The Cards: 1947-66 Exhibits Al Kaline Two Bats Portrait

Card Details:

Manufacturer: Exhibits Supply Company

Year: 1947-66

Card Number: N/A

Paper: Heavy Stock Cardboard

Size: Postcard (3 3/8” x 5 3/8”)

Card Status: 3rd or 4th Year

The Set:

The 1947-66 Exhibits set was manufactured and distributed by the Exhibit Supply Company in Chicago, Illinois. The set consists of 330 unnumbered cards that were printed and issued yearly for nearly 2 decades. Because of this long print run many players have multiple cards printed.

Every card features a black-and-white action shot or portrait photo on the front and a majority of the print run is blank backed. The players’ names can be found in script somewhere on the front of each card as well.  For this set the words “Made in the USA” or “Printed in the USA” can be found in the bottom right corner of every card, with slight variations in the manner of printing these are the best tool to help better identify which year(s) the card may be from. The best tool for this identification is the KeyMan Collectibles page that has a Dating Chart created on it’s website.

The Card:

The Al Kaline Two Bat portrait is one of 2 cards of Mr. Tiger that can be found in the 1947-66 Exhibits set. The card itself is vertically oriented with Kaline in his home white uniform holding two bats out in front of him. A facsimile representation of his autograph can be found on the right side of the postcard, just above the Old English D of his uniform.

To the best of my ability, using the KeyMan dating chart, I estimate that this Exhibit example is early in Kaline’s career; either the 1957 or 1958 print run of the set.

The back of this card is blank, unlike it’s 1962 counterpart that can be found with either a red or black stat back.

The Player:

Bat: Right Throw: Right

Height: 6’2” Weight: 180lbs

Debut: 25 June 1953 Final: 2 October 1974

DOB: 19 December 1934 Death: 6 April 2020

If you are to believe Baseball-Reference Kaline was signed (at the age of 19) to a $25,000 bonus, however, the back of his rookie card indicates that it was a $35,000 signing. Kaline never played a game at the minor league level, instead, he joined the Tigers immediately after high school in 1953.

In 1973 Kaline became the third recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given out to those who “Demonstrates the values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others.” Al remains the only Detroit Tiger to have one the award, which has been awarded since 1971.

At the end of his career Kaline tallied 3,007 hits, 1,622 runs scored, 1,582 RBI, 399 homeruns and a .297 batting average. Kaline also became the youngest batting champion ever in 1955, beating out fellow Tiger Ty Cobb by one day in age. While Kaline’s career numbers make not be eye popping, only having managed three 100 RBI seasons one 200 hit season and no seasons with 30 homeruns, his numbers are extremely impressive seeing that he played during the second dead ball era (1963-76).

Notable Achievements:

·       15x AL All-Star (1955-87, 1971 & 1974)

·       10x Gold Glove Winner (1957-59 & 1961-67)

·       AL Batting Average Leaders (1955)

·       AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959)

·       AL OPS Leader (1959)

·       AL Hits Leader (1955)

·       AL Total Bases Leader (1955)

·       AL Doubles Leader (1961)

·       20-Homerun Seasons: 9 (1955-57, 1959, 1962-63, 1966-67 & 1969)

·       100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1955-56 & 1963)

·       200 Hit Seasons: 1 (1955)

·       ROY Voting: 3rd Place (1954)

·       Top-10 MVP Vote Finish: 9 (1955-57, 1959, 1961-63, & 1966-67)

·       World Series Champion (Detroit, 1968)

·       Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1980 (Became 10th player to be elected to HOF in first year on ballot)

Population and Sales:

PSA has 13,255 graded examples of the Exhibits set. Of this population, only a mere 71 of the Two Bat portraits have been graded; accounting for only 0.5% of the total population. There are 56 examples of whole grades, 13 with “+” (or half grades) and 2 that have a qualifier attached to them. The card from my Personal Collection has been graded PSA 5.5 and has a population of just 5 with 37 higher examples.

