The Taking of the Pelham Six Four Five Bin
June 17th, 2010 by slangon
I really sort of hate to commit to collecting another vintage set when I’m still embroiled in my battle with the 1960 set, but I gotta say, I like me some 63’s. Actually, I’m kind of unsure why when I decided to try and chase a vintage set I chose the 1960 set rather than the 1963 set. I’ve always maintained that the ’63 was my favorite set from the 60’s so you would think that it would be a no-brainer to go after that one. I think at the time that I made that decision, I had more cards from the 1960 set than any others, so I guess I thought it would be a bit easier.
Well, hindsight and all that. Regardless, the 6-4-5 bin had a boatload of nice 63’s, so I stocked up a bit.
1963 Topps #96 Lou Clinton
One of my favorite design features of the ’63 set is the little circle with the small black and white portrait of the player. I find it kind of humorous when that photo is pretty much the same as the larger color photo. Somehow, I find it slightly funnier when it’s clearly not the same exact photo, but might as well be. Want to hear some interesting trivia about Lou Clinton? On August 9, 1960, Cleveland Indian Vic Power hit a shot that ricocheted off of the top of the right field fence and caromed towards Lou. The ball then hit off of his foot and bounced over the fence. The umpire ruled it a home run since the ball never touched the ground. Talk about booting a ball.
1963 Topps #24 Bob Bruce
I’ve mentioned in the past that I love the name Colt .45’s for a team, right? Whether it’s named after the gun or the malt liquor, it’s alright by me. I’m a little bummed at this card for not showing the full logo that would be on the front of the players jersey, but I’ll get over it. Want to hear some interesting trivia about Bob Bruce? Apparently he’s was the 12th pitcher in Major League history to strike out 3 batters using only 9 pitches. That’s called an immaculate inning.
1963 Topps #74 Denver Lemaster
When I was searching for info on Denver here, I did a Google search for “denver lemaster” and 90% of the returns came back for “Denny Lemaster”. Now I don’t know about you, but if I had a name as unusual as Denver, I think I would want to be called Denver. Want to hear some interesting trivia about Denver Lemaster? In 1964 he lead the National League in wild pitches. (Interestingly, Don Drysdale was tied for 6th and Sandy Koufax was tied for 10th.)
1963 Topps #164 Bubba Morton
You’ve got to love a guy named Bubba. Yeah, I realize that Bubba is not his christian name. His real name is the rather impressive sounding Wycliffe Nathaniel Morton. According to Baseball-Reference, this Bubba is one of 8 Bubba’s to play in the Majors. Want to hear some interesting trivia about Bubba Morton? Although this 1963 card depicts him as a member of the Detroit Tigers, he was traded mid-season to the Milwaukee Braves, where his roommate was future Hall of Famer and Home Run King, Henry Aaron.
1963 Topps #262 Ellis Burton
Cool. Another member of the team formerly known as the Colt .45’s. I’ve been noticing that on a lot of cards from ’63, in the small black and white portrait, the logo on the hat looks gigantic. Was Topps doing that on purpose for legibility issues? Want to hear some interesting trivia about Ellis Burton? On May 3, 1961, while playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs (the AAA baseball team, not the NHL hockey team) Ellis hit a 2-run homer as a left-handed batter, followed by a grand slam as a right-handed batter, becoming the first player in Organized Baseball to accomplish that feat. Once he made it to the Majors, he repeated it twice, but at that point it had been done on the Major League stage twice (by Mickey Mantle and Jim Russell).
1963 Topps #296 Doc Edwards
Like Bubba’s, I’m also a fan of ball players named Doc. Unlike Bubba though, there were 83 Major Leaguers who went by the name Doc. 84 if you count Dock Ellis, who has the distintion of being the only player actually named Dock. Want to hear some interesting trivia about Doc Edwards? He earned the nickname “Doc” while serving as a medic in the Navy.
What is the Pelham reference?