#315 Milt Bolling - Boston Red Sox

Milton Joseph Bolling
Boston Red Sox
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  177
Born:  August 9, 1930, Mississippi City, MS
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1952-57; Washington Senators 1957; Detroit Tigers 1958

Died:  January 19, 2013, Mobile, AL (age 82)

One of 11 call-ups by the Red Sox in September 1952, Bolling would return to the team in 1953, winning the everyday shortstop job.  He'd have his best season in 1954, playing in a career high 113 games and batting .249 with six home runs and 36 RBIs.  Bolling struggled defensively however, leading the league with 33 errors committed.  He missed almost the entire 1955 season after suffering a broken left elbow in a spring training game.  Bolling returned to the Red Sox in 1956, but Don Buddin had taken over the regular shortstop duties.  Dealt to the Senators in April 1957, Bolling would see his last regular playing time, appearing in 91 games for Washington and making 51 starts at second base.  His final action in the majors came with the Tigers in 1958.  Bolling appeared in exactly 400 games, batting .241 with 50 doubles, 19 home runs and 94 RBIs.  Following his playing days, he returned to the Red Sox organization, where he'd spend more than 30 years working in the team's front office and as a scout.

His younger brother, Frank Bolling, was an infielder for 12 seasons with the Tigers (1954, 1956-60) and Braves (1961-66).  The Bolling brothers were teammates in 1958 with the Tigers, and Frank Bolling was an All-Star with the Braves in 1961 and 1962.

September 15, 2007

Building the Set
September 22, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #304
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 Bolling card came into our set.  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 Bolling card, by itself, on September 22, 2007.

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 / Red Sox Team Set
In a rare occurrence this late in the set, Topps re-used Bolling's photo from his 1954 and 1955 Topps cards here.  Perhaps that's Mickey Mantle (#135) sliding into third base with Bolling applying the tag?  The runner is wearing #7, a number Bolling didn't wear, and the fielder appears to be wearing Red Sox-style stirrups.  The back of the card explains the lack of action the prior year because of Bolling's fractured elbow.

1956 Season

Bolling appeared in only 45 games with the Red Sox, batting .212 with three home runs and eight RBIs.  He wouldn't get his first start until August 16th, eventually starting 17 games at shortstop and eight games at second base.

1953 Topps #280

1954 Topps #82

1955 Topps #91

1957 Topps #131

2007 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MB

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #280
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1953-58
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2007 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MB

Topps erroneously pictured Lou Berberet (#329) on Bolling's final flagship card in 1958, but they corrected the error 50 years later with Bolling's card in the 2007 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs insert set.

22 - Bolling 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: #314 Hobie Landrith - Chicago Cubs / #316 Jerry Coleman - New York Yankees

Order Collected: #301 Marv Grissom - New York Giants / #254 George Crowe - Milwaukee Braves

#41 Hank Sauer - Chicago Cubs

Henry John Sauer
Chicago Cubs
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  198
Born:  March 17, 1917, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before the 1937 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1941-1942, 1945, 1948-1949; Chicago Cubs 1949-1955; St. Louis Cardinals 1956; New York Giants 1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1959
Died:  August 24, 2001, Burlingame, CA (age 84)

Hank Sauer spent the decade of the 1940s either serving his country in World War II, playing in the Majors for brief periods of time with the Reds, or playing in the Reds' minor league system trying to earn his way back to the big leagues.  He came up for good in 1948 and for the next decade he'd be one of the most feared sluggers in the National League.

A two-time All-Star in 1950 and 1952, Sauer's best season was that 1952 campaign when he won the league's MVP honors.  He hit .270 that season with 37 home runs and 121 RBIs.  Sauer hit over 25 home runs in 8 different seasons and drove in more than 100 runs three times, falling just short with 99 RBIs in 1949.

A Cubs fan favorite, Sauer was the team's regular left or right fielder during a period of time the Cubs occupied the basement of the National League more often than not.

Building the Set

July 30, 1994 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #127
My Dad and I bought this card at the annual Ocean City baseball card show held within the famous Music Pier during the summer between my sophomore and junior years in college.  We spent $41 on six cards for our 1956 Topps set at this show, with the most expensive card being (for some reason) Rip Repulski's card for $9.  This Sauer card cost us $5.

From the flyer (right), it looks as if The Eastern Pennsylvania Sports Collectors Club (EPSCC) had abandoned its sponsorship of this baseball card show by 1994.  Honestly after they pulled out, the show was never quite the same and the quality definitely suffered.  My Dad would have grumbled at the fact that comic books were now encroaching on the floor space of his beloved baseball card show.  1994 and 1995 were strange years for the baseball card hobby as the player's strike that prematurely ended the 1994 season chased a lot of fans away from the hobby, and some of them have never come back.

Johnny Callison was back signing autographs though, and the former Phillies player was ubiquitous at these events back in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The Card
I mentioned in the previous post I always felt like I should know who Bob Turley (#40) was, but I never really knew him until researching his career for this blog.  The same can be said for Hank Sauer, who I've always (and still do) confuse with Hank Bauer (#177).

Other than Enos Slaughter (#109), who was born in April 1916, Sauer is the oldest player in the 1956 Topps set.  His action shot shows him bumping up against some grated fencing, which might be from Wrigley Field but I'm not entirely certain.  Photos I found from that era seem to show an opening in the right field wall, but then I would expect to see some ivy on either side of the fencing and the green wall on Sauer's card is ivy-less.

In what is somewhat of a recurring issue, Topps has the wrong birth year (1919) on the back of Sauer's card as he was actually born in 1917.

1956 Season
In 1955, Sauer was reduced to a part-time player, appearing in only 79 games and hitting .211 with 12 home runs.  Following the season, he was traded to the Cardinals for Pete Whisenant and $30,000.  With St. Louis in 1956, the 39-year-old Sauer was used sparingly, but hit .298 in 75 games.

His SABR biography mentions that he had spent many late nights out on the town with his Cardinals roommate and friend, Stan Musial.  Concerned for Sauer's effect on their star player, the Cardinals released him on October 16th and he'd sign with the New York Giants 10 days later.

1948 Bowman #45

1951 Topps Blue Backs #49

1959 Topps #404

1975 Topps #190

2007 Topps Distinguised Service #DS12

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1948 Bowman #45
First Topps Card:  1951 Topps Blue Backs #49
Last Topps Card (as a player):  1959 Topps #404
Most Recent Topps Card (post-career):  1975 Topps #190 (with Bobby Shantz)
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2007 Topps Distinguished Service #DS12
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1951-1959, 1961, 1975

Sauer is also included in the 2013 Topps Archives Cubs set, which was a four-part stadium giveaway at Wrigley Field during the 2013 season.

101 - Sauer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/19/19.

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: #40 Bob Turley - New York Yankees / #42 Sandy Amoros - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #119 Larry Jackson - St. Louis Cardinals / #112 Dee Fondy - Chicago Cubs