#53 Sherman Lollar

#53 Sherman Lollar

11 of 274

4% complete

"His Walk About" - 18 MLB seasons was enough time for Sherman Lollar to pick up a lot of numbers in his walk about.  A defensive star behind the plate, Lollar won the inaugural Rawlings Gold Glove Award for catchers in 1957, and would win it the next two years as well.  A .264 hitter, the 7x All-Star retired with 1,415 hits, 155 HR, and 808 RBI.

"That's Not a Knife" - It was actually a bowling alley.  Following his MLB career, Lollar spent a few years as the Orioles Bullpen coach, then bounced around some minor league coaching gigs (including one of my old PCL League favorites, Tucson Toros), before opening a bowling alley in Springfield, MO.  Sadly, Lollar passed at the young age of 53 due to cancer in 1977.

"More of a love bite really..." - This Lollar is a little rough around the edges, but ultimately is in more than acceptable shape.  I'm not sure if it's a result of the paper stock, or just a coincidence, but a lot of my 53's appear to have this sort of edge wear, which I didn't see as much with the 52's.

"Down Under" - Sherman Lollar is card #117 in the 1952 set.  This is probably the best match-up so far, as it's the first time I've really liked both cards.  I think I prefer the backwards cap and image of Lollar holding the ball to the glove and chest protector in the '52 (which I really like as well), on the other hand, I prefer the White Sox logo on the '52, which just looks better in the yellow circle than it does in the black triangle on this '53.  It's close, but I'm going with the '53 due to the way Lollar's face is colored on the '52, it just looks too "pretty" for me.  The 53's take a 6-5 lead in this running tally.

"At the Oscars"

3x Gold Glove Winner '57, '58, '59

7x All-Star '50, '54-'60

World Series Ring with NYY '47

9th AL MVP voting '58

9th AL MVP voting '59 

10th AL RBI's '58

8th AL Doubles '56

2nd IBB '55

3rd IBB '61

6th IBB '62

7th IBB '59