1948 Smith's Oakland Oaks Baseball #5, Lloyd Christopher

For most of the late 1940s, California's Remar Baking Co. produced annual team sets for Oakland's Pacific Coast League team, the Oaks. In 1947, they doubled up with Smiths clothing store, as both companies distributed similar 25-player collections. 60 years later, these cards are about all that remains of both companies, other than some photos and one factory building!

Card front

Smiths sets feature these black-and-white fronts, with photos taken at their home field, Oaks Park. Oakland fielded a title-winning team in 1948, but history better remembers their manager, Casey "The Old Perfessor" Stengel, who later captured 7 World Series helming the Yankees. (Find a ton of info about Casey and his team at the Oakland Oaks of 1948 page.)

Card back

Speaking of Oakland managers, Chuck Dressen took over the Oaks when Casey turned his 1948 PCL title into a job with the Yankees. Mr. Dressen won his own championship in 1950 and immediately jumped to the Dodgers for 1951. These former Oaks-men proved so successful in New York and Brooklyn that they met for two World Series (1952 and 1953), with Stengel taking both.

Value: Lloyd Christopher cost me ~$5 on eBay. Casey Stengel and Billy Martin are the "stars," so run several times more.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any reprints of Smiths cards in the marketplace.

Top 5 Number Fives

Earlier today, blogger Night Owl kicked off a series called "Here's Your Top 60," which critiques Topps' flawed 60th Anniversary contest. He includes an initial gallery of 20 great cards (with more to come) and spurred me to find some of my own.

Night Owl's perspective of what makes a great card stands in welcome contrast to Topps plan of reprint every Mantle one...more...time. And even if they do keep Mickey on the payroll, why leave out this legitimately great card? Topps bought out Bowman's assets back in early 1956!

1951 Bowman #253

Thick-lined borders make The Mick jump off this card and I love the cloudy sky. Doesn't matter to me that it's his first card, but it should to Topps and Bowman, as "Home of the Rookie Card!"

Picking "best ever" cards means more than "most expensive" and "most popular." Subtle combinations of pose, design, and context can make for awesome results. Even my focused group of #5s includes several choices that improve on Topps' nominees--the following handful of players represent my top 5.

1934 Batter-Up #5 Carl Hubbell

Poses like this turn a single moment to something iconic. Hubbell's windup is Evel Knievel's motorcycle flying over 20 cars or Bo Jackson running out of the Kingdome.

1952 Bowman #5 Minnie Minoso

This wonderful piece of art happens to be 5-decade player Minoso's rookie, but I just love its post-swing detail and optimistic look over the collector's shoulder.

1956 Topps #5 Ted Williams

The best cards remind you of complete baseball stories, like Ted Williams' career in Fenway Park. Its unusual dimensions helped The Splinter thrill fans year after year, even if Boston could never deliver a title. 1956's whole set is a wonderful collection of cards, driven by competitive pressure from then-rival Bowman.

1964 Bazooka #5 Warren Spahn

Topps should include Bazooka sets in their retrospective--after all, they've owned the gum brand from day one! Smaller cards don't have to mean lousy pictures, as this Spahn amply demonstrates.

1971 OPC #5 Thurman Munson (front and back)

What a great action shot! You could pick Topps' own #5 based on the front alone, but I wanted OPC's lemon-flavored back and its invitation to learn "Rookie of the Year" in French.

This barely scratches the surface of awesome cards. Got some favorites of your own?

1947 Remar Bread Oakland Oaks Baseball #5, Mickey Burnett

As a charter member of the Pacific Coast League, Oakland's Oaks were in their 5th decade of play when WWII ended. Many considered the PCL a "third major league" in talent level, but clubs rarely affiliated directly with MLB counterparts and worked hard to build and maintain quality rosters. Oakland made a brief alliance with the Yankees in the mid-30s, but their biggest contribution to New York followed the era pictured on today's card.

Card front

This two-sizes-too-big uniform makes Mickey Burnett look more like Mickey Rooney, or maybe "Dorf on the Diamond." (Smaller PCL revenues meant simpler uniforms and maybe--just maybe--ones that didn't fit so good.) Western teams often played in the looming shadow of mountain ranges, an alien sight for 1940s MLB teams.

These Oaks played under Casey Stengel, as the future HOFer "rehabbed" his managing career with minor league titles in Milwaukee (1944) and Oakland (1948) prior to taking over the Yankees in 1949. His use of platooning and strategic play helped guide New York to an astounding 10 AL pennants and 7 World Series titles in only 12 years. (20 year-old rookie Billy Martin followed Stengel out of Oakland and contributed to several of them.)

Baseball history fans should check out the Oakland Oaks of 1948 fan site, 1946 PCL intro movie, and (for PC only?) the 27-minute Casey and the Nine Old Men documentary. This wealth of videos, photos, and player profiles fills out a story I can only touch on.

Card back (with "Micky" misspelling)

Remar's set includes 25 Oaks players and measures 2" x 3", slightly smaller than modern cards. They printed similar sets each year from 1946 to 1950 and most share a design with 1947-48 issues from Smith's Clothiers. (Find more set details at CenturyOldCards.com.)

Value: Less-heralded players like Mickey cost $5 or so in low grade. Casey Stengel is about triple that as the set's "star."

Fakes / reprints: While not impossible to find, Remars are rare enough that collectors might've reprinted them, especially the Stengel. Set builders in high grade should familiarize themselves with similar sets and buy from experienced dealers.

1951 Topps Red Backs Baseball #5, Phil Rizzuto

The end of 2010's season means it's time to bestow league awards! Just 60 years ago, Phil Rizzuto nabbed the AL MVP over Boston's Billy Goodman and teammate Yogi Berra, who went on to win it in 1951, 1954, and 1955. (Modern statisticians might've gone with Yogi in 1950; both played key roles with their hitting and defense, so it's a toss-up for me.) New York also swept up another World Series over Philly, just one year in their great run of 1940s / 50s pennants and titles.

