#47 Bubba Church

#47 Bubba Church

90 of 274

32.9% complete

"His Walk About" - Bubba went 15-11 with a 3.53 ERA and 15 complete games for the Phillies in 1951, the best season of his six year MLB career.  He retired with a record of 36-37 and 4.10 ERA, compiled as a Phillie, Red, and Cub.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's a "Whiz Kid." Church was a member of the Pennant winning Philadelphia Phillies as rookie in 1950. 

"More of a love bite really..." - This cards color has dulled a little over the last 70 years, but it doesn't have any major issues to speak of.

"Down Under" - Church is a high number, card #323, in the 1952 set and not one that I am in possession of. From the pictures I've found, I slightly prefer his '52 over his '53. That cuts the '53 set's lead to 35-30-7.

"At the Oscars"

4th NL Shutouts '51

9th NL Shutouts '50

3rd NL Doubles '49

6th NL Triples '47

7th NL Home Runs '46

 

#45 Grady Hatton

#45 Grady Hatton

89 of 274

32.5% complete

"His Walk About" - Grady spent parts of 9 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  He appeared in a total of 12 seasons, suiting up for the Red Sox, Cubs, Orioles, White Sox, and Cardinals over his final 3.5 years in the league.  He retired with 1,068 hits, 91 homers, and a .254 career average, but was known primarily for his glove.  In 1952 he made his only All-Star team despite batting a meager .212, well below his career average.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's a lot of ties to Texas.  Hatton was born in Beaumont, Texas in 1922, attended the University of Texas, and managed minor league teams in Houston and San Antonio after he retired.  Prior to the 1966 season he was named manager of the Houston Astros while also holding the titles of club Vice-President and Co-General Manager.  

"More of a love bite really..." - The corners long ago lost their points, but I don't see any thing else to complain about.

"Down Under" - Hatton is card #6 in the 1952 set. This is a rare instance where I prefer the "boring" yearbook photo to the semi-action shot.  I don't know, I guess the artist won me over with the water tower and other background flair on the '53.  As a side note, the backgrounds on the 53's are all artistic liberties, and many of them repeat.  There are also a lot of "Topps" billboard ads sprinkled in the backgrounds of the cards. That extends the '53 set's lead to 35-29-7.

"At the Oscars"

1.6% Hall of Fame Vote '66

NL All-Star '52

3rd NL Doubles '49

6th NL Triples '47

7th NL Home Runs '46

 

#28 Eddie Pellagrini

#28 Eddie Pellagrini

82 of 274

29.9% complete

"His Walk About" - Over the course of 8 MLB seasons Eddie Pellagrini spent time with five different clubs.  His 184 games as a St. Louis Brown was his longest tenure with any team.  He retired with 321 hits and a .226 career average.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's Omaha, Nebraska.  After his playing career, Pellagrini was head coach of the Boston College baseball team from 1959 to 1990.  He led the Eagles to three appearances in the College World Series ('60, '61, and '67).

"More of a love bite really..." - There is some dark discoloration on the lower left corner of this card.  I'm not sure what caused it and am not that concerned about it either.

"Down Under" - Pelligrini is card #405 in the 1952 set.  That's a high number that I don't have.  That said, I feel confident saying that I prefer the '53 even without seeing the '52 in hand.  That stretches the '53 set's lead to 30-27-7.

"At the Oscars"

4th AL Double Plays turned as SS '48

 

#153 Andy Seminick

#153 Andy Seminick

47 of 274

17.2% complete

"His Walk About" - Over the course of 15 seasons (the first 12 with the Phillies) Andy Seminick compiled 953 hits and made an All-Star team.  Over an 8 year stretch from 1946-53 Seminick averaged over 16 home runs a season despite only reaching the 400 at-bat mark once during that span.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's the veteran leader of the 1950 Philadelphia "Whiz Kids," according to Robin Roberts anyways.  "Grandpa Whiz" as Seminick was dubbed by local writers, had his best season in 1950 hitting 24 home runs and batting .288, while helping the Phillies win the National League Pennant. 

"More of a love bite really..." - There's no ignoring the crease running across the top of this card, but it's not a life threatening injury either.  This card works just fine in the condition it's in.

"Down Under" - Seminick is card #297 in the 1952 set.  While I typically prefer the vertical '52 cards over the horizontal ones,  I still like the '52 Seminick over his '53 and it's an easy call.  That cuts the '53 set's lead to 22-17-2.

