#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

#321 Jim Konstanty - New York Yankees

Casimir James Konstanty
New York Yankees
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  202
Born:  March 2, 1917, Strykersville, NY
Acquired:  Sent from the Springfield Nationals (Eastern League) to the Cincinnati Reds in an unknown transaction before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1944; Boston Braves 1946; Philadelphia Phillies 1948-54; New York Yankees 1954-56; St. Louis Cardinals 1956

Died:  June 11, 1976, Oneonta, NY (age 59)

To date, Jim Konstanty is the only National League relief pitcher to win MVP honors, a feat he accomplished as the top reliever for the Phillies' 1950 pennant-winning team, the Whiz Kids.  Konstanty pitched briefly for the Reds and Braves in the 1940s, missing the entire 1945 season while serving in the U.S. Navy.  He'd earn a September call-up from the Phillies in 1948, joining the club's bullpen for good in 1949.  His career year came in 1950 when he was 16-7 with a 2.66 ERA while leading the league with 74 relief appearances.  Konstanty threw 152 innings, using a slider and change-up to help him record a league-best 22 saves.  Even though he hadn't started a game in the majors since 1946, Phillies' manager Eddie Sawyer named Konstanty as his starting pitcher for Game 1 of the 1950 World Series against the Yankees.  Konstanty would allow a run over his eight innings of work, but was out-dueled by Vic Raschi in a 1-0 win for the Yankees.  The Phillies would be swept in the series, and not return to the postseason until 1976.

Konstanty received 18 first place votes in the league's MVP voting, with Stan Musial finishing a distant second.  He'd never again repeat the success from that 1950 season, pitching in 3 1/2 more seasons with the Phillies, parts of three seasons with the Yankees and a final 27 games with the Cardinals in 1956.  In 433 big league games, Konstanty was 66-48 with a 3.46 ERA and 76 saves.  He served as a pitching instructor in the Cardinals and Yankees systems throughout the 1960s.

Building the Set
December 25, 1993 from Deptford, NJ - Card #123
On Christmas morning 1993, I unwrapped two cards needed for our 1956 Topps set - this Konstanty card and the Ted Williams (#5) card.  Unfortunately for Konstanty, the addition of the Williams card far out shadowed the addition of his card.  I would have known who Konstanty was, given my interest in the Phillies and their history, and I can vaguely recall not knowing he had ever pitched for the Yankees.  My records show my Dad had secretly purchased this Konstanty card at a Deptford Mall baseball card show held earlier in the fall, paying just $6 for the card.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
This is Konstanty's final appearance in a Topps set during his career, and he'd pop up again in the 1961 Topps set as one of the MVP subset cards.  There's a Yankees teammate making a cameo appearance behind Konstanty, carrying what appears to be a winter coat?  The back of the card highlights his success in 1950 and since joining the Yankees' bullpen.  The final cartoon panel mentions his two important wins down the stretch for the Yankees in 1955, but Konstanty would not appear in the 1955 World Series against the Dodgers.

1956 Season

Konstanty began the season in the Yankees' bullpen, appearing in eight games and pitching to a 4.91 ERA with no record.  The Yankees released him on May 18th, and he'd sign a few weeks later, on June 4th, with the Cardinals.  He'd appear in his final 27 big league games with the Cardinals, going 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in 27 games, and 39 1/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career
It's always seemed like a huge oversight to me that Konstanty was never inducted onto the Phillies' Wall of Fame.  His 1950 MVP campaign alone makes him a more likely candidate than some of the recent inductees, but the Phillies probably realize they wouldn't sell many more tickets on a day featuring a pregame ceremony to honor the bespectacled pitcher from the 1950s.