Population Report

The current VCP for a PSA 5.5 is $16, however, this is extremely out of date. There are only two “recent” sales that can be found on Vintage Card Prices website; one from 2012 ($29.25) and another from 2013 ($16.00).

As you can see below, it’s rather difficult to assign a value/price to any Kaline Exhibits piece due to a low overall population. According to PSA the sale prices have ranged from $9 for a PSA 3 (VG) up to $368 for a PSA 9 (MINT).

Auction Prices Realized Chart

Work Cited

“1947-1966 Exhibit Baseball Card Checklist.” 1947-1966 Exhibit Baseball Card Checklist, http://keymancollectibles.com/baseballcards/exhibit/19471966exhibitbaseballcards.htm.

“Al Kaline Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More.” Baseball, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kalinal01.shtml.

“Al Kaline.” Al Kaline - BR Bullpen, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Al_Kaline.

Baseball Cards - 1947-1966 Exhibits | PSA CardFacts®. https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1947-1966-exhibits/987.

“Exhibit Supply Company Dating Chart.” Exhibit Baseball Card Dating, http://keymancollectibles.com/exhibitdatechart.htm.

The Cards: 1948 Leaf Warren Spahn

1948 Leaf Spahn card front

Card Details:

Manufacturer: Leaf

Year: 1948

Card Number: 32

Paper: Coarse Cardstock

Size: 2 3/8” x 2 7/8”

Card Status: Rookie

The Set:

The 1948 Leaf Baseball Set is the smallest we have profiled in “The Cards” to date; made up of a mere 98 cards. Despite being only 98 cards, the set is numbered 1-168. Leaf became the first to use number-skipping print methods. There are some collector’s who believe this method was a deliberate and deceitful move by the manufacturer; forcing collectors to buy more packs to fill in the “holes” of the set. Other’s believe Leaf had originally intended to produce another series that filled the gaps and simply never complete it.

The original 98 cards were released in two series, the first of which were more widely distributed. This lower distribution for the second series resulted in those 49 cards becoming Short-Prints. This set from Leaf became the first colorized series to be issued after World War II; this colorization made the Leaf set much more desirable that its black-and-white counterpart issued by rival Bowman.

Many hobby experts will tell you that they believe this set was not actually released until 1949, despite many the cards having a copyright date of 1948 on the backs. This belief comes from the fact that there are a significant number of cards in the series that have a copyright date of 1949 on the back; thus, they believe some were produced in 48, however, the set was not actually released until 49. The cards were also printed on a coarse cardstock, leaving them susceptible to quick damage.

The set itself is loaded with stars of the day and had an extremely loaded front containing Joe DiMaggio (No. 1), Babe Ruth (No. 3) and Stan Musial (No. 4) [HOF RC]. The set also contained stars like: Luke Appling, Bobby Doerr, Bob Feller, Ted Kluszewski, Enos Slaughter, Ted Williams and Honus Wagner. Future HOFer is also joined by the HOF Rookie Cards of Larry Doby, George Kell, Hal Newhouser, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Phil Rizzuto, Warren Spahn and Ralph Kiner.

Upon distribution each card had the words “All-Star Baseball Gum” printed across the bottom of the card followed by one of three premium offers for collectors. The offers were as follows:

1. Submit 10 wrappers to the vendor they bought from and receive a 5 ½” x 7 ½” black-and0white portrait of one of eight hall of famers (Glover Alexander, Mickey Cochrane, Lou Gehrig, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Babe Ruth and Ed Walsh.)

2. Mail five wrappers and 10 cents to Leaf to obtain a 12” x 6” pennant of their favorite big league team.

3. Send in five wrappers and 25 cents to obtain an album that would hold up to 168 cards.

The Card:

1948 Leaf Spahn card back

No. 32 Warren Spahn of the 1948 Leaf Baseball set has a solid bold orange background with a colorize portrait of Spahn’s face emblazoned on the front; Spahn is in the Boston Braves ballcap. Surrounding the orange background is a thin white border. At the base of the card Spahn’s name can be found in all capitals within a black strip that runs across from right to left within the background.

