Baseball History – The Story Behind the 1954 Bowman Card Number 66

 Baseball History  No Responses »
Jan 182012
 

Ted Williams Classic Swing

Hall of Fame Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams’ career lasted 19 seasons from 1939 to 1960. He didn’t play in 1943, 44 and 45 because of the war. He didn’t have a Topps baseball card until 1954. Prior to that the man known as “Teddy Ballgame” was under an exclusive agreement with the Bowman card company through 1953.

The Pioneers of Baseball Trading Cards

The Bowman Company, like Topps and Fleer, began its life as a bubblegum maker going by the name Gum, Inc. They produced the Play Ball sets from 1939 to 1941. These were sets filled with various rookies, stars, and Hall of

1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie Card

Famers. They stopped production due to the war, and resumed in 1948 under the Bowman name. Bowman printed cards from 1951 to 1955. Probably the single greatest early Bowman Card is the 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card, though it is not as widely regarded as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card. In 2001 a Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) Near Mint-Mint 8 1952 Topps Mantle broke new ground with a final bid of $57,560 making it the highest price every paid for a 1952 Topps Mantle in NM-MT condition at that time. A 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA 8 NM-MT sold for a staggering $72,056! in 2006.

The 1954 Bowman Set

During the first half of the 1950’s competition between Bowman and Topps was intense that Bowman in its haste to get the 1954 set printed made several statistical errors on some cards. Variations exist in this set because the statistical errors that were eventually corrected.

1954 Bowman Ted Williams

In addition, they started printing a Ted Williams card (#66) before they realized that Williams had signed a contract with Topps. As a result, Bowman had to pull the card early in the print run. Bowman had been the leading producer of baseball cards until Topps entered the market in 1951. For several years, the two competitors fought hard against one another by signing players to exclusive contracts.

The 1954 Bowman Baseball card set consisted of 224 cards that measure 2 ½” by 3 ¾”. The front is a color photo of the player with a colored box containing an autograph. Backs are numbered and have the player’s bio and stats. When Bowman pulled the #66 Ted Williams card it was replaced with a Jim Piersall card, making the Ted Williams #66 card extremely rare and valuable.

Bowman eventually ceased operation in 1955 and was bought by Topps in 1956. Topps re-introduced the Bowman brand in 1989 with the idea that the set would be the ‘Home of the Rookie Card.’

Ted Williams Was Now With Topps

With Williams under contract in 1954, Topps decided to have Williams be on the

1954 Topps Ted Williams #1

first (#1) and last card (#250) in the set. This is the only time a player has ever had this honor. Williams would end up being on Topps cards from 1954 through 1958.

1954 Topps Ted Williams #250

Topps recently selected the 60 greatest cards of all time. Williams has four of his five Topps cards on that list (1954, #250 (7), 1955 (34), 1956 (47) and 1957 (25)).

 

Baseball History – All Star Trivia

 Baseball History  No Responses »
Jul 062011
 

Since the 2011 MLB All Star Game is scheduled for next week (July 12th) I thought I would toss out All Star trivia.

THE FIRST ALL STAR GAME

First All Star Game 1933

The All-Star Game, made its debut on July 6, 1933, at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. It was the idea of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, to coincide with the celebration of the city’s “Century of Progress” Exposition. It was initially intended to be a one-time event. By the 1930′s, baseball had established itself as America’s favorite pastime and the national exposition provided the perfect stage to introduce baseball’s best to the rest of the country. Many Americans were skeptical about its success. For the most part those who lived in the western states had never been to a major league baseball game. However, it was a great success with 49,200 people in attendance.

In the first two years, All-Star teams were selected by the managers and the fans. The players were also excited about the prospect of seeing other players for the first time.  Wild Bill Hallahan, the National League (NL) starter was quoted as saying “We wanted to see the Babe,” “Sure, he was old and had a big waistline, but that didn’t make any difference. We were on the same field as Babe Ruth.” Maybe Wild Bill had second thoughts after Babe hits the first home run in All-Star Game history, a two run shot off him in the 3rd inning.  Ruth, was 38 and  just two years away from retirement, also made a spectacular catch in the eighth inning to rob Cincinnati’s Chick Hafey of a hit. Ruth’s Yankee teammate, Lefty Gomez, started the game for the American League (AL) and became the All-Star Game’s first

Babe Crossing Home After First All Star Game Home Run (1933)

winning pitcher in the 4-2 AL victory.

The second All Star 1934 was played at the Polo Groundsin New York City. Of the eighteen players who started the 1934 game, only one, Wally Berger, is not in the Hall of Fame.

Carl Hubbell gave up a leadoff single to Charlie Gehringer and a walk before setting the All-Star record by striking out five consecutive Hall of Famers; Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin during the 1934 game.

The All-Star Game was played at night for the first time in 1942, at the Polo Grounds.

In 1945, with severe wartime travel restrictions in effect, the All-Star Game scheduled to be played at Boston’s Fenway Park was deferred until the next season.

1937 All Stars

TWO GAMES A YEAR

From 1959 to1962 Major League Baseball played two All-Star Games each season. As part of an effort to boost the players’ pension fund, the league break from tradition and schedules two All Start Games. The first game was held on July 7 at Forbes Field, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The second game was held on August 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers also of the NL. The first game resulted in a 5-4 victory for the NL. The AL won the second game by a score of 5-3. The experiment of staging two All-Star Games each year continued through the 1962 season, after which the playing of one annual game resumed.

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