#176 Alex Kellner - Kansas City Athletics

Alexander Raymond Kellner
Kansas City Athletics
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Born:  August 26, 1924, Tucson, AZ
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1941 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1948-1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955-1958; Cincinnati Reds 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959
Died:  May 3, 1996, Tucson, AZ (age 71)

Lefty Alex Kellner signed with the Reds at the age of 17, but had to pause his baseball career after just one professional season when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Citing exhaustion, Kellner didn't report back to Reds upon his discharge in 1946 and the club released him.  He'd eventually sign with the Athletics, enjoying a career year in 1949 when he was named to the American League All-Star team and he'd go on to win 20 games.  He became the first Athletics pitcher with 20 wins since Lefty Grove accomplished the feat in 1933, and he was second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Browns' slugger Roy Sievers (#75).  Kellner would enjoy successful seasons over the next decade, but he never quite replicated his performance from that 1949 season.  He'd lose 20 games in 1950 and was a member of the Athletics' starting pitching rotation during their final years in Philadelphia and their first several years in Kansas City.

Kellner eclipsed the 200-inning mark five times during his career.  He was a solid defender, leading all American League pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage in both 1952 and 1954.  Kellner was also a decent hitter, sporting a lifetime .215 average with four home runs.  In 321 career games pitched, Kellner was 101-112 with a 4.41 ERA and 816 strikeouts over 1,849 1/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set
January 18, 2003 in Plymouth Meeting, PA - Card #237
In January 2003, I added seven cards to our set, purchased at a baseball card show held inside the Plymouth Meeting Mall.  I paid $45 for the seven cards, which included this Kellner card.  My Topps set building had stalled out somewhat in 2003 as I had switched over to become primarily a Phillies collector, and I was also spending my disposable income trying to put together the early Topps Heritage sets.  This was the first of only 18 cards we added to our set in 2003, but we did cross the threshold of needing less than 100 cards to complete the set late in the year.

The Card / Athletics Team Set
Kellner had signed exclusively with Bowman, and this card marks his return to Topps for the first time since 1952.  The first half of his uniform number 22 is visible in the action shot here.  Credit again goes to the Topps artist for coming up with three panels' worth of material for the back of Kellner's card.  With the Athletics entrenched within the second division for much of Kellner's tenure with the team, the first panel celebrates his .579 won-loss percentage after going 11-8 in 1955.  The second panel highlights the team's emergence from the American League basement and the final panel is reserved for Kellner's 20-win season in 1949.

1956 Season

Kellner was the Athletics' opening day pitcher, his fourth and final opening day assignment, after earning the honor in 1952, 1953 and 1955.  He suffered a left elbow tendon injury in May that seemingly affected him throughout the rest of the season.  Kellner appeared in less than 100 innings of the first time since 1948, going 7-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 20 appearances, including 17 starts.

1949 Bowman #222

1952 Topps #201

1954 Topps #51

1957 Topps #280

1959 Topps #101

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #222
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1952, 1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1983 Topps 1952 Reprint Series #201

37 - Kellner non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

#175 Del Crandall - Milwaukee Braves

Delmar Wesley Crandall
Milwaukee Braves
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  March 5, 1930, Ontario, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1949-1950; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1963; San Francisco Giants 1964; Pittsburgh Pirates 1965; Cleveland Indians 1966
As a Manager:  Milwaukee Brewers 1972-1975; Seattle Mariners 1983-1984
Died:  May 5, 2021, Mission Viejo, CA (age 91)

An often overlooked but important member of the Braves' line-up throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Del Crandall was an 11-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove winner and he won a World Series ring with the Braves in 1957.  Crandall's work behind the plate was impressive.  He led the league in runners caught stealing five times and had the league's top fielding percentage for a catcher four times.  His receiving aided the careers of Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (#10) along with Lew Burdette (#219) and Bob Buhl (#244).  He hit at least 15 home runs or more every season between 1953 and 1960 and drove in over 50 runs in six of those seasons.

