Ultimate Baseball Card Set

1954 St. Louis Cardinals

2011-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

St. Louis's Lone Baseball Team
1954 marked the first year that the city of St. Louis only had one major league baseball team, with the Browns moving to Baltimore and becoming the Orioles. The Cardinals had finished in 3rd place the previous three seasons, but with the town to themselves, they fell to 6th place in 1954. Before the season, they traded away a hall-of-famer to the Yankees, Enos Slaughter, but replaced him with the 1954 NL Rookie of the Year, Wally Moon. They also picked up shortstop Alex Grammas from the Reds. Stan Musial was the offensive leader on this team, leading the team in all of the triple crown categories. He led the team in home runs, nearly doubling the 2nd best home run hitter, Rip Repulski 35 to 19. Harvey Haddix leading the pitching staff, leading the team in wins and strikeouts.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics

Topps Regulars (11): Bill Sarni, Ray Jablonski, Alex Grammas, Rip Repulski, Wally Moon, Solly Hemus, Harvey Haddix, Tom Poholsky, Stu Miller, Joe Presko, Cot Deal

Bowman Regulars (8): Red Schoendienst, Rip Repulski, Solly Hemus, Vic Raschi (shown with Yankees), Al Brazle, Jerry Staley, Stu Miller, Joe Presko

Topps All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (2): Ray Jablonski, Harvey Haddix

Bowman All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (1): Red Schoendienst

The Cardinals give an advantage to Topps. The only key player on a card in 1954 missing in the Topps set is hall-of-famer Red Schoendiest. There are actually several regulars who are missing in both sets: 1st baseman Joe Cunningham, 1st baseman Tom Alston, pitchers Brook Lawrence, Gordon Jones, Royce Lint, and Ralph Beard. Also missing in both of these sets of course is the biggest Cardinal omission of all...Stan Musial. But you could get a 1954 card of Stan Musial, you just had to look at the Red Heart set in 1954. More on that set below.

Red Heart
The Red Heart set consisted of 33 cards. They were distributed nationally with dog food. Yes dog food, although, this isn't the only time I have seen this happen. I am covering 1984 (well at least slowly), and there was a 33 card set distributed with dog food by Ralston Purina. I specifically remember getting those cards in bags of dog food. Anyway, to see the complete set of 1954 Red Heart cards, check out this website which has a scan of all 33 cards in the set.

This, of course is the only set to get a Stan Musial card in 1954. Supposedly, the big guns (Topps and Bowman) didn't pay him what he thought he was worth, but Red Heart had no problem. They also had a Mickey Mantle card in the set. How these cards were obtained was by sending in labels of dog food to get one set of 11 cards. This explains why the cards have three different background colors (blue, green, red). Rumour has it that these cards may have been available to order as late as the 1970s.

Starters

__	TO	194	C	Bill Sarni	STL
__			1B	Joe Cunningham
__	BO	110	2B	Red Schoendienst	STL
__	TO	26	3B	Ray Jablonski	STL
__	TO	151	SS	Alex Grammas	STL
__	TO	115	LF	Rip Repulski	STL
__	TO	137	CF	Wally Moon	STL
__	RH	23	RF	Stan Musial	STL
__	TO	117	SS	Solly Hemus	STL
__			1B	Tom Alston

Starting Pitchers

__	TO	9	SP	Harvey Haddix	STL
__			SP	Brooks Lawrence
__	TO	142	SP	Tom Poholsky	STL
__			SP	Gordon Jones
__	BO	33	SP	Vic Raschi	NYY

Relief Pitchers

__	BO	142	CL	Al Brazle	STL
__	BO	14	RP	Jerry Staley	STL
__			RP	Royce Lint
__			SP	Ralph Beard
__	TO	164	RP	Stu Miller	STL
__	TO	135	RP	Joe Presko	STL
__	TO	192	RP	Cot Deal	STL

Other Players

__	BO	30	C	Del Rice	STL
__			UT	Joe Frazier
__	TO	158	OF	Peanuts Lowrey	STL
__	BO	78	C	Sal Yvars	STL
__			RF	Tom Burgess
__			1B	Steve Bilko
__	TO	191	SS	Dick Schofield	STL
__	BO	174	3B	Pete Castiglione	STL
__			RP	Ben Wade
__			RP	Mel Wright
__			RP	Hal White
__	TO	118	RP	Carl Scheib	PHA
__			SP	Bill Greason
__	BO	222	SP	Memo Luna	STL

Manager/Coaches

__	TO	38	MG	Eddie Stanky	STL
__	TO	147	CO	Johnny Riddle	STL
__	TO	237	CO	Mike Ryba	STL

1954 Cincinnati Redlegs

2011-05-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Redlegs
Cold War politics makes an appearance in major league baseball in 1954. From 1954 through 1959, the Cincinnati Reds weren't known as the Reds, but the Redlegs. The name change was due to the Red scare, but I am not sure how going from the Reds to the Redlegs prevents any confusion. Maybe that is why they changed back to the reds after 1959. The previous four seasons, the Reds finished in 6th place in the National League, but with a name change they moved up to 5th place in 1954. The Reds/Redlegs would finish in the middle of the pack in the National League until they finally made a World Series appearance in 1961. Then of course, shortly after, the Big Red Machine started coming together.

Big Klu
The '54 Redlegs were in the upper half of the league in hitting, but didn't have a solid pitching staff. The offense was led by Ted Kluszewski, who had a monster year with 49 home runs, 141 RBIs (both categories he led the league) and a .326 batting average. This is one of the few players big time players that Topps had in their set, but wasn't in the Bowman set. Looking at Ted Kluszewski, he looks like he would have fit right in during the steroid era, as he would often wear his uniform with cut0off sleeves. He had several big season in the mid-1950s, but injured himself during a clubhouse fight in 1956. He was never the same, and was a part time player from 1957-1961, bouncing around from the Reds to the Pirates to the White Sox, and finally appearing with the Angels during their first season in 1961. It seems funny now, as scouting seems that no player is unfound, but in the mid-1940s, Klu was discovered when the Reds were in spring training in Indiana and he was on the grounds crew.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics

Topps Regulars (8): Ted Kluszewski, Bobby Adams, Roy McMillan, Jim Greengrass, Chuck Harmon, Bud Podbeilan, Frank Smith, Harry Perkowski

Bowman Regulars (11): Andy Seminik, Bobby Adams, Roy McMillan, Jim Greengrass, Gus Bell, Frank Baczewski, Frank Smith, Joe Nuxhall, Jackie Collum, Karl Drews (shown with Phillies, split time with Reds and Phillies, getting more playing time with the Reds), Harry Perkowski

Topps All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (1): Ted Kluszewski

Bowman All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (1): Gus Bell

This is the first team we come across in 1954 that produces no hall-of-famers. The two all-star game representatives for the Reds in 1954 are each in two of the different sets. Neither set has the top two starting pitchers, Art Fowler or Corky Valentine. Johnny Temple is also missing, but his rookie card wouldn't appear until the 1955 Bowman set. Topps scores by having the best pitcher on this team on a card, in Frank Smith, and by having the only card of longtime Reds catcher Ed Bailey, although he didn't play enough to be considered a regular in 1954. I would say this is a very evenly matched team as far as what set to collect, as Topps has more of the bench players.

