that's not a palme ball

i missed including this card in my not-so-recent post about cards showing knuckleball grips.

it's a 1953 bowman black & white card of paul lapalme. i think i obtained this card many years ago in a lot of other bowman cards that included some dodger needs. i can't say i was aware of lapalme and his use of the knuckleball (i guess my thinking of that pitch historically only went so far back as hoyt wilhelm in the latter part of his career), but lapalme was a major leaguer through most of the 1950's. he threw a shutout in his first career start, but was used primarily as a reliever throughout his career.

one benefit of collecting the 1957 topps set is that i am coming across a bunch of players that i really had never heard of or paid attention to previously. and, although he no longer fit the bill of a player i was unfamiliar with, lapalme's card from that set is the most recent one that i've acquired

it's good to see him in color!

what's black and white and branca all over?

with the dodgers playing a western division tiebreaker on the first of the month, there was some attention given to their previous tiebreaker appearances. when that happens, one cannot help but think of ralph branca.

i recently picked up my first 1953 bowman black & white dodger card, and it was ralph branca's card

only two more (preacher roe and billy cox) for the full team set!

note that this streamlined and very short post took about five minutes to scan, crop, and edit.  five minutes is really not a lot of time!