#307 Hoyt Wilhelm - New York Giants

James Hoyt Wilhelm
New York Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  July 26, 1922, Huntersville, NC
Acquired:  Purchased by the Boston Braves from Mooresville (North Carolina State), October 28, 1947
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1952-56; St. Louis Cardinals 1957; Cleveland Indians 1957-58; Baltimore Orioles 1958-62; Chicago White Sox 1963-68; California Angels 1969; Atlanta Braves 1969-70; Chicago Cubs 1970; Atlanta Braves 1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1971-72

Hall of Fame Induction:  1985

Died:  August 23, 2002, Sarasota, FL (age 80)

Hoyt Wilhelm served during World War II, seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge, before making his big league debut with the Giants in 1952 at the age of 29.  On the strength of his resiliency and his knuckle ball, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career over the next 21 seasons, pitching until he was nearly 50 years old.  His sole postseason action came in 1954 when his Giants swept the Indians in four games in the World Series.  Wilhelm was an eight-time All-Star and his league's ERA leader in 1952 with the Giants and in 1959 with the Orioles.  He threw a no-hitter with the Orioles in 1958 and 1959 was perhaps his best season as he appeared in 32 games and went 15-11 with a 2.19 ERA and a career-high 139 strikeouts.  He appeared with nine different teams, spending the most time with the White Sox.  Between 1963 and 1968 with the White Sox, Wilhelm went 41-33 with a 1.92 ERA and 99 saves.  He was the oldest player in the majors between 1966 and his retirement in 1972.

Wilhelm holds the major league record for wins in relief (124) and he was also the first pitcher in major league history to reach the 200 save plateau and to appear in 1,000 games.  For his career, Wilhelm was 143-122 in 1,070 games pitched (currently 6th all-time) with 228 saves (43rd) and 1,610 strikeouts.  Upon his retirement, he had the lowest career ERA (2.52) of any pitcher since 1927 (Walter Johnson) to have pitched in at least 2,000 innings.  He briefly managed in the minor leagues following his retirement, and then was a minor league pitching coach with the Yankees for 22 years.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2002.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #41
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walker Cooper (#273) post in January.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three.   This is the seventh of ten cards to come from the final series four.  Wilhelm is one of eight Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) from that Original 44 haul, along with Ed Mathews (#107), Yogi Berra (#110), Willie Mays (#130), Red Schoendienst (#165), Early Wynn (#187), Larry Doby (#250) and Bob Lemon (#255).

The Card / Giants Team Set
Wilhelm appeared exclusively in the 1955 Bowman set, and this card marks his return to Topps after that one-year absence.  The cartoons on the back focus on his knuckle ball, his workhorse reputation and his successful rookie campaign in 1952.

1956 Season

Wilhelm relieved in 64 games for the Giants in 1956, which was the second most appearances in the league behind Roy Face (#13), who made 68 appearances.  Wilhelm was 4-9 with a 3.83 ERA and eight saves in 89 1/3 innings pitched.

1952 Topps #392

1954 Topps #36

1959 Topps #349

1968 Topps #350

1972 Topps #777

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #392
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1952-54, 1956-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Topps Archives 1969 Topps Team History Baseball Post Card Box Topper #H69-CHW

509 - Wilhelm non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/6/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

National Baseball Hall of Fame

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #306 Curt Roberts - Pittsburgh Pirates / #308 "Chuck" Harmon - Cincinnati Redlegs

Order Collected: #293 Stu Miller - St. Louis Cardinals / #313 Gene Stephens - Boston Red Sox

#208 Elston Howard - New York Yankees

Elston Gene Howard
New York Yankees
Catcher-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  196
Born:  February 23, 1929, St. Louis, MO
Acquired:  Purchased by the Yankees from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League, July 19, 1950
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Monarchs 1948; New York Yankees 1955-1967; Boston Red Sox 1967-1968
Died:  December 14, 1980, New York, NY (age 51)

The first African American to play for the Yankees, Elston Howard was an American League All-Star nine years in a row between 1957 and 1965.  He helped the Yankees to four World Series titles in 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962.  He enjoyed a career year in 1963, hitting .287 with 28 home runs (a career high) and 85 RBIs and winning A.L. MVP honors over Al Kaline (#20) and teammate Whitey Ford (#240).  He was a two-time Gold Glove winner and his fielding percentage of .993 is currently 51st all-time among catchers.