Starters

__	BO	172	C	Andy Seminick	CIN
__	TO	7	1B	Ted Kluszewski	CIN
__			2B	Johnny Temple
__	TO	123	3B	Bobby Adams	CIN
__	TO	120	SS	Roy McMillan	CIN
__	TO	22	LF	Jim Greengrass	CIN
__	BO	124	CF	Gus Bell	CIN
__			RF	Wally Post
__	TO	182	3B	Chuck Harmon	CIN

Starting Pitchers

__			SP	Art Fowler
__			SP	Corky Valentine
__	TO	69	SP	Bud Podbielan	CIN
__	BO	60	SP	Fred Baczewski	CIN

Relief Pitchers

__	TO	71	CL	Frank Smith	CIN
__	BO	76	RP	Joe Nuxhall	CIN
__			RP	Howie Judson
__	BO	204	RP	Jackie Collum	CIN
__	BO	191	RP	Karl Drews	PHI
__	TO	125	RP	Harry Perkowski	CIN

Other Players

__	TO	184	C	Ed Bailey	CIN
__	TO	138	RF	Bob Borkowski	CIN
__			OF	Lloyd Merriman
__	BO	220	C	Hobie Landrith	CIN
__			UT	Nino Escalera
__	BO	156	MI	Rocky Bridges	CIN
__			CF	Jim Bolger
__			PH	Dick Murphy
__			PH	Grady Hatton
__	TO	19	PH	Johnny Lipon	BAL
__	TO	136	PH	Connie Ryan	CIN
__			RP	Herm Wehmeier
__			RP	Moe Savransky
__			SP	Jim Pearce
__	TO	97	RP	Jerry Lane	WSH
__	TO	46	RP	Ken Raffensberger	CIN
__			RP	Mario Picone
__			RP	George Zuverink
__			RP	Cliff Ross

Manager

Birdie Tebbetts

1984 San Diego Padres

2011-04-28T19:47:00.001-07:00

A hard luck franchise
The San Diego Padres came to be starting in the 1969 season. Padres baseball is perhaps best known for Tony Gwynn and having arguably the worst uniforms in the history of the major leagues. One thing that is often overlooked is that when they were at their best, they came up against some of the best teams in the history of the game in the post season. Their best season as a franchise came in 1998 when they won 98 games in the regular season and made it to the World Series. Unfortunately, they came up against the best team of the 1990s record wise, the 1998 New York Yankees, winners of a then AL record 114 games, and got swept in the World Series.

1984 was their second best season, having won 92 games and made it to their first World Series as a franchise. It was just the second above .500 team in their history. They would, of course, lose to the team tied with the second best record of the 1980s, 4 games to 1 in the World Series. This was a solid young team that with some veteran leadership sprinkled in, that did little else in the 1980s.

Tony Gwynn
This was Tony Gwynn's third season in the big leagues. He is the most well known Padre and the 2nd to go into the hall-of-fame with a Padres logo on his hat. (Can you name the other?) He was the only player to play on both Padres teams that went to the World Series.

1984 was his breakout year. He was easily the best player on this team, leading the team in batting average and hits. He was also 2nd on the team in stolen bases and 3rd in RBIs. What put him on the national radar in 1984, was that he won the first of his eight batting titles and also led the league in hits. He ended up 3rd in the MVP voting.

Veteran Leadership
In 1982 and 1983, the Padres completed back to back .500 seasons. They were both very youthful teams and they came together in 1984. What may have helped was some of the veteran leadership brought in that had connections to the 1977-1978 World Series, both won by the Yankees over the Dodgers. Steve Garvey, formerly of the '77/'78 Dodgers, was brought in prior to the 1983 season. Garvey would lead the 1984 team in RBIs to go with a good .284 batting average. Prior to the 1984 season, a couple of former Yankees from those late '70s teams were brought in, Graig Nettles and Rich Gossage. They all had plenty of gas left in the tank. Gossage was probably the best pitcher on this team and solidified the bullpen. Nettles took over at third base from Luis Salazar who manned the position the previous season. This allowed Salazar to do what he did best throughout his career, be what I call a supersub, play many positions and be a 9th regular.

The Cards
We are only 4 players short of being able to complete this roster's checklist. 21 Players on this roster could be found in the regular Topps set in a Padres uniform. Ron Roenicke is listed here as he only played for the Padres in 1984, but his Topps card shows him as a Mariner. He did not have a card in the traded set. The Topps Traded set gives us 5 more players, including cards of Nettles and Gossage and two players in their rookie card year picked up from the Cubs, Carmelo Martinez and Craig Lefferts. Finally we get 1 more player from the Donruss (or Fleer set), the rookie card of outfielder Kevin McReynolds. McReynolds was also one of the key players to this Padres team, as he was 2nd on the team in RBI. He never gets a card in a Topps set until he shows up in the 1987 Traded set after he was traded to the Mets.

Starters

__	TO	455	C	Terry Kennedy	SDP
__	TO	380	1B	Steve Garvey	SDP
__	TO	693	2B	Alan Wiggins	SDP
__	TO	615	SS	Garry Templeton	SDP
__	TT	83	3B	Graig Nettles	SDP
__	TT	75	LF	Carmelo Martinez	SDP
__	DO	34	CF	Kevin McReynolds (or FL 307)	SDP
__	TO	251	RF	Tony Gwynn	SDP

Starting Pitchers

__	TO	532	SP	Eric Show	SDP
__	TO	481	SP	Mark Thurmond	SDP
__	TO	277	SP	Ed Whitson	SDP
__	TO	644	SP	Tim Lollar	SDP
__	TO	778	SP	Andy Hawkins	SDP

Relief Pitchers

__	TT	43	CL	Rich Gossage	SDP
__	TO	290	RP	Dave Dravecky	SDP
__	TT	72	RP	Craig Lefferts	SDP
__			RP	Greg Booker

Other Players

__	TO	68	3B	Luis Salazar	SDP
__	TO	261	OF	Bobby Brown	SDP
__	TO	674	IF	Tim Flannery	SDP
__	TO	571	C	Bruce Bochy	SDP
__	TO	346	UT	Kurt Bevacqua	SDP
__	TO	94	SS	Mario Ramirez	SDP
__	TT	113	1B	Champ Summers	SDP
__	TO	647	OF	Ron Roenicke	SEA
__			OF	Eddie Miller
__	TO	753	C	Doug Gwosdz	SDP
__	TO	38	RP	Luis DeLeon	SDP
__			RP	Greg Harris
__			RP	Floyd Chiffer
__	TO	224	RP	Sid Monge	SDP

Manager

742

Dick Williams

SDP

1984 Detroit Tigers

2011-04-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

Memories of a 10 Year Old
Joe Po snanski, one of my favorite blog writers, has a theory on his blog that most fans want baseball to remain the same as it was when they were 10 years old. It is the age when you really discover and start to understand the game. I think the key to this is that at about 10 years old, you start to look at the world a little differently. I have a 10 year old daughter and she is now aware of events that go on around the world and has an interest in what is going on outside of her immediate surroundings. She is concerned about what is happening in Japan and Libya right now. As a sports fan, she is more aware of the strategies that go into a game. Meanwhile, whenever I take my 7 year old to a game, he is more concerned about when the cotton candy vendor is going to come around. He has barely any idea what is going on in the game, but he can spot the cotton candy vendor all the way across the field and then proceeds to pester me for the next three innings wondering if he is going to run out of cotton candy before he gets to our section.

