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Daniel Francis O'Connell
Milwaukee Braves
Second Base
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 SetOctober 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.
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
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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
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card / Next Card
Set Order: #271 Foster Castleman - New York Giants / #273 Walker Cooper - St. Louis Cardinals
Order Collected: #140 Herb Score - Cleveland Indians / #11 Chicago Cubs Team Card
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