1955 bowman complete!

it's been almost two years since i decided to pursue the 1955 bowman set, and here we are with the last 16 cards to share. i know you're busy, so i'll get right to it...

sheet 37, cards 305-312

just like last time, four umpires on the left and four team representatives on the right. i don't say players, because there's a manager in there (just as there was a coach or manager in the last post' sheets)

i am going to go through all eight of these subjects, so strap in...

frank umont, whose ethnicity is omitted on the card back, was one of the first umpires to wear glasses on the field. he was also a professional athlete before turning to umping - he was a guard for the new york football giants in the 1940's.

bob cerv is the last yankee in the set. perhaps best remembered as a roommate to mickey mantle and roger maris during the 1961 season, cerv had some power of his own as evidenced by the 38 dingers he hit for the kansas city a's in 1958. he had three different stints with the yankees, with this card being issued during his first.

r.a. "babe" pinelli was a major league infielder before switching to umpiring. he played mostly for the reds in the 1920's, but debuted with the white sox in 1918. i suppose that means he was a teammate of shoeless joe jackson's, but he debuted after jackson's 1918 season was over due to injury. pinelli's ethnicity is also left out of his card back bio, as is the fact (for obvious reasons) that he was behind the plate for don larsen's perfect game.

al lopez gives us the last manager card of the set, and he's a hall of famer to boot. the former dodger backstop took the indians to the fall classic in 1954, so it makes sense for him to be included in the set. his national league counterpart, leo durocher, did not receive the same consideration from bowman. his card back notes that he is an "expert" in managing and was an "expert" catcher as well. thesauruses were rare in the 50's i guess.

hal dixon has one of the more mug shot type cards in the set. we aren't given his ethnicity, but we are told of his extensive experience prior to joining the major league's umpiring ranks. he worked the 1959 world series, but that was his last hurrah as he resigned following the season's end due to the fact that his request for a raise was denied.

ken lehman is the last dodger (and final national leaguer) in the set, and i am sure that some kids opening packs were a bit confused. lehman hadn't pitched in the big leagues since 1952, and he didn't make any appearances in 1955 either. he did return to the dodgers in 1956 before moving on to the orioles in the summer of 1957. a seattle native, lehman eventually returned to the pacific northwest and coached udub's baseball team.

lawrence goetz went by larry and was from cincinnati. it looks like bowman punted on ethnicity for these late-set umpire cards, but that's ok and frankly less weird. we learn from goetz's card that he worked at a post office when he decided to take up umpiring which is a very faulkneresque thing to do. he was also one of the umpires featured in a norman rockwell painting entitled "tough call".

bill wight's card is the last on the page, and the back lets us know that he did not appear in the majors in 1954, thus missing the team's pennant win and world series appearance. he did, in fact, return in 1955 with the indians but finished the campaign with the orioles.

sheet 38, cards 313-320

no coach or manager on that sheet, but three bosox plus a card of the guy who probably frustrated kids the most. who wanted a card of cal hubbard back in 1955? well, i am sure there were some who were happy to find a card of the umpire supervisor, but not for that reason.

here are the backs:

i was happy to see one last non-bio back among this group.

a.j. donatelli continues the trend of ethnicity not being given for umpires, but i would guess he has some italian blood. the card back notes that he was a pow during world war ii for 15 months, and further research shows that he began umpiring softball games during this time, choosing to continue with that effort when he was liberated and returned to the states. he was also the umpire featured on the first ever issue of sports illustrated

dale mitchell spent nearly his entire career with the indians, playing for them from 1946 through partway of the 1956 season. he appeared in two world series for cleveland, but is best know for his appearance in game 5 of the 1956 fall classic when he was with the dodgers and pinch hit for sal maglie and struck out to end the game and secure don larsen's perfect game.

cal hubbard, as previously noted, was the umpire supervisor. this followed a successful umpiring career that was ended by a shotgun pellet hitting him in the eye. prior to his baseball officiating career, however, hubbard was a football star. he played in the nfl as a tackle for the giants, packers, and pirates (who became the steelers) and was elected to the pro football hall of fame in 1963. i am guessing some card collectors in 1955 recognized hubbard as a football player given his status in the game as one of the greatest tackles in league history. he's scotch-irish, by the way.

