the checklist I brought with us to the show - first included with the Sandy Amoros (#42) post, way back in April 2019.  I believe this is the second full checklist we carried around, having retired the prior version I created in 1988 and posted with the William Harridge (#1) card.

Just looking at this checklist brings back fond memories of finding the cards, deciding to make a purchase, negotiating a price and then finding a flat surface so that we could cross off the newest additions.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
Three of the last four cards in the set have been Phillies cards.  I think this is one of the best action shots in the set, and Greengrass' name is a fantastically fitting name for a baseball player, especially an outfielder.  Does anyone know where he is?  I spent way too much time Googling photos of old baseball ballparks, hoping to identify the location and the advertiser, but I came up empty.  I had hoped the search would be fairly easy, as I suspected the photo was taken at either Ebbets Field in Brooklyn or Crosley Field in Cincinnati.  No luck.  

Googling "maica stea" did lead me to artist Vincent Scilla's website and painting shown here.  Topps removed Greengrass' uniform number, which was likely the #23 he wore while playing for the Reds.

The cartoons on the back cover his minor league beginnings with the Yankees, and his successful years with the Reds in 1952 and 1953.  Greengrass signed reproductions of this card for inclusion in the 2005 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs insert set.

1956 Season / Phillies Career
On April 30, 1955, the Reds traded Greengrass, Glen Gorbous (#174) and Andy Seminick (#296) to the Phillies in exchange for Smoky Burgess (#192), Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.  Catchers Seminick and Burgess had originally been traded for each other back in 1951.  Greengrass would serve as the most used right fielder in 1955, appearing in 94 games overall while batting .272 with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs.  As the cartoon on the back points out, Greengrass homered on May 1, 1955, his first game with the club, connecting off Cubs' pitcher Hy Cohen.  Greengrass was the Phillies' opening day right fielder in 1956, sharing outfield space with Del Ennis (#220) in left and Richie Ashburn (#120) in center.  He'd lose playing time to Elmer Valo (#3) as the season wore on, with Greengrass ultimately playing in 86 games.  His average slipped to .205 and he had just five home runs.

On April 28, 1957, the Phillies sold his contract to the Sacramento Solons in the Pacific Coast League, essentially ending his big league career.  In two seasons with the Phillies, Greengrass played in 180 games, batting .245 with 17 home runs and 62 RBIs.

1953 Topps #209
1954 Bowman #28
1954 Topps #22
1955 Bowman #49

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #209
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1953-1954, 1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JG

18 - Greengrass non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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Friday, January 19, 2024

#274 Frank Baumholtz - Philadelphia Phillies


Frank Conrad Baumholtz
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield


Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  175
Born:  October 7, 1918, Midvale, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1941 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1947-1949; Chicago Cubs 1949, 1951-1955; Philadelphia Phillies 1956-1957
Died:  December 14, 1997, Winter Springs, FL (age 79)

Before starting his 10-season big league career, Frank Baumholtz played professional basketball for two seasons between 1945 and 1947.  In his first major league season with the Reds in 1947, he led the league with 711 plate appearances and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting.  He moved to the Cubs in 1949 and had an incredible year in 1950 with the Cubs' top farm team in Los Angeles.  Baumholtz batted .379 for the Los Angeles Angels, collecting 254 hits in his last minor league action before joining the majors permanently in 1951.  His best year with the Cubs came in 1952 when he batted .325 with a career-high 50 RBIs as the team's everyday right fielder.  He lost playing time that season after a pitch from Warren Spahn (#10) broke his hand.  Baumholtz would enjoy one last solid season in the majors in 1953, batting .306 after moving over to center field with the Cubs.

From the 1956 Phillies Yearbook
His final three seasons with the Cubs and Phillies were spent mostly in a pinch-hitting role.  In 1,019 career games, Baumholtz batted .290 with 1,010 hits, 25 home runs and 272 RBIs.  He was inducted into the Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1965, where Baumholtz had starred as a basketball player.  In 1995, the university retired his #54 basketball jersey.

