#328 Preston Ward - Pittsburgh Pirates

Preston Meyer Ward
Pittsburgh Pirates
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  190
Born:  July 24, 1927, Columbia, MD
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1948; Chicago Cubs 1950, 1953; Pittsburgh Pirates 1953-56; Cleveland Indians 1956-58; Kansas City Athletics 1958-59

Died:  June 2, 2013, Las Vegas, NV (age 85)

Originally signed by the Dodgers before the 1944 season, Preston Ward made his professional debut with the Class D Zanesville Dodgers as a 16-year-old.  After a solid season with the Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League in 1947, Ward earned the job as the opening day first baseman for the big league Dodgers in 1948.  He'd lose playing time, and eventually his job, when Gil Hodges (#145) moved from behind the plate to first base for Brooklyn.  Ward was sold to the Cubs following the 1949 season and after playing in a utility role for Chicago in 1950, he'd miss the next two seasons while serving in the military during the Korean War.  With the Pirates in 1954, Ward collected a career-best 48 RBIs as a back-up first baseman and right fielder.  

He'd appear in a career-high 129 games in 1958, splitting time with the Indians and Ahtletics, and batting .284 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs.  Ward hit three home runs in a game against the Orioles on September 9, 1958, and he'd retire from baseball following the 1959 season.  In 744 big league games, Ward batted .253 with 522 hits, 50 home runs and 262 RBIs.

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #90
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 / Pirates Team Set
Topps repeated the same photo found on Ward's 1955 Topps card for this card.  The cartoon panels on the back nicely summarize Ward's career, explaining his start with the Dodgers then his move to the Cubs and finally his super utility role with the Pirates.  By the time collectors were finding this card in packs of 1956 Topps, Ward was already playing in Cleveland - see below.

1956 Season

Ward began the season in a reserve role, getting starts at third base and in right field for the Pirates, and batting .333 in 16 games.  On May 15th, he was traded, straight-up, to the Indians for catcher Hank Foiles.  Ward would settle into a back-up role with the Indians, appearing in 87 games overall, and getting starts in left field, right field and at first base.  He batted .253 with six home runs and 21 RBIs for the Indians, in one of his best seasons in the majors.   

1950 Bowman #231

1953 Topps #173

1954 Topps #72

1957 Topps #226

1959 Topps #176

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #231
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1953-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #72

27 - Ward non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/5/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals / #329 Lou Berberet - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals / #331 Dick Hall - Pittsburgh Pirates

#327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals

Robert George Wiesler
Washington Nationals
Pitcher

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  188
Born:  August 13, 1930, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1951, 1954-55; Washington Nationals 1956; Washington Senators 1957-58

Died:  August 10, 2014, Florissant, MO (age 83)

On the strength of several strong minor league seasons, Bob Wiesler was promoted to the Yankees in August 1951, pitching in his first four big league ballgames.  He'd miss all of the 1952 season while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and then spend the 1953 season back in the minors.  Wiesler pitched sparingly with the Yankees in 1954 and 1955, and a trade to the Nationals in early 1956 finally gave him a shot at regular appearances in the majors.  He'd see the most major league action of his career that season, going 3-12 with a 6.44 ERA in 37 games overall, and 21 starts.  Wiesler threw a career-high 123 innings, striking out 49 but walking an alarming 112. 

He'd spend a few more seasons bouncing between the minor leagues and Washington, pitching in his final major league game on May 10, 1958.  Wiesler spent the next three seasons attempting to mount a comeback, spending time in the Yankees, Angels and Twins minor league systems.  In 70 games in the majors, Wiesler was 7-19 with a 5.74 ERA, 113 strikeouts and 218 walks in 241 1/3 innings pitched.

1957 Topps #126

Building the Set

December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #341

This is the second to last card added to our complete 1956 Topps set.  I recently shared this full story with the Rocky Bridges (#324) post earlier this month, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here.  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.  

This Wiesler card was one of the final 29.  It was one of the commons included in a memorable haul that included the cards of Pee Wee Reese (#260), Roberto Clemente (#33), Whitey Ford (#240) and a spotless checklist card for the 1st and 3rd Series.

The Card / Nationals Team Set
Wiesler is wearing a Yankees uniform here, and Topps did an admirable job transferring him over to his new team's uniform.  The Yankee pinstripes can still be seen when you look at the card up close, and the Nationals only wore pinstripes in 1955 at home.  The cartoon panels on the back highlight his minor league success, his blazing fastball and his arrival at Griffith Stadium, the Nationals' home ballpark, for the 1956 season.  This is his rookie card.

1956 Season

On February 8th, Wiesler, Lou Berberet (#329), Herb Plews, Dick Tettelbach and player to be named later Whitey Herzog were dealt to the Nationals from the Yankees for Bobby Kline and Mickey McDermott (#340).  Wiesler and his former Yankee teammates went from the zenith of the American League to the nadir, with the Nationals losing 95 games and finishing in seventh place that season.  Wiesler slotted into the pitching rotation behind Chuck Stobbs (#68), Camilio Pascual (#98) and Dean Stone (#87), and he threw three complete games.

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #327
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1956-57
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2006 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BW

5 - Wiesler non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/31/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox / #328 Preston Ward - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox / 1st Series / 3rd Series Checklist