dressen for success

i decided just after new year's to complete my 1953 bowman color dodger team set. one of the five cards i needed at the beginning of the year was charlie dressen's.

i wound up winning an auction for this psa 2 card for cheap, and i picked up the other three non-duke cards i needed on comc.

that's billy loes, russ meyer, and george shuba.  duke came last, thanks to a bargain from fritsch cards.

glad to see they are still going strong.

anyway, the highlight of the dressen card is the copy on the back:

there is an "away in a manger" joke in there somewhere.  obviously, bowman meant that dressen was a cocky little manager, and while he was at the helm of the dodgers, he surely could back that up with on-field success. as the card notes, his dodgers won the pennant in 1952 after losing to the "shot heard 'round the world" in 1951, and he also led the team to the pennant in 1953. however, that turned out to be his last year managing the dodgers, as he wanted a multi-year contract and was denied. so, the cocky little "manger" was out and walter alston took over.  alston wound up managing the dodgers until the final days of the 1976 season, and never had a multi-year contract.

dressen's post-dodger managerial career is outlined on the back of his 1965 topps card

which was another recent pick-up for my set build (i'm close!). here's what that card had to say:

there are a couple of issues here. first, it should end with him joining the tigers in 1963, not 1953. second, his stint as dodger manager is referenced as being with the "old" dodgers, but his stint with the senators does not get the same qualifier. i assume topps was referring to the brooklyn dodgers as the "old" team, but the senators that dressen managed were the twins by the time this card came out, with a "new" version of the senators having joined the league in 1961. just a quirk that i would expect an editor to pick up on.  and, i realize that they are only recognizing his managerial stints, but it is worth noting that dressen was a coach and/or scout for the dodgers in 1958 and 1959, as well as in  1963 prior to becoming the tiger skipper.

dressen passed away during the 1966 season while managing the tigers, and they wore black armbands in his honor for the remainder of the season. no cards exist that i have found showing the armband, but there is this photo

of earl wilson with the armband on full display.

i am thinking that i will work to complete my 1953 topps dodger team set next, but i already have dressen's card (it's just a few of the high numbers, including the johnny podres rookie, that are left). that means that the only other charlie/chuck dressen card that i need for my collection is his 1952 topps high number card, so my guess is that the cards shown above are the last cards of his that i will add.