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Hobert Neal Landrith
Chicago Cubs
Catcher
Born: March 16, 1930, Decatur, IL
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1950-52; Cincinnati Redlegs 1953-55; Chicago Cubs 1956; St. Louis Cardinals 1957-58; San Francisco Giants 1959-61; New York Mets 1962; Baltimore Orioles 1962-63; Washington Senators 1963
Died: April 6, 2023, Sunnyvale, CA (age 93)
Hobie Landrith played parts of 14 seasons in the majors, almost entirely as a second or third string catcher for seven different teams. In terms of longevity, he spent the most time with his original team, the Reds/Redlegs, playing in six seasons as the back-up to Andy Seminick (#296) or Smoky Burgess (#192). Landrith would have two seasons in the majors as a team's regular catcher, which also happened to be his best seasons - 1956 with the Cubs and 1959 with the Giants. In the latter season, he played in 109 games for the Giants and batted .251 with three home runs and 29 RBIs. His success in San Francisco led the Mets to select him as their first pick (and second overall) in the 1961 expansion draft. Landrith was the first catcher in Mets' franchise history, getting the start on opening day 1962 and catching starting pitcher Roger Craig (#63). But manager Casey Stengel gave up on Landrith after a poor showing on opening day, leading to a parade of different catchers for the Mets and Landrith's eventual trade to the Orioles that June.
After a final season with the Senators in 1963, Landrith joined Washington's coaching staff for the 1964 season. He'd quit after one season, leaving baseball behind, but coming back at least once as a guest instructor at Giants' spring training in 1998. A lifetime .233 batter, Landrith appeared in 772 games, collecting 450 hits, 34 home runs and 203 RBIs.
Building the SetAugust 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #87
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!
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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 / Cubs Team Set
This is Landrith's first Topps card, as he appeared only in the Bowman sets in 1954 and 1955. Topps would have had to swap the Redlegs' logo on his cap with a Cubs' logo, and the action shot didn't need to be retouched given Landrith's catching gear. The cartoons on the back of the card summarize his brief stints with Cincinnati prior to the 1952 season, his strong throwing arm and his acquisition by the Cubs.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Bowman #220
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1956-63
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-HL
38 - Landrith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/3/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card / Next Card
Set Order: #313 Gene Stephens - Boston Red Sox / #315 Milt Bolling - Boston Red Sox
Order Collected: #305 Brooks Lawrence - Cincinnati Redlegs / #316 Jerry Coleman - New York Yankees
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