The card’s reverse contains much more information than its front. The first thing that is seen across the top is the card number (32) and player’s name. Directly below with a center justification Spahn’s position and team can be found. Continuing down the card collectors can find the pertinent biographical information including but not limited to age, height, and weight.

Most of the back is filled with a blurb about the player, Spahn’s reads:

One half of Braves’ famous Sain-Spahn pitching combination that paced team to 1948 NL Pennant. Won one and lost one in World Series vs. Cleveland. During season’s play captured 15 decisions and dropped 12 with ERA of 3.71 – 13th best in the circuit. Led NL in ERA in 1947 with 2.33 mark; most innings pitched (290) and most shutouts (7). Won 21 and lost 10.

As mentioned above, the back of the card also contains one of the three promotions. No. 32 is printed with Promo 3 and reads:

Collect this series of Diamond Greats. You’ll be proud to show your gorgeous collection of Baseball cards in beautiful, specially-designed, 32 pg. album. Get it for only 5 Baseball Wrappers and 25c. Striking color cover. Large (11” x 8 ½”) heavy black pages. Can display 168 different Baseball cards. Send wrappers and coin to LEAF GUM CO., Box 5907 CHICAGO 80, ILL.

The copyright date across the bottom of the card is dated 1948.

The Player:

Bat: Left Throw: Left

Height: 6’0” Weight: 175lbs

Debut: 19 April 1942 Final: 1 October 1965

DOB: 23 April 1921 Death: 24 November 2003

Warren Spahn is the winningest left-handed pitcher in MLB history having captured 363 wins over the course of his career, including 13 seasons of 20 or more wins. Spahn would break into the league in 1942 with the Boston Braves and would later join the US Army that same year. During his service time he participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the Taking of the Bridge at Remagen. For his service he was awarded a Purple Heart (wounded in battle) and a Bronze Star (conspicuous bravery while under fire).

Spahn aged like fine wine, only getting better with age. In fact, he won at least 20 games in each of the 1956-61 seasons, led the league in complete games from 1957-63 and put together an extremely impressive 1963 campaign going 23-7 with a 2.60 ERA. In fact, the most memorable performance of his career came in 1963 against the San Francisco Giants on 3 July 1963. Spahn squared off against Juan Marichal and both pitched 16 innings of shutout baseball until Willie Mays took Spahn deep to win the game.

When it came to pitching Spahn once said “A pitcher needs two pitches – one they’re looking for and one to cross them up” when, in reality, he developed a number of off-speed pitches to go along with his fastball. When he started to lose his fastball later in his career, he added yet another pitch to his arsenal; the screwball.

Being a pitcher before 1973, when the Designated Hitter was introduced to the game, Spahn found himself having to hit at the plate. He was a career .194 hitter (not to shabby for a hurler) and he hit 35 homeruns, collected 189 RBI and scored 141 runs to help himself out. He ended his career having earned himself 363 career hits, one for each of his career wins! Altogether, Spahn would hit .200 or better in 8 seasons and posted a career high .333 BA in 1958 during which he hit 6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homeruns and drove in 15 runs while scoring 10 himself.

Spahn’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame was delayed. Fellow HOFer Stan Musial once said “I don’t think Spahn will ever get into the Hall of Fame. He’ll never stop pitching.” Spahn could have been elected in 1971, however, he pitched for the Mexico City Tigers (Mexican League) in 1966 and the Tulsa Oilers (Pacific Coast League) in 1967 delaying his election until 1973. He became the 6th player elected in his first year of eligibility (82.89%).

After his playing years he managed the Tulsa Oilers from 1967-71. During his years at the helm he compiled a record of 373-339 and was League Champion in 1968 with a 95-53 record. With just over one week remaining in the 1971 season Spahn was informed that his contract with the team would be terminated upon the conclusion of the season; he informed the team he would not manage the final 7 games of the season. In October 1970 Spahn was offered the position of pitching coach with the St. Louis Cardinals for the 1971 season after Billy Muffett had been fired by the organization, obviously Spahn turned in down to stay with Tulsa to only be fired at the end of the season. He also spent two years as the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians.