Bridging the catching gap between Yogi Berra (#110) in the 1950s and Thurman Munson in the 1970s, Howard appeared in 1,605 career games with all but 113 of those coming with the Yankees.  He batted .274 over 14 big league seasons, with 167 home runs and 762 RBIs.  Howard served as the Yankees first base coach between 1969 and 1979, and he added two more World Series rings to his collection in 1977 and 1978.  He passed away in December 1980 from a rare heart condition.  The Yankees wore black armbands during their 1981 season to honor their former catcher and coach, and his #32 was retired by the team in 1984.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set
June 17, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #297
Our first son Doug was born in December 2006, and this happy event led directly to my Dad visiting us on a more regular basis.  Dad was living by himself at this point in Mays Landing, New Jersey and he didn't enjoy the 40 minute drive north to our house.  Among all the very positive memories I have of my Dad, one of my few negative memories is the fact he absolutely seemed to loathe driving and that loathing increased exponentially if there was traffic or if it were dark.  But he made the trips anyway, sometimes staying no more than an hour, because he was so incredibly anxious and excited to spend time with his grandson.

By the time his second grandson (Ben) was born in April 2010, my Dad's health had started to fail and whatever visits we had were pre-arranged or consisted of us visiting him.  Which is why these visits during Doug's infancy and first few years are so special to me.  My Dad would show up usually unannounced, ecstatic to see Doug, there would be some small talk and we'd complain about the Phillies, and then he'd leave.  But on his way out, he'd always say he'd see us again in a few days and I'd look forward to these visits.

This background is needed to better explain how this Howard card came into our set.  (I first shared all of this a few years ago in the post for the Jack Harshman card - #29.)  In 2007, My Dad's days mostly consisted of an occasional round of golf, calls and visits to his kids - my sister and me, watching cable news, an afternoon nap and scouring eBay.  Most (but not all) of his eBay purchases benefitted me in the form of 1956 Topps cards we needed for our set.  He'd show up at our house for a visit with Doug and nonchalantly hand me one of his recent purchases.  He brought this Howard card and the Clint Courtney (#159) card on June 17, 2007, as what most likely was a Father's Day gift.  From pictures at the time, I think we were staying in a house rented in Avalon, New Jersey during this week.

Throughout 2007, I suspect he had a backlog of purchased 1956 Topps cards piled up on his desk at his house, and he'd grab one or two to deliver to me as he was heading out the door to make the 40 minute drive to visit Doug.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Howard's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set, and this is his first Topps card.  I went down a time-consuming rabbit hole trying to identify the action shot on the front of this card, and I came up empty.  It looks as if the player crossing the plate is from the Tigers, as I think that's "Detroit" in script across the front of his jersey.  Our card has a clear blotch on the back, and I suspect at one point this card was affixed inside a scrap book?  I've had this card in my collection for 15 years and I never noticed this blemish before scanning the card for this post.  The cartoons on the back highlight his 1955 rookie campaign and his ability to switch between catcher and outfielder.

This card was reprinted for the 2001 Topps Archives and 2001 Topps Archives Reserve sets.  There's also a Topps Archives Reserve version of the reprinted card available containing a piece of game-used bat.

1956 Season

This was Howard's final season as a back-up.  He'd appear in 98 games overall, making 50 starts in left field, 19 starts behind the plate and one start in right field.  He batted .262 with five home runs and 34 RBIs.  Manager Casey Stengel opted to use Enos Slaughter (#109) in left field for the first six games of the 1956 World Series, but Howard got the start in Game 7 and went 2 for 5 with a fourth inning home run.  The Yankees would defeat the Dodgers 9-0 in that game.

