#177 Jim Dyck

 

#177 Jim Dyck

65 of 274

23.7% complete

"His Walk About" -  Jim appeared in 330 games over parts of 6 MLB seasons.  He set career highs in games (122), at-bats (402), hits (108), home runs (15) and RBI's (64) in 1952.  Other than '53 and '55 his other seasons were very much "cups of coffee," appearing in 4 games in '51, and 2 games in '54, and 29 in '56.  He wrapped up his big league time with 242 hits and as a .246 career hitter.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's a Bowling Alley in Cheney, Washington.  Jim, who was from Omaha, opened a "family theme" bowling alley in Cheney after his playing days were over.  I presume "family theme" means it was more "bowling" and less "bar," a distinction that is fair to make when in comes to bowling alleys in my experience.

"More of a love bite really..." - This actually has four right angles that resemble corners, which is nice.  It's another one with the smoky color fading, but I'm not sure if it didn't come out of the pack that way, as common as it is on these 53's.  Printing standards my have been a crap shoot back then.

"Down Under" - Dyck has no card in the '52 Topps set. That keeps the '53 set's lead at 27-22-8.

"At the Oscars"

9th AL Double Plays Grounded Into '53

(Sometimes there isn't much to work with)

#166 Bill Hunter

#166 Bill Hunter

62 of 274

22.6% complete

"His Walk About" - Over 6 MLB seasons, Billy Hunter split time with the Yankees, Indians, Kansas City Athletics, and moved with the St. Louis Browns to become the Baltimore Orioles.  Hunter set career highs in games played (154) and RBI's (37) as rookie with the Browns in '53 and was named to his only All-Star team, despite hitting .219.  If nothing else, he was consistent over the next five years as he retired with a .219 career average while amassing 410 hits and 16 home runs.

"That's Not a Knife" - It's a couple defunct MLB Clubs.  Hunter played for the Kansas City Athletics and St. Louis Browns.  I'm not sure what the record for most defunct/relocated clubs played for is, but Hunter at least makes the list with multiple entries.

"More of a love bite really..." - If this card has any issues beyond some color fading, my eye sight isn't good enough to detect them.

"Down Under" - This is Hunter's rookie card, so there is not '52 Topps to compare it to.  That keeps the '53 set's lead at 26-22-7.

"At the Oscars"

AL All-Star '53

6th AL Stolen Bases '55

6th AL Games Played '53

#90 Hank Edwards

#90 Hank Edwards

30 of 274

10.9% complete

"His Walk About" - Hank took the field for six different teams over 11 Major League seasons.  His best year came in 1946 as a member of the Cleveland Indians, when he batted .301 and led the league with 16 triples.  After spending his first seven years with the Indians, he'd close out his career with brief stints as a Cincinnati Red, Chicago Cub, Brooklyn Dodger, Chicago White Sox, and finally with the St. Louis Browns during his final season in 1953.  He retired with 613 career hits and .280 lifetime average.

"That's Not a Knife" - No, but even without a knife, Edwards still managed to find ways to hurt himself.  Over the course of his injury laden career, he lost time to a broken ankle, fractured collarbone, and dislocated shoulder to name a few.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card has it's share of creasing, and the colors aren't as vibrant as they once were, then again, perhaps that's just the way St. Louis Browns cards look.  All in all, it's survived pretty well.

"Down Under" - Edwards is card #176 in the '52 set.  I prefer this '53 and it's an easy call.  Sure, the Browns are sort of a novelty, but that little demon logo guy would still be awesome, even if he didn't turn into an Oriole and instead continued showing up every year in Topps sets.  Edwards moves the '53 set back in front 15-14-1.

"At the Oscars"

Led AL in Triples '46
6th AL Doubles '46
8th AL Batting Average '46
Received 0.6% of the Hall of Fame Vote in '60

#67 Roy Sievers

#67 Carl Scheib

22 of 274

8% complete

"His Walk About" - Sievers had a fantastic 17 year career in the big leagues that saw him play for five clubs.  Had he spent his entire career with one franchise he could very well have his jersey hanging in a stadium somewhere.  As it stands, the 1948 Rookie of the Year and 4x All-Star finished with 318 home runs, and 1,147 RBI's.  Sievers made a run at the Triple Crown in Washington in 1957 when when he led the AL in home runs (41) and RBI's (114), while finishing 8th in batting (.301).

"That's Not a Knife" - Nope, it was a bit of a snub.  When Sievers hit his 300th home run, he was at the time only the 22nd MLB player to ever reach that number.  He and Gil Hodges hold the dubious distinction of being the first two players to reach 300 homers and not be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"More of a love bite really..." - This card has some issues.  Someone felt the need to clip the upper right corner, I presume to remove some tape.  That decision was probably made after the attempt to remove tape from the top center of the card resulted in all that paper loss.  I would have preferred more paper loss in the corner, but in the end, it's still a baseball card.

"Down Under" - Sievers is card #64 in the 1952 set.  I'm not wild about the horizontal cards in the '52 set, and I'm of the opinion that all of the red on the Sievers card completely overwhelms it.  While the '53 isn't great, I do like the Yankee Stadium facade that can be seen in the background.  All in all, this is a pretty easy call in favor of the '53.  That puts 1953 back in the lead 11-10-1.

"At the Oscars"

AL Rookie of The Year 1949
4x All-Star ('56, '57, '59, '61)
AL Home Run Leader '57
AL RBI Leader '57
3rd AL MVP Voting '57
6th AL MVP Voting '58
7th AL MVP Voting '60
3rd AL Home Runs '58
4th AL Home Runs '56
5th AL Home Runs '54
3rd AL RBI's '58
4th AL RBI's '55
5th AL RBI's 54