Another TTM Success From Eddie Robinson

Eddie Robinson is 98 years old, and still is signing through the mail.  I have gotten him several times, but this time around, I wanted to add another 1951 Topps Red Back to my autograph album.  There are only a handful of players left who appear in the Red and Blue Back sets, so I wanted to get them while I could.

I paid a fee of $10.00 when I mailed this card off on March 5.  The card came back signed on May 28, for an 84-day TAT.

TTM Success - Wally Westlake

This was a pretty awesome TTM success that I was really excited to get to post tonight.  I have been waiting patiently for a while, and I have finally come to it in my queue of TTMs to be posted.  I picked up two much needed vintage cards for the album in these Wally Westlake cards.  The above is only my second 1951 Topps Red Back autograph.  It turned out great, and Westlake has a great signature for his age.

This is my second signed 1949 Bowman, the other was the Bobby Brown auto.  This one really pops with the red background.  It was a decently cheap card when I picked it up, so I was happy to be able to get it out and get it signed.  Westlake also answered my questions, one of which was "Who was your favorite player when you were growing up?"  His response?  Babe Ruth.

Westlake really surprised me, not only by signing the letter I sent, but also for sending along two signed and inscribed photos.  They're real photos, not cheap prints, or post cards.  I thought it was a really awesome gesture.

Westlake (b. 1920) made his major-league debut on April 15, 1947.  Let that sink in for just a second.  His major league debut was 70 years ago, at the age of 26.  He is now 96, and is still signing autographs for fans.  He played in the majors from 1947 to 1956 for the Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, Indians, Orioles and Phillies.  He had 848 hits, 127 home runs and a .272 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1951 and appeared in the 1954 World Series.  His Indians lost to the New York Giants in a 4-game sweep.

His time with the Orioles was brief, he appeared in 8 games for the O's after being traded from Cleveland and before being moved again to the Phillies.

I mailed to Westlake on March 14 and got the cards back on April 3, for a 20-day TAT.

TTM Success - Roy Sievers

I got a TTM success this past Thursday (March 24) from Roy Sievers that really helped out my Topps Autograph Project.  I got a 1951 and a 1952 Topps signed by Sievers, and those were my first from both of those years.  The 51 is a Red Back; I have two Blue Backs mailed out, that I hope to see come back soon.

I'm really happy about this 1952.  I have since received another signed 52, and have mailed out several more.  I didn't realize how much I really loved this set.  Unfortunately, barring a lottery win, I doubt I will be able to complete this set in my lifetime.  Mantle 52, you know.  Ouch.

I picked up both of these cards on Ebay and mailed the out on March 15.  I got them back with a 9-day TAT.

Sievers (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1949 to 1965 for the Browns, Senators, White Sox and Phillies.  He had 1,703 hits, 318 home runs and a lifetime average of .267.  He led the AL in home runs in 1957 with 42 and also led with 114 RBI.  Not your prototypical home run hitter (by today's mold, at least), he never struck out more than 88 times in a season.  He finished third in the 1957 AL MVP voting (behind Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams) and was the 1949 AL Rookie of the Year.

Sievers appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1971 and 1972, but only received a maximum of 1.8% of the vote (1971).  This is my second success from Sievers.  I received a signed ball from him on August 24, 2011.  You can see that post here.

1951 Topps Red Back Recap

Well, I have blogged for you each and every card from the 1951 Topps Red Back set.  All 52 cards were chronicled.  It was a fun set to blog.  There were some big stars in the set, such as Yogi Berra, Warren Spahn and Bob Feller.  We learned that, of the 52 players in the set, only 10 of them are still living.  10 of them went on to become big league managers and 8 of them were enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Not bad.  It's kind of sad that only 10 out of 52 of the players are still living, but the set is 62 years old now.

So, I hope you all enjoyed this feature of the blog.  I'm not sure if I will do this again, as all of the other sets I have completed are pretty huge.  I might do it again if I finish the 1961 Golden Press or 1961 Nu Card Scoops sets.  We'll see.

1951 Topps Red back #52 - Tommy Holmes

Tommy Holmes (b. 1917 - d. 2008) played in the majors from 1942 to 1952 for the Braves and Dodgers.  He had 1,507 hits, 88 home runs and a .302 batting average.  Holmes led the league in home runs in 1945 with 28.  He also had 224 hits that season while batting .352.  Holmes finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting that season to Phil Cavarretta.  Holmes appeared on two Hall of Fame ballots (1958 and 1960) and received at most, 0.8% of the vote.

Tommy Holmes was a player/manager for the Boston Braves in 1951 and 1952 where he was 61-69 (.469 win %).