marion fricano's card features the final non-bio back of the set. his advice to youngsters is to develop character, which is solid advice no matter the times. fricano's major league career ended in 1955 with a handful of appearances for the a's, but he would continue to pitch in the minors for a few more seasons.

wm. r. summers, known as bill, is the last umpire of the set and is noted to have been a "gifted after-dinner storyteller". i am guessing that in addition to visiting troops, this refers to the offseason hot stove circuit that was commonplace until the early 1980s. i remember one hot stove i attended circa 1980 that turned into a bit of a roast of pete rose. i don't remember the stories, but i do remember rose commenting as such when it was his turn to speak. as for summers, he's the guy who called jackie robinson safe at home during the 1955 world series much to yogi berra's displeasure.

sid hudson begins the run of three red sox players to end the set. he was a 12-year veteran of the major leagues who was actually released by the red sox in april of 1955. another card for kids to be confused about, given the fact that this series was the last to be released (i am assuming there were more than two series). regardless, hudson turned to scouting and later to coaching, serving the washington senators/texas rangers franchise for 25 years following his playing career.

al schroll's card predates his major league debut by three years. he had been in the boston system since 1951, but didn't appear in a big league game until april of 1958. after the following season, he was dealt to the cubs for bobby thomson and then finished his career with the minnesota twins in their inaugural 1961 campaign.

and finally, we have george susce jr to close out the set. the back tells us that his father was a big leaguer and was coaching when this card was released. the younger susce, unlike the previous two red sox on this sheet, actually appeared in big league action in 1955, making his debut against the yankees in april. he went on to win nine games in a season highlighted by a one-hit shutout against the a's in july.

and there you have the 1955 bowman set and the last of the true bowman baseball cards, period. 

if you'd like to check on any of the previous posts, here they are for your convenience:

cards 289-304

cards 273-288

cards 257-272

cards 241-256

cards 225-240

cards 209-224

cards 185-208

cards 161-184

cards 137-160

cards 121-136

cards 105-120

cards 89-104

cards 73-88

cards 65-72

cards 49-64

cards 41-48

cards 33-40

cards 17-32

cards 1-16

it's been fun, but i don't see myself chasing another vintage set. i've learned not to say never, though. thanks for following along and happy new year!

1955 bowman complete through 304!

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

umpires fully present on this sheet, with two guys who hadn't been seen in the big leagues for a bit, plus a coach and a rookie. here are the backs:

the backs are all biographical on this sheet. let's tackle the team personnel first.

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!

1955 bowman complete through 288!

big game tonight, but won't stop me from posting the next installment in my 1955 bowman set build. heading into the home stretch with the sharing of my 1955 bowman set build, we are deep into umpire territory, with seven of these next 16 cards featuring the arbiters of the game. 

sheet 33, cards 273-280

charlie neal represents the dodgers, with three american league umps and bookending cubs. here are the backs:

all of the backs are biographical. let's take a deeper dive...

bubba church's big league career was over by the time this card hit the market as he made his last appearance on may 1 of 1955. you don't see the word "acquitted" on the back of baseball cards in any context these days. church supposedly had a hand in keeping joe namath in school at alabama, and is a member of the alabama sports hall of fame.

jim delsing was a solid outfielder, but baseball trivia buffs know him best for being the player who pinch-ran for eddie gaedel after number 1/8 drew a walk in his only major league appearance.

the back of bill greive's card notes many of his notable games served as an umpire, but fails to mention that he served in the new york state assembly in 1936 or that he was a world war i veteran who was a member of one of the companies that comprised the "lost battalion". it does note that he is "scotch-irish" though.

ivan (known as ike) delock's card back features some of the largest font in the set, and the text is fairly benign as delock spent all of 1954 in the minors after stints with the red sox in both 1952 and 1953. he did hit his stride for the red sox once he was moved to the bullpen full time in 1956.

ed runge is a name that i am familiar with, but it's because of paul runge who was ed's son and also an umpire. ed runge was working the right field line for don larsen's perfect game in 1956 but what i really want to know is what is his ancestry? seriously, though, how about him being a professional roller skater?! runge was also the other umpire involved in the blackmail scandal i mentioned back when bill mckinley's card came up in the set.

