#335 Don Hoak - Chicago Cubs

Donald Albert Hoak
Chicago Cubs
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 5, 1928, Roulette, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1954-55; Chicago Cubs 1956; Cincinnati Redlegs 1957-58; Pittsburgh Pirates 1959-62; Philadelphia Phillies 1963-64

Died:  October 9, 1969, Pittsburgh, PA (age 41)

A veteran of 11 big league seasons, Don Hoak had his greatest success in the majors in the early 1960s as the starting third baseman for the Pirates.  Hoak came up with the Dodgers in 1954 and started more games at third base for the club than Jackie Robinson (#30) or Billy Cox.  In 1955, Hoak served as Robinson's back-up, although he started at third in the decisive Game 7 of the 1955 World Series against the Yankees, won by the Dodgers on the strength of Johnny Podres' (#173) shutout.  Dealt to the Cubs in December 1955, and then again to the Redlegs in November 1956, Hoak would make his only All-Star team in 1957.  He'd lead the league that season with 39 doubles.  His career year came in 1960 with the Pirates, as part of the club that would eventually win the World Series.  Hoak batted .282 with 16 home runs and 79 RBIs, finishing as the runner-up in MVP voting behind teammate Dick Groat (#24).  He'd bat a career high .298 in 1961.

Hoak would finish up his playing days with the Phillies, pinch-hitting in six games before getting released by the club in May 1964.  He served briefly on the Phillies' big league coaching staff for one season in 1967.  In 1,263 career games, Hoak batted .265 with 1,144 hits, 89 home runs and 498 RBIs.  He was managing the Pirates' Triple-A team in 1969, passing away tragically from a heart attack following the season.

From the 1963 Phillies Yearbook

Building the Set

July 19, 1997 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #159
My Dad and I added this card to our set at the Ocean City baseball card show held inside the Music Pier.  We purchased 11 cards that July day - Hoak and eight other commons, along with the Warren Giles (#2) card for $10 and the Ray Boone (#6) card for $5.

I graduated college in the spring of 1997, and that summer was a good one as I worked on the Sea Isle Promenade at a few t-shirt stores.  My days were spent jogging, barely working, reading and sitting on the beach.  Dinner would usually come from Phil's on 37th and Landis Avenue, and ice cream was consumed nightly.

Dad was still working in Millville at the time, and we probably met up in front of the Music Pier prior to his show.  The baseball card collecting landscape changed drastically in the ten year period between 1987 and 1997, with autographed cards making their way into packs and multiple parallel versions of the same card confusing us as "old school" collectors.  Still, I'd give anything to be back inside the Music Pier with my Dad searching for the next 1956 Topps card to add to our set.  I'm sure he was thrilled to find a dealer selling a bunch of '56s in good shape and at around $2 a card.  

The Card / Cubs Team Set
Topps used the same photo for Hoak as the photos used on his 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, swapping out a Brooklyn logo for a Chicago logo.  The player diving into the base could be Hoak too.  He wore #43 with the Dodgers, switching to #7 with the Cubs, and Topps may have whited out the uniform number from his former team.  Hoak's SABR biography disputes the claim he was a prizefighter, from the first cartoon panel on the back of the card, finding no support to back up those claims.  The middle cartoon panel highlights his marriage in 1950, which ended in divorce in 1961, followed by a quick second marriage to singer and actress Jill Corey.

1956 Season

On December 9, 1955, less than two months after the Dodgers won their only World Series title while in Brooklyn, Hoak was traded with Russ Meyer (#227) and Walt Moryn to the Cubs for Don Elston and Randy Jackson (#223).  Hoak struggled with his new club, and on May 2nd he set a National League record by striking out six times against six different pitchers.  For the season, Hoak batted .215 with five home runs and 37 RBIs as the Cubs' regular third baseman.  On November 13th, he was on the move again, traded to the Redlegs with Warren Hacker (#282) and Pete Whisenant for Ray Jablonski (#86) and Elmer Singleton.