Notable Achievements:

• 14x NL All-Star (1947, 1949-54, 1956-59 & 1961-63)

• ML Cy Young Award Winner (1957)

• 3x NL ERA Leader (1947, 1953 & 1961)

• 8x NL Wins Leader (1949-50, 1953 & 1957-61)

• NL Winning Percentage Leader (1958)

• 4x NL Innings Pitched Leader (1947, 1949 & 1958-59)

• 4x NL Strikeouts Leader (1949-52)

• 9x NL Complete Games Leader (1949, 1951 & 1957-63)

• 4x NL Shutouts Leader (1947, 1951, 1959 & 1961)

• 15 Win Seasons: 16 (1947-51 & 1953-63)

• 20 Win Seasons: 13 (1947, 1949-51, 1953-54, 1956-61 & 1963)

• 200 Inning Pitched Seasons: 17 (1947-63)

• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1949 & 1951)

• World Series Championships: 1 (1957 Milwaukee Braves)

• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1973

Records Held:

• Innings Pitched, Left-Hander, Career: 5243.2

• Wins, Left-Hander, Career: 363

• Starts Against Single Club, Career: 115 v. St. Louis

  • Also holds second place (108 v. New York) and tied third place (105 v. Detroit)

Population and Sales:

To date 26,245 cards from the 1948 Leaf Baseball set have passed through PSA in California. Of those, 945 are Warren Spahn (No. 32); a mere 3.6% of the graded population. The 945 can be broken down to 807 full grades, 107 half (+) grades and 31 qualifier (q) grades.

1948 Leaf Spahn Population Report

Of the 807 full grade cards 533 (66%) of them fall between PSA 3-6 and around 18% or 141 cards are PSA 7-8. There are only 5 cards graded PSA 9 or higher; four of which are in the PSA 9.

The current VCP of a PSA 1, like the one in my collection, is $185 with a high sale of $228 and low of $147.50. My purchase price back in 2020 was $149 so the card has seen a slight increase in value. The overall sales range from $49 for a PSA Authentic all the way to $31,200 for a PSA 9.

1948 Leaf Spahn price range

Work Cited

“1948 Leaf Baseball Cards: PSA Population.” Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), www.psacard.com/pop/baseball-cards/1948/leaf/41067.

“1948 Leaf Warren Spahn: PSA CardFacts®.” Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1948-leaf/warren-spahn-32/21555.

Admin. “Admin.” Society for American Baseball Research, Admin /Wp-Content/Uploads/2020/02/sabr_logo.Png, 4 Jan. 2012, sabr.org/bioproj/person/warren-spahn/.

“Baseball Cards - 1948 Leaf: PSA CardFacts®.” Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1948-leaf/144.

Guide, Baseball Card Value Price. “1948 Leaf Warren Spahn #32 (Hall of Fame).” 1948 Leaf Warren Spahn #32 Baseball - VCP Price Guide, vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1948-Leaf-Warren-Spahn-32/42400.

“Managers – Page 21.” RetroSimba, retrosimba.com/category/managers/page/21/.

“Tulsa Oilers (Baseball).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Oilers_(baseball).

“Warren Spahn Stats.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spahnwa01.shtml.

“Warren Spahn.” Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/spahn-warren.

“Warren Spahn.” Warren Spahn - BR Bullpen, www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Warren_Spahn.

The Cards: 1934 Goudey Charley Gehringer

Card Details:

Manufacturer: Goudey

Year: 1934

Card Number: 23

Paper: Cardstock

Size: 2 3/8” x 2 7/8”

Card Status: 2nd Year Goudey/11th Year Career

The Set:

The 1934 Goudey Baseball Card set contains a total of 96 cards within the run. The run set a modern standard for eye appeal at the time of its release. The card fronts contained bold background colors along with painted player images. Within the background line graphics of a baseball field and ball players can be found and the player painting is showcased in the card center. The cards are lined by a thin white border on all four sides with the player’s name in smaller print directly across the top middle. The bottom portion contains a blue strip with the likeness of superstar Lou Gehrig along with the phrase “Lou Gehrig says…” and when the cards are flipped to their reverse the backs are filled with statements, supposedly, authored by Gehrig himself.

