#30 Hank Aaron

It's Henry Aaron! In 1958 Hank was 24 years old. He already had, at least once, led the league in hits, runs, doubles, homers, RBIs, and total bases. And he was getting fitted for his 1957 World Series ring. Talk about sitting on top of the world!

He was on his way to a second consecutive NL title with the Braves. In 14 Series games his stat line was: 3/9/.364/.417 which isn't too shabby. I posted the following list on his entry in my '59T blog. cribbed from Baseball Reference's Bullpen page:

•     1953 MVP South Atlantic League Jacksonville Tars
•     24-time All-Star (1955-1975)
•     NL MVP (1957)
•     3-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1958-1960/RF)
•     2-time NL Batting Average Leader (1956 & 1959)
•     4-time NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959, 1963, 1967 & 1971)
•     3-time NL OPS Leader (1959, 1963 & 1971)
•     3-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1957, 1963 & 1967)
•     2-time NL Hits Leader (1956 & 1959)
•     8-time NL Total Bases Leader (1956, 1957, 1959-1961, 1963, 1967 & 1969)
•     4-time NL Doubles Leader (1955, 1956, 1961 & 1965)
•     4-time NL Home Runs Leader (1957, 1963, 1966 & 1967)
•     4-time NL RBI Leader (1957, 1960, 1963 & 1966)
•     20-Home Run Seasons: 20 (1955-1974)
•     30-Home Run Seasons: 15 (1957-1963, 1965-1967 & 1969-1973)
•     40-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1957, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1971 & 1973)
•     100 RBI Seasons: 11 (1955, 1957, 1959-1963, 1966, 1967, 1970 & 1971)
•     100 Runs Scored Seasons: 15 (1955-1967, 1969 & 1970)
•     200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1956, 1959 & 1963)
•     Won a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957
•     Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1982

And here is a list of the records he holds:

Most home runs, right handed batter, career, 755 Most home runs, one club, career, 733 (Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves) Most home runs, brothers, 768 (Hank, 755, Tommie, 13) Most extra-base hits, career, 1467 Most extra-base hits, right handed batter, career, 1467 Most extra-base hits, National League, career, 1429 Most at bats, right handed batter, career, 12364 Most hits, right handed batter, career, 3771 Most intentional walks, right handed batter, career, 293 Most plate appearances, right-handed batter, career, 13940 Most RBI, career, 2297 Most RBI, right handed batter, career, 2297 Most RBI, National League, career, 2202 Most total bases, career, 6856 Most total bases, right handed batter, career, 6856 Most total bases, National League, career, 6591 Most seasons with 100 or more runs, 15 Most seasons with 100 or more runs, consecutive, 13 (tied) Most seasons with 150 or more hits, consecutive, 17

This card supposedly has 'variations'.... there are copies out there that appear to be blue rather than green. But whether they are truly print variations or merely the result of color fading is a matter of conjecture.

Lastly...that cartoon. 👀😯

#17 Felix Mantilla

I posted Felix Mantilla's 1960 card over on that set's blog about 5 weeks ago. Not much in the Mantilla World has changed. But I found something worth posting.

Last year Felix Mantilla was awarded an honorary degree at Milwaukee's Cardinal Stritch University. He was honored for his work in the Milwaukee community, particularly for the Felix Mantilla Little League he founded back in 1972 and is still going strong. 

Through that league players from Wisconsin and from Mantilla's native Puerto Rico have visited each other's locale and connected through a unique baseball 'exchange' program.

Great stuff. Much better than a couple of paragraphs of my foolishness.

#10 Lou (Lew) Burdette

Lew Burdette won over 200 games pitching for 18 seasons with six different clubs. But he was best known as Warren Spahn's mound mate with the Braves in the 50s. He helped them to a couple of World Series appearances and the '57 title. His three WS wins that year (all complete games, two shutouts!) earned him Series MVP honors.

The card companies never seemed to agree on whether his first name was spelled 'Lou' or 'Lew'. Sometimes, as here in '58, they covered their bases by using the two versions on one card. From what I've read Burdette himself switched back and forth as well.  And given his well-known sense of humor, he probably did it with a wink.

Here's a quick look at how Topps (and Bowman as noted) spelled his name on his base cards. Bowman cards either used a facsimile sig or no name on the front. 

