it's time for the penultimate post in my 1955 bowman set build quest! let's see who was confusing and frustrating kids looking for players they knew when opening these last series packs!
sheet 35, cards 289-296
i mentioned that there were a couple of players who had been missing from big league action here (neither hersh freeman or marv blaylock played in the majors in 1954), but the cards may have been issued late enough that kids might have recognized freeman, who was back on the scene in 1955 as a fixture in the reds' bullpen. he had pitched for the red sox sparingly in 1952 and 1953, and as his card suggests, began the 1955 season with the red sox before moving to cincinnati in may of '55.
similarly, blaylock was the phillies' primary first baseman in 1955 but had not appeared in the majors prior to that season since he made his big league debut as a pinch-hitter in a game for the 1950 new york giants.
blaylock's hitting coach in philadelphia was wally moses, who had more success coaching the likes of ferris fain (with the a's) and richie ashburn, both of whom won batting titles with moses as their coach. he later went on to join the yankee staff and was there when roger maris hit 61 home runs in 1961.
the other person wearing a team uniform on the page is none other than bill virdon, who would be named the national league's rookie of the year in 1955. it was his first year in the majors, and i imagine some kids were pretty happy to find his rookie card in a pack. i appreciate virdon, because he is one of the only people (al dark is another) to appear in this set and my all-time favorite, 1978 topps.
as for the umpires...
arthur gore is noted to be of irish descent, married, and with no children as of the printing of the card. of more interest might be (according to a different source) the fact that gore was also a professional basketball referee.
frank dascoli was a bachelor of italian descent who, later in 1955, would be on the field as the first base umpire when the dodgers won the world series. dascoli was eventually fired by national league president warren giles in 1961 for not supporting other umpires (?) which might make sense given the fact that he was quoted as saying "they can't all be dascolis" regarding an umpire who made a bad call, and noting that giles forced dascoli's mentor, larry goetz, to resign. the quote and mention of goetz comes from a sports illustrated article about dascoli that is worth a read.
tom gorman was a former big league pitcher of irish descent, both facts that are laid out on the back of his card. in 1956, he was the left field umpire for don larsen's perfect game, and in the 1967 world series, he was behind the plate for bob gibson's 17-strikeout masterpiece. gorman also made an appearance in a mad magazine bit regarding interplanetary sports in the future, ejecting a player on venus. i still have my mad collection and might have to see if i have this issue.
lee ballanfant, a belgian-irish world war i vet, is the last umpire on this page. he was with dascoli as an umpire for the 1955 world series, serving as the third base ump in game 7. a former minor leaguer who became an umpire after an injury ended his playing career, ballanfant was quoted in larry gerlach's book "the men in blue" as saying "i can truthfully say i never did like umpiring. i stayed with it because i had to eat". he later went on to become a scout for the cubs, astros, and rangers.
sheet 36, cards 297-304
another four umpires, a manager, and three more players, including tommy byrne with the most interesting background of the bunch. what if one of those yankee teammates behind him were known to be mickey mantle? i also want to recognize charlie grimm's card here. i am pretty sure that someone doctored up one of these cards for thorzul's old "nightmares on cardboard" contests. his name and pose make for an easy transition to the "grimm" reaper and i wish i were able to confirm my recollection, but alas, thorzul's posts are lost to us now. i went looking for a link and found that beardy's are still around, though!
here are the backs:
i'll start with the umps this time.
dusty boggess was of scotch-irish descent and, as a 16-year old high school ballplayer, was removed from his team after it was discovered that he was also playing professionally under the appropriate name of "bogus". he was the second base ump for larsen's perfect game, and also worked as a scout for the white sox and pittsburgh steelers following his retirement. umpiring was a last resort of sorts for boggess, who spent time as a minor league player, manager, and even owner, but lost it all as a result of the great depression.
lon warneke (no nationality given) might be best remembered as a pitcher for the cubs and cardinals from 1930 to 1945. he was the winning pitcher for both of the cubs' victories in the 1935 world series, and won 20 or more games three times for the northsiders. he is the only person to have both played in and umpired for a world series game and an all-star game. in fact, warneke scored the first national league run in all-star history in 1933. following his retirement from umpiring, he became a judge in his native state of arkansas.
the back of william (bill) engeln's card notes that he is of german descent and that he umpired in each of the pcl's all-star games, assumedly from 1936 through 1951 before joining the major league ranks in 1952. what it doesn't say is that during his tenure in the pcl, he was attacked by two female fans after making a controversial call during a game between the seattle rainiers and the portland beavers.
jocko conlan is a familiar name, as he is remembered as a hall of fame umpire. he played in parts of two seasons (1934 and 1935) for the white sox, and during the latter year he was asked to fill in as an umpire in a game between the sox and the st. louis browns. in 1936, he began his career as an umpire and went on to spend 25 seasons in the major leagues. i enjoy knowing that he also owned a flower shop in chicago.
as for the subjects on the right of the page, charlie grimm managed the braves to a second place finish in 1955, his fourth (third full) season at the helm of the club. he had won three pennants as the cubs' manager earlier in his career (two of those as a player-manager), but was not able to get the braves to the world series. he was replaced in 1956 by fred haney, who led the club to the world championship in 1957.
tommy byrne had a career year in 1955, returning as a full-time major league pitcher for the yankees. the back of his card is correct - he was "plagued by control during his first major league go-round" as he led the american league in walks three straight years (1949-1951). still, he had been an all-star in 1950 as the yankee offense was enough to counter his 4.74 era and make him a 15-game winner that year. in '55, he went 16-5 during the regular season and then was the winning pitcher in game 2 of the world series. he took the mound in game 7 against johnny podres and allowed two runs (one earned) to score which was all podres needed to claim brooklyn's first and only world series title.
frank malzone saw his first big league action with the red sox in 1955, and wound up playing for them for a decade as their primary third baseman. he won three gold gloves and was the 1957 american league rookie of the year runner-up to tony kubek. he went on to scout and perform instructional coaching for the red sox following his retirement.
finally, harry chiti, who made his big league debut as a 17-year old in 1950 and later went on to be known as the player who was traded for himself. he was dealt by the indians to the mets early in the 1962 season for a player to be named later, and then became that player to be named later when the mets returned him to cleveland. some sources note that his contract was actually purchased by the mets and he was not acquired via trade, but that takes the fun out of the story.
one more post and two more pages to go. stay tuned!
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