Friday, August 23, 2024

#305 Brooks Lawrence - Cincinnati Redlegs


Brooks Ulysses Lawrence
Cincinnati Redlegs
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  205
Born:  January 30, 1925, Springfield, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1954-55; Cincinnati Redlegs 1956-58; Cincinnati Reds 1959-60
Died:  April 27, 2000, Springfield, OH (age 75)

Brooks Laurence pitched in parts of seven seasons with the Cardinals and Reds, enjoying his best seasons in Cincinnati in 1956 and 1957.  Lawrence was a 15-game winner for the Cardinals in his rookie season of 1954 and he'd mainly work out of the bullpen for the club in 1955.  Dealt to Cincinnati on January 31, 1956 with Sonny Senerchia for Jackie Callum, Lawrence entered the best two years of his career.  He was an All-Star in 1956, finishing the season with a 19-10 record and a 3.99 ERA in 49 games, including 30 starts.  Lawrence had slightly better numbers in 1957, going 16-13 with a 3.52 ERA over a career-high 250 1/3 innings pitched.  He'd pitch nearly 200 innings again in 1958, but he'd see his output decline over his final two seasons with the Reds, retiring following the 1960 season.

Lawrence was 69-62 for his career, with a 4.25 ERA in 275 games pitched.  He struck out 481 batters over 1,040 2/3 innings.  He remained with the Reds for several years after his playing days as a scout, minor league coach and broadcaster, and was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1976.

1955 Red Man #NL4
Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #86
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.  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 / Redlegs Team Set
Like a lot of recent cards, this is Lawrence's first appearance in a Topps set after his rookie card had appeared in the 1955 Bowman set.  The picture used is the same as appears on his 1955 Red Man card, with Topps replacing a Cardinals hat with a Redlegs hat.  The back of the card highlights his success from 1954 and 1955, and explains how he ended up with Cincinnati before the 1956 season.

1956 Season
As mentioned above, Lawrence was a 19-game winner in 1956 and made the National League All-Stars, although he didn't appear in the game.  He led Cincinnati's pitching staff in wins and innings pitched (218 2/3), and tied Johnny Klippstein (#249) for the team lead in complete games with 11.  At the outset of the season, Lawrence set a franchise record by winning 13 games before his first loss.

Phillies Connection
Lawrence's last action in professional baseball came with the Indianapolis Indians in 1960, then the top farm team for the Phillies.  He was 2-7 with a 6.05 ERA in 26 games with the Indians.

1955 Bowman #75
1957 Topps #66
1958 Topps #374
1959 Topps #67
1960 Topps #434

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #75
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1956-60
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA The 1950s #217

36 - Lawrence non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/24.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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