Phillies Career
After a successful four seasons in Pittsburgh, the Pirates traded Hoak to the Phillies on November 28, 1962 for Pancho Herrera and Ted Savage.  Phillies' incumbent third baseman Don Demeter was moved to the outfield to make room for Hoak for the 1963 season, and Hoak struggled from the outset.  Batting .187 by the end of May, he was benched in favor of Demeter and then briefly, Ruben Amaro.  Hoak would work his way back into the starting line-up through the summer and early fall, eventually starting 101 games at the position by the end of the season.  He batted .231 in 1963, collecting 87 hits, six home runs and 24 RBIs.  At the start of the 1964 season, the 36-year-old Hoak had lost his starting third baseman job to rookie Dick Allen.  After going 0 for 4 with a pair of sacrifices in six pinch-hitting appearances, the Phillies released Hoak on May 18th, ending his playing career.

He was kept on the Phillies' payroll as a special assignment scout throughout the disastrous 1964 season.  He'd come back to the team briefly in 1967 as the third base coach for manager Gene Mauch, but he was dismissed after the season.

1953 Topps #176

1955 Topps #40

1957 Topps #274

1961 Topps #230

1964 Topps #254

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #176
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1953-64
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2016 Panini Diamond Kings #25

101 - Hoak non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/25/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #334 Bob Miller - Philadelphia Phillies / #336 Ellis Kinder - St. Louis Cardinals

Order Collected: #317 Al Aber - Detroit Tigers / #15 Ernie Banks - Chicago Cubs

#334 Bob Miller - Philadelphia Phillies

Robert John Miller
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  190
Born:  June 16, 1926, Detroit, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1949-58

Died:  November 27, 2020, Waterford, MI (age 94)

Bob Miller spent his entire career with the Phillies and was a key member of the 1950 National League Champion Whiz Kids.  Miller was a September call-up in 1949, and made the club's opening day roster in 1950.  As a swingman for the eventual pennant-winners, Miller was 11-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 35 games overall, including 21 starts.  He threw seven complete games, a pair of shutouts and saved a game for good measure.  Robin Roberts (#180) and Curt Simmons (#290) earned most of the accolades for the Phillies' solid pitching that season, but Miller was third on the team in wins and innings pitched with 174.  He'd slump over the next few seasons, spending parts of 1951 and 1952 back in the minor leagues.  In 1955, now a full-time reliever, Miller enjoyed perhaps his best season, going 8-4 with a 2.41 ERA in 89 2/3 innings pitched.  He'd retire as a player after trying to make a comeback in the Dodgers' organization in 1959.

In 261 career games, all with the Phillies, Miller was 42-42 with a 3.96 ERA in 822 innings pitched.  Miller went on to serve as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy, for 36 years between 1965 and 2000.  His lengthy and successful stint as the Titans' head coach led him to be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

December 26, 2003 - Dad opening presents

Building the Set
December 25, 2003 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards) - Card #252
My Dad/Santa brought me nine cards for our set for Christmas in 2003, with all but one of the cards coming from his dealer of choice, Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  The Brooklyn Dodgers team card (#166) was the lone non-Kit Young Cards addition, as that card came from TemDee in Turnersville, New Jersey.  It was a strange mix of commons from Kit Young Cards, with no semi-star or star card to balance out the lot.  We were admittedly in a lull collecting the set, with only 18 cards added during all of 2003 and only six cards added, as Christmas presents, in 2004.

Pictures from the Christmas of 2003 show us opening gifts at my Mom's house on December 26th, which has since become a tradition for us.  So while the official set records indicate these nine cards were added on December 25th, it was most likely a day later I opened the cards while in Millville.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
This is the second Bob Miller card in the set, not to be confused with the card for Tigers' pitcher Bob Miller (#263).  Topps repeats the photo used for Miller's 1955 card here.  The cartoons on the back highlight his effective sinker ball, his role on the 1950 Whiz Kids team and his career-best 2.41 ERA in 1955.

1956 Season

Miller appeared in 49 games for the Phillies, going 3-6 with a 3.24 ERA and five saves.  The most used reliever by manager Mayo Smith (#60) throughout the season, he also made six starts, throwing complete games in half of those starts.  On August 25th, he threw a two-hit shutout against the Braves.