1952-Lew (Bowman, name only on back)
1953-Lew (Bowman B&W, name only on back)
1954-Lou (Bowman, name only on back)
1955-Lou (Bowman, name only on back)
1956-Lew
1957-Lew
1958-Lou (Lew on back of card)
1959-Lou
1960-Lou
1961-Lou
1962-Lou
1963-Lou
1964-Lou
1965-Lou
1966-Lou
1967-Lou
1973-Lew (as coach on Mrg. Eddie Mathews' card)

Post Cereal switched the spelling a few times as well. 

Burdette also fancied himself a singer and released a record or two during his career. Here's his best known ("Mary Lou" was his daughter's name):

Added bonus:

Here's a newsreel short of the 7th game of the '57 Series. I had to re-run a moment at the 1:14 mark where Yankee pitcher Tommy Byrne tosses the ball from his glove to his hand as he begins his windup. I never have seen that before.

And his famous 'trolling' of the Topps photograper...posing as a lefty:

#51 Del Rice

Del Rice played for 17 seasons in the majors after signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1941. He made the Cardinals as a platoon in '45. He became the Cards' primary backstop in1950 and held that role through the 1953 season. He played in three games of the 1946 World Series splitting time with Joe Garagiola behind the plate. He went three for six in the Series and was catching when Harry Brecheen pitched a shaky top of the ninth to nail down Game Seven and the Cardinals' title.

1953 was the year he made his only All Star team (Campy played the whole game). His playing time decreased in 1954 and in June of  '55 he was dealt to the Braves.

Rice backed up Del Crandall through the second half of the decade as the Braves made two World Series appearances, winning the title in 1957. He caught Games 3 & 6 of the Series and picked up a hit in six at bats.

In 1958 he hit .223 in very limited duty behind Crandall. He did not get into the World Series that year but would have played in Game Six had Frank Torre, who was hitting for Crandall, been able to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th. Torre ended it by lining out to Yankees' second baseman Gil McDougald with Hank Aaron on third.

His playing time dwindled and by 1960 he was off on a tour of four big league towns to wind things up. He even got one at bat with the Orioles that year! He retired after spending the 1961 season with the expansion Angels.

Rice, who had also played pro basketball early in his career, managed, coached and scouted for a couple of organizations after his playing days.

Like most of the Braves in the set Rice resides on a green background. His name on the card's back is rendered in the less frequent 'plain' font. I really need to look into this aspect of the set in more detail.

#234 Carl Sawatski

Carl Sawatski played in all or parts of 11 seasons spread over 16 years from 1948 (cup'o'coffee with the Cubs) through 1963. He spent two years in military service and was a feared minor league slugger.

His big league stats never approached his farm system ones but he carved out a nice career as a back-up and platoon catcher for five different clubs. He hit .293 with nine homers and 43 RBI in 1959 for the Phillies. That was probably his best overall season.

In 1958 he was coming off a World Series title with the Braves. He had gotten a couple of at bats in the '57 Series as a pinch hitter. In June of '58, after just a handful of at bats for the Braves he was dealt to the Phillies and split the catching duties with Stan Lopata.

He retired after the 1963 season having finished up with four seasons with the Cardinals. Following his playing days he served as GM of the Arkansas Travelers and president of the Texas League. The MiLB blog has a cool entry on Sawatski including the story of his first stolen base (it came in his last season!).

This is another off-center card that suffers from the '1958 Topps back discoloration' syndrome. Pretty typical of the ones in my binder. The light green is one of the more rare card colors. Add in the Braves old school logo and it's a great '58!

#351 Braves' Fence Busters

This my first posting of the 'multi-player specials' were scattered through Series 4 & 5. The Braves were defending World Champs in '58 and appear on three of the nine specials. This one obviously revolves around two Hall of Famers, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews. 

Filling out the lineup of Milwaukee sluggers are catcher Del Crandall and first baseman Joe Adcock. Interestingly Adcock was coming off an 'off'' year. He was fifth on the Braves in homers in 1957 with a dozen. He was behind Aaron (44), Mathews (32), outfielder (and personal fave of mine) Wes Covington (21) and Crandall (15). Adcock missed a large portion of the '57 season and to be fair to Topps he did hit 38 dingers in 1956 so it wasn't like they stuck a scrub on the card.

My first thought was that this is a shot from Wrigley but now I'm thinking the photo was taken in the Polo Grounds. At least that's my semi-educated guess. The place had those 'windows' behind the upper deck seating and I think I can spy the high-rise apartment buildings of Coogan's Bluff that sat outside the stadium.

It's a neat card which is why I didn't mind overpaying a bit for a good copy. Hank+Mathews+those Braves' unis combine to make this one a winner.