1951 Topps Red Back #1 - Yogi Berra

Look familiar?  Yeah, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but since I 'misplaced' my 1951 Topps Red Back set, this idea was shelved.  No longer!  Yes, I intend (every day) to blog the 1951 Topps Red Back set, card for card.  Why?  Well, it's my blog and I want to!  Well, I thought my 1955 series was fairly successful, so I figured this would be a formidable sequel.

This set was given to me for Christmas one year by my Mom (who reads this blog, by the way).  So, thanks Mom!  The scans will be of the actual cards in my possession.  Some are NM, some are Fair, but they all have character and are fun to look at.  Oh, also, I apologize, but since I was so comprehensive with my 1955 series, I did recycle some information.  I also liked keeping track of stats at the bottom of eventual managers, Hall of Famers and those players in the set who are no longer with us.

What better player to lead off with than Yogi Berra?  In 1951, Topps jumped into the baseball card scene with two separate 'sets' of 52 cards.  They were designed as a game that kids could play.  The sets were either 'Blue Backed' or 'Red Backed.'  The Blue Backed sets are rarer than the red ones due to a discovery of a cache of Red Backs in a warehouse, not too long ago.  Completed Red Back sets go for hundreds of dollars, while Blue Back sets can reach thousands of dollars.  I don't own a single Blue Back 1951 Topps.  Christmas IS coming up though, just saying...  Anyway, here we go!

Yogi Berra (b. 1925) played in the majors from 1946 to 1963 with the Yankees and returned for 4 games in 1965 with the Mets. He is one of the most popular players of all time and is widely considered one of the greatest catchers ever. He retired with 2,150 hits, 358 home runs and a lifetime batting average of .285. Here is a look at some more of Yogi's accomplishments:

• 15-time All Star (1948 to 1961)
• 3-time AL MVP (1951, 1954, 1955)
• 10-time World Series Champion as a player (1947, 1949-1953, 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962)
• 3-time World Series Champion as a coach (1969 - Mets and 1977 & 78 - Yankees)
• Managed the Yankees to the AL pennant in 1963
• Managed the Mets to the NL pennant in 1973
• New York Yankees #8 retired in 1972
• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 on 85.6% of the ballot (2nd ballot)

Hall of Fame: 1
Manager: 1