The Quest for the 1960 Topps Set, Part XXXIII
February 15th, 2012 by slangon

I recently hit up that wondrous Virtual Quarter Bin that is Sportlots in search of some cards that I needed for my 1960 Topps set. I was able to knock off the equivalent of 3 nickel packs and with no doubles to boot. Of course, that would’ve run me 15ยข back in 1960, whereas I shelled out a whopping $3.63. Considering CPI Inflation, $0.15 in 1960 money should’ve run me $1.14 these days, but I’m not complaining.

Let’s see what we got.

#64 Jack Meyer

Although, I normally don’t take too kindly to Phillies, I admire Jack for turning down the Yankees in order to play for his home town Phillies. I guess that means I hate the Yankees more than the Phillies. By the way, this round of Guess the Stadium in the Background was pretty easy thanks to Jack wearing the Phil’s home whites. That there is Connie Mack Stadium.

#80 Johnny Antonelli

Johnny Antonelli started his career with the Boston Braves but in 1954 was traded to the Giants for Bobby Thomson. You would think that being traded for one of the biggest heroes in franchise history would be a daunting task, but it seems Johnny was up to the challenge. He went 21-7 that year and led the N.L. with a 2.30 ERA. He also went 1-0 with 1 save, a miniscule 0.84 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 10.2 innings during the Giants World Series Championship. Things aren’t all peaches and cream in Antonelli land, though. After the ’61 season, he was sold to the expansion Mets, but opted to retire rather than play for them. Not cool, dude.

I was also just realizing that with the addition of these 2 cards, I’m down to only needing 4 more to polish off Series 1 of the 1960 set. I never really though about my chasing this set in terms of series, but maybe I should. It makes it seem a little bit more possible.

#235 Gus Bell

You know, I could sit here and talk about how Gus is the first of 3 generations of Bell’s to play in the Major Leagues. I could tell you about how he was a 4 time All-Star or about how he once drove in 8 runs in one game. I could talk about how he too was drafted by the expansion Mets in 1961, but had the good manners to actually play for them. I could say a lot of things about Gus Bell, but dammit, just look at how happy he is to be playing baseball for a living.

#249 Earl Wilson

Earl Wilson had a pretty nice career as a pitcher. In 11 seasons, he went 121-109 with a tidy 3.69 ERA and 1452 strikeouts. He was also a pretty feared hitter n his day. He hit 35 dingers over the course of his career, including 7 in one season in 1968. Not bad for a guy who only plays every 5 days.

#252 Ray Herbert

There’s a lot of weird things going on on this card. First off, there’s about 17 different shades of green, which combined with the orange background behind Ray’s posed action shot, reminds me of a minty orange creamsicle. Then there’s all the weird angles. The card is slightly diamond cut to begin with, then the whole center of the card is printed crookedly, then there’s the angles of the dugout roof behind Ray’s head. On top of all of that, his headshot is a pretty damn poor choice for a card that is a horizontal layout. Since his chin is pretty much cut off, I keep envisioning it going down about 4 feet below the green bar with his information on it. Fun.

#254 Arnie Portocarrero

Where’s the Night Owl when you need him?

#277 Harry Bright

Harry Bright was just 16 years old when he was drafted by the Yankees, but his transaction list on Baseball-Reference reads like driving directions my 3 year old would give. He was signed by the Yanks in 1946 and released the following year. Then he was drafted by the Cubs from the Miami Owls, a minor league team in the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League. The he was drafted from the Cubs by York of the Interstate League and returned a few months later. Then he was traded from the Cubs to the White Sox, drafted from the White Sox by the Tigers, sold to the Sacramento Solons of the PCL, bought from them by the Pirates, drafted from the Pirates by the Cubs (again), returned to the Pirates, traded to the Senators, traded to the Reds, bought from the Reds by the Yankees and released the following year. Can you guess what the final transaction of his career was? If you guessed signed by the Cubs, you’d be right.

2 Responses to “The Quest for the 1960 Topps Set, Part XXXIII”

  1. Am I going crazy or are the letters that make up the player’s name sometimes level and sometimes not? The Harry Bright card is the most obvious card with letters that aren’t straight. I’ve never noticed this before on the 1960 cards.

  2. Funny. Now that you mention it, the Antonelli card is pretty bad with it as well. And the Earl Wilson to a lesser extent. I wonder if it has to do with the red/black color combo. Hmmm. I think I smell another installment of What Were They Thinking?

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