I picked up a couple of cheap lots of '52 Topps from eBay. I've been willing to pay a couple bucks a card for this set.
This was a two card lot featuring Walt Dropo and Frank Hiller. Card Boredom did some research on the Hiller card and determined the photo was probably taken when Hiller was a Yankee. #9 behind Hiller is probably 5-time All-Star Charlie "King Kong" Keller, a Yankees fan favorite.
Another great set of cards - future Yankee manager Clyde King, Ralph Branca on the first card after his infamous pitch to Bobby Thomson, and Gus Zernial's card celebrating his record six home runs in three games, one of the greatest cards of the era.
The back of the King card is fun, too. Kids would often "update" the card by writing the new team name on the card. This kid cut out Boston Red Sox, possibly from a newspaper, and carefully taped it over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Funnily enough, King was never a Red Sox. He was traded to the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1953, and probably the owner confused the Redlegs and Red Sox.
funny story about the King card.
ReplyDeleteSolid batch of 52's. Just read an article about Zernial a few days ago that pointed out he had the 3rd most home runs in the AL during the 50's behind Mantle & Berra.
ReplyDeleteThat's a wild stat. And I also never knew the significance of the 6 baseballs on this card.
DeleteThe Frank Hiller looks really sharp. And I love that Zernial, such a classic photo
ReplyDeleteI was watching that 52 lot and was thinking that the king card would make for a good blog post.
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