#55 Chico Carrasquel

Alfonso 'Chico' Carrasquel, a native of Venezuela, was a standout defensive player at short for the WhieSox, Indians, A's and Orioles through the fifties. He started as a pro in his native country at 17 and was signed originally by the Dodgers in 1949. He was traded to the White Sox (possibly because of his difficulty with the English language) and became a fixture on the South Side for six seasons. 

While always known for his glove, Carrasquel was a pretty decent hitter. He had a few seasons with double-digit homers and had a career .258 average which is far above the Mendoza Line. He was dealt to the Indians after the '55 season to make way for another Venezuelan shortstop, Luis Aparicio.  

After two and a half years in Cleveland, he moved on to play w half year in Kanas City and then one final year at short for the Orioles. He attempted to rejoin the White Sox in 1960 but didn't make the team out of Spring Training. After a season in the minors, he retired. 

He returned home to play in the Winter Leagues and work with underprivileged kids in and around Caracas. There was a foundation started in his name to that end as well.

I like how it appears that he is wearing a much too large uni in this photo. The jersey is puckered, the pants cinched and the uni lettering just above his waist.

#47 Roger Maris

This is Roger Maris' rookie card and it's one of the more costly cards in the set. When I first decided to chase the Topps '58 set I tracked down a copy of this card at a too-good-to-be-true price on eBay. And, as you might have guessed, it was too good to be true. The card I bought was fake. But I learned a valuable lesson...read the whole description. The seller had, in very fine print at the bottom of the description, implied that the card might not be authentic. This copy is legit.

Maris was highly touted and had a minor league career that lived up to the hype. He made the Indians in 1957 and was off to a great start when injuries derailed his season. In 1958 a new regime, led by Frank Lane and Bobby Bragan, took over the Indians and after another injury, Maris' days in Cleveland were numbered.

He was traded to the Athletics in June and played well for KC until the inevitable trade to the Yankees for the 1960 season. Most of the rest is well known...the trials of his '61 homer season, trade to the Cardinals, etc. Here is Baseball Reference's list of Maris' notable achievements:

• 4-time AL All-Star (1959-1962)
• 2-time AL MVP (1960 & 1961)
• AL Gold Glove Winner (1960/RF)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1960)
• AL Runs Scored Leader (1961)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1961)
• AL Home Runs Leader (1961)
• 2-time AL RBI Leader (1960 & 1961)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1958 & 1960-1964)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1960-1962)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 50-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 60-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1960-1962)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1961)
• Won three World Series with the New York Yankees (1961 & 1962) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1967)

Looking at the reverse side of the cards shows that Maris is one of the very few players whose name is given a non-italic treatment to go along with the comic-style first letters. 

#35 Don Mossi

It's the ever-popular Don Mossi! Here's a Mossi tidbit...he led the AL in fielding three times.

Don was 101-80 over 12 seasons, all in the AL. He was on the '57 All-Star squad and was credited with a hold. He appeared in the 9th inning in old Busch Stadium in St. Louis, entering in relief of Billy Pierce who had gotten himself into a jam. Mossi stuck out Ed Mathews and allowed a single to Ernie Banks but Gus Bell was thrown out at third on the play. Bob Grim came in to relieve Mossi and finished off the NL by retiring Gil Hodges.

This copy of Don's card is not long for the set binder. I had marked it for upgrading (see the homemade editing?) but it got lost in the shuffle of chasing other sets. I rectified that on eBay the other day after I forgot to scout for a reasonable priced replacement at the TriStar show on Saturday.

UPDATE:
My upgraded copy arrived just a few hours after posting. Quick service from a company just north of here, Battersbox.

#32 J.W. Porter

J.W. Porter (the J.W. doesn't stand for anything, btw) had already been traded to Cleveland when this 1st Series card was issued in 1958. Porter was a hotshot baseball prospect who signed a contract with the Browns in 1951. On a side note...the scout that nabbed Porter spotted Frank Robinson in the same games and signed him to a smaller bonus(!).

Porter played for several clubs as a catcher and general utility guy through the 1959 season, never getting more than 140 at-bats. In a way, his career came 'full circle' when he finished it in the same city he had started it in, St. Louis. But his second stint in the Gateway City came with the Cardinals.

After his playing days, he managed in the minors. Here is a great mini-interview, and some cool pics, published in November by a site devoted to catchers.

#22 Hal Naragon

Catcher Hal Naragon advanced through the Indians' minor league system despite rather pedestrian numbers and a two year Korean War era military stint with the US Marines. In 1954 he stuck with the big club and spent until early in 1959 as Cleveland's primary backup catcher. He worked mostly behind Jim Hegan over that time and generally got 140ish at bats. His stats in the majors, at least with the Indians, were better than his minor league work would have suggested.

He spent the bulk of 1958 at AAA and was dealt to the Senators early in the  '59 season. In four seasons with the Nats/Twins he played again in a backup role. He retired after the '62 season in which he had less than 40 plate appearances.