like chico hernandez last time, i am guessing kids ripping packs in 1955 were confused about seeing charlie neal's card. he didn't make it to the majors until 1956, but i am sure he gained some fans quickly as he helped the dodgers return to the world series.

hank soar is the last umpire on the page, and we are informed that his ancestry is "english-swedish". the best information given here is that soar played in the nfl with the new york football giants and scored the winning touchdown in the 1938 championship game against the green bay packers. he worked both don larsen's perfect game and nolan ryan's fourth no-hitter as the first base umpire.

last but not least we have clyde mccullough of the chicago cubs. some collector has noted that clyde's full name is "clyde edward", and they have also updated his stats to show that his lifetime batting average is .252. mccullough was done after the 1956 season, so this notation was made sometime after july 22 of that year. he became a big league coach and minor league manager for several seasons before passing away during the 1982 campaign while he was working as the padres' bullpen coach. i am not sure if this is still the case, but the padres named their pitcher of the year award in mccullough's honor at one time.

sheet 34, cards 281-288

some of the cards on this sheet are not in the best condition, but it's full. four more umpires, with mr. jackowski getting the brady bunch pose memo over a decade in advance.

here are the backs:

all bios, and each worth some discussion.

charlie berry's card notes his major league playing career as well as his entry into umpiring, but is completely silent on his football career. berry was a collegiate star who also played in the early days of the nfl, leading the pottsville maroons to a disputed title in 1925. here's a fantastic article about charlie berry, with more information about other cards of his including his appearance in the 1963 topps set.

phil cavarretta's card back blatantly calls him old although he was only 38 when the 1955 season began. he was a former national league mvp and was player-manager of his hometown cubs for a couple of seasons in the early 1950's.

nestor chylak was just starting his hall of fame umpiring career, and i don't plan on trying to upgrade this card as his hof status keeps the prices higher than i would want to pay. the back is silent on his ethnicity, but does mention his world war ii service. another source notes that he was injured in the battle of the bulge and received a purple heart. his career lasted until 1982, and he was notably behind the plate for sandy koufax's last appearance in the 1966 world series. he was also the crew chief who declared the forfeit during the indians' 10 cent beer night promotion and was subsequently hit with a chair.

bill jackowski is the first of these umpires on these sheets to represent the national league. he is of polish descent, and was also a world war ii veteran. like chylak, he was also working the 1966 world series, and both he and chylak were also working game 7 of the 1960 world series when maz hit the walk-off home run to beat the yankees.

walt dropo is the second white sox first baseman on the sheet, and, while the back mentions his time wit the red sox previously, it does not mention that he was the american league rookie of the year in 1950. after his baseball career ended, he started a very successful fireworks company and also found success in real estate.

frank secory's card is just trashed. clearly it was glued in an album at one time. it was part of the initial group of cards i had that kickstarted this set build, but i don't plan to replace it. i can read the back well enough - secory is of bohemian descent, and was a former major league player. as an umpire, he witnessed dock ellis' no-hitter as well as the first and 500th home runs of ernie banks' career.

ron mrozinski's big league career ended after the 1955 season, but he pitched for several more years in the minor leagues. i am always curious about random pen marks on cards. was the number "4" circled intentionally? was someone seeing if there was still ink in the pen? it's ponderous.

finally, dick smith of the pirates gets a card. like bubba church up top, smith made his last appearance in the majors on may 1, 1955. that was one of only four games in which smith appeared that season, but he did pinch hit on april 17 which also marked the debut of roberto clemente. smith - the first of three major leaguers known as "dick smith" - went on to work for penn state for several years after his baseball career ended.

only four more pages left to share in this set build - stay tuned for more tales of umpires and late set subjects!