Phillies Career
Miller's hot start to his rookie season in 1950 helped bolster a starting pitching rotation already strong at the top with Roberts and Simmons. Through the first three months of the season, Miller was 6-0 with a 1.63 ERA in 16 games pitched.  He'd start Game 4 of the 1950 World Series, but wouldn't make it out of the first inning after giving up a pair of runs on an RBI-single by Yogi Berra (#110) and an RBI-double by Joe DiMaggio.  Miller wore #19 for all but his first three games with the Phillies.

1950 Bowman #227

1952 Topps #187

1955 Topps #157

1957 Topps #46

1959 Topps #379

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #227
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1952, 1955-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-BMI

21 - Miller non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/23/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #333 Rube Walker - Brooklyn Dodgers / #335 Don Hoak - Chicago Cubs

Order Collected: #333 Rube Walker - Brooklyn Dodgers / #12 Andy Carey - New York Yankees

#333 Rube Walker - Brooklyn Dodgers

Albert Bluford Walker
Brooklyn Dodgers
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  May 16, 1926, Lenoir, NC
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1948-51; Brooklyn Dodgers 1951-57; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958

Died:  December 12, 1992, Morganton, NC (age 66)

Rube Walker was a back-up catcher for 11 big league seasons and then a long-time pitching coach for another 21 big league seasons.  Walker came up with the Cubs and the 79 games he played in as a rookie in 1948 were his career high.  He'd start 50 games behind the plate for the Cubs in 1950, again a high water mark.  Walker was included in a blockbuster eight-player deal with the Dodgers in June 1951, heading to Brooklyn along with Andy Pafko (#312) and Wayne Terwilliger (#73).  He'd serve as Roy Campanella's (#101) back-up from 1951 to 1957, and Walker was behind the plate in the 1951 National League tie-breaker series when Bobby Thomson (#257) hit his Shot Heard 'Round the World to send the rival Giants to the World Series.  The Dodgers went to four World Series with Walker on the roster, but his only postseason action came as a pinch-hitter during the 1956 series against the Yankees.

Walker transitioned to a coaching role during his final season with the Dodgers in 1958.  In 608 games, he batted .227 with 35 home runs and 192 RBIs.  Walker was a minor league manager between 1959 and 1964, and then a long-time pitching coach for the Senators (1965-67), Mets (1968-81) and Braves (1982-84).  He won a World Series ring with the Mets in 1969, and was a trusted advisor to Hall of Famers Gil Hodges (#145), Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra (#110) and Joe Torre.

December 12, 2003 - My family at the Buena Tavern

Building the Set
December 25, 2003 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards) - Card #251
My Dad/Santa brought me nine cards for our set for Christmas in 2003, with all but one of the cards coming from his dealer of choice, Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  The Brooklyn Dodgers team card (#166) was the lone non-Kit Young Cards addition, as that card came from TemDee in Turnersville, New Jersey.  It was a strange mix of commons from Kit Young Cards, with no semi-star or star card to balance out the lot.  We were admittedly in a lull collecting the set, with only 18 cards added during all of 2003 and only six cards added, as Christmas presents, in 2004.

Pictures from the Christmas of 2003 show us opening gifts at my Mom's house on December 26th, which has since become a tradition for us.  So while the official set records indicate these nine cards were added on December 25th, it was most likely a day later I opened the cards while in Millville.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Walker never appeared in a Bowman set and had an impressive run of Topps set appearances between 1952 and 1958.  The bigger photo is the same used on Walker's 1954 and 1955 Topps cards.  That's likely him sliding into a Giants' infielder, as Walker wore #10 with the Dodgers during his entire run with the club.  The back of the card highlights his minor league success and his strong throwing arm.  Topps reprinted the card in its 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers box set.

1956 Season

Walker's career was winding down at this point.  He appeared in 54 games overall, making 37 starts behind the plate to give Campanella days off.  Walker batted .212 with three home runs and 20 RBIs.