Building the Set
October 1, 1987 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #51
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, New Jersey a few days before my 14th birthday.  We acquired three Phillies card that day - manager Mayo Smith (#60), Murry Dickson (#211) and this Baumholtz card and I don't know how much we paid for the trio.  My memories of Hummel's are hazy at best, but I seem to recall it was a large building with a sprawling liquor store on the first floor and a baseball card shop on the second floor.  With baseball card stores booming in the mid to late 1980s, we'd often take a ride to one of the four or five local card shops we were lucky enough to have near us.  October 1st was a Thursday, so it's strange to me that we would have made the 20 minute or so drive to Hummel's on a week night after work and school.  My approaching birthday might have contributed to the motivation for the trip.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
This is Baumholtz's final appearance in a Topps flagship set, and Topps re-used the same photo from his 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, replacing his Cubs hat with a Phillies hat.  The action shot is from Baumholtz's days with the Cubs as well, as he wore #7 in Chicago and #16 in Philadelphia.  The first two cartoon panels on the back highlight his basketball career and his successful 1952 season.  Topps says "he just missed" the batting championship, but Stan Musial pretty much ran away with the batting title with his .336 average.  The final panel shows Baumholtz arriving in Philadelphia decked in full Quaker garb.

1956 Season / Phillies Career
On December 9, 1955, the Phillies purchased Baumholtz from the Cubs.  He continued mainly as a pinch-hitter with the Phillies in 1956, starting only 12 games all season, all in right field.  He batted .270 for the season, and every one of his 27 hits were singles.  He returned to the Phillies in 1957, now 38 years old, and made two pinch-hitting appearances before calling it a career.  The Phillies released him on June 17, 1957.

1949 Bowman #21
1952 Topps #225
1954 Topps #60
1955 Topps #172

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #21
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1952, 1954-1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #60

21 - Baumholtz non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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Friday, January 12, 2024

#273 Walker Cooper - St. Louis Cardinals


William Walker Cooper
St. Louis Cardinals
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  210
Born:  January 8, 1915, Atherton, MO
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1935 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1940-1945; New York Giants 1946-1949; Cincinnati Reds 1949-1950; Boston Braves 1950-1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953; Pittsburgh Pirates 1954; Chicago Cubs 1954-1955; St. Louis Cardinals 1956-1957
Died:  April 11, 1991, Scottsdale, AZ (age 76)

Until composing this post, I had no idea Walker Cooper was a veteran of 18 major league seasons, an eight-time All-Star and a two-time World Champion with the Cardinals in the early 1940s.  Cooper was behind the plate for the Cardinals' World Series wins in 1942 and 1944, batting .300 overall in 16 World Series games, including the 1943 series in which the Cardinals lost to the Yankees.  In that 1943 season, Cooper batted .318 with 81 RBIs, finishing as runner-up to teammate Stan Musial for National League MVP honors.  He was the starting catcher for the National League All-Stars in six of the nine All-Star Games played in the 1940s.  Cooper missed most of the 1945 season while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was sold to the Giants in 1946 following a salary dispute.  With the Giants in 1947, he reached career highs in both home runs (35) and RBIs (122).

Cooper would play for six different teams, all in the National League, and would finish his big league career as a back-up catcher and pinch-hitter for the Cardinals in 1956 and 1957.  One of the strongest players in the game, Cooper also earned respect for his defense and ability to call a great game behind the plate.  In 1,473 games played, Cooper batted .285 with 1,341 hits, 173 home runs and 812 RBIs.  At the time of his retirement, he was among the top five all-time National League catchers in average, slugging percentage, home runs and RBIs.  Cooper managed in the minor leagues for three seasons and was a coach for the Kansas City Athletics in 1960.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #37
This Cooper card was one of the Original 44 and the last time I told the full story of the Original 44 was almost a year ago within the Walt Dropo (#238) 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 / Cardinals Team Set
This marks Cooper's first mainstream baseball card in a few years, as he had last appeared in the 1953 Bowman Black & White set.  It would seem as if the runner is safe in the action shot?  The three cartoon panels on the back cover all the right highlights, including his return to the Cardinals for the 1956 season, his reputation as a slugger and his fantastic 1947 season with the Giants.

1956 Season
In his penultimate season, and at the age of 41, Cooper re-signed with his original team, the Cardinals, to serve as the back-up catchers Bill Sarni (#247) and Hal Smith (#283).  Cooper started only 12 games all season, appearing in 40 games overall, mostly as a pinch-hitter.  He batted .265 with a pair of home runs and 14 RBIs.

