On this date in 1959, the Orioles purchased the contract of Whitey Lockman from the St. Louis Cardinals. Earlier in the decade, Lockman (born Carroll Walter Lockman) had been a feature player for some strong Giants teams. He helped set the stage for Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" pennant-winning home run in 1951 by chasing Brooklyn starter Don Newcombe from the game with a double. He made his lone All-Star team in 1952, when he batted .290 with a .363 on-base percentage and scored 99 runs. Whitey was nearing the end as he came to Baltimore, and he appeared in only 38 games with the O's, batting 78 times with an underwhelming .217/.299/.261 line. On June 23, 1959, he was traded to the Reds for Walt Dropo. A year later, Cincinnati released him and ended his 15-year career.
I haven't spent much time lately working to complete my 1959 Topps set, but in paging through the binder to find Whitey, I was happy to see several completed pages. I'll share a scan of one such page below, featuring Lockman, Orioles Hall of Famer Moe Drabowsky (in a Cubs uniform), and an excellent Luis Aparicio/Nellie Fox combo card.
So much color, so many circles...some day I hope to see this set in its full 572-card glory.
1 comment:
My '59 set (also in progress) is my favorite of all time. I love paging thru my binder, especially since I see guys like Mantle, Koufax, Killebrew, Musial, and the commissioners. (Still waiting to find a bargain Gibson RC).
The colors are simple and classic, and most of mine are in nice enough shape that they have that distinctive smell ~ slightly musty gum.
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