"At the Oscars"

NL All-Star '49

Led NL Intentional Walks '48

14th NL MVP voting '50

7th NL Home Runs '49

#152 Bob Adams

#152 Bob Adams

46 of 274

16.8% complete

"His Walk About" - Bobby spent the first 10 of his 14 MLB Seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  He closed out his career with stints as a Cub, Oriole, and White Sox.  A .269 career hitter, he collected 1,082 hits.

"That's Not a Knife" - And it's not a perfect game either thanks to Bobby Adams.  On May 13, 1954 Adams led off a game against the Phillies by hitting a home run off of Robin Roberts.  Roberts would go on to retire the next 27 batters he faced.

"More of a love bite really..." - I'm guessing that the paper loss at the bottom of this card is the reason the tape remains intact at the top of it.  Someone probably peeled tape off of the bottom with these not so great results, and decided, eh, it doesn't look so bad just being left on.

"Down Under" - Adams is card number #249 in the 1952 set.  Niether one of these cards is likely to be named anyone's favorite card in their respective sets, they're both very vanilla, albeit completely acceptable looking cards.  I prefer the coloring on the '53 and am giving it the edge over the '52.  That extends the '53 set's lead to 22-16-2.

"At the Oscars"

Led NL in Games '52

Led NL in at-bats '52

0.3% of the Hall of Fame vote in '66

22nd NL MVP voting '52

3rd NL Hits '52

4th NL Stolen Bases '46

6th NL Stolen Bases '47

6th NL Triples '50

7th NL Stolen Bases '52

#95 Willard Marshall

#95 Willard Marshall

32 of 274

11.6% complete

"His Walk About" - Marshall played for 11 seasons, and lost another three in his prime to Military Service.  A 3x All-Star, Willard Marshall's prime was pretty good.  A bit of a journey man, Marshall compiled 1,160 hits and 130 home runs as a New York Giant, Boston Brave, Cincinnati Red, and Chicago White Sox.  His best season came in 1947 with the New York Giants, when he batted .291 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI's.

"That's Not a Knife" - And it wasn't an error either.  In 1951 Willard Marshall become the 2nd outfielder in MLB history to play an entire season without committing an error.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card has some pretty serious fading of colors.  Fortunately, the enormous and deep creases make the color fading less noticeable.

"Down Under" - Willard Marshall in card #96 in the 1952 Topps set.  I'm sure the particular copy I have in hand of the '53 is influencing this to some degree, but I think I'd still prefer the '52 even if compared with a pristine copy of the '53.  The '53 set still leads, but the margin is now down to 16-15-1.

"At the Oscars"

3x All-Star '42, '47, '49
3rd NL Home Runs '47
5th NL RBI's '47
7th NL Runs '47
8th NL Triples '48
10th NL Home Runs '42
10th NL Home Runs '46
10th NL RBI's '48

#7 Bob Borkowski

#7 Bob Borkowski

13 of 274

4.7% complete

"His Walk About" - Borkowski played for parts of six major league seasons, but only once appeared in more than 100 games.  A .251 career hitter, Bob collected 294 hits and 16 home runs.

"That's Not a Knife" - It was a trade that brought the Dayton, Ohio native Borkowski from the Cubs to the Dodgers during the 1955 season.  It would be Borkowski's final season in the Big Leagues, and he appeared in 9 games for the eventual World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers.  It was the only Pennant winning team Borkowski ever played for.

"More of a love bite really..." - Much like Borkowski's career, this card clearly has some history, but there really isn't too much to show for it.  The colors are still very bright and there is still some semblance of a corner or two.

"Down Under" - Bob Borkowski is card #328 in the 1952 set. That's a high number that I don't have (seems to be a common theme so far).  I prefer this '53 sequel to the original.  I'm not wild about the horizontal cards in the '52 set and the Borkowski is a rather bland one.  But this isn't just based on my dislike of the '52, I actually kind of like this '53 sequel.  Something about the flag pole and colors is very appealing to me, it adds an almost comic book effect to the card that I really like.  13 cards in, the 53's now take a 7-6 lead in this category.

"At the Oscars"

3rd NL Fielding % as OF '52
5th NL Range Factor/9inn as OF '52