1955 Bowman #68

1959 Topps #395

1962 Topps #400

1968 Topps #167

1975 Topps #201

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #68
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1956-1968, 1973, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Diamond Kings Jersey Kings #JK-EH

361 - Howard non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/14/22.

Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

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Set Order: #207 Jim Small - Detroit Tigers / #209 Max Surkont - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #159 Clint Courtney - Washington Nationals / #121 Pittsburgh Pirates Team Card

#119 Larry Jackson - St. Louis Cardinals

Lawrence Curtis Jackson
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Born:  June 2, 1931, Nampa, ID
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1955-1962; Chicago Cubs 1963-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1966-1968
Died:  August 28, 1990, Boise, ID (age 59)

One of the most underrated National League starting pitchers for 14 seasons, Larry Jackson won 14 or more games 10 times, leading the league in wins with 24 in 1964.  His 194 career wins are the most for any right-handed pitcher since 1900 who never played for a first place team and therefore never reached the postseason.  A reliable workhorse, Jackson made the All-Star team in 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1963.

1950-1969 Phillies Postcards

He led the league in games started (38) and innings pitched (282) in 1960 and topped the league in 1966 with five shutouts.  He was also an outstanding fielder, as demonstrated by his perfect fielding percentages in 1957, 1964, 1965 and 1968.  Pitching for mostly bad teams, Jackson nevertheless compiled a lifetime record of 194-183 with a 3.40 ERA.  Drafted by the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft, Jackson chose to retire rather than report to Montreal.  He'd later serve four terms in the Idaho House of Representatives and ran for governor of the state in 1978.

Building the Set

March 31, 1994 in Vineland, NJ - Card #126
This is one of two cards my Dad and I purchased at the Cumberland Mall Baseball Card Show held in late March 1994.  I would have been home on spring break during my sophomore year of college, and the proximity of this baseball card show would have been too tempting to pass up.  We paid a steep $9 for this card, along with $6 for the Arnold Portocarrero (#53) card.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
The price seems steep, but the card is in pristine shape.  In the early 1990s, the rookie card craze was in its waning years and as this is Jackson's rookie card maybe that's the reason the card was so pricey.  Flipping to the back, there's reference made to Jackson starting 25 games as a rookie in 1955.  At this point, the Cardinals weren't sure if he'd be a reliever or a starter for the team and it wasn't until 1959 that he became a full-time starting pitcher.  The middle cartoon panel references his fantastic season with the Class C Fresno Cardinals and the final panel highlights two no-hitters he threw during a high school double header.  I couldn't find any reference to that feat, but his SABR biography does mention him pitching both ends of a double header in 1951 for Boise Junior College.  He won both those games, pitching a no-hitter in the second.

1956 Season

Jackson actually served as the Cardinals' closer in 1956, saving 10 games and finishing fourth in the league in that category.  Over 51 appearances, he went 2-2 with a 4.11 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 85 1/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Jackson and Bob Buhl (#244) from the Chicago Cubs on April 21, 1966 for three questionable prospects - John Herrnstein, Adolfo Phillips and Fergie Jenkins, who would go on to enjoy a Hall of Fame career.  He slid into the Phillies pitching rotation behind Jim Bunning and Chris Short, recording a 41-45 record over three seasons with a respectable 2.95 ERA.  He led the Phillies staff with a 2.77 ERA in 1968, but the team decided to leave the 37-year-old veteran unprotected in that offseason's expansion draft.  Selected by the Expos, Jackson held true to a promise he had made to retire unless he was playing for a west coast team.  As compensation for losing Jackson, the Phillies sent infielder Bobby Wine to the Expos, who became the team's first regular shortstop.