Following the 1963 season, and with Joe Torre waiting in the wings to take his place, Crandall was part of a seven-player deal that sent him to the Giants.  He finished his career as a back-up catcher with the Giants, Pirates and Indians between 1964 and 1966.  Crandall caught three no-hitters and batted .254 over 1,573 games.  He later managed the Brewers (1972-1975) and Mariners (1983-1984) compiling a managerial record of 364-469 with none of his teams finishing above fifth place.  He also spent time as a broadcaster with the White Sox and Brewers and as a minor league manager for various organizations.

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

Building the Set
December 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #213
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 / Braves Team Set
Crandall was exclusive to Bowman in 1955, and this marks his return to Topps after a one year absence.  The main photo is different than the photo used for his 1954 Topps card.  I'm calling the runner out in the action shot, as it appears as if Crandall has possession of the ball and has successfully blocked the plate from the runner's attempted hook slide.  The middle cartoon panel on the back of the card references his strong throwing arm and above-average fielding.

1956 Season

Crandall was the opening day and regular catcher for the Braves, making his fourth All-Star team in a row.  In 112 games, he batted .238 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs.  The Braves came close to winning the pennant in 1956, finishing in second place and just a game behind the Dodgers with a 92-62 record.  Fred Haney had replaced former manager Charlie Grimm in June, and Haney went with his big three starting pitchers - Spahn, Burdette and Buhl - to start 15 of the team's final 17 games.

1950 Bowman #56

1954 Topps #12

1961 Topps #390

1974 Topps #99

1984 Topps #721

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #56
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1952-1954, 1956-1966, 1973-1975, 1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-DC

143 - Crandall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/21.

Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #174 Glen Gorbous - Philadelphia Phillies / #176 Alex Kellner - Kansas City Athletics

Order Collected: #147 Earl Torgeson - Detroit Tigers / #178 Joe Black - Cincinnati Redlegs

#174 Glen Gorbous - Philadelphia Phillies

Glen Edward Gorbous
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  175
Born:  July 8, 1930, Drumheller, Canada
Acquired:  Send from Medford (Far West) to the Brooklyn Dodgers in an unknown transaction, before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1955; Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1957
Died:  June 12, 1990, Calgary, Canada (age 59)

Glen Gorbous began his American baseball career in 1949 with the Medford Nuggets, an unaffiliated team in the Far West League, playing its home games in Medford, Oregon.  He caught the attention of the Dodgers, and he joined the Brooklyn organization following that 1949 season.  Gorbous played in the Dodgers' organization between 1950 and 1954, and was selected by the Reds in the annual rule 5 draft following the 1954 season.  He was then required to stay on a big league roster for all of 1955 or be offered back to the Dodgers.  Gorbous made his big league debut on April 11, 1955 and appeared in eight games with the Reds before a trade on April 30th sent him to the Phillies.  He'd appear in a career-high 91 games with the Phillies, and platooned with righty Jim Greengrass (#275) in right field, making 44 starts.  Gorbous would only appear in a total of 18 more big league games in the following two seasons, appearing in his final Phillies game on May 5, 1957.  On August 1, 1957, he set a world record for the longest recorded throw, throwing a baseball 445 feet, 10 inches, with a six-step running start.

Gorbous would spend the entire 1958 season back with the Dodgers' organization, and played in 132 games in Spokane before retiring.  In 117 major league games, Gorbous collected 66 hits and batted .238 with four home runs and 29 RBIs.

Building the Set
July 23, 1988 in Williamstown, NJ - Card #60
In the summer of 1988, I was between my eighth grade and freshman years of school, and I have nothing but pleasant memories of that time growing up in South Jersey.  There were maybe five or six baseball card stores in our area, although only a few of them were known to carry older baseball cards.  One of those stores was located in Williamstown, New Jersey, which ironically enough is where my wife and I would settle and start to raise our family some 15 years later.  I had to dig into my notes from our other set quests to find the store's name - Collector's Corner.  We had finished off our 1974 Topps set earlier that year, in February, at Collector's Corner.   