The set is littered with superstars, including Jimmie Fox, Mickey Cochrane, Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Chuck Klein, Paul Waner, Frank Frisch, Carl Hubble, Lefty Grove and Hank Greenberg. Within the 96-card run only one player, Lou Gehrig, has multiple depictions (No. 32 & 61). Most notably, however, is the absence of Babe Ruth. 

The Card:

Card No. 23 is vertically oriented with a bold orange background. Gehringer’s painted portrait portrays him in a white home uniform, however, the team’s logo is missing from both the jersey top and cap. His mitt can be found on his left hand. Behind the portrait a line graphic of a baseball infield can be seen with a baserunner over Charlie’s left shoulder and a fielder over his right. As mentioned above, the blue strip containing Gehrig’s likeness and the phrase “Lou Gehrig says…” can be found at the bottom of the card.

The reverse of the card contains the account of Gehrig in small green font. It reads:

Take a combination of a fine fielder, a dependable hitter and a good baserunner and you have the makings of a star baseball player. That’s Charley Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers, Michigan born, Michigan bred and a Michigan baseball hero. In 1933 he was the best batting second baseman in the American League with an average of .325.

He is 31 years old, stands 5 feet, 11 inches high and weights 180 pounds. He bats left-handed, but throws right-handed. He began his professional career with the Tigers in 1925, virtually right out of college, and has held down the second base sack ever since.

There is no statistical information found on the back of the card.

The Player:

Bat: Left Throw: Right

Height: 5’11” Weight: 180lbs

Debut: 22 September 1924 Final: 27 September 1942

DOB: 11 May 1903 Death: 21 January 1993

Charlie Gehringer was born in Michigan and attended Fowlerville High School before going on to college at the University of Michigan. Gehringer had a 19-year playing career, all of which were with the Detroit Tigers and is widely considered to be one of the greatest second baseman of all time. During his playing time he earned himself the nickname of “Mechanical Man” because of his consistent approach to the game. He would go on to hit over .300 13 times and collect 200+ hits 7 times as well, he also ended his playing career with a career fielding percentage of .976.

Gehringer was also a member of Detroit’s “G-Men” with Goose Goslin and Hank Greenberg.

In 1929 Charlie led the league in stolen bases, doubles, triples, runs scored and hits; despite all of this he did not factor into the MVP vote for the season.

Charlie played in every inning of the first six All Star games in MLB History. He ended his career with a batting average of .320 having collected 2,839 hits, 1,774 runs scored and 1,427 RBI.

After retiring from the game, he joined the Navy in 1942 and served for four years. After his service Gehringer ran a successful Auto Accessories business and eventually became the Detroit Tigers General Manager for two years (1952-53) and later served as the teams Vice President. Gehringer was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949.

Notable Achievements:

6x AL All-Star (1933-38)

AL MVP (1937)

7x AL MVP Top-10 Vote Getter (1928, 1933-36 & 1938)

AL Batting Average Leader (1937)

2x AL Runs Scored Leader (1929 & 1934)

2x AL Hits Leader (1929 & 1934)

2x AL Doubles Leader (1929 & 1936)

AL Triples Leader (1929)

AL Stolen Base Leader (1929)

20-HR Seasons: 1 (1938)

100 RBI Seasons: 7 (1929, 1932-36 & 1938)

100 Runs Scored Seasons: 12 (1927-30, 1932-38 & 1940)

200 Hit Seasons: 7 (1929-30 & 1933-37)

World Series Title: 1 (1935, Detroit Tigers)

Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1949

Quotes About Charlie:

“Charlie Gehringer is in a rut. He hits .350 on Opening Day and stays there all season.” -Lefty Grove

“I’ve never seen one man hit in so much hard luck, consistently. Year after year, he leads the league in line drives right at somebody. No wonder he looks so sad.” – Bucky Harris

