Vintage Fridays: Bob Nieman, 1957 Topps #14

I would like to apologize to Bob Nieman on behalf of whoever gouged up his face in the fifty or so years before this card came into my possession. Surely, that's no way to treat the first Oriole regular to ever bat .300 in a season. As you may be able to see, Nieman also wore number four, one of the few players to do so before Earl Weaver claimed it for perpetuity. (Hall of Famer/Brooks Robinson mentor George Kell was another, and first baseman "Diamond Jim" Gentile was the most well-known.) Additionally, Bob worked for several big league clubs as a scout from 1967 through 1984. He had a hand in the Indians drafting and signing John Lowenstein in 1968, incidentally.

One last note: I swear that I chose this card at random, but once I started doing the subsequent research, I found out that Bob Nieman died in 1985 age 58 in...Corona, CA. There are coincidences everywhere when you're looking for them.

Vintage Fridays: Billy Gardner, 1957 Topps #17

Things to know about Billy Gardner:

-His nickname was "Shotgun", due to his strong throwing arm.

-He played eight minor league seasons before debuting with the Giants in 1954. Though he didn't see action in the World Series that fall, he did receive a winner's share of $11,147.90.

-During the 1956 season, Billy hit a pair of home runs off of Athletics pitcher (and future Dodgers manager) Tom Lasorda.

-His best big league season came with the Orioles in 1957. He batted .262/.325/.356 and led the American League with 36 doubles, and was voted Most Valuable Oriole.

-On August 13, 1957, he hit two homers and drove in three runs as the Orioles topped the Senators 5-3. His two-run shot off of Joe Black in the top of the ninth was a tiebreaker, and it provided the winning margin.

-After his playing career ended in 1964, Gardner spent more than two decades as a coach and manager. He skippered minor league teams affiliated with the Red Sox, Royals, and Expos, helming five first-place clubs. From 1981-1985, he managed the Twins, peaking with an 81-81 third-place finish in 1984. On June 21, 1985, he was fired and replaced by longtime Orioles pitching coach Ray Miller. Billy also served as manager of the Royals in 1987 after Dick Howser had to step down for medical reasons, but was let go in late August.

-His son, Billy Jr., was a 50th round draft pick of Kansas City in 1987 and has been a minor league manager since 1995. He is currently with the Nationals' AAA Syracuse Chiefs club.

-Gardner, now 88 years old, still lives in Connecticut.

Vintage Fridays: Joe Ginsberg, 1957 Topps #236

You spend your childhood dreaming about having your picture on a baseball card, and finally it happens. Then some punk-ass kid gets his grubby little hands on that card, and suddenly you've got a "3" written on your back in pencil. The eraser only makes it worse. Kids these days...no respect, I tell you.

Vintage Fridays: Jim Brideweser, 1957 Topps #382

Jim Brideweser was one of the first men to play for both the Orioles and the Yankees. A World War II veteran, he wore pinstripes from 1951-1953, batting .327 in 49 at-bats spanning 51 games. He was traded to the O's in their 1954 debut season in Baltimore and batted .265 with very little power and a handful of walks in a career-high 204 at-bats. After being dealt to the White Sox (and then the Tigers) Jim played his final year in the majors back with the Birds in 1957. In 91 games, the infielder hit .268 with a .362 on-base percentage. He also hit his one and only career home run, a three-run shot off of Boston's Frank Sullivan, on May 24.

Vintage Fridays: Dick Williams, 1957 Topps #59

I've had a lot of fun with mutilated old cards on this blog, whether they be coated in Con-Tac paper or missing half a back or scribbled on or just plain worn out. It is in this tradition that I present to you a custom-made 1957 Topps mini card. At some point in this card's 54-year odyssey from a 5-cent pack to my hands, a (presumably) young mad scientist trimmed off the white borders surrounding Dick Williams, leaving behind the sort of full-bleed photo that would become all the rage in the 1990s with Topps' Stadium Club and similar sets. What tickles me is that the 1957 set was the first to feature the now-standard card size of 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, a reduction from the 2.625" by 3.75" cards that Topps had manufactured since 1952. I guess they still weren't small enough for somebody.

