Card Details:
Manufacturer: Bowman
Year: 1951
Card Number: 58
Paper: Cardstock
Size: 2 1/16” x 3 1/8”
Card Status: 11th Year
The Set:
The 1951 Bowman Baseball Card Set totaled 324 cards, however, it had an initial run of only 252 cards when late in the production run the “High Number” series was printed. This high number series cards were card numbers 253-324. To date this set is the largest set ever produced by Bowman. With the high number of cards in the set it meant that 85% of all players in the league during the 1951 season ended up receiving a card in the set.
Most of the cards in the set have a vertically oriented player portrait. Each of the portraits used were recognizable press photos of the players turned color painted masterpieces by Bowman. There were a small number of cards, 39 to be exact, that were horizontally oriented; most significantly both Mickey Mantle (No. 253) and Willie Mays (No. 305), both their true Rookie Cards.
Within the set you will find one unique card and that would be card number 195 of Chicago White Sox Manager Paul Richards. Richards was given an original piece of artwork in the set, a caricature. It was thought that he received this artwork because he was hired in as Chicago’s manager after the production of the set had already been started.
The ’51 Bowman set is loaded with Hall of Famers! The list includes: Whitey Ford (No. 1), Yogi Berra (No. 2), Robin Roberts (No.3), Phil Rizzuto (No. 26), Bob Feller (No. 30), Roy Campanella (No. 31), Duke Snider (No. 32), George Kell (No. 46), Johnny Mize (No. 50), Bob Lemon (No. 53), Enos Slaughter (No. 58), Pee Wee Reese (No. 80), Warren Spahn (No. 134), Larry Doby (No. 151), Ted Williams (No. 165), Casey Stengel (No. 181), Richie Ashburn (No. 186), Monte Irvin (No. 198), Nellie Fox (No. 232), Leo Durocher (No. 233), Mickey Mantle (No. 253), Frank Frisch (No. 282), Bill Dickey (No. 290), Al Lopez (No. 295) and Willie Mays (No. 305). The noticeable player missing from the set are Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial and Jackie Robinson.
The Card:
Enos Slaughter is portrayed in a vertical player portrait with strong reds and blues of the St. Louis Cardinals uniforms. The only addition to the front of the card is a subtle black block with a white all capitals player name near the bottom of the card.
When you flip the card over to reveal its back you will see a plain card stock with black and red texts. At the very top is the players name in bold red and all capitals and near the bottom the word “Baseball” in all capitals as well in bold red. The remaining text on the back is in black and gives Slaughter’s important measurables as well as a short paragraph about his recent years in the league. You can also find the card number just above the red “baseball” following the format of “No. 58 in the 1951 SERIES.”
The Player:
Bat: Left Throw: Right
Height: 5’9” Weight: 185lbs
Debut: 19 April 1938 Final: 29 September 1959
DOB: 27 April 1916 Death: 12 August 2002
Slaughter had a 19-year playing career in major league baseball. He ended his career with a .300 even batting average. Enos served in World War II from 1943-45 missing the prime years of his career (age 27-29 seasons). While serving in the war Slaughter served with both Joe Gordon and Vic Wertz in the Army Air Corps. During his 19-year playing career he collected 2,383 hits, scored 1,247 runs, hit 169 homeruns and drove in 1,304 RBI.
After having played 13 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals Enos was traded to the New York Yankees prior to the start of the 1954 season. Slaughter was extremely and openly upset about the trade, shedding tears in public. During his time with the Yankees he became a platoon player in the outfield, helping lead the Yanks to two World Series titles in 1956 and 1958.
He became known for his “Mad Dash” during which he ran through the stop sign of his third base coach during Game 7 of the 1946 World Series. Having run through the stop sign and hustling as hard as he could Slaughter ended up scoring what would be the game winning and World Series winning run.
After retiring in 1959 he went on to be a player/manager in the minor leagues for the 1960 and 1961 season. Later, Enos became the head coach of Duke University’s baseball team from 1971-77.
“I give it everything I’ve got. Always have played that way and I’ll do it as long as I can. Anyone who don’t should be sellin’ peanuts up in the stands.” – Enos Slaughter
“To be a big league ball player, you have to love the game. This is a pretty good game and a pretty swell way to make a living. The conditions in the majors are fine and the money is good. So I say keep yelling and hsutling every minute you’re in uniform.” – Enos Slaughter
Notable Achievements:
· 10x NL All-Star (1941-42 & 1946-53)
· NL Hits Leader (1942)
· NL Total Bases Leader (1942)
· NL Singles Leader (1942)
· NL Doubles Leader (1939)
· NL Triples Leader: 2 (1942 & 1949)
· NL RBI Leader (1946)
· 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1942, 1946-47)
· 5x Top-10 MVP Vote Getter (1942, 1946, 1948-49 & 1952)
· Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1985 – Veterans Committee
Population and Sales:
To date there are 542 examples of Enos Slaughter’s 1951 Bowman Baseball card have been graded by PSA. Of those 542 a total of 507 have a full grade, 30 have a half grade and only 5 have qualifiers. PSA has graded a total of 99,531 total ’51 Bowman Baseball cards, making Slaughters 542 examples less than 1% of the graded population. When you look at the 507 full grade cards 418 of them (79.3%) fall within the PSA 3-7 grades. There has yet to be a PSA 10 to pass through the grading process and only ten cards have earned a PSA 9. Prices range anywhere from $10.50 for a PSA 1 all the way up to $595.99 for a PSA 9, which sold on September 16, 2019 via Probstein on eBay. The current VCP on a PSA 6, which is the grade of the card in my PC, is $54.30 with a high sale of $67.46 and a low sale of $35.
Work Cited
1951 Bowman Enos Slaughter | PSA CardFacts®. www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1951-bowman/enos-slaughter-58/22235/.
“Enos Slaughter Stats.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/slaugen01.shtml.
“Enos Slaughter.” Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/slaughter-enos.
“Enos Slaughter.” Enos Slaughter - BR Bullpen, www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Enos_Slaughter.
Putman, Peter. 1951 Bowman Baseball Cards: A Colorful Milestone. www.psacard.com/articles/articleview/5858/1951-bowman-baseball-cards-colorful-milestone/.