Jackson appears with the Phillies in the 1966, 1967 and 1968 Topps sets and he also received a few Phillies photo cards and oddball cards from that era.

1957 Topps #196

1959 Topps #399

1962 Topps #83

1964 Topps #444

1968 Topps #81

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #119
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1956-1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #286

71 - Jackson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/6/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

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Set Order: #118 "Nellie" Fox - Chicago White Sox / #120 Richie Ashburn - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #53 Arnold Portocarrero - Kansas City Athletics / #41 Hank Sauer - Chicago Cubs

#107 Ed Mathews - Milwaukee Braves

Edwin Lee Mathews
Milwaukee Braves
Third Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  October 13, 1931, Texarkana, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1965; Atlanta Braves 1966; Houston Astros 1967; Detroit Tigers 1967-1968
As a Manager:  Atlanta Braves 1972-1974
Hall of Fame Induction:  1978
Died:  February 18, 2001, La Jolla, CA (age 69)

Eddie Mathews is widely acknowledged as the best National League third baseman of his era, having made nine All-Star teams, winning a World Series ring with the Braves in 1957 and accumulating 512 career home runs.  He led the league in 1953 and 1959 in home runs, finishing as the runner-up for the N.L. MVP award in both those seasons.  Mathews drove in 100 or more runs in five different seasons and hit 30 or more home runs in nine straight seasons between 1953 and 1961.  He had his final 30-home run season for the Braves in 1965.

A long-time member of the Braves franchise, he's the only player to play with the club during each of their three city stops in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.  A well-known and star player in his third big league season, Mathews appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Sports Illustrated in 1954.  Later in his career, Mathews won a second World Series ring as a member of the Tigers in 1968.  He accumulated 2,315 career hits and a .271 career average, and when he retired he ranked sixth on the all-time home run leaders list, and first in games played at third (2,181), assists at third (4,322) and chances at third (6,371).

Following his retirement, Mathews had his #41 retired by the Braves in 1969.  He coached for the Braves in 1971 and managed the team between 1972 and 1974, compiling a managerial record of 149-161.  He was the team's manager when Hank Aaron (#31) hit his record-breaking 715th home run to pass Babe Ruth on the all-time list, but he was fired shortly thereafter.  Mathews was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, his fifth time appearing on the ballot.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #8
This Mathews card was one of the Original 44 and it's a gorgeous looking card.  The last time I told the full story of the Original 44 was over a year ago within the Pedro Ramos (#49) post, so I'll repeat it again here.  The next Hall of Famer coming up from this original haul is Yogi Berra (#110).

Technically speaking, my Dad and I actually began collecting the set in the summer of 1987, but this card (along with the other Original 44) first entered my collection three or four years before that.

I think it was either the summer of 1983 or 1984 when a shoebox of vintage baseball cards, football cards and a few non-sports cards arrived into my world.  The box contained about a hundred cards dating between 1950 and 1956, and for the most part, they were all in excellent shape.  A friend of the family was in the process of cleaning up and moving into her new house when she found the old shoebox and she wondered if the only kid she knew who collected baseball cards (me) would be interested in looking through it – maybe even taking the box off her hands.

She dropped the box off to my parents and asked them to have me look through the box and take what I was interested in. Turns out, I was interested in everything.  Up to that point, the oldest cards in my collection were cards from the early '70s I had obtained through trades or cards that my Dad had picked up for me at yard sales or small baseball card shows.  (My Dad had given me a few dog-earred ’59 Topps cards – Juan Pizzaro and Jim Busby – a few years prior, and I completely forget how or why he had purchased these cards for me.)

My parents asked me to pick out a few cards from the box, and then we’d return the rest to the family friend.  Problem was, I wanted them all.  I really wanted them all.  I diligently and meticulously went through one of my price guides and determined the “value” of the treasure chest. I probably used my Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide No. 4, edited by Dr. James Beckett, and I had no way to value the football or non-sports cards.  My memory is fuzzy, and I can't find the original tally, but I think I came up with the box being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 to $400, which I knew my parents definitely did not have in their discretionary spending budget.  But they could tell how much I wanted those cards, as I lovingly studied each and every one and handled each as if it were some long-lost artifact.