Anyway I ramble a bit, but I grew up in suburban Detroit and was born in late 1973. In 1984, I was 10 years old and 1984 represents baseball as the perfect way it is to be played. What a time to come of age as a fan of the Detroit Tigers. My dad took me to games at the old Tiger Stadium before this season, and much like my son now, I think I was more concerned with the concession stand. I had baseball cards from before this year, but I think I bought alot of them thinking I was getting real baseball gum. But in 1984, I started following every game on the radio (yeah every game wasn't on TV then) and learned more about the players and where they came from and their stats. Anyway, who knew that your hometown team doesn't win the World Series every year. In fact I am still waiting for them to come around again. I wonder if I had turned 10 in 1994 during the beginning of the Randy Smith era if I would've even cared about the Tigers. But the events in 1984 set me up as a Tiger fan for life.

How Good Was This Team?
This team was tied for the 2nd best record of the 1980s. Only the 1986 Mets were better with 108 wins and the 1988 Oakland A's also had 104 wins. Looking at all three rosters, it seems like both the Mets and A's had an all-star (or near all-star) at every position and a solid pitching staff from 1-5. Beyond the first 3 starters, the '84 Tigers really didn't have much. This may be surprising, but no player on this roster is in the Hall-of-Fame. Only the manager is in the Hall-of-Fame. There were issues all season trying to find a third baseman. But everything went right in 1984. They were an up and coming team for awhile. The core players mostly all came up together in the late 1970s and by 1984 were in the prime 26-32 age range, with Alan Trammell being the 2nd youngest of the starters, but probably the real team MVP. It seems that alot of these players may have had their best seasons career wise in 1983, but they were real close in 1984. Chet Lemon may have had his best season ever in 1984 and Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell probably had their 2nd best seasons. The bullpen with a one-two punch of Aurelio Lopez and Willie Hernandez was lights out. The bench led by Barbaro Garbey, Ruppert Jones, and Marty Castillo was excellent.

Willie Hernandez - Cy Young & MVP
The final piece of this puzzle came in the last week of spring training. The Tigers traded long time player Johnny Wockenfuss and probably the only player of value to come through their farm system in the 1980s, Glenn Wilson, for Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman. This trade made the bullpen lights out as Willie Hernandez was probably the best pitcher on this team. He would win MVP and Cy Young. I think what won him both of these awards is that the Tigers were close in 1983, and it did appear that he was the final piece in the puzzle. Plus it was noted that he only had one blown save for the year. His statistic line looked like this 32 saves, 1.92 ERA, 112 strikeouts in 80 games. He led the league in games pitched and games finished. I think the 32 saves is deceiving as the Tigers weren't in that many close games for the season. But was he really good enough to win both awards? I ask this question because the stats don't seem that eye-popping and he had a very average career besides 1984 and maybe 1985.

Here are the players in order who received Cy Young votes:
Dan Quisenberry - led the league with 44 saves, and a had a sub 3.00 ERA
Bert Blyleven - pitching for a last place team went 19-7 with a sub 3.00 ERA
Mike Boddicker - led league in wins with 20 and ERA with a 2.79
Dan Petry - went 18-8, best starter on best team, best season of his career
Dave Stieb - actually finished 7th in the voting, led the league in WAR, but only had 16 wins...this was significant in 1984

I would say Hernandez probably was the best pitcher, he did what he had to do and had a sub 2.00 ERA. Actually I probably would've voted for Boddicker, but not a bad choice.

Now for MVP
Kent Hrbek - not sure why he would've finished 2nd, even going with traditional stats, he was 7th in batting average, 7th in RBI
Eddie Murray - awesome season, .306-29-110 and led league in OBP
Don Mattingly - led league in hits, batting average, doubles, and OPS+, although nobody knew what that was then, also had 110 RBIs
Kirk Gibson - the Tigers leader in runs scored, 2nd in HR and RBI
Tony Armas - led league in homers and RBI with 43-123, best season of his career
Alan Trammell - finished 9th, led Tigers in OBP
Cal Ripken - if you buy into Bill James win shares, he was the league leader beating out Hernandez by 13 win shares...finished 27th in MVP voting...I could rant about win shares but maybe I will save that for another post

What may have given Hernandez this award is that no one stood out. Armas led the heague in HR and RBI, but has an awful batting average and the perception that Fenway helped. I think Eddie Murray may have been the best overall player, but the Orioles fell from World Champions to 5th place in the division, so they were ignored in award voting.

The Cards
18 players on this roster could be found in the Topps set in a Tigers uniform. Dave Gumpert was in the minor league system in 1984 but did appear on a Topps card. Another 7 could be found in the Topps Traded set, including the before mentioned MVP/Cy Young winner, Willie Hernandez. The only player on this roster with a card in a non-Topps set was Mike Laga. Laga had the least number of plate appearances for a position player on this team. He had been a member of the Tigers since 1982 and would go on to play for the Cardinals and Giants ending his career in 1990. This is his rookie card. He would only have one more card, in the 1987 Topps set showing him as a badly airbrushed member of the Cardinals.

Starters

__	TO	640	C	Lance Parrish	DET
__	TT	11	1B	Dave Bergman	DET
__	TO	695	2B	Lou Whitaker	DET
__	TO	510	SS	Alan Trammell	DET
__			3B	Howard Johnson
__	TO	333	LF	Larry Herndon	DET
__	TO	611	CF	Chet Lemon	DET
__	TO	65	RF	Kirk Gibson	DET
__	TT	36	DH	Darrell Evans	DET
__	TT	41	UT	Barbaro Garbey	DET
__	TO	14	IF	Tom Brookens	DET

Starting Pitchers

__	TO	147	SP	Dan Petry	DET
__	TO	195	SP	Jack Morris	DET
__	TO	588	SP	Milt Wilcox	DET
__	TO	174	SP	Juan Berenguer	DET
__	TO	457	SP	Dave Rozema	DET

Relief Pitchers

__	TT	51	CL	Willie Hernandez	DET
__	TO	95	RP	Aurelio Lopez	DET
__	TO	536	RP	Doug Bair	DET

Other Players

__	TT	59	OF	Ruppert Jones	DET
__	TO	42	UT	Johnny Grubb	DET
__	TT	66	RF	Rusty Kuntz	DET
__	TO	303	UT	Marty Castillo	DET
__			SS	Doug Baker
__			C	Dwight Lowry
__			2B	Scott Earl
__			UT	Nelson Simmons
__			DH	Rod Allen
__	DO	491	UT	Mike Laga	DET
__	TO	356	SP	Glenn Abbott	DET
__	TT	80	RP	Sid Monge	DET
__			RP	Roger Mason
__			RP	Bill Scherrer
__			SP	Randy O'Neal
__			RP	Carl Willis

Minor Leaguers

371

Dave Gumpert

DET

Manager

259

Sparky Anderson

DET

1954 Philadelphia Phillies

2011-04-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Haves and The Have Nots
I am placing a post about each team in any given year based on how far they went in the playoffs and then by their overall record for the season. In 1954, the league champion only went to the World Series, so aside from the first two team, these are all in order of how they finished record wise for the season. Last week I covered the Milwaukee Braves, who had an 89-65 record. That is even better than a 90 win team in the 2010 season, as they played 8 less games, and they essentially finished 6th out of the 16 teams. This week we get to the Philadelphia Phillies, who finished 14 games worse with a record of 75-79. They are the first '54 team with a losing record. And that 14 games represents the divide between winning teams and losing teams. So it appears that there were some great teams and then some not so great teams, with not a lot in the middle.

