Tuesday, October 18, 2016

#362 Ray Jablonski


Army vet Ray Jablonski played eight seasons in the majors and a lot more in the minors as a 'good hit/no field' third baseman. He had two very good years for the Cardinals, even making the All Star team in 1954, before he lost his spot to an emerging Ken Boyer. 

In 1958 he was in his second season with the Giants and played behind Jim Davenport but still managed to slug a dozen homers. He was dealt to the Cardinals in 1959 and then spent his final years with the Athletics before a career closing minor league stint.

He's seen on this card with a cap adorned with a Topps artists' imagined rendition of the SF Giants logo. It strongly resembles that of the old PCL SF Seals' cap and will be seen throughout this set on Giants players' cards. The light blue background is one of the rarer ones. 


WikiFact: Jablonski is one of only two players with a single, double and homer in each of the first two games of a season. He pulled off the feat in 1956.  Adrian Gonzalez did it for the Padres in 2015.

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