Monday, December 5, 2011

1952 Bedard and Donaldson (aka, "Laval Dairy") Provincial League Baseball #5, Georges Maranda

Georges Henri Maranda is one of those guys who hung around the lower minors long enough to get not one, but two shots at the big leagues. Today's card shows him at age 20, pitching for the Quebec Braves, a Canadian farm team of Boston's NL franchise. He pitched solidly as a starter and survived their move west to Milwaukee in 1954, when the C-league team itself shifted to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

1950 Bedard & Donaldson #5, Georges Maranda (blank back)

Georges continued to toil for Braves minor league teams throughout the 1950s, but ultimately reached the majors with San Francisco in 1960 (17 games) and Minnesota (32 games) in 1962 (career stats at B-R.com).

Vintage card guides called this black-and-white issue "Laval Dairy," but modern research shows they (and a contemporary hockey set) came instead from Bedard & Donaldson, Ltd. Cards cover local minor league teams known to Montreal and Quebecois fans, explaining why it's one of the few baseball sets in all French.

1951-52 Bedard and Donaldson hockey #92, Jacques Plante (HOF)

Bedard & Donaldson's 114-player checklist shows an ambitious commitment for that era; only Bowman published sets of similar size in the American market prior to 1952. I think Bedard's 1951-52 hockey set sold well enough that adding baseball images seemed financially viable, but unfortunately no similar issues followed in later seasons.

Value: I bought this VG version of #5 from a longtime dealer and friend for $20. I've seen online sites list singles in the past for $10-20, and Legendary Auctions sold a near-set for $657. (They're pretty rare, so prices are volatile, depending on how many collectors want a particular card.)

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any in the marketplace, but someone might've produced a direct-to-collectors version, given the rarity.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, My name is Stanley Watychowicz, I am in the 1952 Laval Dairy Provincial League card set, I'm #64. My name is misspelled as Wotychowisz. I am looking for this card to have as a keepsake. Do you have this card or do you know where I can purchase it at by chance? My email address is stanw1101@comcast.net if you would like to email me. Thank you for your help.

Unknown said...

I posted this for a friend of mine, Stan Watychowicz. He played for the A's system in the 1950's and we are looking for his baseball card, any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Unknown said...

I have a 1952 Stan Watychowicz card. I am owner of the 10th Inning card/comic shop in hampton Virginia. I realize the post is 8 years old, it popped up while i was resderching the set.
757-827-1667 phone.

Patrick Valdez.