The Phillies acquired Konstanty before the 1948 season as part of a minor league working agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would soon become the Phillies' Triple-A team.  He appeared in six games, all in relief, in September 1948.  Konstanty was a workhorse coming out of the bullpen for the Phillies between 1949 and the first part of the 1953 season, appearing in 53, 74, 58, 42, 48 and 33 games, in each of those seasons.  1950 was by far his career year, but he'd put up respectable numbers in each season with the Phillies thereafter.  On August 22, 1954, the Yankees selected him off waivers, ending his Phillies career.  Konstanty was 51-39 with a 3.64 ERA and 54 saves in 314 games with the Phillies.

He'd work in the Cardinals' minor league system in the early 1960s, where he's credited with teaching a young Steve Carlton how to master his slider and change-up.  That alone could be worthy of a Phillies Wall of Fame induction.

1950 Bowman #226

1951 Bowman #27

1952 Topps #108

1953 Bowman Black & White #58

1961 Topps #479

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1952, 1956, 1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1987 TCMA 1950 Philadelphia Phillies #3

47 - Konstanty non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/8/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #320 Joe Adcock - Milwaukee Braves / #322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #5 Ted Williams - Boston Red Sox / #139 Tommy Carroll - New York Yankees

#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

#302 Eddie Robinson - New York Yankees

William Edward Robinson
New York Yankees
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 15, 1920, Paris, TX
Acquired:  Purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Baltimore Orioles (International League), before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1942, 1946-48; Washington Senators 1950; Chicago White Sox 1950-52; Philadelphia Athletics 1953; New York Yankees 1954-56; Kansas City Athletics 1956; Detroit Tigers 1957; Cleveland Indians 1957; Baltimore Orioles 1957

Died:  October 4, 2021, Bastrop, TX (age 100)

Eddie Robinson's longevity in the game, and in life, led to a lengthy baseball career as a player, scout, coach and front office executive into the 1980s.  Robinson was a true journeyman during his playing days, spending time with seven of the eight American League teams in existence, only missing time with the Red Sox to complete the sweep.  He was a four-time All-Star, and a key member of the 1948 Indians team that won the World Series in six games over the Boston Braves.  Robinson was the starting first baseman for the American League All-Stars in 1949 and 1952.  His 1952 season with the White Sox was perhaps his best, as he batted .296 with 22 home runs and 104 RBIs.  He had attained career highs in home runs (29) and RBIs (117) the year before, in 1951.  Robinson spent the final four seasons of his career as a back-up first baseman and pinch-hitter for the Yankees, Athletics, Tigers, Indians and Orioles.

Robinson coached with he Orioles between 1957 and 1959, then worked in the farm system or the front office for the Astros, Athletics and Braves.  He served as the general manager for the Braves (1972-76) and Rangers (1977-82), and finished his time in baseball as a scout for the Red Sox.  Robinson batted .268 in 1,315 games, with 1,146 hits, 172 home runs and 723 RBIs.  He lived almost 101 years, and was the last living player to begin his career during the 1940s, and to have his career interrupted by military service during World War II.

Building the Set

December 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #221
I went nuts and bought 16 cards for our 1956 Topps set on this day at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show in Raleigh.  My records show the 16 cards set me back $55 which I would have considered to be a small fortune back then.  I hadn't yet moved back north yet, so I was still living in Raleigh at this time planning for my eventual escape.  I would have provided my Dad with an updated checklist following this show as he was back in New Jersey.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
The same main photo is used for Robinson's 1954 Topps card, and Robinson was exclusive to Bowman for 1955.  That's him applying the tag on a pick-off attempt at first base in the action shot.  The first cartoon panel on the back highlights his home run output in 1955.  Robinson had 36 hits in 173 at-bats, batting only .208, but 16 of those hits were home runs.  The final cartoon panel highlights his fine fielding at first base, and Robinson led the league in fielding percentage in 1948, and in putouts at first in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

1956 Season

Robinson saw limited playing time with the Yankees at the start of the 1956 season, batting .222 in 26 games with 12 of those games coming as a pinch-hitter.  On June 14th, he was dealt with Lou Skizas to the Kansas City Athletics for Moe Burtschy, Bill Renna (#82) and cash.  Robinson played in 75 games for the Athletics, batting .198 for the 102-loss team.  He made 41 starts at first base, and was unable to capture his prior power numbers.  On December 5th, the Athletics traded Robinson to the Tigers as part of eight-player deal.