1952 Topps #319

1954 Topps #153

1957 Topps #147

1958 Topps #203

1974 Topps #179

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #319
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1952-58, 1973-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Dem Bums #DB-RW

48 - Walker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/13/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #332 Don Larsen - New York Yankees / #334 Bob Miller - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #297 Bob Skinner - Pittsburgh Pirates / #334 Bob Miller - Philadelphia Phillies

#332 Don Larsen - New York Yankees

Don James Larsen
New York Yankees
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  215
Born:  August 7, 1929, Michigan City, IN
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Browns as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Browns 1953; Baltimore Orioles 1954; New York Yankees 1955-59; Kansas City Athletics 1960-61; Chicago White Sox 1961; San Francisco Giants 1962-64; Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965; Baltimore Orioles 1965; Chicago Cubs 1967

Died:  January 1, 2020, Hayden, ID (age 90)

Regardless of whatever he would do for the rest of his playing career, Don Larsen would forever be linked, and rightfully so, to the perfect game he threw in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.  That performance has earned its place as perhaps the greatest pitching performances in World Series history and it earned him World Series MVP honors.  It's the only perfect game to be thrown in the postseason and one of two solo no-hitters thrown in postseason history with the other coming from the Phillies' Roy Halladay in the 2010 NLDS.

Larsen never won more than 11 games in a season in the major leagues and his best seasons came during his rookie year with the Browns (7-12 with a 4.16 ERA and 7 complete games) his magical 1956 season with the Yankees (11-5, 3.26 ERA, 107 strikeouts) and with the Colt .45s in 1964 as a reliever (4-8 over 30 games with a 2.26 ERA).  It should be noted that at the plate during his rookie season, Larsen batted .284 with three home runs.  He followed that up with a 21-loss season in 1954 for the newly located Baltimore Orioles and he came to the Yankees in a massive 17-player trade in November 1954.

A popular player who enjoyed the New York City nightlife, Larsen spent five years with the Yankees winning World Series rings with the club in 1956 and 1958.  He retired after 14 seasons with a 81-91 record and a 3.78 ERA over 1,548 innings pitched and 412 appearances.

October 7, 2007 - Birthday celebration with family

Building the Set
October 7, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #311
This is one of five cards I received from my Dad for my 34th birthday, with each card belonging to a fairly well-known player and being a star or semi-star card needed for our set.  Along with this Larsen card, I received Roger Craig (#63), Bill Bruton (#185), Bob Feller (#200) and Don Newcombe (#235).  My Dad never told me how much he had paid for the cards, where they came from or how long he had stashed them away before my birthday.  

My family celebrated together that year at Blue Eyes in Washington Township, which has since gone on to changes hands (and names) a few time and is now currently The Village Pub.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
This is Larsen's first Topps card, and his previous mainstream baseball card appearances came in the 1954 and 1955 Bowman sets.  Topps wisely decided to include him in this set's last series, given the heroics that were about to transpire in the World Series.  The middle cartoon panel touches on Larsen's 21 losses in 1954 and features one of the creepiest cartoon drawings in the set.

The card was first reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set, and it's been reprinted a few more times since then.

 

1956 Season

Larsen was arguably the fourth or fifth best starter in the Yankees' starting pitching rotation, behind Whitey Ford (#240), Johnny Kucks (#88), Tom Sturdivant and possibly Bob Hurley (#40).  He was fourth on the club in wins and he relieved in almost as many games (18) as he started (20).  Larsen threw six complete games and one shutout during the regular season, a four-hitter against the Orioles on September 3rd in which he also walked eight batters.  He started Game 2 of the World Series against the Dodgers, and was chased after just 1 2/3 innings, having allowed four unearned runs on a hit and four walks.

Larsen was the surprising choice to start Game 5 by manager Casey Stengel, given his struggles in Game 2 and with the series knotted at two games a piece.  Larsen mowed the Dodgers' line-up down throughout the game, with the Yankees scoring runs in the fourth and sixth innings.  In the ninth, he retired Carl Furillo (#190) and Roy Campanella (#101) for the first two outs, and pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell (#268) stepped to the plate as the 27th and final out needed.  Larsen struck Mitchell out looking, earning his baseball immortality.