I don’t know the exact details, but I believe my Dad went back to the friend and told her we’d take the whole box, but only if she let him give her some money for it.  I believe she was genuinely shocked that the box of old cardboard pictures had some value, and that someone was willing to give her cash for it.  My Dad shared the list I had created showing the “book value” of the cards and he mentioned how it was going to be close to impossible to get me to pick and choose which ones I wanted.  When all was said and done, the family friend, who had absolutely no intention of making money on this endeavor, walked away with (I think) something in the neighborhood of $100 for the whole lot.

Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

And so a few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few ’56 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

The Card
That's Mathews taking out a Dodgers middle infielder, and reaching second base safely as the ball rolls away.  You can see the "1" in Mathews #41 on the runner's back.  The main photo is the same as used for his 1955 Topps card, but a different photo than that used for his 1954 Topps card.

This is also the first green-blue color bar combination to appear in the set.  The Gail Harris (#91) card used a blue-green color bar combination.

Braves Team Set

1956 Season

Mathews and Aaron paced the Braves offense in 1956, as the team finished in second place in the National League with a 92-62 record.  They had led the league by 3 1/2 games as late as Labor Day, but the Dodgers overtook them in the standings to win the pennant.  Mathews was second on the team in home runs (37) and RBIs (95) behind slugger Joe Adcock (#320).  He hit .272 and started 149 of the team's 155 games at third base.

1952 Topps #407

1954 Topps #30

1959 Topps #450

1968 Topps #58

1974 Topps #634

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #407
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19):  1952-1968, 1973-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Diamond Kings #45

962 - Mathews non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/13/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #106 Joe Astroth - Kansas City Athletics / #108 Laurin Pepper - Pittsburgh Pirates

Order Collected: #98 Camilo Pascual - Washington Nationals / #110 Yogi Berra - New York Yankees

#60 Mayo Smith MG - Philadelphia Phillies

Edward Mayo Smith
Philadelphia Phillies
Manager

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  183
Born:  January 17, 1915, New London, MO
Drafted:  Drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics from the Detroit Tigers in the 1944 Rule 5 draft.
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1945
As a Manager:  Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1958; Cincinnati Reds 1959; Detroit Tigers 1967-1970
Died:  November 24, 1977, Boynton Beach, FL (age 62)

Mayo Smith spent almost four decades in organized baseball, first as an outfielder in the Tigers, Reds, Athletics and Yankees system between 1933 and 1952, and then as a manager for the Phillies, Reds and Tigers between 1955 and 1970.

Smith's sole year as a player in the big leagues came in 1945 when he hit .212 over 73 games for the Athletics.  He was named the manager of the Phillies in October 1954 at the age of 39, replacing the outgoing Terry Moore.  The Phillies never finished above fourth place in his 3 1/2 years at the helm, and he was fired in mid-1958.  Smith briefly managed the 1959 Reds before getting fired again mid-season.

He found his most success as manager of the Tigers for four seasons, leading the Tigers to a World Series title in 1968.  The Cardinals had taken a commanding three games to one lead in that series, but the Tigers won three in a row to take the title.  Smith was named A.L. Manager of the Year in 1968 and would manage the Tigers for two more seasons.  He was fired following the 1970 season and replaced by Billy Martin (#181), having gone 363-285.  After a single season as a scout for the Oakland Athletics in 1971, Smith officially retired from baseball.

