Friday, April 26, 2024

#288 Bob Cerv - New York Yankees


Robert Henry Cerv
New York Yankees
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Born:  May 5, 1925, Weston, NE
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1951-1956; Kansas City Athletics 1958-1960; New York Yankees 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961; New York Yankees 1961-1962; Houston Colt .45s 1962
Died:  April 6, 2017, Blair, NE (age 91)

A baseball and basketball star at his home state University of Nebraska, Bob Cerv signed with the Yankees in 1950 and would begin his first of three stints with the club in 1951.  Cerv was infrequently used on the star-packed Yankees teams of the early 1950s and most of his playing time came as a pinch-hitter for Casey Stengel's perennial pennant winners.  He'd visit three World Series with the club in 1955, 1956 and 1960, batting .258 (8 for 31) over 10 World Series games.  Following the 1956 season, Cerv was sold to the Athletics where he'd thrive after earning regular playing time.  His career year came in 1958 when he batted .305 with 38 home runs and 104 RBIs, finishing fourth in the American League MVP voting.  Cerv was the starting left fielder for the American League in the 1958 All-Star Game, collecting a first inning single off Warren Spahn (#10).

Cerv briefly returned to the Yankees in 1960 and was selected by the Angels in that year's expansion draft.  He was the first ever left fielder for the Angels, but after just 18 games with the club was re-acquired by the Yankees.  Cerv shared an apartment with Mickey Mantle (#135) and Roger Maris during the historic 1961 season in which Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home run record.  Cerv finished up his playing days with 19 games for the expansion Colt .45s in 1962.  He batted .276 for his career, collecting 624 hits, 105 home runs and 374 RBIs.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #335
I last shared this full story with the Foster Castleman (#271) post in late December, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here.  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.  This Cerv card was one of the final 29.  It was one of the commons included in a memorable haul that included the cards of Pee Wee Reese (#260), Roberto Clemente (#33), Whitey Ford (#240) and a spotless checklist card for the 1st and 3rd Series.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
What's going on in the action photo?  At first glance, I thought it was a play at the plate, but it looks as if it's actually a play at first base with the ball floating in mid air and the first baseman no where to be seen.  A right fielder looks on in the distance, likely also amazed by the floating baseball.  The first cartoon panel highlights how close Cerv's RBI total (22) for 1955 was to his hits total (29).

1956 Season
Cerv spent the entire season with the Yankees, getting into 54 games overall and making 30 starts in left field or center field.  He batted .304 with three home runs and 25 RBIs.  Late in the season, Stengel apparently called Cerv aside and said, "Nobody knows this, but one of us has just been traded to Kansas City."  The deal was put off until after the World Series.  In the World Series, won by the Yankees in seven games, Cerv made one appearance as a pinch-hitter, singling for pitcher Johnny Kucks (#88) in the sixth inning of Game 1.

1953 Topps #210
1955 Bowman #306
1958 Topps #329
1959 Topps #100
1962 Topps #169

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #210
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1953, 1956-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BC

59 - Cerv non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/6/24.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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