Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Cardinals in the Background

Here's a 1960 Topps card of Bob Miller I recently added to the collection for a measly 2 bucks. The two things I liked most about the card were the Rawlings patch on Bob's glove and the background scenery featuring a few Cardinals players in what would appear to be pre-game warm-ups.

Anyone know who any of the 3 players in the background are? At first I thought the guy on the left just might be Bob Gibson, who wore #58 but now I'm not so sure. I'm not a very good sleuth and this is a particularly challenging one. Anyway, here's the back of the card:

As you see from the cartoon, Bob was a local guy who signed with the hometown Cards. In fact, he was a star high school pitcher who signed after graduating with St. Louis and received a $20,000 signing bonus. He was never a superstar at the Major League level but he was a decent pitcher who managed an 18 year career.

5 comments:

Hackenbush said...

Not a big help, but if the guy on the left is #52 I don't think he played during the regular season. The guy on the right, if he isn't Bill White, is probably Gene Green.

Wrigley Wax said...

Here is a link to the Cardinals 1959 roster.

Question #2: Can you name the ballpark the picture was taken at? It's nice how the red railings match the red on the Cardinals uniform. Hint: the park was a big league park for only two seasons.

shoeboxlegends said...

Thanks for the comments guys. I did look over a '59 Cards roster before posting but was unable to solve the mystery.

Wrigley Wax, now I'm more interested in the stadium than the players! I thought it looked very unique but I haven't been able to turn up any info. I give up!

Wrigley Wax said...

It is Seals Stadium in San Francisco, home of the Giants in '58 and 59.

Here is another look

shoeboxlegends said...

Thanks for the great info Wrigley Wax, I really appreciate it! I may have to ask you about some other cards in posts in the near future!

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