#316 Jerry Coleman - New York Yankees

Gerald Francis Coleman
New York Yankees
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  165
Born:  September 14, 1924, San Jose, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1949-57

As a Manager:  San Diego Padres 1980

Died:  January 5, 2014, La Jolla, CA (age 89)

Joe Coleman was an All-Star second baseman and World Champion with the Yankees, a highly decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War, and a Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster whose career in the booth spanned over five decades.  Not a bad run!  In between stints in the military, Coleman played in nine seasons for the Yankees with his best season coming in 1950.  He hit career highs with his .287 batting average, six home runs and 69 RBIs and his clutch hitting in the 1950 World Series against the Phillies earned him World Series MVP honors.  Injuries forced Coleman from the game following the 1957 season, and his last action came in the 1957 World Series in which he batted .364 against the Braves.

Coleman's broadcasting career began in 1960.  He was a member of the Yankees (1963-69) and Angels (1970-71) broadcast booths before joining the Padres in 1972.  Coleman was the beloved radio voice for the Padres every year between 1972 and 2013, with the exception of the 1980 season when he left the booth to briefly manage the Padres for a year.  The Padres finished in sixth place in the National League West under Coleman, with a 73-89 record.  Coleman was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2001, and was the Ford C. Frick Award winner for broadcasting excellence in 2005.  

August 1989 - Trip to Cooperstown

Building the Set
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #88
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 / Yankees Team Set
Coleman returned to Topps sets with this card after a four-year absence, and that definitely looks to be Coleman turning the double play in the action photo.  There's no telling who the runner, wearing #8, could be.  The back of the card highlights his military service and his career year in 1950.  While Ted Williams (#5) also served in World War II and the Korean War, Coleman was the only major league player to see combat in both wars.

1956 Season

Manager Casey Stengel had four interchangeable infielders at his disposal with Coleman, Billy Martin (#181), Gil McDougald (#225) and Andy Carey (#12) all getting playing time.  Coleman made 51 starts throughout the season - 27 at second base, 18 at shortstop and six at third base - while appearing in 80 games overall.  He batted .257 with 18 RBIs, and started Game 2 of the World Series, going 0 for 2.  The Yankees defeated the Dodgers in seven games, giving Coleman his fifth World Series ring with the club.

1949 Bowman #225

1952 Topps #237

1954 Bowman #81

1957 Topps #192

1980 Topps #356

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #225
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1951-52, 1956-57, 1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JC

60 - Coleman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/3/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #315 Milt Bolling - Boston Red Sox / #317 Al Aber - Detroit Tigers

Order Collected: #314 Hobie Landrith - Chicago Cubs / #322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals

#14 Ken Boyer - St. Louis Cardinals

Kenton Lloyd Boyer
St. Louis Cardinals
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  190
Born:  May 20, 1931, Liberty, MO
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1949
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1955-1965; New York Mets 1966-1967; Chicago White Sox 1967-1968; Los Angeles Dodgers 1968-1969
As a Manager:  St. Louis Cardinals 1978-1980
Died:  September 7, 1982, St. Louis, MO (age 51)

Ken Boyer was the greatest third baseman in the National League in the late 1950s into the early 1960s, winning five Gold Gloves, playing in seven All-Star games and winning the league's MVP award in 1964.  He enjoyed a 15-year career, with the first 11 of those years coming with the Cardinals.  He's been acknowledged by teammates Tim McCarver and Stan Musial as the true leader of the Cardinals teams of that era and many view him as the greatest third baseman in Cardinals history.  Boyer finished his career with 282 home runs, 1,141 RBIs and a career average of .287.

After his playing career, Boyer managed the Cardinals for three seasons beginning in 1978.  He compiled a record of 166-190 before being replaced in June 1980 by Whitey Herzog.  Boyer's #14 was retired by the Cardinals in 1984, and he's the only player whose number has been retired by the team who is not in the Hall of Fame.

Building the Set
March 1, 2003 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #242
I paid $8 for this card at the 82nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the Ft. Washington Expo Center.  As is the case with most of the card shows from this time, my Dad didn't attend with me but I would have definitely told him about the purchase after the show.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first baseball card show I attended with my future wife, Jenna.  This is right around the time we started collecting the Topps Heritage sets together and most of my budget for this show probably went towards polishing off the latest Heritage set.  My records show that this Boyer card was one of only 9 cards from the 1956 Topps set that I purchased in 2003.

The Card
It looks as if the ball is about to get by Boyer in his action photo on this card, which is an unfortunate photo choice given his excellent defensive skills.  The third panel on the back of his card makes mention of his glove work.  The head shot used is the same as on Boyer's 1955 Topps rookie card.

The card back also mentions that Ken has four brothers playing professional baseball.  In addition to Cloyd and Clete (more on them below), brother Wayne played in the Cardinals system from 1946-1948, brother Lynn played in the Cardinals system from 1954-1955, brother Len played in the Cardinals system from 1964-1970 and brother Ron played in the White Sox and Yankees systems between 1962 and 1969.  The write-up on the back of this card is referring to Wayne, Lynn, Cloyd and Clete.

1956 Season
This was Boyer's second full season in the Majors, and he was selected to his first All-Star game.  He hit .306 with 26 home runs and 98 RBIs appearing in 150 of the Cardinals 154 games.

Boyer had two brothers who also played in the Majors, and I wanted to point out that neither of them appear in the 1956 Topps set although a case could be made for both.  Older brother Cloyd Boyer, a pitcher with the Cardinals and Athletics, wrapped up his five-year career with 30 appearances for the 1955 Athletics.  Younger brother Clete Boyer, the Yankees primary third baseman throughout the 1960s, also played for the Athletics in 1955 and 1956.  Despite Cloyd's and Clete's time in the Majors around this time, only Ken appeared in the 1956 Topps set.

1955 Topps #125

1969 Topps #379

1975 Topps #202

1980 Topps #244

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #125
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #125
Last Topps Card (as a player):  1969 Topps #379
Most Recent Topps Card (post-career):  1975 Topps #202
First Topps Card (as a manager):  1979 Topps #192
Last Topps Card (as a manager):  1980 Topps #244
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Panini Diamond Kings #84
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1955-1969, 1975, 1979-1980

217 - Boyer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/18/15

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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.

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Set Order: #13 Roy Face - Pittsburgh Pirates / #15 Ernie Banks - Chicago Cubs

Order Collected: #287 Bobby Adams - Baltimore Orioles / #52 Bob Grim - New York Yankees