#320 Joe Adcock - Milwaukee Braves

Joseph Wilbur Adcock
Milwaukee Braves
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  October 30, 1927, Coushatta, LA
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1950-52; Milwaukee Braves 1953-62; Cleveland Indians 1963; Los Angeles Angels 1964; California Angels 1965-66

As a Manager:  Cleveland Indians 1967

Died:  May 3, 1999, Coushatta, LA (age 71)

Blocked at first base by slugger Ted Kluszewski (#25), the Reds tried moving Joe Adcock to left field for the first three seasons of his career.  Adcock was steady at the plate during those years, but wanting to play regularly at first base, he requested and was granted a trade to the Braves.  He'd play ten seasons in Milwaukee, helping the club to National League pennants in 1957 and 1958, and the World Series title in 1958.  Adcock's best season came in 1956 when he batted .291 while reaching career highs in home runs (38) and RBIs (103).  With Henry Aaron (#31) and Eddie Mathews (#107) in the line-up, Adcock was often overlooked, but in his decade with the Braves, he clubbed 239 home runs and drove in 760 runs, hitting at least 20 home runs in six seasons.  On July 31, 1954, he hit four home runs, off four different pitchers, in one game against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field.  Adcock was an All-Star in 1960.

Dealt to the Indians following the 1962 season, Adcock played four more years in the majors.  He'd have a late career resurgence with the early Angels teams, connecting for 18 home runs in his final season in 1966.  Adcock managed the Indians for one season in 1967, with the team finishing in eighth place with a 75-87 record.  In 1,959 games, Adcock batted .277 with 1,832 hits, 336 home runs and 1,122 RBIs.  He's still in the top 100 for many fielding categories for first basemen.  In 2022, Adcock was posthumously inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

Building the Set
Sometime in 1998, no record of purchase - Card #174
This is the fourth and final card in our set that appeared with no record of how or when we acquired it.  Adcock joins the quartet of Joe Astroth (#106), Robin Roberts (#180) and Max Surkont (#209) as the sadly undocumented additions to our collection.  Based on checklists from the time, it looks as if the card was added at some point in 1998, as checklists from 1998 show the card as being needed, while checklists from 1999 and later show the card crossed out.

I entered the work force in the fall of 1997, and 1998 would have been my first full year as a newly hired associate at the biggest accounting firm in the world, Arthur Andersen.  (Some would say the firm was too big to ever fail.)  I would have still been working in Philadelphia at that time, at least through the summer, and likely working anywhere from 50 to 80 hours a week, as was the expectation back then.  Still, it's a little frustrating to have no idea when or how we added this Adcock card to our set, especially as it's in such great shape.

The Card / Braves Team Set
This card marks Adcock's return to Topps sets, as he had appeared exclusively in Bowman sets since 1953.  He wore #9 with the Braves, so the action shot is definitely the slugger crossing home plate.  I was actually able to find the photo from Getty Images, and this is the original caption:  "Milwaukee's Joe Adcock, who got himself into the record books by hitting four homers in yesterday's game against the Dodgers, is shown scoring from second on Johnny Logan's (#136) pop single into left field in today's game at Ebbets Field. Adcock was carried off the field on a stretcher in the fourth inning after being hit in the head by a pitched ball thrown by Clem Labine (#295)."  A quick check of Baseball Reference shows this photo would have been from the Braves-Dodgers game on August 1, 1954.  Braves' pitcher Gene Conley (#17) would plunk Duke Snider (#150) in the fourth inning, and the Braves would have the last laugh, winning the game, 14-6.

The cartoons on the back summarize Adcock missing time in 1955 with a broken arm, and highlight his four home run game agains the Dodgers, along with the home run he hit into the bleachers at the Polo Grounds.  That Polo Grounds home run was his first with the Braves, on April 29, 1953.  Topps reprinted the card in its 2002 Topps Archives set.

1956 Season

As mentioned above, this was Adcock's best season in the majors.  He played in 137 games, making 129 starts at first base, batting second in the line-up for most games.  He finished second in the league in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage with a .597 mark.  Adcock led all first baseman with a .995 fielding percentage, the first of four times in his career he'd lead the league in that category.

1951 Bowman #323

1952 Topps #347

1958 Topps #325

1962 Topps #265

1967 Topps #563

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #323
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1952, 1956-63, 1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2007 SP Legendary Cuts #42

133 - Adcock non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/8/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #319 Jack Crimian - Kansas City Athletics / #321 Jim Konstanty - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #145 Gil Hodges - Brooklyn Dodgers / #21 Joe Collins - New York Yankees