1950 Bowman #18

1952 Topps #32

1954 Topps #62

1957 Topps #238

1960 Topps #455

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #18
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1951-54, 1956-57, 1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-ER

57 - Robinson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/2/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #301 Marv Grissom - New York Giants / #303 Jim Dyck - Baltimore Orioles

Order Collected: #264 Ray Monzant - New York Giants / #325 Don Liddle - New York Giants

#288 Bob Cerv - New York Yankees

Robert Henry Cerv
New York Yankees
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Born:  May 5, 1925, Weston, NE
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1951-1956; Kansas City Athletics 1958-1960; New York Yankees 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961; New York Yankees 1961-1962; Houston Colt .45s 1962

Died:  April 6, 2017, Blair, NE (age 91)

A baseball and basketball star at his home state University of Nebraska, Bob Cerv signed with the Yankees in 1950 and would begin his first of three stints with the club in 1951.  Cerv was infrequently used on the star-packed Yankees teams of the early 1950s and most of his playing time came as a pinch-hitter for Casey Stengel's perennial pennant winners.  He'd visit three World Series with the club in 1955, 1956 and 1960, batting .258 (8 for 31) over 10 World Series games.  Following the 1956 season, Cerv was sold to the Athletics where he'd thrive after earning regular playing time.  His career year came in 1958 when he batted .305 with 38 home runs and 104 RBIs, finishing fourth in the American League MVP voting.  Cerv was the starting left fielder for the American League in the 1958 All-Star Game, collecting a first inning single off Warren Spahn (#10).

Cerv briefly returned to the Yankees in 1960 and was selected by the Angels in that year's expansion draft.  He was the first ever left fielder for the Angels, but after just 18 games with the club was re-acquired by the Yankees.  Cerv shared an apartment with Mickey Mantle (#135) and Roger Maris during the historic 1961 season in which Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home run record.  Cerv finished up his playing days with 19 games for the expansion Colt .45s in 1962.  He batted .276 for his career, collecting 624 hits, 105 home runs and 374 RBIs.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #335

I last shared this full story with the Foster Castleman (#271) post in late December, 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 Cerv 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 / Yankees Team Set
What's going on in the action photo?  At first glance, I thought it was a play at the plate, but it looks as if it's actually a play at first base with the ball floating in mid air and the first baseman no where to be seen.  A right fielder looks on in the distance, likely also amazed by the floating baseball.  The first cartoon panel highlights how close Cerv's RBI total (22) for 1955 was to his hits total (29).

1956 Season

Cerv spent the entire season with the Yankees, getting into 54 games overall and making 30 starts in left field or center field.  He batted .304 with three home runs and 25 RBIs.  Late in the season, Stengel apparently called Cerv aside and said, "Nobody knows this, but one of us has just been traded to Kansas City."  The deal was put off until after the World Series.  In the World Series, won by the Yankees in seven games, Cerv made one appearance as a pinch-hitter, singling for pitcher Johnny Kucks (#88) in the sixth inning of Game 1.