“Charlie says ‘hello’ on Opening Day, ‘goodbye’ on closing day, and in between hits .350.” – Mickey Cochrane

“I tell you, I used to cuss him – I couldn’t hit the ball past him. I’m left-handed and I just couldn’t get one through there on the ground. He’d just coast around that infield, just like somebody skating.” – Joe Sewell

“I always thought that Charlie was one of the great hitters of my time. He didn’t have the tremendous power of Jimmie Foxx, Ruth or Gehrig or those guys, but he was tough to strike out and he hit more line drives and met the ball more solidly than any hitter.” – Rick Ferrell

“You wind him up in the spring, turn him loose, he hits .330 or .340 and you shut him off at the end of the season.” – Lefty Gomez

Population and Sales:

According to PSA there are a total of 24,134 cards from the 1934 Goudey Baseball Set graded. Of those, only 404 cards are of No. 23 Gehringer – a mere 1.6% of the total population. There are 330 Full Grades, 60 Half (+) grades and 14 with Qualifiers. Of the full grade Gehringer population 200 of them can be found in grades PSA 2-5 (61%). To date there are no cards graded PSA 10, five graded PSA 9 and 19 graded PSA 8.

The current VCP on a PSA 2.5, like the one in my collection, is $102.50 with a high sale of $105 and low of $100. Per PSA, prices currently range from $62.98 for a PSA 1 up to $8,700 for a PSA 9.

Work Cited

1933 Goudey Charley Gehringer | PSA CardFacts®. www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1933-goudey/charley-gehringer-222/20453/.

“Charlie Gehringer Stats.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gehrich01.shtml.

“Charlie Gehringer.” Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehringer-charlie.

“Charlie Gehringer.” Charlie Gehringer - BR Bullpen, www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Charlie_Gehringer.

The Cards: 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson

Card Details:

Manufacturer: Topps

Year: 1980

Card Number: 482

Paper: Cardstock

Size: 2 1/2” x 3 1/2”

Card Status: Rookie

The Set:

The 1980 Topps Baseball Set contains a massive 726 total cards. Each of these cards has a full color photo that dominates the card front with the player’s name in all uppercase font directly above the photo along the top border. In the upper left-hand corner of the photo the player’s position can be found in a pennant; the player’s team can be found in a similar pennant in the bottom right corner. Each photo is surrounded by a thin, varying, color border and a facsimile autograph grades the photo as well.

When flipped to the reverse each card follows the typical Topps theme. Statistics, biographical information, and a cartoon with a snippet about the player can all be found.

This set is anchored by Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, George Brett and Reggie Jackson.

The Card:

Rickey Henderson’s 1980 Topps rookie card possess a vertical orientation. The photo is of him at Homeplate in a yellow Oakland A’s uniform. The position and team pennants follow the Athletics color theme of yellow and green, respectively. The color photo that dominates the front is surrounded by a thin blue border.

The back of his card carries a blue color theme to match the front photo’s border. The cartoon on the back depicts a 7-steal minor league game of Rickey’s, “Rickey had 7 stolen bases in one game at Modesto. May 26, 1977.”

This card tends to be extremely difficult to find well centered. Also, for some unexplained reason, the corners tend to be rather blunt from cutting and are susceptible to flaking which pull down grades when submitting. This card is also highly counterfeited, BUYER BEWARE.

The Player:

Bat: Right Throw: Left

Height: 5’10” Weight: 195lbs

Debut: 24 June 1979 Final: 19 September 2003

DOB: 25 December 1959 Death: N/A

Rickey Henderson put together a 25-year playing career and was one of the first players to habitually refer to themselves in the third person. In fact, when he was seeking a contract with the San Diego Padres the voicemail he left the General Manager went like this:

“Kevin this is Rickey. Call on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

Over his career Henderson played for 9 different teams: Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and LA Dodgers.

During his playing time many sportswriters did not care for his personality; he tended to talk himself up because he felt underappreciated by the public. However, he is widely considered to be the greatest leadoff hitter of all time.