1954 Bowman #101

1959 Topps #205

1961 Topps #402

1961 Topps #177

1965 Topps #389

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Bowman #101
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1956-65, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2024 Topps Update Autumn Tales #AT-16

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

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #331 Dick Hall - Pittsburgh Pirates / #333 Rube Walker - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #235 Don Newcombe - Brooklyn Dodgers / #242 Hershell Freeman - Cincinnati Redlegs

#331 Dick Hall - Pittsburgh Pirates

Richard Wallace Hall
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'6"  Weight:  200
Born:  September 27, 1930, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, September 1951
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1952-57, 1959; Kansas City Athletics 1960; Baltimore Orioles 1961-66; Philadelphia Phillies 1967-68; Baltimore Orioles 1970-71

Died:  June 18, 2023, Timonium, MD (age 92)

Signed out of college as an outfielder, Dick Hall converted to a pitcher full-time in 1957 and would gain fame as a reliever for the Orioles during their late 1960s/early 1970s dynasty.  Hall was a reserve outfielder for the Pirates beginning in 1952, appearing in a career-high 112 games with the club in 1954 and batting .239.  He'd begin his transition to pitching in 1955, going 12-5 with 16 complete games and a 2.24 ERA for the minor league Lincoln Chiefs.  Hall was dealt to the Orioles in April 1961, beginning the most successful stretch of his big league career.  In his first stint with the club, Hall's best seasons came between 1961 and 1964, when he went 27-17 with a 2.60 ERA in 164 appearances, saving 31 games.  After a brief stint with the Phillies, he was back with the Orioles in 1969, in time for their three-year run of postseason play.  In five postseason appearances, Hall was 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA in 8 2/3 innings pitched.  He won World Series rings with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970.  

He retired following the 1971 World Series, after two seasons of being the oldest player in the majors.  He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1989.  In 495 games pitching over 16 seasons, Hall was 93-75 with a 3.32 ERA, 20 complete games, three shutouts and 71 saves.  He walked only 236 batters to 741 strikeouts over 1,259 2/3 innings pitched.  Over 19 seasons as a batter, Hall collected 150 hits, including four home runs, and had a lifetime .210 average.

From the 1968 Phillies Yearbook

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #91
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 (shown here) 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
Hall's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Topps set, using the same photo as seen here.  Hall's position on his rookie card is listed as "3rd base-outfield."  The cartoon panels on the back justifiably highlight his move from the outfield to the pitcher's mound.

1956 Season

With the Pirates the entire season, Hall played in 33 games overall - 19 as a pitcher, 14 as a pinch-hitter and one as the starting first baseman on August 2nd.  As a pitcher, Hall was 0-7 with a 4.76 ERA in 10 relief appearances and nine starts.  He threw a complete game in his second start of the season on April 28th.  As a batter, Hall hit .345 (10 for 29) with an RBI.  His ten hits were all singles.

Phillies Career
Hall was a bright spot in the Phillies bullpen during his two years with the club during the lean years of 1967 and 1968.  On December 15, 1966, the Orioles traded Hall to the Phillies for a player to be named later, which ended up being lefty pitcher John Morris.  Hall and Turk Farrell were the club's top relievers in 1967, with Hall going 10-8 with a 2.20 ERA in 48 appearances and 86 innings pitched.  He saved nine games, second on the team behind Farrell's 12.  Hall slumped in 1968, going 4-1 with a 4.89 ERA in 32 appearances as one of the worst relievers in a surprisingly strong Phillies' bullpen.  He was released by the Phillies following the season, and the Orioles brought him back towards the end of spring training in 1969.

In 80 games (including one start) with the Phillies, Hall was 14-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 132 innings pitched.  His pinpoint control came with him to Philadelphia, as he struck out 80 and walked only 17.

1955 Topps #126

1957 Topps #308

1962 Topps #189

1967 Topps #508

1971 Topps #417

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #126
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1955-57, 1960-63, 1967-68, 1970-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #93FF-DH

52 - Hall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/26/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #330 Jim Busby - Cleveland Indians / #332 Don Larsen - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #328 Preston Ward - Pittsburgh Pirates / #150 "Duke" Snider - Brooklyn Dodgers