Building the Set
October 1, 1987 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #49
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, NJ a few days before my 14th birthday.  We acquired three Phillies card that day - Smith, Murry Dickson (#211) and Frank Baumholtz (#274) and I don't know how much we paid for the trio.  My memories of Hummel's are hazy at best, but I seem to recall it was a large building with a sprawling liquor store on the first floor and a baseball card shop on the second floor.  With baseball card stores booming in the mid to late 1980s, we'd often take a ride to one of the four or five local card shops we were lucky enough to have near us.  October 1st was a Thursday, so it's strange to me that we would have made the 20 minute or so drive to Hummel's on a week night after work and school.  My approaching birthday might have contributed to the motivation for the trip.

I tried to find Hummel's on Google Maps and sure enough a liquor store came up, but not the one I remember.  I remember a bigger builder, with the second floor, and this clearly isn't it.

The Card
We're through 60 cards in the set, and Smith is only the second Phillies card to appear.  All other teams have had at least three cards up to this point, with the Athletics and Pirates leading the way with five cards each.  Mayo is the first of four subjects in the set with the last name of Smith with two Hals (#62 and #283) and an Al (#105) coming up.

I can only assume the photographer asked Smith to give his best "get down and slide" sign for the pose found here.  And kudos to the artist responsible for the back three panels of this card, as there clearly wasn't a lot of material with which to work.  While the back also indicates Smith was a lefty, his Baseball Reference page indicates he threw right-handed.

Smith is one of only two manager cards featured in the 1956 set, along with Walter Alston (#8).  I've always been curious as to why Smith was chosen as a subject along with the well-known (and successful) Alston instead of any other Major League manager.  Here's a list of all the managers who could have had cards in the 1956 set, in order of each team's finish from the 1955 season.  No offense to Smith, but there's a few better candidates than him in this list:

Dodgers - Walter Alston Braves - Charlie Grimm (1955-56) or Fred Haney (1956) Giants - Leo Durocher (1955) or Bill Rigney (1956) Phillies - Mayo Smith  Reds - Birdie Tebbetts Cubs - Stan Hack Cardinals - Eddie Stanky (1955), Harry Walker (1955) or Fred Hutchinson (1956) Pirates - Fred Haney (1955) or Bobby Bragan (1956)

Yankees - Casey Stengel Indians - Al Lopez White Sox - Marty Marion Red Sox - Pinky Higgins Tigers - Bucky Harris Athletics - Lou Boudreau Orioles - Paul Richards Senators - Chuck Dressen

1956 Season
Returning for his second season as manager of the Phillies, Smith guided the team to a 71-83 record and a fifth place finish in the National League.  The team performed well for most of the season, climbing to just one game under .500 as late as August 8th.  Despite the rough year, Smith was given a one year extension following the season and he'd hang on to manage through all of 1957 and half of the 1958 season.

Phillies Career
Smith's record as Phillies manager was 264-282-2, and his best season came in 1957 when the Phillies battled at the top of the division until mid-July.  That team finished that season right at .500 with a 77-77 record.  The play was much of the same at the start of the 1958 season, and the Phillies reached a winning record on July 12th at 39-38.  However, the team lost eight of their next nine games and Smith was fired on July 22nd.  Whiz Kids manager Eddie Sawyer was brought back to replace Smith, his second managerial stint with the club.

Smith received two mainstream baseball cards to mark his time with the Phillies, in the 1955 and 1956 Topps sets.  He also appears in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Jay Publishing Phillies sets, as well as in the oddball 1956 Topps Pins and 1956 Topps Hocus Focus sets.  He's also in the rare 1955 Felin's Franks Match the Phillies set, which according to my edition of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, may not have actually been released.

1955 Topps #130

1967 Topps #321

1968 Topps #544

1969 Topps #40

1970 Topps #313

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #130
First Topps Card (as a manager):  1955 Topps #130
Last Topps Card (as a manager):  1970 Topps #313
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1970 Topps #313
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1955-1956, 1967-1970

26 - Smith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/3/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #59 Jose Santiago - Cleveland Indians / #61 Bill Skowron - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #280 Jim Gilliam - Brooklyn Dodgers / #211 Murry Dickson - Philadelphia Phillies