The 1954 Phillies were trending downward. They were halfway between appearing in a World Series in 1950 and finishing in last place every year between 1958-1961. Expansion in 1962 probably saved them from making that 5 years in a row. This may explain why they were a slightly below .500 team in 1954. This team was led by pitching, and most specifically pitcher Robin Roberts, who led the team with 23 wins and had a sub 3.00 ERA. Offensively, this team was carried by center fielder Richie Ashburn and second baseman Granny Hamner.

The Hometown Team
What started on the side project of making a checklist for the ultimate 1954 set, even though I own zero of these cards, was this entry at the Phillies Room on the 1954 Topps cards. If you haven't paid attention to that blog, Jim has been putting up a review of every Topps set since 1951 showing the Phillies that are in each set. A conversation came up on how during the era when Bowman was in existence, the star Phillies players were not found in the Topps set. My argument was that Bowman was based in Philadelphia, and they may have got preference for signing exclusive contracts with players because they were the hometown team. I started this side project to see what an ultimate set from 1954 may look like, as 1954 is probably my personal favorite design of these early sets. As we are finding out the Bowman-Philadelphia connection really may not be the case at all. Bowman did have a better selection of current players that were probably more in demand in 1954 for most teams.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics.

Topps Regulars (4): Granny Hamner, Willie Jones, Richie Ashburn, Herm Wehmeier (shown with the Reds, split time between Phillies and Reds, getting more playing time with the Phillies)

Bowman Regulars (12): Smokey Burgess, Earl Torgeson, Granny Hamner, Willie Jones, Del Ennis, Richie Ashburn, Stan Lopata, Mel Clark, Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Murry Dickson, Steve Ridzik

Topps All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (1): Richie Ashburn

Bowman All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (4): Richie Ashburn, Smokey Burgess, Granny Hamner, Robin Roberts

For a Phillies fan...there is really no reason to buy Topps cards in 1954. The only player of any significance that appears only in the Topps set, Herm Wehmeier, is shown in a Reds uniform. Topps picks things up by showing 8 minor players and coaches that do not appear in the Bowman set. Johnny Lindell who appears in only 7 games, all as a pinch hitter, appears in both sets, and represents the only Phillies player in the Bowman set that is not considered by definitions as a regular. Topps had the opportunity to add some regulars, as neither set had starting shortstop Bobby Morgan, outfielder Danny Schell (I have him listed as the right fielder, but Del Ennis led the team in appearances in both left and right field, so I put Ennis as the left fielder), outfielder Johnny Wyrostek, starting pitcher Bob Miller, and relief pitchers Jim Konstanty and Ron Mrozinski.

Tom Qualters
I am not sure of Tom Qualters role on the Phillies in 1954. He appeared in one game as an 18 year old in 1953 with the Phillies. I don't see him listed as a player in the military, and there is no record of him playing anywhere, majors or minors. He shows up again with a minor league record in the Phillies system in 1955 and 1956, and then appears again in the majors with the Phillies in 1957. 1954 appears to be a mystery, but he gets a card in the Topps set. His last appearance in the majors was with the Phillies and White Sox in 1958.

Starters

__	BO	31	C	Smoky Burgess	PHI
__	BO	63	1B	Earl Torgeson	PHI
__	TO	24	2B	Granny Hamner	PHI
__	TO	41	3B	Willie Jones	PHI
__			SS	Bobby Morgan
__	BO	127	LF	Del Ennis	PHI
__	TO	45	CF	Richie Ashburn	PHI
__			RF	Danny Schell
__	BO	207	C	Stan Lopata	PHI
__			RF	Johnny Wyrostek
__	BO	175	OF	Mel Clark	PHI

Starting Pitchers

__	BO	95	SP	Robin Roberts	PHI
__	BO	79	SP	Curt Simmons	PHI
__	BO	111	SP	Murry Dickson	PHI
__	TO	162	SP	Herm Wehmeier	CIN
__			SP	Bob Miller

Relief Pitchers

__	BO	223	RP	Steve Ridzik	PHI
__			RP	Jim Konstanty
__			RP	Ron Mrozinski

Other Players

__	TO	78	SS	Ted Kazanski	PHI
__			IF	Floyd Baker
__			3B	Jim Command
__	TO	51	PH	Johnny Lindell	PHI
__			C	Gus Niarhos
__			RF	Stan Palys
__	TO	212	SS	Mickey Micelotta	PHI
__			PH	Stan Jok
__			RP	Bob Greenwood
__	TO	236	SP	Paul Penson	PHI
__			RP	Karl Drews
__	TO	108	RP	Thornton Kipper	PHI

Minor Leaguers

174

Tom Qualters

PHI

Manager/Coaches

__	TO	127	MG	Steve O'Neill	PHI
__			MG	Terry Moore
__	TO	183	CO	Earle Combs	PHI
__	TO	247	CO	Eddie Mayo	PHI

1954 Milwaukee Braves

2011-04-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Milwaukee Braves 2.0
The second season the Braves play in Milwaukee after moving west from Boston leads to an 89 win season. This was 3 games worse than the previous season, but no cause for alarm as they were on their way to winning the World Series in 1957 and the NL Pennant in 1958 with largely the same core of players. The offense was led by third baseman Eddie Mathews who slugged 40 home runs and 103 RBIs. The pitching was led by 21 game winner Warren Spahn.

Hank Aaron - The true home run king?
A 20 year old Hank Aaron made his debut on this team, chipping in 18 home runs. He had solid mid-20 HR seasons the next two season, but broke through with a 44 home run season in 1957. I was almost thinking that this may have been the card that saved Topps as he does not have a card in the Bowman set (more on that later) as it is probably one of the most iconic cards in the history of Topps, but I think in 1954 this card wouldn't have been as sought after as it would be in later years.

Speaking of Aaron, I was watching MLB Network yesterday and they had on a show called the "50 Most Memorable Moments in Baseball History". Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's record in 1974 came in second. The moment when the actual current home run record was set by Barry Bonds came in at something like 42. This seems really odd to me. I know Barry isn't the most well liked guy in the game and there is the whole steroids issue nobody making these lists probably wants to touch, but I wonder if Aaron breaking the record being more "memorable" having something to do with the fact that in 1974, there were no round the clock baseball networks, or even sports networks. The ratings were probably WAY higher than they were for Bonds home run on just that alone. It has also been rerun for the last 40 years with Aaron running around the bases and the two hippy guys running up and patting him on the back...it is burned into most fans memory. I wonder if in twenty years if there still be that big of difference in how the two home runs are remembered.

By the way, the number one most memorable moment was Bobby Thomson's home run in 1951 for the Giants. He just so happens to also play for the 1954 Braves.