July 23rd was a Saturday, my Dad would have been off work for the weekend, and I imagine we had the hankering for a new card for our relatively new 1956 Topps set quest.  We had also recently started collecting the 1973 Topps set, and with our 1956 and 1973 checklists in hand, we made the half hour drive from Millville to Williamstown.  The trip could be considered somewhat of a bust as we came away with only two new cards - this off-center Gorbous card for $4, and the 1973 Topps Rick Reuschel card for $0.50.  As a current Williamstown resident, I'm not even sure where this store would have been located back in the day, as a lot of the ubiquitous strip malls all look pretty much the same to me.  But it was in a strip mall, I remember that much.  A Google Maps search turned up a temporarily closed Collector's Corner in Williamstown on the Black Horse Pike, but I don't think that's connected to the old Collector's Corner we visited way back when.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
Gorbous is the first (and only?) Canadian to appear in the 1956 Topps set, and this is also the first orange-blue color bar combination in the set.  I admittedly knew little about Gorbous before composing this post, and was surprised to learn he was an outfielder and not a pitcher.  For some reason, I always thought of him as a pitcher whenever I'd glance this card.  This is also Gorbous' first and last contemporaneous mainstream baseball card, and he'd appear in the 2011 Tristar Obak set 55 years later, celebrating his longest throw feat from 1957.  The back of this card references his acquisition by the Phillies, his successful first professional season in 1949 and his enjoyment of some offseason hockey.

1956 Season

Gorbous was on the Phillies' opening day roster and appeared in 15 games with the club, making six starts in right field.  He'd play in his final big league game of the season on May 20th, and he'd spend the remainder of the year playing for the Phillies' top farm team in Miami.  With the Marlins, Gorbous batted .262 in 79 games with three home runs and 29 RBIs.  He was the team's fourth outfielder with Cal Abrams, Bob Bowman and Larry Novak receiving more playing time.

Phillies Career
On April 30, 1955, the Phillies acquired Gorbous, Greengrass and Andy Seminick (#296) from the Reds for Smoky Burgess (#192), Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.  Wearing #37 in 1955, #9 in 1956 and #50 in 1957, Gorbous would appear in 109 games for the Phillies, batting .232 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.  On May 10, 1957, the Phillies dealt him to the Cardinals for utility player Chuck Harmon (#308).

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #174
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2011 Tristar Obak #22

3 - Gorbous non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/21.

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #173 Johnny Podres - Brooklyn Dodgers / #175 Del Crandall - Milwaukee Braves

Order Collected: #310 Steve Gromek - Detroit Tigers / #34 Tom Brewer - Boston Red Sox

#173 Johnny Podres - Brooklyn Dodgers

John Joseph Podres
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  170
Born:  September 30, 1932, Witherbee, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1955, 1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966; Detroit Tigers 1966-1967; San Diego Padres 1969
Died:  January 13, 2008, Glens Falls, NY (age 75)

Johnny Podres forever joined the ranks of Dodger greats when the lefty won 1955 World Series MVP honors for his two fantastic starts against the Yankees in the Fall Classic.  Podres started Game 3, pitching a complete game in the Dodgers' win, and then started the decisive Game 7, pitching a complete game shutout to give the team their first and only World Series title while in Brooklyn.  Podres settled in as a reliable starter for Brooklyn and then Los Angeles, winning at least 12 games over the next seven seasons and making four All-Star teams.  He led the league with six shutouts in 1957 while winning the ERA title with a 2.66 mark.  Podres attained a career-high 18 wins in 1961, and he'd win two more World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1959 and 1963.  He retired as a player following a half-season with the expansion Padres in 1969.  Podres was 148-116 over 440 career games, pitching 77 complete games and 24 shutouts.  He struck out 1,435 over his 15-year big league career, currently 249th on the all-time leader's list.  Podres' 136 career wins with the Dodgers currently ranks 10th all-time for the franchise.

Podres served as a long-time pitching coach in the majors, working for the Padres (1973), Red Sox (1980), Twins (1981-1985) and Phillies (1991-1996).