1955 bowman complete through 272!

despite not completing it during my trip to the national, i am into the home stretch with my 1955 bowman set build, and here are the next two pages of cards to share.

sheet 31, cards 257-264

the "wrong" alston, cardboard legend don mossi, a couple of umpires, a brooklyn dodger, plus a headscratcher among others. here are the backs:

by the "wrong" alston, i mean no disrespect to tom alston. it's just that with bowman included a small number of managers in this set, it would have been nice for the dodgers' skipper walter alston to be included. tom alston was certainly worthy of a card, having played in 66 games in 1954.

john stevens is the first umpire on the sheet, and we learn that his ancestry is "slovak". the card also mentions that he worked the 1954 world series (he was the third base ump for willie mays' catch), but it fails to mention that he was also a college basketball referee and that he, as the home plate umpire, made the calls (valid, i assume) that cost bob keegan a perfect game in 1957 due to some bases on balls.

ed hurley is the other umpire here, and he is "german-irish". hurley was one of the umpires who was by many accounts forced into retirement when he reached the age of 55. he felt it was retaliatory for his efforts in trying to organize or seek additional benefits for the umpires which sounds plausible given the times. he was also featured on the television program "what's my line?" in 1953 and was the home plate umpire during eddie gaedel's lone big league at bat.

walt moryn was with the dodgers in 1955, but only as a september call up and wasn't a part of the world series squad. he went on to have greater personal success with the cubs, even making an all-star team.

all of the backs here are biographical, although eddie joost's back has some shenanigans on it. he is listed as "infield" for the cleveland indians but a previous owner of the card has noted "catcher" below that text and the bio text mentions that he was the manager of the philadelphia a's in 1954. add to that the fact that joost played for the red sox in 1955 and you have the headscratcher that i referred to above. turns out that joost was the player/manager for the a's in 1954 and played the infield in the games in which he appeared. he was released by the a's in november of 1954, but baseball reference doesn't show another transaction until the spring of 1955 when he signed with the red sox, for whom he would only play the infield. so, i am not sure where the indians or the "catcher" writing comes from.

sheet 32, cards 265-272

three more umpires, old friend joey amalfitano, brooklyn dodger chico fernandez, and more. here are the backs:

we are again met with all bio text. someone has put an "x" on amalfitano's card back. perhaps it's because he was sent down after the 1955 season, having met the requirements of his bonus baby status. he wouldn't return to the majors until 1960.

the star of the sheet is al barlick, a hall of fame umpire who was highly regarded as the best umpire during his tenure. he was the first base umpire for jackie robinson's debut in 1947 and later worked the first game at the astrodome as well as the first game at riverfront stadium, plus the last game at forbes field. he also was the crew chief for the first nlcs. he umpired in four different decades and was elected to the hall of fame in 1989.

while no ancestry was given for barlick, george (jim) honochick is noted as having "czech" ancestry. he was a minor league player before moving to umpiring, and wound up being behind the plate for three no-hitters as well as game 7 of the 1955 world series (who's a bum?). he is likely best known to a later generation as a participant in miller lite commercials alongside boog powell. 

rounding out the umpires on this sheet is john flaherty. no ethnicity is listed, but going by his last name and the fact that he went to college in boston (and played in the cape cod league), i am going to guess irish. flaherty was also one of the umpires that witnessed the dodgers win the world series for the first time (he was the left field ump), and he also was working the game in which roger maris hit home run number 61. 

chico fernandez is the dodger featured on this sheet, and it's worth noting that he did not make his major league debut until 1956, spending the entire 1955 season with the dodgers' triple-a affiliate in montreal. i am guessing that many a pack ripping kid were confused about him being shown on a card - perhaps more so than the umpires.

just six sheets left to share in the set - stay tuned!

1955 bowman complete through 256!

it's time for the next installment in my sheet by sheet posting of my 1955 bowman set as i work to complete this 70 year old release.

sheet 31, cards 241-248

right away this sheet is prompting questions for me, like johnny pesky played for the orioles? and, why is there a blank spot? bear with me.

here are the backs:

none of the seven cards shown go with the non-bio text, but i am somewhat relieved to find that pesky did not, in fact, play for the orioles as i had no idea that he had. he signed with them after the 1954 season, but was released prior to the '55 campaign. i suppose this makes for a final tribute or one of nick's zero year cards. another card of note here is dutch leonard's card. this is the dutch leonard who pitched for the dodgers, senators, and cubs (primarily) and not the dutch leonard who had a 0.96 era for the red sox in 1914 and appeared on a 1979 topps card as a result. the leonard featured in this set was a knuckleballer turned pitching coach for the cubs after retiring from his playing career following the 1952 season. and no, i don't mind the small bit of writing on the back of his card. 

here's the reason for the blank spot on the page:

card number 242 belongs to ernie banks!