After his playing days, he was a coach on the staffs of the Twins and Tigers through 1969. After that, he returned to his Barberton, Ohio hometown and ran a sporting goods store until he retired in 1990. He is currently alive and well at age 90 and still a fun interview apparently. His SABR bio is an entertaining read. 

The card's back is far better than the front thanks to cartoons that pointed out his field generalship and the 'lusty' .323 he hit in 1955.

#2 Bob Lemon

The 1958 set rolled out future Hall of Famers at spots #1 and #2 (and at #5, coming up soon). Bob Lemon was an infielder and outfielder in the Indians chain prior to his Navy service during WWII. He evolved into a successful starting pitcher in the mid-40s and went on to win over 200 games. He helped the Indians win the 1948 World Series with a couple of victories but lost both his games in the '54 Series against the Giants.

He was a seven time 20 game winner and spent his entire big league career in Cleveland. Those Indian clubs he played on had some of the best staffs in the history of the game. They featured, not only Lemon, but Bob Feller, Mike Garcia and Herb Score.

Following his playing career he stayed in the game as a coach, scout and manager. After a nice run skippering in the PCL  he managed the Royals, White Sox and most notably the Yankees with whom he won the 1978 Series. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976.

The front of this card suffers from the same 'scuffed' look as the Ted Williams. It's one on many in my '58 binder with glue/gum/whatever staining on the reverse.

#406 Vic Power

Vic Power was born in Puerto Rico as Victor Felipe Pellot. He won seven Gold Gloves, had four AL All Star appearances and eventually sported one of the best baseball names ever. He came up with the Philadelphia A's in 1954 but he had begun his pro career with in Canada's Provincial League in 1949. He was scouted and signed by the Yankees who dealt him to the A's after a couple of strong seasons in their chain. The reason the Yanks got rid of Power isn't certain but his Wikipedia page states this:

[In 1953] Power led the league with a .349 batting average. However, despite his skills he was not invited to spring training in [1952 or 1953].The Yankees' owners at the time, Del Webb and Dan Topping, felt that Power's playing style and personality wasn't suited for the conservative style that they wanted a "black" player to represent as a member of the club. Power dated light-skinned women, leading George Weiss, the general manager of the Yankees, to say that Power was "not the Yankee type".

Take that for what it's worth. Elston Howard eventually broke the color barrier for the Yankees in 1955. This and much of Power's colorful career is discussed in detail on his SABR bio.

Power played 12 years in the majors, nearly all of that time was in the American League with the Indians, Twins and Angels following his time with the A's. He played very briefly back in Philadelphia in 1964 but that was with the Phils. He retired with a .284 average to go along with 126 homers.

He began the 1958 season with the A's but in mid-June was traded along with Woodie Held to the Indians for Roger Maris, Dick Tomanek and Preston Ward. Hitting .302 and riding a 22 game hitting streak at the time of the trade Power raised his average to .312 by season's end. In checking his game logs on Baseball Reference I noticed that Power and the A's played six doubleheaders in just the first half of June that season. They played on on May 30th as well. That's seven 'twin bills' in a little over two weeks. Power played every inning of all of them. He led the league with 10 triples that season as well.

My lasting memory of Vic Power comes from the early 60s. He was playing first base for the Twins or Angels and the Yankees were hitting in the bottom of the ninth. Mickey Mantle grounded out to end the game but as you watched the screen you expected to see Mantle crossing 1st base. But all you saw was Power making the put out and then looking toward home plate. The Mick had pulled a hamstring or a calf muscle and was in a heap halfway to first. Weird the things you recall from your youth. I have no idea why I know it was Vic Power at first after all these years but I'm dead sure of it.

I really like this card, partially for the all-too-rare light blue color but also because Power was such a fun player to watch in my early years as a fan. It's a bit the worse for wear but not so bad that I feel the need to upgrade it.

#158 Cleveland Indians

The 1958 Cleveland Indians finished 4th in the AL with a 77-76 record. They were managed by Bobby Bragan for the first half of the year before he was replaced by Joe Gordon. Rocky Colavito led the club in homers (41) and RBI (113) while Vic Power topped the club with a .317 batting average. Cal McLish, Ray Narleski, Gary Bell and Mudcat Grant formed the rotation with Don Mossi and Hoyt Wilhelm fronting the bullpen.

The card shows the '57 Indians team with Kerby Farrell at the helm. I have a slight obsession with team photos. I keep a magnifying glass on my desk and enjoy spotting familiar faces on team cards. The '58 set is one that lists the players on the front which kind of takes the fun out of it. But it's still nice to see rookie Roger Maris on this one. The '57 set had much better team cards IMO. The had team stats on the back and also listed the players pictured.

The card is in decent shape..until you turn it over. A former owner extended the checklist with a pen. I have this on  'upgrade...someday' status.