Building the Set
June 20, 1992 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #108
This is one of 11 cards (and the 10th I've covered on this blog) my Dad and I bought in June 1992 at the Ocean City baseball card show held on the boardwalk at the Music Pier.  We paid $60 for the lot of 11 cards, which at the time was most likely a steal.  Chronologically, I have this listed as the 108th card we added to the set.  Like the other cards in this lot, this card is gorgeous with four sharp corners.  I'd love to get into my time machine and buy whatever other 1956 Topps cards this dealer had for sale as they're some of the finest cards in our set.

It would seem as if we paid the full admission price of $6 as we didn't relinquish the postcard below to receive $0.50 off.  I still have a collection of these postcards and flyers dating back to the early 1980s from the various Ocean City baseball card shows.  My Dad wasn't much of a night owl, which explains why we wouldn't have waited around for an autograph from Del Ennis (#220) the Saturday of this show.  It's a shame too.  Ennis was one of my Dad's favorite players and it would have been an amazing keepsake if I had somehow gotten a picture of the two of them together.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
The main photo on the card was also used on Podres' 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, and I found the source photo from April 1954 after a quick search of Getty Images.  The back of the card focuses on Podres' recent heroics on the 1955 World Series and mentions his extremely effective fastball in the final cartoon panel.  The card is reprinted as part of the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set.

1956 Season

Podres was drafted into military service shortly after Christmas 1955, and just a few months after the Dodgers' World Series victory.  He missed the entire 1956 season while serving in the U.S. Navy, although he did pitch for the teams formed at both Bainbridge Naval Station and Glenview Air Station.  He was discharged in October 1956, and returned to the Dodgers for spring training in 1957.

Phillies Career
Podres was hired as the Phillies pitching coach on October 31, 1990, after spending the prior five seasons as a minor league coach with the Dodgers.  He joined manager Nick Leyva's coaching staff as the replacement for Darold Knowles, who had departed after two seasons at the post.  Podres stuck around following Leyva's dismissal 13 games into the 1991 season, and he was a key member of new manager Jim Fregosi's coaching staff throughout the early 1990s.  Podres is credited with helping Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene, Ben Rivera, and other young Phillies pitchers find early success in their careers.  He went to his final World Series with the club in 1993, with the Phillies falling in six games to Joe Carter and the Blue Jays.  Podres left the team during the 1996 season to deal with health issues and was replaced on an interim basis by Jim Wright.  Following the 1996 season, and in connection with the hiring of new manager Terry Francona, Podres was replaced by Galen Cisco as the team's full-time pitching coach.

1953 Topps #263

1955 Topps #25

1959 Topps #495

1963 Topps #150

1969 Topps #659

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #263
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1953-1967, 1969, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Topps Stepping Up #SU-4

367 - Podres non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/21.

Sources:  
1991 Phillies Media Guide

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #172 Frank Torre - Milwaukee Braves / #174 Glen Gorbous - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #143 Jim Piersall - Boston Red Sox / #215 Tommy Byrne - New York Yankees

#172 Frank Torre - Milwaukee Braves

Frank Joseph Torre
Milwaukee Braves
First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  200
Born:  December 30, 1931, Brooklyn, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent, October 20, 1950
Major League Teams:  Milwaukee Braves 1956-1960; Philadelphia Phillies 1962-1963
Died:  September 13, 2014, Palm Beach Gardens, FL (age 82)

Frank Torre appeared in parts of seven big league seasons with the Braves and Phillies, and was the regular first baseman for the Braves in 1957 when they won their first (and only) World Championship in Milwaukee.  Torre had seen limited playing time in 1956, but he was thrust into the line-up when regular first baseman Joe Adcock (#320) broke his leg on June 23, 1957.  Torre hit an even .300 (3 for 10, with two home runs) in the 1957 World Series as the Braves shocked the Yankees, prevailing in seven games.  Torre enjoyed a career year in 1958, batting .309 with six home runs and 55 RBIs (all career highs) as he started the season in a platoon with Adcock but soon won the every day job.  The Braves couldn't repeat in the World Series though, falling this time to the Yankees in seven games.  Torre and Adcock returned to a platoon in 1959, but by 1960 Adcock had developed into a more consistent hitter.  After spending the entire 1961 season in the minors, Torre was sold to the Phillies, where he'd spend the final two seasons of his big league career.