Deceased: 42
Manager: 10

1951 Topps Red Back #51 - Eddie Robinson

Eddie Robinson (b. 1920) played in the majors from 1942, 1946 to 1957 for the Indians, Senators, White Sox, A's (Philadelphia and Kansas City), Yankees, Tigers and Orioles.  He had 1,146 hits, 172 home runs and a .268 batting average over parts of 13 seasons.  He played on the 1948 World Series Champion Indians (and is one of the few living members of that team).  He was a 4-time All Star and finished as high as 11th in the AL MVP voting.

Robinson still signs TTM and I got a ball back from him on November 4, 2012 after sending a donation of $10.

1951 Topps Red Back #50 - Monte Irvin

Monte Irvin (b. 1919) was a star of the Negro Leagues well before he entered MLB in 1949.  He played for the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues from 1938 to 1942 and 1945 to 1948 and then played for the New York Giants from 1949 tom1955 and the Cubs in 1956.  Irvin finished third in the NL MVP voting in 1951.  In 8 MLB seasons, he had 731 hits, 99 home runs and a .293 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Giants in 1954.  He played in two total World Series (1951 and 1954) and batted .394 over 10 World Series games.

Irvin was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973 by a special negro League committee.  That Hall of Fame class was a special one, it included Irvin, Warren Spahn (who was elected by the BBWAA), Billy Evans, High Pockets Kelly and Mickey Welch (all elected by the Veterans Committee) and Roberto Clemente (elected by a special committee because of his premature death).

Hall of Fame: 8

1951 Topps Red Back #49 - Al Zarilla

Al Zarilla (b. 1919 to 1996) played in the majors from 1943-44 and 1946 to 1953 for the Browns, Red Sox and White Sox.  He had 975 hits, 61 home runs and a .276 batting average.  He was an All Star once in his career (1948) and finished as high as 18th in the AL MVP voting that year.  He also batted above .320 twice in his career (.329 in 1948 and .325 in 1950).

Deceased: 41

1951 Topps Red Back #48 - Eddie Stanky

Eddie Stanky (b. 1915 - d. 1999) played in the majors from 1943 to 1953 for the Cubs, Dodgers, Braves, Giants and Cardinals.  He had 1,154 hits, 29 home runs and a .268 batting average over 11 seasons.  He finished as high as 3rd in the NL MVP voting in 1950 and was a 3-time All Star.  In 1945, while with Brooklyn, he led the league in plate appearances (725), walks (148) and runs (128).  He also led the league in walks two other times, 1946 and 1950.  Stanky appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1960 where he received 1.1% of the vote.

Stanky managed the Cardinals from 1952 to 1955; the White Sox from 1966 to 1968 and one game for the Rangers in 1977.  He had a career managerial record of 467-435 (.518).

Deceased: 40
Manager: 9

1951 Topps Red Back #47 - Tommy Glaviano

Tommy Glaviano (b. 1923 - d. 2004) played in the majors from 1949 to 1953 for the Cardinals and Phillies.  He had 259 hits, 24 home runs and a .257 batting average.

Deceased: 39

1951 Topps Red Back #46 - Billy Goodman

Billy Goodman (b. 1926 - d. 1984) played in the majors from 1947 to 1962 for the Red Sox, Orioles, White Sox and Colt .45s (Astros).  He had 1,691 hits, 19 home runs and a lifetime .300 batting average.  He batted over .300 five times in his career, culminating with an AL batting title in 1950 with a .354 average.  He batted .290 or better in 11 of the 16 seasons in which he played.  He finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1948 and was second in the AL MVP voting in 1950 (Phil Rizzuto won that year).  Goodman was also a 2-time All Star.

Deceased: 38

1951 Topps Red Back #45 - Andy Seminick

Andy Seminick (b. 1920 - d. 2004) played in the majors from 1943 to 1957 for the Phillies and Reds.  He had 953 hits, 164 home runs and a batting average of .243 over 15 years.  He finished 14th in the NL MVP voting in 1950 and was an All Star in 1949.

He appeared in the 1950 World Series that the Phillies lost to the Yankees.  Seminick went 2 for 11 (.182 batting average) with 0 home runs and 0 RBIs during the series.

Deceased: 37

1951 Topps Red Back #44 - Sid Hudson

Sid Hudson (b. 1915 - d. 2008) played in the majors from 1940 to 1942, 1946 to 1954 for the Senators and Red Sox.  He was 104-152 in his career with a 4.28 ERA and 734 strikeouts.  He was a 2-time All Star and finished as high as 14th in the AL MVP voting in 1940 (his rookie season).