In 1979 Henderson became the youngest player to ever steal three bases in a single game, beating a record held by Ty Cobb. Unfortunately, for Rickey, he is no longer the youngest player to do so. Juan Soto took down the 40-year record during the 2018 campaign.

Henderson not only had speed, having stole 1,406 bases in his career earning himself the nick name “Man of Steal”; he also had pop in his bat. He ended his career with 297 Homeruns, 81 of which were to lead off a game, along with 510 doubles.

Rickey ended his career with 1,406 stolen bases, 3,055 hits, 2,295 runs scored, 2,190 walks, .401 OBP, 297 HR and a .297 BA. He is part of the Class of 2009 elected to the Hall of Fame.

Notable Achievements:

• 10x All-Star (1980, 1982-88, 1990-91)

• AL MVP (1990)

• 1989 ALCS MVP (1989)

• 1x Gold Glove (1981)

• 3x AL Silver Slugger (1981, 1985 & 1991)

• NL Comeback Player of the Year (1999)

• AL OBP Leader (1990)

• AL OPS Leader (1990)

• 5x AL Runs Scored Leader (1981, 1985-86, 1989-90)

• AL Hits Leader (1981)

• 4x AL Base on Balls Leader (1982-83, 1989 & 1998)

• 12x Stolen Base Leader (1980-86, 1988-91, 1998)

• 20 HR Seasons: 4 (1985-86, 1990 & 1993)

• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 13 (1980, 1982-86, 1988-91, 1993, 1996 & 1998)

• 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 14 (1980-86, 1988-91, 1993, 1995 & 1998)

• 100 Stolen Bases Seasons: 3 (1980, 1982-83)

• 2x World Series Champion: 1989 (Oakland Athletics) & 1993 (Toronto Blue Jays)

• 5x Top-10 MVP Vote Getter (1980, 1981-82, 1985 & 1989)

Records Held

• Career Runs: 2,295

• Career Stolen Bases: 1,406

• Single Season Stolen Bases: 130 (1982)

• Career Stolen Base Attempts: 1,731

• Single Season Stolen Base Attempts: 172 (1982)

• Caught Stealing Career: 325

• Single Season Caught Stealing: 42 (1982)

• Career Walks (Right-Handed Batter): 2,190

• Career Leadoff Homeruns: 81

Population and Sales:

According to PSA a total of 109,206 1980 Topps Baseball cards have passed through their grader’s hands. Of those, 22,632 or 20.7% of the total population are Rickey Henderson’s rookie card. Rickey’s card has 21,632 with full grades, 477 “+” or half grades, and 558 with qualifiers. Nearly 80% of the graded Henderson’s can be found in grades 7-9; 5,347 7s, 9,922 8s, and 2,008 9s grace the population report. PSA 10s are extremely rare with only 25 specimens earning the mark.

Sale prices are steadily rising. Per PSA, an authentic mark currently grabs around $37.96 and the last 10 to sell pulled in $180,100 on February 16, 2021 via PWCC Auctions on eBay. The current VCP on a PSA 7, like mine, is $275.96 with a high sale of $400 and a low of $185.73. I purchased mine back on July 22, 2020 for a measly $71, I’d say a 288.67% price increase in a short 7 months is a nice return!

Work Cited

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson | PSA CardFacts®. www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1980-topps/rickey-henderson-482/37164/.

Glew, Kevin. Collecting Rickey's Cards - Henderson Headed for Cooperstown. www.psacard.com/articles/articleview/5581/collecting-rickeys-cards-henderson-headed-cooperstown.

Glew, Kevin. PSA Set Registry: 1980 Topps Baseball Cards -Tomorrow's ... www.psacard.com/articles/articleview/5490/psa-set-registry-1980-topps-baseball-cards-tomorrows-vintage.

“Rickey Henderson Stats.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/henderi01.shtml.

“Rickey Henderson.” Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/henderson-rickey.

“Rickey Henderson.” Rickey Henderson - BR Bullpen, www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Rickey_Henderson.

The Cards: 1951 Bowman Enos Slaughter

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/.