#11 Sal Yvars

#11 Sal Yvars

76 of 274

27.7% complete

"His Walk About" - Sal retired with 102 hits over eight MLB seasons.  He spent his first six and half years with the New York Giants before retiring as a Cardinal in 1954.  A .244 career hitter, Sal hit 10 home runs and drove in 42 runs in the big leagues.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's the shot heard round the world.  Born in Manhattan's Little Italy to a Spanish grave digger and Italian laundress in 1924, Sal is "credited" as being the bullpen catcher who relayed stolen signs to teammates during the Giants Pennant run in 1951.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card, like so many others from this set, suffers from what I describe as "flaking," with minor paper loss around some of the edges.

"Down Under" - Yvars is card #338 in the 1952 set. That's a high number I don't own, but having just looked it up, it's immediately on my radar as one I really want to own.  The '52 blows this '53 out of the water.  That cuts the '53 set's lead to 27-24-7.

"At the Oscars"

4th NL Passed Balls '52

 

#115 George Spencer

#115 George Spencer

69 of 274

25.1% complete

"His Walk About" - George pitched in 8, non-consecutive big league seasons between 1950 and 1960.  In four of those seasons he pitched 10 or fewer innings.  He finished with a 16-10 record and 4.05 ERA.  His best season was 1951 with the New York Giants when he went 10-4 with 6 saves coming out of the bullpen.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's the quarterback of the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Spencer led the Buckeyes to a 4-3-2 record as their starting quarterback in 1946.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card was covered in a sort of "gunk" when I obtained it.  So, feel free to call me a monster, I boiled it in water for about 20 minutes, then stuck it between a couple paper towels inside a dictionary for about a week.  The "gunk" is gone, but it come out with this funny discoloration that wasn't there before.

"Down Under" - Spencer is card #346 in the '52 set and not one that I own.  While neither card is what I would describe as great, I still much prefer the '52.  That cuts the '53 set's lead to 25-23-7.

"At the Oscars"

4th NL Saves '51

4th NL Games '51

#20 Hank Thompson

 

#20 Hank Thompson

59 of 274

21.5% complete

"His Walk About" - After debuting with the St. Louis Browns in 1947 (becoming just the third player to break the "color line"), Thompson would spend his next 8 seasons as a New York Giant, retiring in 1956 with 801 hits over 9 years.  A .267 career hitter, Thompson collected 100+ hits in a season on five occassions, and broke the 20 home run mark three times. 

"That's Not a Knife" - It's a New York City taxi cab.  Following his playing career, Thompson worked as a cab driver in New York before falling on some tough times.  He died of a seizure at the age of 43 in 1969.

"More of a love bite really..." - There is some pretty good creasing and edge wear going on with this card, but nothing that I would go so far as to call a problem.  All in all it looks pretty good for it's age.

"Down Under" - Thompson is card #3 in the 1952 set.  I really like both of these cards, but I think I slightly prefer the '52 over the '53.  That cuts the '53 set's lead to 25-21-7.

"At the Oscars"

World Series Champion '54

24th NL MVP Voting '53

33rd NL MVP Voting '50

9th NL Home Runs '54

5th NL Triples '52

8th NL Triples '53

7th NL Slugging  '53

#126 Bill Connelly

#126 Bill Connelly

37 of 274

13.5% complete

"His Walk About" - Connelly pitched 66 and a third innings spread out over 25 games in parts of four seasons.  He broke in with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1945, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two appearances.  He didn't make it back to a major league mound again until 1950, when he made two relief appearances with the White Sox and two more with the Tigers.  After another stint in the minors, he came back in 1952 with the New York Giants and posted a 5-0 record and 4.55 ERA.  New York brought him back in '53, but Connelly struggled, going 0-1 and posting an ERA north of eleven.  That was it for his MLB playing days.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's an extra base hit.  Connelly holds the all-time record for most career hits without a single, at four.  In 1952 he had two doubles and two triples.  Those were the only four hits of his career in which he went 4 for 19, good for a .211 career average, and respectable .526 slugging percentage. 

*Correction: Wikipedia appears to be wrong, the record is actually 5, although Connelly and Hank Arft both set the then record of 4 in 1952.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card is a bit off-centered, but otherwise pretty sharp, perhaps a little too sharp.  I would not rule out the possibility of some trimming, but I can't really tell, or really care for that matter.

"Down Under" - Connelly doesn't have a card in the 1952 set.  That keeps the '53 set's lead steady at 19-15-2.

"At the Oscars"

7th Youngest Player in AL '45

#38 Jim Hearn

#38 Jim Hearn

17 of 274

6.2% complete

"His Walk About" - Jim Hearn made one All-Star team during his 13 seasons, spent mostly with the Giants but with a few years spent as a Cardinal and Phillie as well.  Compiling a 109-89 career record Jim finished with a career ERA of 3.81.  A solid hitter, Hearn hit 9 career home runs with a career high of 4 in 1955.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's an inside the home run that Hearn hit, in fact, he hit two of them over the course of his career.   One of the two, hit on July 8, 1955, was accompanied by a more traditional over the fence blast by Hearn as well.  There have been 8 other inside the park home runs hit by pitchers since Hearn last did it.  (I'm not looking up there names)

"More of a love bite really..." - This card has the typical rounded corners one would expect to find, and a little more surface wear than I would like, but it's hard to come away with anything other than positive impressions of it.

"Down Under" - Hearn is a hi-number (of course he is) in the 1952 set at card #337, and as a result, I don't own a copy.  But I don't need to own a copy to know that I much prefer this '53 sequel to the original.  I absolutely love sun set affect on this card and the coloring on the Giants hat on the '53 is perfect.  The 1953 extends it's lead to 9-7-1.  

"At the Oscars"

NL All-Star '52
NL ERA Leader '50
NL Shutouts Leader '50
5th NL Wins '55
9th NL Wins '51
9th NL Wins '52
10th NL RBI's '45
10th NL Runs '46