banks is one of the big four in the set (hank aaron, mickey mantle, and willie mays are the others) and i decided on graded versions for each of their cards. here's the back:

this one has a non-bio back, and banks gives another "vote" to robin roberts as the best pitcher. it's pretty exciting for me to have a second year banks card in my collection. i remember how happy i was when i landed his 1971 topps card back in 1984 while i was treating my cubs fever by completing topps team sets of the northsiders back to 1970. good times and ernie banks cards always make me smile.

sheet 32, cards 249-256

a couple of the roughest cards in my set on this page, with umpire larry napp and the senators' pete runnels bearing the brunt of previous ownership. 

here are the backs:

you can tell that with some of these later subjects there is less to say, and so the font is larger - particularly on billy gardner's and owen friend's cards. there are some interesting statements here - gardner is called "snappy" and jim wilson is noted to be "one of the most courageous fellows in baseball" but there is no explanation for either claim. a quick review of wilson's sabr bio reveals that he was hit in the head by a hank greenberg line drive early in his career and suffered a fractured skull. he returned to pitch in the big leagues for 11 more seasons after recovering from that injury. courageous, indeed.

napp is the lone umpire featured in this post. we are again presented with his ancestry (italian), plus some fun facts. he was also apparently a licensed boxing referee in the state of new york. seventy years later, we have some more intel on napp, including the fact that he was part of the umpiring crew for two perfect games (don larsen's and catfish hunter's), making him one of just seven umpires to see that feat twice. he also sat out two games during a 1972 series in detroit due to death threats stemming from an ongoing feud with tigers manager billy martin. 

more umpire stories to come - stay tuned!

1955 bowman complete through 240!

here's the next installment in my 1955 bowman set build! this post marks the two-thirds mark of the set, and it gets us into some interesting territory. let's have a look at these cards!

sheet 29, cards 225-232

the sheet starts with a bang with a manager card and is followed immediately by our first umpire card of the set, with another manager card to close out the sheet. the managers (paul richards and birdie tebbetts) are only the second and third skippers in the set (lou boudreau was the first back at card number 89) and w.f. mckinley holds the distinction of being the first ump we see. the sheet also features 1950 national league mvp jim konstanty (now with yankees).

here are the backs:

seeing the umpire bio begin with nationality - "irishman" - is a bit bizarre. not sure why that was relevant for them and not the players and managers. anyway, the teammate set up is out the window now, and only the back of frank baumholtz's card features non-bio text. he sums up his advice to youngsters pretty well: "the best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work well."

the back of mckinley's card doesn't say it, but i understand he went by "bill". he was the first big league umpire to have graduated from an umpiring school and his career spanned 20 years (1946-1965). cardboredom commented on the last post about some wild umpire stories, and maybe this is one of them: in 1960, the married mckinley and fellow married ump ed runge (he shows up later in the set) were enjoying some time with a couple of ladies in washington dc and were later extorted by one of the women and two men who had photos of the encounter. the case went to court as far as i can tell, but not sure of the outcome.

sheet 30, cards 233-240

another manager (eddie stanky), two umpires (j.a. paparella and eddie rommel), and a coach (dick bartell)! bowman was really running out of players at this point, i guess. there aren't too many dodgers left in the set, but this sheet gives us billy loes.

here are the backs:

all are bios, with stanky receiving some backhanded compliments ("...not particularly adept at running, throwing, or hitting"). we learn that paparella's ancestry is italian, while rommel's is german. rommel, of course, was a pitcher for the philadelphia a's (he's noted as the "discoverer of the 'knuckle ball'" on his card back) before he started umpiring a few years after his playing career ended in 1932. he became one of the few men to pitch and later umpire in the world series, and was the first umpire to wear glasses during a game. 

as for paparella, he went by "joe" and, like mckinley, umpired from 1946 through 1965. i am not sure if his retirement in 1965 was forced like mckinley's but they were similar in age so it is possible. it's also worth noting that paparella was the third base umpire when eddie gaedel made his lone big league appearance.

with loes there on the second page, i will note that the card i purchased during the pursuit of the set build was an upgrade for my dodger collection

that collection gets fed first!

while there is still a third of the set to show off, i am only in need of two cards to finish the set, and i might just see if i can find them in the greater chicago area this weekend. stay tuned!