1953 Canadian Exhibits #5, Vic Raschi

Chicago's Exhibit Supply Co. created over-sized sets of photo cards for several decades, usually one--but occasionally four--players each. They came in penny arcade machines, like how my GenX childhood brain remembers Ford Gum. Almost every “issue” went out without a numbering system (and thus, lacking #5), probably because they thought about fan interest more than collecting interest. Buyers of non-sport subjects (movie stars, boxers, etc.) don't worry about “seasons,” so the company didn't either.

Card front

That said, all hail the Canadians! This 1953 set does focus on baseball and numbers each of its 64 players. The checklist mixes USA heavyweights like Jackie Robinson, Musial, DiMaggio, and Williams with Montreal minor leaguers, including (among others) future HOF managers Walt Alston and Tommy Lasorda, the latter a full year before his first Topps card.

Yankee pitcher Vic Raschi's sweeping follow-through fills in #5 and, like the rest of the set, comes in a pair of colors, depending on series. (1-32 come in purple or green and 33-64 are blue or brown.) Vic's nickname, “The Springfield Rifle,” caught my eye, since it came from his Massachusetts hometown, a place where I also lived back in the 1990s. Until I write a much-celebrated and venerated Great American Novel, it's rightly known for the basketball HOF and Dr. Seuss.