#324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs

Everett Lamar Bridges
Cincinnati Redlegs
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'8"  Weight:  170
Born:  August 7, 1927, Refugio, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1951-52; Cincinnati Redlegs 1953-57; Washington Senators 1957-58; Detroit Tigers 1959-60; Cleveland Indians 1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961

Died:  January 28, 2015, Coeur d'Alene, ID (age 87)

The popular and at times comedic Rocky Bridges played in parts of 11 major league seasons with seven different teams.  Drafted by the Dodgers, there was no hope of Bridges cracking the middle infield for the club as it was already covered by Pee Wee Reese (#260) and Jackie Robinson (#30).  He was dealt to the Redlegs as part of big, four-team trade in February 1953.  Bridges was Cincinnati's everyday second baseman in 1953, but he'd go back to a bench role with the club for the next three seasons.  Claimed off waivers by the Senators in May 1957, Bridges would have the best span of his career between 1957 and 1959.  He was an All-Star in 1958, finishing the season with a .263 average and a career-best five home runs.  Bridges was on the move frequently in the final two years of his career, playing for four different teams.  In 919 games, he collected 562 hits and batted .247 with 16 home runs and 187 RBIs.

At the end of his career, Bridges was quoted as saying, "I've had more numbers on my back than a bingo board."  He'd coach with the Angels (1962-63, 1968-71) and Giants (1985), and when he wasn't coaching at the major league level, he was a minor league manager in the Angels, Giants, Padres and Pirates organizations through the 1989 season.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #339
The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.

December 24, 2007 - Doug and Dad

Our son Doug had just turned one, and on Christmas morning 2007, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our families to our house to celebrate the day.  I've had a few rough Christmases, but this was one of the worst as my Dad ended up in the hospital that day and it was the beginning of his health struggles that would continue until he passed away in late 2011.  He was discharged from the hospital three days later, and it was only then we celebrated Christmas together, on December 28th, and I opened the package containing the last of the cards needed for our 1956 Topps set.

Dad was understandably distraught that Christmas, but not solely because of his own health issues.  Because of his unselfish nature, he was worried that he had ruined Christmas for everyone since we had spent the holidays in a hospital.  He was also upset that his surprise package containing those last 29 baseball cards sat in the back seat of his car for three days until he recovered enough to come home.  I was just happy to have him out of the hospital, but I do remember feeling confused and somewhat hopeless as we weren't quite sure yet what was wrong with him.

I don't have any pictures from December 28th, which is unusual for me.  I'm assuming I was just happy that Dad was out of the hospital and taking pictures never crossed my mind.  Among the "big" cards in that final haul were the cards of Roberto Clemente (#33), Monte Irvin (#194), Whitey Ford (#240), Pee Wee Reese (#260) and the Checklist covering Series 1 and 3.

The Card / Redlegs Team Set
The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book said Bridges "looked like a ballplayer. In fact, he may have looked more like a ballplayer than any other ballplayer who ever lived."  

That's quite an action shot on the card of Bridges mid-air, about to dive into second base.  This card marks Bridges' return to Topps after being exclusive to Bowman between 1953 and 1955.  He's wearing a Dodgers' road jersey here, colored red, as the Redlegs' uniforms did not have any piping around the color and the Dodgers' did.

1956 Season

In 71 games with the Redlegs, Bridges batted .211 (4 for 19) with nary an extra-base hit and not a single RBI.  Manager Birdie Tebbetts didn't pencil Bridges' name into the starting line-up once all season.  His contribution to the team was as a defensive replacement at each infield position, but most frequently filling in for third baseman Ray Jablonski (#86).  Bridges only pinch-hit twice all year, and was used as a pinch-runner 21 times.  It's amazing Topps included him in this set, as those numbers would definitely see him omitted from the 2025 Topps set. 

1952 Topps #239

1957 Topps #294

1958 Topps #274

1959 Topps #318

1961 Topps #508

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #239
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1952, 1956-61
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2010 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-RB

63 - Bridges non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/7/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #323 Willard Schmidt - St. Louis Cardinals / #325 Don Liddle - New York Giants

Order Collected: #311  Hal Naragon - Cleveland Indians / #326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox