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James William Gilliam
Brooklyn Dodgers
Outfield
Born: October 17, 1928, Nashville, TN
Acquired: Purchased with Joe Black (#178) by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the Baltimore Elite Giants (Negro League) for $11,000, before 1951 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Elite Giants (1946-1948); Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966
Died: October 8, 1978, Inglewood, CA (age 49)
After his first three seasons in professional baseball with the Baltimore Elite Giants, Jim "Junior" Gilliam joined the Dodgers organization in 1951 and he'd serve as a player and popular coach with the club until his untimely death in 1978. Gilliam made his debut with the Dodgers in 1953 as their opening day second baseman, sharing an infield with Gil Hodges (#145) at first base, Pee Wee Reese (#260) at shortstop and Jackie Robinson (#30) at third base. He'd win Rookie of the Year honors that year, while batting .278 with 21 stolen bases and leading the league with 17 triples. As a player, Gilliam was a member of seven pennant-winning Dodgers teams, with his club winning World Championships in 1955, 1959, 1963 and 1965. He was a four-time All-Star. Gilliam retired with a .265 average, 1,889 hits and 203 stolen bases.
He joined the Dodgers' coaching staff in 1965 while still an active player, switching over to a full-time coaching role in 1967. With the Dodgers through the 1978 season, Gilliam was a part of three more pennant winning teams in 1974, 1977 and 1978. He passed away at the end of the 1978 season following a massive brain hemorrhage and Gilliam's #19 was retired prior to Game 1 of the 1978 World Series.
August 16, 1987 from Cooperstown, NY - Card #48
This was one of the first four cards we purchased in the summer of 1987, officially marking the beginning of us collecting the 1956 Topps set. As told now frequently in our set's origin story, and most recently with the post for the Walker Cooper (#273) card, I was essentially gifted with a shoebox of vintage Topps baseball cards in the summer of 1983 or 1984. 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.
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 1956 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York. It was our first trip to Cooperstown, and details from that family vacation still make up several of my most important core memories from my childhood. 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, including this Gilliam card which was all of $3.25. Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.
That small but incredibly meaningful purchase meant so much to me that I tacked a Walker Gallery business card to my bulletin board in my bedroom on 12th Street, where it hung for years. I also felt compelled to clip the price tags from the rigid plastic sleeves in which each of these cards were originally purchased. I knew then I wanted to remember everything about the purchase, and these are included at the back of our 1956 Topps binder, along with other ephemera from baseball card shows, stores and special occasions when cards were added to our set.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Gilliam is the rare example of a player appearing in all four Bowman and Topps sets from 1954 and 1955. The head shot photo from his 1955 Topps card is reused here, and the action photo could very well be a Yankees baserunner sliding into second base during the 1953 or 1955 World Series. The cartoons on the back focus on his career highlights to date. Gilliam scored at least 100 runs each season between 1953 and 1956. The second cartoon panel has an uncorrected error, as Gilliam starred in the 1953 World Series, and not 1952.
Topps reprinted the card as part of its 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.
1956 Season
This was Gilliam's best season statistically as he batted an even .300 over 153 games with 102 runs scored, 23 doubles, eight triples and 43 RBIs. His 21 stolen bases were second in the league behind Willie Mays (#130), who had 40. He walked 95 times and had a career-best OBP of .399. Gilliam was one of the top offensive players on the team, trailing only center fielder Duke Snider (#150) in bWAR for the Dodgers. As a testament to his versatility, Gilliam started 152 games - 98 at second base, 49 in left field and five in right field.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1953 Topps #258
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1953-1964, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Donruss #208
152 - Gilliam non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
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Order Collected: #253 Irv Noren - New York Yankees / #60 Mayo Smith MG - Philadelphia Phillies
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