Deceased: 36

1951 Topps Red Back #43 - Maurice McDermott

Maurice "Mickey" McDermott (b. 1929 - d. 2003) played in the majors from 1948 to 1958 and 1961 for the Red Sox, Senators, Yankees, A's (Kansas City), Tigers and Cardinals.  He was a graduate of St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, NJ, which is significant to me because my Dad, aunt, uncle, grandmother and grandfather were all born in Elizabeth.  They didn't go to the school (they attended a school in nearby Roselle Park), but it is always cool to see people from that area.  The movie 'The Wrestler' took place in Elizabeth...  Just saying.

Anyway, McDermott had a career win/loss record of 69-69, with an ERA of 3.91 and 757 strikeouts.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1952.

Deceased: 35

1951 Topps Red Back #42 - Ray Scarborough

Ray Scarborough (b. 1917 - d. 1982) played in the majors from 1942 to 1943 and 1946 to 1953 for the Senators, White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees and Tigers.  He was 80-85 in his career with a 4.13 ERA and 564 strikeouts.  He was an All Star in 1950.  He won the World Series in 1952 with the Yankees.  Scarborough retired to Mount Olive, NC after his playing career ended and became friends with someone whom I later befriended as well.  So, there's a bit of a 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' between Scarborough and I.  I always though this was pretty cool.

Deceased: 34

1951 Topps Red Back #41 - Whitey Lockman

Whitey Lockman (b. 1926 - d. 2009) played in the majors from 1945, 1947 to 1960 for the Giants, Cardinals, Orioles and Reds.  He had 1,658 career hits, 114 home runs and a .279 batting average.  He was an All Star during one season (1952) and finished as high as 14th in the NL MVP voting.  He won the World Series in 1954 with the Giants.

He was the manager of the Cubs from 1972 to 1974 and had a career record of 157-162 (.492 win percentage).

Deceased: 33
Manager:  8

1951 Topps Red Back #40 - Mike Garcia

Mike Garcia (b. 1923 - d. 1986) played in the majors from 1948 to 1961 for the Indians, White Sox and Senators.  He had a career record of 142-97, 3.27 ERA and 1,117 strikeouts.  He won 20 or more games twice in his career and won 18 or more game 4 times.  He led the AL in ERA twice (1949 and 1954).  He finished as high as 9th in the AL MVP voting (1952) and was a 3-time All Star.  He only played in one game for the 1948 World Champion Indians and did not appear in any games during that World Series.

Deceased: 32

1951 Topps Red Back #39 - Ted Kluszewski

Ted Kluszewski (b. 1924 - d. 1988) played in the majors from 1947 to 1961 for the Reds, Pirates, White Sox and Angels.  He had 1,766 hits, 279 home runs and a batting average of .298 in his career.  He finished as high as second in the NL MVP voting (1954).  That season, he led the league with 49 home runs and 141 RBIs.  He hit 40 or more home runs 3 times in his career (1953 to 1955).  Kluszewski was a 4-time All Star.  He appeared in the 1959 World Series with the White Sox and went 9 for 23 (.391 batting average) and hit 3 home runs in the White Sox's loss to the Dodgers.

Kluszewski appeared on 15 Hall of Fame ballots from 1967 to 1981 but never received more than 14.4% of the vote (75% required for induction).

Deceased: 31

1951 Topps Red Back #38 - Duke Snider

Duke Snider (b. 1926 - d. 2011) played in the majors from 1947 to 1964 for the Dodgers (Brooklyn and LA), Mets and Giants.  he had 2,116 hits, 407 home runs and a .295 batting average over 18 seasons.  He led the league in  home runs with 43 in 1956.  He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons from 1953 to 1957.  He won the World Series with the Dodgers in 1955 and 1959.  He finished as high as 2nd in the NL MVP voting (1955) and was an eight-time All Star.

Snider was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980 (his eleventh ballot) when he received 86.5% of the vote.  Wow, what took the writers so long?  Were they misusing his WAR stat or something?

Deceased: 30
Hall of Fame: 7

1951 Topps Red Back #37 - Wes Westrum

Wes Westrum (b. 1922 - d. 2002) played in the majors from 1947 to 1957 for the Giants.  He had 503 hits, 96 home runs and a .217 batting average.  He was a 2-time All Star (1952 and 1952) and finished as high as 32nd in the 1950 NL MVP voting.  He won the World Series with the Giants in 1954 and received 1% of the vote when he appeared on his only Hall of Fame ballot in 1964.  He managed the Mets from 1965 to 1967 and then the Giants from 1974 to 1975.  His career managerial record was 260-366 (.415 winning percentage)  The oddest fact about him is that his middle name was Noreen.  I bet he thanked his parents for that one.

Deceased: 29
Manager: 7