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Frank James Malzone
Boston Red Sox
Third Base
Born: February 28, 1930, Bronx, NY
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1955-65; California Angels 1966
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1955-65; California Angels 1966
Died: December 29, 2015, Needham, MA (age 85)
Frank Malzone manned the hot corner for the Red Sox for over a decade, and in total spent nearly six decades in various roles with the club. Malzone first got the chance to play regularly in 1957, and he'd reward manager Pinky Higgins with the first of eight All-Star Game selections and by finishing second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting to the Yankees' Tony Kubek. Malzone also won the first of his three Gold Gloves that season and drove in a career-high 103 runs. On the way to that first Gold Glove, he became the first player to lead the American League in every defensive category (games, putouts, assists, double plays turned, fielding percentage) as well as errors. Dependable at the plate, Malzone hit .276 with the Red Sox over 11 seasons. He left the club briefly following the 1965 season, finishing up his playing career with the Angels.
Building the Set
January 27, 2001 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #226
For Father's Day in 2021, we attended my youngest son's piano recital and then travelled to the Moorestown Mall (in nearby Moorestown, NJ) for a baseball card show. I don't spend a lot of time in malls, but I thought this one looked vaguely familiar. As it turns out, I was at the very same mall 20 years earlier with my Dad for his 57th birthday. We paid $60 for four cards for our 1956 Topps set, with the biggest purchase being the Harmon Killebrew card (#164) that set us back $38. Based on my checklist at the time, we got a good deal on this card as I had the Killebrew card listed as one of the more valuable cards we still needed at a range of $60 to $100. The other three cards added were this Malzone card, Carl Erskine (#233) and Ellis Kinder (#336).
For his career, Malzone batted .274 with 1,486 hits, 133 home runs and 728 RBIs. He re-joined the Red Sox as a scout in 1966 and he'd serve as a scout and instructor until the early 1990s when he joined the team's front office. He was among the inaugural class of inductees into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
January 27, 2001 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #226
For Father's Day in 2021, we attended my youngest son's piano recital and then travelled to the Moorestown Mall (in nearby Moorestown, NJ) for a baseball card show. I don't spend a lot of time in malls, but I thought this one looked vaguely familiar. As it turns out, I was at the very same mall 20 years earlier with my Dad for his 57th birthday. We paid $60 for four cards for our 1956 Topps set, with the biggest purchase being the Harmon Killebrew card (#164) that set us back $38. Based on my checklist at the time, we got a good deal on this card as I had the Killebrew card listed as one of the more valuable cards we still needed at a range of $60 to $100. The other three cards added were this Malzone card, Carl Erskine (#233) and Ellis Kinder (#336).
The Card / Red Sox Team Set
This is Malzone's first Topps card, and his rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set. The action shot shows Malzone about to apply a late tag to a baserunner that could be the Tigers' Bill Tuttle (#203), the Indians' Hank Majeski, or the Nationals' Pete Runnels (#234), as those three American Leaguers all wore #5 during the 1955 season. The cartoons on the back highlight his successful minor league season in 1955, as well as his six hits in a double header against the Orioles on September 20th. Malzone had just made his big league debut a few days before, pinch-running in a game on September 17th.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #302
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1956-66
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2015 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-FM
96 - Malzone non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/24.
Sources:
1965 Topps Blog
Previous Card / Next Card
Order Collected: #233 Carl Erskine - Brooklyn Dodgers / #336 Ellis Kinder - St. Louis Cardinals
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