Johnston Cookies
Johnston Cookies was a Wisconsin based company that issued baseball cards in bags of cookies. I am pretty sure with my crack research that this company is not around to this day. They produced a nice set of Milwaukee Braves cards from 1953-1955. In 1954 the cards measured 1-3/4" x 3 1/2" and in good condition are very white. I am not a Braves fan, but I really wish I had this set as it is very attractive. This set allows us to pretty much make an entire set of 1954 Milwaukee Braves. Between all of the sets, there are only two Braves who don't have cards. We even get cards of the teams trainers and doctors. Players who only have cards in the Johnston Cookies set are noted with (BJ) in the checklist below.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics

Topps Regulars (11): Del Crandall, Eddie Mathews, Johnny Logan, Hank Aaron, Bill Bruton, Andy Pafko, Warren Spahn, Gene Conley, Dave Jolley, Ray Crone, Bob Buhl

Bowman Regulars (10): Del Crandall, Joe Adcock, Danny O'Connell, Eddie Mathews, Johnny Logan, Bill Bruton, Andy Pafko, Lew Burdette, Jim Wilson, Ernie Johnson
Topps All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (5): Hank Aaron, Del Crandall, Gene Conley, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn

Bowman All-Stars & Hall-of-Famers (3): Del Crandall, Eddie Mathews, Jim Wilson

Finally, a team that Topps has a big advantage over Bowman with as they beat them in both scores. Eddie Mathews was the big name for the Braves in 1954, and he is in both sets, but Topps has the only cards for top tier hall-of-famers Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn. Chet Nichols, the fifth starter for this team, is the only regular who doesn't have a card in either set, but you can pick up his card in the Johnston Cookies set.

Starters

__	TO	12	C	Del Crandall	MLN
__	BO	96	1B	Joe Adcock	MLN
__	BO	160	2B	Danny O'Connell	MLN
__	TO	30	3B	Eddie Mathews	MLN
__	TO	122	SS	Johnny Logan	MLN
__	TO	128	LF	Hank Aaron	MLN
__	TO	109	CF	Bill Bruton	MLN
__	TO	79	RF	Andy Pafko	MLN

Starting Pitchers

__	TO	20	SP	Warren Spahn	MLN
__	BO	192	SP	Lew Burdette	MLN
__	TO	59	SP	Gene Conley	MLN
__	BO	16	SP	Jim Wilson	MLN
__	BJ	16	SP	Chet Nichols	MLN

Relief Pitchers

__	TO	188	CL	Dave Jolly	MLN
__	BO	144	RP	Ernie Johnson	MLN
__	TO	206	RP	Ray Crone	MLN
__	TO	210	RP	Bob Buhl	MLN

Other Players

__	TO	53	2B	Jack Dittmer	MLN
__	TO	165	OF	Jim Pendleton	MLN
__	BJ	27	UT	Catfish Metkovich	MLN
__	BO	201	LF	Bobby Thomson	MLN
__	BJ	24	C	Charlie White	MLN
__	TO	231	IF	Roy Smalley	MLN
__	TO	68	C	Sam Calderone	MLN
__	TO	181	1B	Mel Roach	MLN
__			RF	Billy Queen
__	BJ	13	PR	Sibby Sisti	MLN
__	TO	141	RP	Joey Jay	MLN
__			RP	Dave Koslo
__	BJ	11	RP	Phil Paine	MLN
__	BJ	15	RP	Charlie Gorin	MLN

Manager/Coaches/Trainers

__	BJ	40	MG	Charlie Grimm	MLN
__	BJ	28	CO	Johnny Cooney	MLN
__	TO	176	CO	Bob Keely	MLN
__	BJ	31	CO	Bucky Walters	MLN
__	BJ	49	TR	Dr. Charles Lacks	MLN
__	BJ	50	TR	Joseph Taylor	MLN

1984 Miscellaneous Cards

2011-03-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

1983 was sort of a transition year in major league baseball. The baby boomers who had largely represented most of the players in baseball starting in the late 60s were now arriving at the end of their careers. Topps honored this generation in 1983 with the super veteran subset, and in 1984 we get cards of the players who were the current active career leaders. This was interesting as Pete Rose was nearing setting the record for most hits in a career and the active strikeout record was on its way to being obliterated, as Walter Johnson's record had been passed in 1983 by Nolan Ryan. Ryan and Steve Carlton passed the record back and forth for a while, but Ryan eventually made it maybe untouchable. It is also interesting that to note that the career home run leader going into 1984 was Reggie Jackson with 478 career home runs, which placed him about 90 home runs against the next closest player, Mike Schmidt. In the mid-80s, Hank Aaron's record was very safe. Greg Luzinski was 3rd on the active list with 294 home runs. I think that would place him about 50th today.

We also get the typical subsets...the all-stars, highlights, and team leaders. The team leaders were handled much like Topps has handled them in the past two sets with cards representing the team batting average and team ERA leader from the previous season. Fleer brought back cards noting the previous post season, something that hadn't been in set since the 1981 Topps set. Done a little different than Topps has historically handled postseason cards by creating a card for each game, or at the very least for the entire series, Fleer had cards that honored a few of the players and individual performances from the '83 champion Orioles.

Highlights

__	TO	1	HL	Steve Carlton	PHI
__	TO	2	HL	Rickey Henderson (Steals 100 Bases for the Third Time)	OAK
__	TO	3	HL	Dan Quisenberry	KCR
__	TO	4	HL	Strikeout Record (Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry)	XXX
__	TO	5	HL	1983 No-Hitters (Dave Righetti, Bob Forsch, Mike Warren)	XXX
__	TO	6	HL	Superstars Retire (Johnny Bench, Gaylord Perry, Carl Yastrzemski)	XXX
__	FL	626	HL	Fred Lynn ('83 All-Star Game Record Breaker)	CAL
__	FL	627	HL	Manny Trillo ('83 All-Star Game Record Breaker)	XXX
__	FL	638	HL	The Pine Tar Incident 7/24/83 (George Brett, Gaylord Perry)	KCR
__	FL	641	HL	Gaylord Perry (Going Out In Style)	KCR
__	FL	642	HL	Steve Carlton (300 Club & Strikeout Record)	PHI
__	FL	628	HL	Steve Garvey (NL Iron Man)	SDP

Mascots

651

The Chicken

XXX

League Leaders

__	TO	131	LD	Batting Leaders (Bill Madlock, Wade Boggs)	XXX
__	TO	132	LD	Home Run Leaders (Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice)	XXX
__	TO	133	LD	RBI Leaders (Dale Murphy, Cecil Cooper, Jim Rice)	XXX
__	TO	134	LD	Stolen Base Leaders (Tim Raines, Rickey Henderson)	XXX
__	TO	135	LD	Victory Leaders (John Denny, LaMarr Hoyt)	XXX
__	TO	136	LD	Strikeout Leaders (Steve Carlton, Jack Morris)	XXX
__	TO	137	LD	ERA Leaders (Atlee Hammaker, Rick Honeycutt)	XXX
__	TO	138	LD	Leading Firemen (Al Holland, Dan Quisenberry)	XXX