Torre appeared in 714 games, batting .273 with 13 home runs and 179 RBIs.  He'd later work for both Adirodack Bats and Rawlings Sporting Goods.  In October 1996, Frank shared the national spotlight with his younger brother Joe, as Frank had heart transplant surgery the night before Joe would win his first World Series as manager of the Yankees.

Building the Set
September 2, 2000 from Shore Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #205
This is one of two cards purchased at the Shore Mall Baseball Card Show, held in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey on the first Saturday in September 2000.  I can't say for certain, but I'm assuming my Dad and I attended this show together.  The Shore Mall was once one of the best malls in South Jersey, and it had one of the largest and coolest hobby stores around - Beachcomber Coins & Collectibles.  The store was huge and contained a large assortment of baseball cards, coins, comic books, action figures, trains, memorabilia and a whole host of other treasures.  The store has apparently since left the Shore Mall and it now occupies an old Wawa on the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township.  Again, I'm making assumptions here, but Beachcomber was most likely the sponsoring dealer at this show.

We spent $20 on this Torre card and the Billy Goodman (#245) card, as dutifully noted in red ink on the back of one of our checklists dated August 31, 1999.

The Card / Braves Team Set
This is Torre's rookie card, and kudos to Topps for getting him a card in the set's second series as Torre had only made his debut earlier in the season on April 20th.  It looks as if Torre is showing off his first base form while standing in the midst of a pleasant looking farm?  The Topps cartoonist didn't have a lot of material to work with for the back of Torre's card, so we get a nebulous statement about his minor league record and a prediction for stardom, with his ability as a fine fielder highlighted in the middle.

1956 Season

Torre spent his rookie season as Adcock's back-up, appearing in 111 games, but making only 26 starts at first base.  An excellent fielder, Torre was often used as a defensive replacement, and he appeared in 89 games in the field at first.  In 159 at-bats, Torre batted .258 with six doubles and 16 RBIs.

Phillies Career
Torre spent the entire 1962 and 1963 seasons with the Phillies, appearing in a total of 200 games and batting .286.  Only 56 of those 200 appearances were starts, and he was primarily used as a pinch-hitter or a late inning defensive replacement at first base for Roy Sievers (#75), repeating the relationship he had with Adcock while with the Braves.  On May 3, 1962, Torre faced off against his former team, the Braves, for the first time, going 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.  The game also marked the first time both Torre brothers appeared in a game together, although Joe departed the game in the second inning after being hit on the elbow by a pitch from Art Mahaffey.

1957 Topps #37

1958 Topps #117

1959 Topps #65

1962 Topps #303

1963 Topps #161

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #172
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1956-1960, 1962-1963
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #RO-FTO

30 - Torre non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/21.

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #171 Jim Wilson - Baltimore Orioles / #173 Johnny Podres - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #283 Hal Smith - St. Louis Cardinals / #245 Billy Goodman - Boston Red Sox

#171 Jim Wilson - Baltimore Orioles

James Alger Wilson
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  200
Born:  February 20, 1922, San Diego, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1943 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1945-1946; St. Louis Browns 1948; Philadelphia Athletics 1949; Boston Braves 1951-1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1954; Baltimore Orioles 1955-1956; Chicago White Sox 1956-1958
Died:  September 2, 1986, Newport Beach, CA (age 64)

After a few false starts in the majors beginning in 1945, Jim Wilson was finally given a chance to regularly pitch in a starting rotation, and was an All-Star for three seasons in a row between 1954 and 1956 with the Braves and Orioles.  On June 12, 1954, Wilson threw the first no-hitter in Milwaukee baseball history, blanking the Phillies at Milwaukee County Stadium.  He won at least 12 games for second division teams in three different seasons, but also led the league in losses with 18 in 1955.  Although Wilson was named to three All-Star teams, he only pitched in one game, striking out Willie Mays (#130) in the 1956 contest to end the fifth inning.  Wilson had been acquired by the White Sox in May 1956, and in 1957 he enjoyed a career year.  He went 15-8 that season with a 3.48 ERA with 12 complete games and a league-leading five shutouts.  Wilson would retire following the 1958 season and begin the next phase of his career as a long-time scout and front office executive.  He owned a lifetime record of 86-89 with a 4.01 ERA and 692 strikeouts over 257 games pitched.  Wilson was a solid fielder throughout his career, and he recorded a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) in three straight seasons (1956, 1957, 1958).