1943 M.P. & Co. (R302-1)
1948 Bowman #9
1952 Topps #294
1957 Topps #380
1960 Topps #462

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1943 M.P. & Co. (R302-1)
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1952, 1956-1957, 1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Conlon Collection TSN #633

48 - Cooper non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/21/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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Friday, January 5, 2024

#272 Danny O'Connell - Milwaukee Braves

With this post, I'm officially entering the ninth year for this blog, which is almost the half-way point to the length of time it took my Dad and me to collect the whole set. If I keep up the current pace of a weekly post, every Friday, I should have this blog completed by early 2025. Real life and other projects tend to get in the way from time to time, but I'm enjoying the journey of going back through each of these cards and I appreciate you following along. Happy New Year!
 

Daniel Francis O'Connell
Milwaukee Braves
Second Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  168
Born:  January 21, 1929, Paterson, NJ
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1950, 1953; Milwaukee Braves 1954-1957; New York Giants 1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1959; Washington Senators 1961-1962
Died:  October 2, 1969, Clifton, NJ (age 40)

Originally signed by the Dodgers, Danny O'Connell played for four seasons in Brooklyn's minor league system before being dealt to the Pirates in October 1949.  He had a successful rookie campaign in 1950, batting .292 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs, and finishing third in the league's Rookie of the Year voting.  O'Connell would miss two full seasons while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and when he returned he had one of his best years in the majors.  He batted .294 with a career-high 55 RBIs in 1953 for the Pirates, earning year-end MVP votes.  O'Connell was the everyday second baseman for the Braves between 1954 and 1956, and he'd finish in the top five in fielding percentage among National League second baseman five years in a row between 1954 and 1958.

On June 15, 1957, O'Connell, Ray Crone (#76) and Bobby Thomson (#257) were dealt to the New York Giants in exchange for Red Schoendienst (#165).  While Thomson would make his own history a few years later with the Giants, O'Connell is in the team's record books for scoring the first run by a major league team playing on the West Coast.  In the third inning of the inaugural game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Seals Stadium on April 15, 1958, O'Connell drew a walk off Dodgers' pitcher Don Drysdale and scored the first run of the game on a Jim Davenport sacrifice fly.  He'd play two seasons with the expansion Senators before retiring, leading the team in hits with 128 in 1961 and leading the league in sacrifice bunts that season with 15.  O'Connell batted .260 for his career with 1,049 hits.

Building the Set
October 3, 1999 in Raleigh, NC - Card #187
We bought this card on October 3rd at the Raleigh Sports Card Show, and it ended up being part of a birthday present to me from my Dad.  I was still living in Raleigh in late 1999, and my parents made the trip south to visit me for my birthday.  We bought 8 cards that day (that I knew about) paying $5 for six of the cards, and only $2 for the Grady Hatton (#26) and this O'Connell card.  Unbeknownst to me, my Dad also purchased the Sandy Koufax card (#79) but he squirreled that one away until Christmas morning 1999.

From the back of a checklist from this time period, my notes show we were simultaneously collecting the 1972 Topps set in 1999.

The Card / Braves Team Set
This marks O'Connell's first Topps appearance since 1953.  He wore #4 during his time with the Braves, so that might be him sliding into third base in the action photo . . . or is the runner sliding back to first base?  I'm going with that being O'Connell sliding into third base safely as Dodgers' third baseman Don Hoak (#335) takes the throw.  Hoak wore #43 with Brooklyn during the 1954 and 1955 seasons.  The cartoons on the back highlight O'Connell's infield versatility, his success while with the Pirates and his clutch hitting against the Giants in 1955.

1956 Season
In his last full season with the Braves, O'Connell was again the team's regular second baseman with Johnny Logan (#136) as his double play partner at shortstop.  O'Connell played in 139 games, batting .239 out of the Braves' lead-off spot for most of the season.

1951 Bowman #93
1953 Topps #107
1957 Topps #271
1959 Topps #87
1962 Topps #411

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #93
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1953, 1956-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #107

46 - O'Connell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/17/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card / Next Card
Set Order: #271 Foster Castleman - New York Giants / #273 Walker Cooper - St. Louis Cardinals
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