All-Stars

__	TO	386	AS	George Hendrick	STL
__	TO	387	AS	Johnny Ray	PIT
__	TO	388	AS	Mike Schmidt	PHI
__	TO	389	AS	Ozzie Smith	STL
__	TO	390	AS	Tim Raines	MON
__	TO	391	AS	Dale Murphy	ATL
__	TO	392	AS	Andre Dawson	MON
__	TO	393	AS	Gary Carter	MON
__	TO	394	AS	Steve Rogers	MON
__	TO	395	AS	Steve Carlton	PHI
__	TO	396	AS	Jesse Orosco	NYM
__	TO	397	AS	Eddie Murray	BAL
__	TO	398	AS	Lou Whitaker	DET
__	TO	399	AS	George Brett	KCR
__	TO	400	AS	Cal Ripken	BAL
__	TO	401	AS	Jim Rice	BOS
__	TO	402	AS	Dave Winfield	NYY
__	TO	403	AS	Lloyd Moseby	TOR
__	TO	404	AS	Ted Simmons	MIL
__	TO	405	AS	LaMarr Hoyt	CHW
__	TO	406	AS	Ron Guidry	NYY
__	TO	407	AS	Dan Quisenberry	KCR

Active Career Leaders

__	TO	701	LD	NL Active Batting Leaders (Bill Madlock, Pete Rose, Dave Parker)	XXX
__	TO	702	LD	NL Active Hit Leaders (Pete Rose, Rusty Staub, Tony Perez)	XXX
__	TO	703	LD	NL Active Home Run Leaders (Mike Schmidt, Tony Perez, Dave Kingman)	XXX
__	TO	704	LD	NL Active RBI Leaders (Tony Perez, Rusty Staub, Al Oliver)	XXX
__	TO	705	LD	NL Active Stolen Base Leaders (Joe Morgan, Cesar Cedeno, Larry Bowa)	XXX
__	TO	706	LD	NL Active Victory Leaders (Steve Carlton, Fergie Jenkins, Tom Seaver)	XXX
__	TO	707	LD	NL Active Strikeout Leaders (Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver)	XXX
__	TO	708	LD	NL Active ERA Leaders (Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Steve Rodgers)	XXX
__	TO	709	LD	NL Active Save Leaders (Bruce Sutter, Tug McGraw, Gene Garber)	XXX
__	TO	710	LD	AL Active Batting Leaders (Rod Carew, George Brett, Cecil Cooper)	XXX
__	TO	711	LD	AL Active Hits Leaders (Rod Carew, Bert Campaneris, Reggie Jackson)	XXX
__	TO	712	LD	AL Active Home Run Leaders (Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles, Greg Luzinski)	XXX
__	TO	713	LD	AL Active RBI Leaders (Reggie Jackson, Ted Simmons, Graig Nettles)	XXX
__	TO	714	LD	AL Active Stolen Base Leaders (Bert Campaneris, Dave Lopes, Omar Moreno)	XXX
__	TO	715	LD	AL Active Victory Leaders (Jim Palmers, Don Sutton, Tommy John)	XXX
__	TO	716	LD	AL Active Strikeout (Don Sutton, Bert Blyleven, Jerry Koosman)	XXX
__	TO	717	LD	AL Active ERA Leaders (Jim Palmers, Rollie Fingers, Ron Guidry)	XXX
__	TO	718	LD	AL Active Saves Leaders (Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Dan Quisenberry)	XXX

Team Leaders

__	TO	126	TM	Atlanta Braves Team Leaders (Dale Murphy, Craig McMurtry)	ATL
__	TO	426	TM	Baltimore Orioles Team Leaders (Cal Ripken, Mike Boddicker)	BAL
__	TO	786	TM	Boston Red Sox Team Leaders (Wade Boggs, Bob Ojeda)	BOS
__	TO	276	TM	California Angels Team Leaders (Rod Carew, Geoff Zahn)	CAL
__	TO	456	TM	Chicago Cubs Team Leaders (Keith Moreland, Fergie Jenkins)	CHC
__	TO	216	TM	Chicago White Sox Team Leaders (Carlton Fisk, Richard Dotson)	CHW
__	TO	756	TM	Cincinnati Reds Team Leaders (Ron Oester, Mario Soto)	CIN
__	TO	546	TM	Cleveland Indians Team Leaders (Mike Hargrove, Lary Sorensen)	CLE
__	TO	666	TM	Detroit Tigers Team Leaders (Jack Morris, Lou Whitaker)	DET
__	TO	66	TM	Houston Astros Team Leaders (Jose Cruz, Nolan Ryan)	HOU
__	TO	96	TM	Kansas City Royals Team Leaders (Hal McRae, Larry Gura)	KCR
__	TO	306	TM	Los Angeles Dodgers Team Leaders (Pedro Guerrero, Bob Welch)	LAD
__	TO	726	TM	Milwaukee Brewers Team Leaders (Ted Simmons, Moose Haas)	MIL
__	TO	11	TM	Minnesota Twins Team Leaders (Kent Hrbek, Ken Schrom)	MIN
__	TO	516	TM	Montreal Expos Team Leaders (Al Oliver, Charlie Lea)	MON
__	TO	246	TM	New York Mets Team Leaders (Mookie Wilson, Tom Seaver)	NYM
__	TO	486	TM	New York Yankees Team Leaders (Don Baylor, Ron Guidry)	NYY
__	TO	156	TM	Oakland Athletics Team Leaders (Rickey Henderson, Tim Conroy)	OAK
__	TO	637	TM	Philadelphia Phillies Team Leaders (Gary Matthews, John Denny)	PHI
__	TO	696	TM	Pittsburgh Pirates Team Leaders (Bill Madlock, Rick Rhoden)	PIT
__	TO	366	TM	San Diego Padres Team Leaders (Terry Kennedy, Dave Dravecky)	SDP
__	TO	576	TM	San Francisco Giants Team Leaders (Jeffrey Leonard, Atlee Hammaker)	SFG
__	TO	336	TM	Seattle Mariners Team Leaders (Pat Putnam, Matt Young)	SEA
__	TO	186	TM	St. Louis Cardinals Team Leaders (Lonnie Smith, John Stuper)	STL
__	TO	37	TM	Texas Rangers Team Leaders (Buddy Bell, Rick Honeycutt)	TEX
__	TO	606	TM	Toronto Blue Jays Team Leaders (Lloyd Moseby, Dave Stieb)	TOR

Post Season

__	FL	643	WS	World Series 1983: The Managers (Joe Altobelli, Paul Owens)	XXX
__	FL	644	WS	Rick Dempsey (World Series 1983: The MVP)	BAL
__	FL	645	WS	Mike Boddicker (World Series 1983: The Rookie Winner)	BAL
__	FL	646	WS	Scott McGregor (World Series 1983: The Clincher)	BAL

Checklists

__	TO	114	CH	Checklist 1-132	XXX
__	TO	233	CH	Checklist 133-264	XXX
__	TO	379	CH	Checklist 265-396	XXX
__	TO	527	CH	Checklist 397-528	XXX
__	TO	646	CH	Checklist 529-660	XXX
__	TO	781	CH	Checklist 661-792	XXX
__	TT	132	CH	Checklist 1T-132T	XXX

1984 Player On New Teams

2011-03-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of the players who were on new teams in 1984 and had a card in one of the update sets but have cards in the regular set showing them in their old uniform. Think of it as the anti-traded set.

Several hall-of-famers have cards on this checklist. Joe Morgan and Tony Perez get their last cards showing them as members of the Phillies. Phil Niekro appears on his last Braves card until the 1988 sets, as he had one final token appearance for the Braves in 1987 before retiring. He has been on cards showing him as a Brave going all the way back to 1964, when the team was based in Milwaukee. A pair of Yankees also get their last cards showing them as a member of that team, Rich Gossage and Graig Nettles. Both would be moving on to the Padres in 1984.

Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver gets his last card showing him as a member of the New York Mets. How he became a member of the White Sox in 1984 is a complete mystery to me. Here is how the transaction reads at baseball-reference.com:

January 20, 1984: Chosen by the Chicago White Sox from the New York Mets as a Free Agent compensation pick.

This must be an old way of compensating for free agents, as I have never seen a player switch teams in this manner. Also, how does this make sense. Isn't this the rich robbing the poor. The White Sox had the best record in the AL in 1983 and the Mets had the worst record in the NL. Maybe this is why players no longer switch teams this way. Maybe somebody can enlighten me on this, as many of my knowledgeable readers point out things to me all the time.

Pete Rose
Hey wait a minute, where is Pete Rose on this list? His last Phillies card is in the 1984 sets and he shows up in the update sets with the Expos. You are correct if you thought that, but I try to fill out the rosters as best I can, and if you remember, 1984 was also the year he came back to the Reds at the tail end of the season, so I will put his Phillies cards in that checklist.

Speaking of Rose...this has to be one of the oddest cards in my collection. I know it isn't that uncommon at all, but it just never looked right seeing him in an Expos uniform. There are a few players like this. I think Steve Carlton is another one. When he bounced around at the end of his career with the White Sox and Indians and a few other teams, he didn't look like he belonged with those teams. Gary Carter on the Giants seems odd. Seeing Kirk Gibson manage the Diamondbacks looks odd now to me. Maybe that will grow on me eventually.

__	TO	685	OT	Willie Aikens	KCR
__	TO	187	OT	Luis Aponte	BOS
__	TO	417	OT	Mike Armstrong	KCR
__	TO	654	OT	Bob Bailor	NYM
__	TO	40	OT	Dusty Baker	LAD
__	TO	782	OT	Steve Balboni	NYY
__	TO	513	OT	Dave Beard	OAK
__	TO	454	OT	Joe Beckwith	LAD
__	TO	522	OT	Dave Bergman	SFG
__	TO	41	OT	Tony Bernazard	SEA
__	TO	302	OT	Barry Bonnell	TOR
__	TO	428	OT	Fred Breining	SFG
__	TO	299	OT	John Butcher	TEX
__	TO	77	OT	Brett Butler	ATL
__	TO	552	OT	Ray Burris	MON
__	TO	482	OT	Enos Cabell	DET
__	TO	787	OT	Bill Campbell	CHC
__	TO	769	OT	Bill Caudill	SEA
__	TO	626	OT	Bobby Clark	CAL
__	TO	22	OT	Bryan Clark	SEA
__	TO	358	OT	Bob Dernier	PHI
__	TO	524	OT	Carlos Diaz	NYM
__	TO	589	OT	Mike Easler	PIT
__	TO	737	OT	Jim Essian	CLE
__	TO	325	OT	Darrell Evans	SFG
__	TO	342	OT	Tim Foli	CAL
__	TO	142	OT	Rich Gale	CIN
__	TO	670	OT	Rich Gossage	NYY
__	TO	741	OT	Wayne Gross	OAK
__	TO	348	OT	Toby Harrah	CLE
__	TO	433	OT	Richie Hebner	PIT
__	TO	199	OT	Willie Hernandez	PHI
__	TO	679	OT	Art Howe	HOU
__	TO	731	OT	Lynn Jones	DET
__	TO	327	OT	Ruppert Jones	SDP
__	TO	326	OT	Bob Kearney	OAK
__	TO	573	OT	Dave Kingman	NYM
__	TO	311	OT	Jerry Koosman	CHW
__	TO	223	OT	Wayne Krenchicki	DET
__	TO	598	OT	Rusty Kuntz	MIN
__	TO	301	OT	Frank LaCorte	HOU
__	TO	541	OT	Dennis Lamp	CHW
__	TO	427	OT	Rick Leach	DET
__	TO	99	OT	Craig Lefferts	CHC
__	TO	7	OT	Gary Lucas	SDP
__	TO	74	OT	Jerry Martin	KCR
__	TO	267	OT	Carmelo Martinez	CHC
__	TO	70	OT	Gary Matthews	PHI
__	TO	281	OT	Larry Milbourne	NYY
__	TO	210	OT	Joe Morgan	PHI
__	TO	175	OT	Graig Nettles	NYY
__	TO	650	OT	Phil Niekro	ATL
__	TO	184	OT	Mike O'Berry	CAL
__	TO	312	OT	Jorge Orta	TOR
__	TO	655	OT	Amos Otis	KCR
__	TO	775	OT	Dave Parker	PIT
__	TO	385	OT	Tony Perez	PHI
__	TO	88	OT	Rob Picciolo	MIL
__	TO	514	OT	Floyd Rayford	STL
__	TO	43	OT	Ron Reed	PHI
__	TO	594	OT	Gene Richards	SDP
__	TO	164	OT	Scott Sanderson	MON
__	TO	740	OT	Tom Seaver	NYM
__	TO	772	OT	Jim Slaton	MIL
__	TO	89	OT	Mike Smithson	TEX
__	TO	286	OT	Lary Sorensen	CLE
__	TO	106	OT	Tim Stoddard	BAL
__	TO	768	OT	Champ Summers	SFG
__	TO	779	OT	Jim Sundberg	TEX
__	TO	515	OT	Gorman Thomas	CLE
__	TO	180	OT	Manny Trillo	MON
__	TO	601	OT	John Tudor	BOS
__	TO	642	OT	Tom Underwood	OAK
__	TO	766	OT	Mike Vail	MON
__	TO	67	OT	Gary Ward	MIN
__	TO	563	OT	Glenn Wilson	DET
__	TO	119	OT	John Wockenfuss	DET
__	TO	107	OT	Ned Yost	MIL

1954 Brooklyn Dodgers

2011-03-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Wait Til Next Year
The '54 Dodgers were coming off of back to back losing World Series appearances. 1954 was also the last year that the Dodgers franchise could say that they never won the World Series, as they would finally win it next season. This team was led by Duke Snider, whose line of .341-40-130 was the best season of his hall-of-fame career. Gil Hodges also had probably his best season with a line of .304-42-130. The pitching side was led by 18 game winner Carl Erskine.

The Cradle of Managers
1954 may be most noted for being the first season of Walt Alston's managerial career. He would go on to manage the Dodgers through the 1976 season. Of course, a little used relief pitcher on this team would go on to manage the Dodgers after Alston retired and manage the team through the 1996 season. You know I am talking about Tommy Lasorda. Another hall-of-fame manager, Dick Williams, was on this roster as a reserve outfielder. Don Zimmer, who may be most famous as the Yankees bench coach from the late 90s, but was manager of the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers, and Cubs was on this team. Gil Hodges, manager of the miracle Mets of 1969 was the starting first baseman.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics

Topps Regulars (10): Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Don Hoak, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Johnny Podres, Jim Hughes, Clem Labine, Bob Milliken, Preacher Roe

Bowman Regulars (13): Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Billy Cox, Carl Erskine, Russ Meyer, Billy Loes, Don Newcombe, Clem Labine, Preacher Roe

Topps All-stars and Hall-of-Famers (4): Gil Hodges, Tommy Lasorda, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider

Bowman All-Stars and Hall-of-Famers (5): Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider

I am beginning to wonder how it was that Topps bought out Bowman. Topps must've had a better corporate background. They were based in Brooklyn, so it seems they should've had a hometown advantage here, yet Bowman beats them pretty good in both scores here. Topps big score is with Jackie Robinson, but the All-Star and Hall-of-Fame score is even worse when you consider that in 1954 kids were probably not excited about getting Tommy Lasorda in packs as his hall-of-fame career really doesn't start until over 20 years later when he becomes manager. I still am counting him here though. Nobody issues cards of future hall-of-fame manager Dick Williams, Sandy Amoros, who I listed as the starting left fielder only because he played more games at that position than anyone, but in reality was in a platoon situation with Jackie Robinson, and relief pitcher Erv Palica. I have to imagine that Duke Snider was the big catch for kids in 1954 anyway, and both sets had him.

