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Don Lee Blasingame
St. Louis Cardinals
Shortstop
Born: March 16, 1932, Corinth, MS
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1955-59; San Francisco Giants 1960-61; Cincinnati Reds 1961-63; Washington Senators 1963-66; Kansas City Athletics 1966
Died: April 13, 2005, Fountain Hills, AZ (age 73)
Don Blasingame played 17 years of professional baseball, with 12 seasons in the major leagues and 3 more seasons in Japan in the late 1960s. He found the most success early in his career as the every day second baseman for the Cardinals between 1956 and 1959, taking that position over from future Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst (#165). He earned MVP votes in 1957 when he hit .271 with career highs in home runs (8), RBIs (58), runs scored (108) and stolen bases (21). Blasingame was an All-Star in 1958. In 1960, Blasingame married Sara Cooper, the daughter of Walker Cooper (#273), a teammate of Blasingame's with the Cardinals in 1956 and 1957.
After a brief stint with the Giants, Blasingame became the regular second baseman for the Reds, playing in the 1961 World Series against the Yankees, before Pete Rose took his starting job in 1963. He played two and a half seasons with the Senators and 12 games with the Athletics before heading to Japan. Blasingame played for the Nankai Hawks between 1967 and 1969, and later served as a coach in Japan between 1970 and 1978. He'd go on to manage the Hanshin Tigers (1979-80) and the Hawks (1981-82) before returning to the U.S.
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| January 28, 2006 - Celebrating Dad's 62nd birthday |
December 3, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #277
This was a relatively late edition to our set and one of eight cards we purchased at the 93rd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington. My notes say we purchased this Blasingame card for a little less than $6. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington or the occasional mall baseball card show.
My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location. Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set.
The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
This is Blasingame's rookie card, and he'd go on to appear in nine more Topps flagship sets. Looking at the card more closely, I wonder if a Topps artist artificially extended the green background behind the action shot of Blasingame, covering over additional fans or whatever else was next to or behind Blasingame in the original photo. The cartoons on the back of the card highlight his speed on the base paths, his success in the minors in 1955, and he strong defensive skills.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1956 Topps #309
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1956-65
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #84
58 - Blasingame non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
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Order Collected: #303 Jim Dyck - Baltimore Orioles / #31 Hank Aaron - Milwaukee Brewers
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