Vintage Fridays: Billy Loes, 1957 Topps #244

Unfortunately, Vintage Friday is doubling as an obituary again this week. I learned a few days ago that former Dodgers and Orioles pitcher Billy Loes passed away on July 15 at age 80 in Tucson, AZ. No cause of death was given, but his widow Irene confirmed that he had been suffering from diabetes for years.

Loes had a reputation as a character. Before his Dodgers faced the Yankees in the 1952 World Series, reporters asked him to predict the outcome. He supposedly picked the Yankees to win in six games, but later claimed that he was misquoted: he had actually said that New York would beat Brooklyn in seven games (which they did). He was also quoted as saying that he wouldn't ever want to win 20 games in a season, because management would always expect him to repeat the effort afterward. Whether he said it or not, his personal best was only 14 wins in a single season.

Billy had his greatest successes as a Dodger, most notably his rookie campaign in 1952. At age 22, he went 13-8 with a 2.69 ERA and four shutouts for the National League Champs. If he hadn't come out of the bullpen for 18 of his 39 appearances, he might have gotten a few more wins. The following year he started and won Game Four of the World Series, holding the Yanks to three runs and striking out eight in eight innings. In May of 1956 he was picked up by the Orioles, and would spend time both starting and relieving for them through the 1959 season. 1957 was his best year in an O's uniform; he was second on the club in wins (12-7) and posted a 3.24 ERA while tying for the team lead with three shutouts (including a three-hitter against the A's). He also saved four games and made his only All-Star team. In 1959, he led the Birds with 14 saves; no other Oriole had more than four.

Loes was traded to the Giants in the deal that brought Jackie Brandt to Charm City and finished his career in San Francisco in 1961. In 11 seasons he was 80-63 with 32 saves and a 3.89 ERA.

Happy trails, Billy.

Vintage Fridays: Mike Fornieles, 1957 Topps #116

Okay, tonight's card has to stand on its own merit. I am running out the door, and picked this one without much forethought. I do love the orange stirrups with black and white stripes, though. By the way, it's pronounced For-nee-AY-less, if I recall correctly. See you tomorrow!

Vintage Fridays: Baltimore Orioles, 1957 Topps #251

This is one of the oldest cards I own; it features the 1956 Orioles, who were in just their third season of existence. They were already showing signs of improvement, winning 69 games and losing 85. This was a 12-game improvement over the previous year, but left the fledging Birds in a distant sixth place, far behind fifth-place Detroit. Still, there was plenty to love about the team. Catcher Gus Triandos set new team records in home runs (21) and RBI (88), left fielder Bob Nieman batted .322 in 114 games, and the pitching staff was led by Maryland native Ray Moore's 12 wins against just 7 losses. Three members of the '56 O's would eventually gain entrance to the Hall of Fame: veteran third baseman George Kell, utility player Dick Williams (who was just elected last January as a manager), and a nineteen-year-old named Brooks Robinson. The young third baseman did not make it into this team picture, but he had something to show for his 15 games - namely his first major league home run. By the following July, he would be in Baltimore to stay.

There are a lot of things to love about this battered, blurry old card. The design is great, with a photo-album kind of feel: the wooden frame is augmented by the name plate design at the bottom paired with the vintage baby-bird-on-ball logo. Not only are the team trainers and bat boys pictured (which just doesn't happen on today's team cards), they're identified on the card back. The bat boys are Young (front row left) and Diering (front row right). I'm going out on a limb to say that the latter bat boy is the son of outfielder Chuck Diering, who played the last 50 games of his nine-year career that season. Oddly enough, Chuck is not even in the team photo! Also on the card back are the single season franchise leaders, an odd mishmash of brand-new Orioles marks and turn-of-the-century St. Louis Browns records. The most remarkable thing about this card may be the listed dimensions of Memorial Stadium: 309 feet down the lines, and 450 feet to straightaway center! It's no wonder that the O's hit only 91 homers in 1956.

I've never really cared much about team cards, but this one serves at a pretty interesting time capsule now that I've stopped to take a closer look at it.