He worked as a scout first for the Orioles (1959-1963) and then for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros (1964-1971).  Wilson shared credit for signing Jim Palmer and Andy Etchebarren for the Orioles and Larry Dierker for the Colt .45s.  He came back to Milwaukee to work for the Brewers in 1971 and was named the club's general manager in 1972.  Wilson pulled off a seven-player deal with the Phillies in October 1972 that brought Don Money to the Brewers and he selected Robin Yount with the club's first pick in the June 1973 amateur player draft.

Building the Set
February 7, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #288
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 detested the 40 minute ride 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 begun failing 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, 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.

August 9, 2007 - Dad with Jenna, Doug and me riding a merry-go-round
in Ocean City

This background is needed to better explain how this Wilson 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 handed me a pair of Orioles cards on February 7, 2007 - this Wilson card and the Willie Miranda (#103) card.

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.  Not to ruin the ending for this blog, but this is how we finished the 1956 Topps set.  Not with one last glorious purchase at a baseball card show, but with my Dad systematically and methodically checking off cards from our checklist through eBay purchases.

Together with my Mom, he'd deliver the last 29 cards we needed to complete the set in 2007 as a Christmas present to me that year.

The Card / Orioles Team Set
I guess Topps went with an action shot of Wilson here given his strength as a fielder, but upon closer review I'm not sure if that's Wilson stretching at first base trying to corral a wild throw.  Wilson wore #19 with the Braves in 1953 and 1954 and #36 with the Orioles in 1955.  The fielder looks like he has a uniform number starting with a 2.  If the fielder is the pitcher here, I'd think he'd be facing the other way as he simultaneously ran towards first and turned to catch a throw.  So maybe the runner is Wilson?  I'm starting to think Wilson isn't actually in this action photo at all.

This is his return to Topps baseball cards after an exclusive two-year run with Bowman in 1954 and 1955.  On the back of the card, his team-leading 12 wins in 1955 are highlighted, as is his 1954 no-hitter.  The middle panel piqued my curiosity.  On August 8, 1945, Wilson was on the mound for the Red Sox in a game against the Tigers.  He started and pitched 9 1/3 innings and was struck in the head by a live drive off the bat of Hank Greenberg in the 10th.  The ball fractured Wilson's skull, knocking him unconscious and leaving a half-inch dent in his head over his right ear.  He amazingly made a full recovery from the life-threatening injury and was discharged from the hospital on August 24th.  At the time, it was thought Wilson would never pitch again but he was ready to go for spring training in 1946.

1956 Season

Wilson began the year in the Orioles' starting pitching rotation, making seven starts and going 4-2 with a 5.03 ERA.  On May 21st, Wilson and Dave Philley (#222) were dealt to the White Sox for Mike Fornieles, Connie Johnson (#326), George Kell (#195) and Bob Nieman (#267).  The White Sox were in desperate need of another starting pitcher, and despite struggling in his first season in Chicago, Wilson was named to his third and final All-Star team.  He went 9-12 with a 4.06 ERA with the White Sox over 28 games pitched, serving as the fourth starter in a rotation that also consisted of Billy Pierce (#160), Dick Donovan (#18) and Jack Harshman (#29).

1952 Topps #276

1953 Topps #208

1954 Bowman #16

1957 Topps #330

1958 Topps #163

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #276
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1952-1953, 1956-1958
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #208

27 - Wilson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/8/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #170 Bill Virdon - St. Louis Cardinals / #172 Frank Torre - Milwaukee Braves

Order Collected: #103 Willy Miranda - Baltimore Orioles / #83 Karl Spooner - Brooklyn Dodgers