1953 Topps #210

1955 Bowman #306

1958 Topps #329

1959 Topps #100

1962 Topps #169

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #210
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1953, 1956-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-BC

59 - Cerv non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/6/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #287 Bobby Adams - Baltimore Orioles / #289 Hal Jeffcoat - Cincinnati Redlegs

Order Collected: #276 George Zuverink - Baltimore Orioles / #306 Curt Roberts - Pittsburgh Pirates

#253 Irv Noren - New York Yankees

Irving Arnold Noren
New York Yankees
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  November 29, 1924, Jamestown, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1950-1952; New York Yankees 1952-1956; Kansas City Athletics 1957; St. Louis Cardinals 1957-1959; Chicago Cubs 1959-1960; Los Angeles Dodgers 1960

Died:  November 15, 2019, Carlsbad, CA (age 94)

Irv Noren spent 11 years in the major leagues and briefly appeared in the professional National Basketball League, playing three games for the Chicago American Gears during the 1946-47 season.  Drafted by the Dodgers, Noren won Pacific Coast League MVP honors in 1949, batting .330 with 29 home runs and 130 RBIs.  With no room on the Dodgers' major league roster for him, the club sold him to the Senators before the 1950 season.  Noren had a great rookie year in Washington, batting .295 with 14 home runs and 98 RBIs (both career highs) while finishing 15th in the league's MVP voting.  He'd join the Yankees in 1952, playing all three outfield positions and seeing action in the 1952, 1953 and 1955 World Series against his original club, the Dodgers.  (The Yankees would win Championships in 1952, 1953 and 1956.)  His career year came in 1954, and as the Yankees' regular left fielder, he batted .319 with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs, while making the American League All-Star team.

Over the final four years of his playing career, Noren spent time with the Athletics, Cardinals, Cubs and finally the Dodgers, appearing in 26 games for the team in 1960.  Noren was a career .275 batter with 65 home runs and 453 RBIs.  Noren pivoted to coaching and scouting in the early 1960s, and he was a coach with the Oakland Athletics when they won World Championships in 1972 and 1973.

Building the Set
August 16, 1987 from Cooperstown, NY - Card #47
This was one of the first four cards we purchased in the summer of 1987, officially marking the beginning of us collecting the 1956 Topps set.  As told now frequently in our set's origin story, and most recently with the post for the Walt Dropo (#238) card, I was essentially gifted with a shoebox of vintage Topps baseball cards in the summer of 1983 or 1984.  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.

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 1956 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  It was our first trip to Cooperstown, and details from that family vacation still make up several of my most important core memories from my childhood.  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, including this Noren card which was all of $2.50.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

That small but incredibly meaningful purchase meant so much to me that I tacked a Walker Gallery business card to my bulletin board in my bedroom on 12th Street, where it hung for years.  I also felt compelled to clip the price tags from the rigid plastic sleeves in which each of these cards were originally purchased.  I knew then I wanted to remember everything about the purchase, and these are included at the back of our 1956 Topps binder, along with other ephemera from baseball card shows, stores and special occasions when cards were added to our set.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
What's going on with the fielder in the action photo?  That can't be a natural shadow due to the lighting of the photo, and it seems as if Topps purposely blacked out the player.  This is Noren's first Topps card since his appearance in the 1953 Topps set.  The back of the card celebrates his minor league MVP wins in both 1948 and 1949.  It's crazy to think the Dodgers couldn't find room for him in their outfield, given the 1948 regulars were Gene Hermanski, Carl Furillo (#190) and Marv Rackley.  In 1949, Duke Snider (#150) joined the group so maybe Noren's main competition at the time was Snider.

1956 Season

Suffering from chronic knee ailments, Noren was limited to 29 games all season with the Yankees, with 21 of those appearances coming as a pinch-hitter.  He batted .216 overall with a double and six RBIs, and completely missed the World Series, which the Yankees won in seven games over the Dodgers.  In February 1957, Noren was part of a massive 13-player trade between the Yankees and Athletics, ending his time in the Bronx.

1950 Bowman #247

1951 Bowman #241

1953 Topps #35

1957 Topps #298

1960 Topps #433

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #247
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1951-1953, 1956-1960, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-IN

48 - Noren non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/2/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #252 Vernon Law - Pittsburgh Pirates / #254 George Crowe - Milwaukee Braves

Order Collected: #229 Harry Brecheen CO - Baltimore Orioles / #280 Jim Gilliam - Brooklyn Dodgers