Starters

__	BO	90	C	Roy Campanella	BRO
__	TO	102	1B	Gil Hodges	BRO
__	TO	35	2B	Jim Gilliam	BRO
__	TO	211	3B	Don Hoak	BRO
__	BO	58	SS	Pee Wee Reese	BRO
__			LF	Sandy Amoros
__	TO	32	CF	Duke Snider	BRO
__	BO	122	RF	Carl Furillo	BRO
__	TO	10	UT	Jackie Robinson	BRO
__	BO	26	3B	Billy Cox	BRO

Starting Pitchers

__	BO	10	SP	Carl Erskine	BRO
__	BO	186	SP	Russ Meyer	BRO
__	TO	166	SP	Johnny Podres	BRO
__	BO	42	SP	Billy Loes	BRO
__	BO	154	SP	Don Newcombe	BRO

Relief Pitchers

__	TO	169	CL	Jim Hughes	BRO
__	TO	121	RP	Clem Labine	BRO
__	TO	177	RP	Bob Milliken	BRO
__			RP	Erv Palica
__	TO	14	SP	Preacher Roe	BRO

Other Players

__	TO	153	C	Rube Walker	BRO
__			OF	Walt Moryn
__	BO	202	OF	George Shuba	BRO
__			SS	Don Zimmer
__			OF	Dick Williams
__			OF	Don Thompson
__	TO	209	UT	Tim Thompson	BRO
__			1B	Chuck Kress
__			PH	Wayne Belardi
__	TO	126	RP	Ben Wade	BRO
__			RP	Pete Wojey
__			SP	Karl Spooner
__			RP	Bob Darnell
__	TO	132	RP	Tommy Lasorda	BRO
__	TO	98	RP	Joe Black	BRO

Manager/Coaches

__			MG	Walter Alston
__	TO	86	CO	Billy Herman	BRO

1984 Retired Players

2011-03-24T20:53:00.001-07:00

Here are the players that never played a game after 1984 (or sat out 1984) but have a card in one of the 1984 sets. There were four players who hung it up after 1983 that ended up in the hall-of-fame with cards in 1984 (all pictured above). What is cool about this is that you can get their entire career stats on one card.

One cool thing (or cool to me) is the old school ESPN logo on the microphone on Johnny Bench's card. Since ESPN debuted in 1979, this may be the earliest reference to ESPN on a baseball card. I wonder who it is that is doing the interviewing?

And what is up with Gaylord Perry's card? Do you realize he was only 44 when this picture was taken. I am only 7 years away from that, and good god, I hope I don't look that old. He looks at least 60 in that photo. What is even funnier is that he looks like grandpa asking you to pull his finger in that card. Not a good way to go out.

There are actually less players in this situation in the 1984 sets than there is in any other year we've looked at so far. So we get more active players in the sets this year. One interesting case is Bert Campaneris. This is the second time he is listed under retired players, as he was listed under the retired players checklist for 1982 as well. He came back in 1983, and Topps put his final card in the 1984 set showing him with the Yankees. Warren Cromartie is on this list as he went on to play in Japan, and he will show up again in sets in the early 1990s.

__	TO	744	RT	Jamie Allen	SEA
__	TO	497	RT	Bud Anderson	CLE
__	TO	284	RT	Howard Bailey	DET
__	DO	608	RT	Rich Barnes	CLE
__	TO	282	RT	Jim Barr	SFG
__	FL	462	RT	Johnny Bench	CIN
__	TO	283	RT	Larry Biittner	TEX
__	TO	82	RT	Doug Bird	BOS
__	TO	116	RT	George Bjorkman	HOU
__	TO	168	RT	Juan Bonilla	SDP
__	TO	316	RT	Mark Bradley	NYM
__	TO	139	RT	Bert Campaneris	NYY
__	TO	562	RT	Manny Castillo	SEA
__	TO	252	RT	Larry Christenson	PHI
__	TO	159	RT	Darryl Cias	OAK
__	TO	287	RT	Warren Cromartie	MON
__	TO	732	RT	Terry Crowley	MON
__	TO	167	RT	Marshall Edwards	MIL
__	TO	544	RT	Cesar Geronimo	KCR
__	TO	163	RT	Lorenzo Gray	CHW
__	TO	448	RT	Ben Hayes	CIN
__	TO	13	RT	Scott Holman	NYM
__	TO	743	RT	Don Hood	KCR
__	TO	621	RT	Frank Howard	NYM
__	TO	483	RT	Fergie Jenkins	CHC
__	TO	608	RT	Bob Johnson	TEX
__	DO	262	RT	Jeff Jones	CIN
__	TO	321	RT	Harvey Kuenn	MIL
__	TO	266	RT	Steve Lubratich	CAL
__	TO	461	RT	Jim Maler	SEA
__	TO	81	RT	Billy Martin	NYY
__	TO	24	RT	John Martin	DET
__	TO	149	RT	Jon Matlack	TEX
__	TO	652	RT	Rudy May	NYY
__	TO	569	RT	Bake McBride	CLE
__	TO	442	RT	Byron McLaughlin	CAL
__	TO	307	RT	Bobby Mitchell	MIN
__	TO	108	RT	Randy Moffitt	TOR
__	TO	374	RT	Don Money	MIL
__	FL	498	RT	Jerry Morales	CHC
__	TO	682	RT	Dan Morogiello	BAL
__	TO	166	RT	Jamie Nelson	SEA
__	TO	351	RT	Russ Nixon	CIN
__	TO	382	RT	Chris Nyman	CHW
__	FL	352	RT	Gaylord Perry	KCR
__	TO	449	RT	Joe Pettini	SFG
__	TO	437	RT	Mike Proly	CHC
__	TO	347	RT	Allan Ramirez	BAL
__	TO	724	RT	Eric Rasmussen	KCR
__	TO	444	RT	Steve Renko	KCR
__	TO	269	RT	Aurelio Rodriguez	CHW
__	TO	209	RT	Manny Sarmiento	PIT
__	TO	219	RT	Joe Simpson	KCR
__	DO	46	RT	Chris Smith	SFG
__	TO	46	RT	Ray Smith	MIN
__	TO	503	RT	Elias Sosa	SDP
__	TO	211	RT	Rick Sweet	SEA
__	TO	729	RT	Gene Tenace	PIT
__	TO	551	RT	Scott Ullger	MIN
__	FL	412	RT	Carl Yastrzemski	BOS
__	TO	83	RT	Richie Zisk	SEA