Card front

Interesting that Phil's 20-word bio uses both diminutive and 5'6" prior to honoring his 1950 MVP award. Topps clearly wanted to give kids a visual impression of the Scooter, which would contrast strongly in stature and technique with modern counterparts like 6' 3" Alex Rodriguez.

Card back

Topps printed two 52-player collections of Doubles in 1951, hinged together and folded at a perforated top edge. Collectors and reference books call them Red Backs and Blue Backs, with the former printed in larger numbers. Its design won't blow you away, but low-grade versions remain an affordable way to get into older cards. (Most stars are cheaper in these sets than, say, 1952.)

Value: My VG card cost $15 in 2003 and might be more now. Yankee fans (and collectors) love Rizzuto, but his cards remain a level below superstars like Mantle and Ruth.

Fakes / reprints: Topps reprinted star players from these Red and Blue Backs and adopted its design for other throwback releases, but I haven't seen any fakes of the originals in the marketplace.

1959 Topps Baseball #5, Dick Donovan

While the White Sox didn't capture a World Series between 1917 and 2005, they fielded plenty of strong players and teams. 1959's squad won 94 games and captured the AL pennant, but lost a close 6-game series to the Dodgers. How close? LA won three of their games by four runs total. (Dick Donovan lost 3-1 in game three, but came back to save game 5 just two days later, preserving a 1-0 victory over Sandy Koufax.)

Card front

I cannot help comparing Mr. Donovan's expression to Droopy Dog. Perk up, man, you're the top righthander on a pennant-winner! (He and southpaw Billy Pierce paced the staff with 122 and 137 ERA+, respectively.) Dick's jersey prominently displays 22 on the shoulder, a design introduced in the 1950s and nicknamed "TV numbers," given the sideline placement of most cameras.

Card back

Back when many players held down off-season jobs, being a good golfer was more unusual. These days, just about every pro can afford to play regularly from Oct to Feb.

Value: At shows, you'll find low-grade 1959 singles in 50-cent and 25-cent boxes. Nicer condition cards go for $1 and up.

Fakes / reprints: Topps reprinted plenty of 1959 star players, but I don't think they did the whole set.

1950 - 1953 Royal Desserts Baseball #5, Warren Spahn

At the 19th century advent of baseball cards, business owners didn't consider kids a useful target audience. Only adults earned money and owned stuff, so why go after customers who have to scrounge for pennies? This seemed sensible to tobacco companies at the turn of the 20th century, but candy companies would take over their market within a generation by targeting that small change.

Card front (blank back)

By the time 1950 rolled around, it'd become obvious that kids prompted family spending. Post-WWII suburban living meant televisions, supermarkets, and mass produced goods, all the better to "program" into family consumption habits. (That's not meant politically--it's largely the approach advertisers took to build up reliable income.)

Paper boxed products made excellent card material and Royal Desserts is just one of many companies to take advantage of baseball cross-promotion with this 24-player set. Collectors trimmed away "extra" cardboard, which often included portions of the player himself (see my Spahn). Full boxes closely resemble JELL-O's 1962 set.

1962 JELL-O #191 Bob Lillis

Royal reused the same images through 1953, updating bio text and teams as trades shuttled them around. Some guys have up to 4 variations, so a "master set" contains 47 different cards. (More info at Old Baseball's set profile.)

Value: Mis-cut versions of stars cost up to $20, with nice ones running more. Complete boxes can cost a lot, given their rarity. 

Fakes / reprints: This would be an easy set to fake, so familiarize yourself with its players and variations before making a big purchase.

1952 Topps Baseball #5, Larry Jansen

I originally wrote up my 1952 Topps #5 card for the Things Done to Cards blog in 2008, still readable there. That post rambled a bit, so let's see updated scans and take a more practical tack.

Card front

This hammered 1952 Topps #5 features pitcher Larry Jansen, a workhorse for the New York giants. He's holding up one finger for each of his seven children, something I'd be amused to see on a 21st-century player's card.

Card back (mostly)

Amazing wear on the back, yet the card number and bio survived. Judging by its blob of pink paper at top right and missing chunk in the middle, it looks to have been mounted in an album and later forcefully removed.

Here's a #5 version you could actually take home to mom.

So clean!

Value: CheckOutMyCards.com lists the mid-grade scan above for $17.50. My thrashed version should run a few dollars, assuming a dealer stocks it at all.

Fakes / reprints: Topps went back to 1952 again and again, reprinting star cards, high numbers, and (at least twice) the complete set. No doubt folks also faked them, so be wary of too-good-to-be-true deals and online auctions with fuzzy scans.

Oldest Card in My Collection

Last Monday, Greg of Night Owl Cards followed up his ALCS contest win with an excellent "Oldest Card in My Collection" post. It tracks the growth of his collection from a 1970 Topps Fred Norman back to 1950 Bowman and 1933 Goudey (my contest prize). Chris of Vintage Sportscards followed it with "The Oldest Card I Own," which follows a trail from his childhood 1976 Star Wars sets back to T206 tobacco baseball and its massive player checklist.

So much blue...

My own baseball collection kicked off in early 1980 and as a recent transplant to Washington state, Tom "Wimpy" Paciorek's card stood out. (Love that white-blue helmet and double batting gloves!) After three years of the expansion-era "Trident M," Seattle's logo evolved to this angular, star-shaped background in 1980.

Only a few months into my pack habit, the growing stack of cards got an unexpected bump back with a 1974 Hal Lanier. Wow, I remember thinking, that's a seriously old card. This is what real collectors own, and now it's mine. (Also compare those "banner flag" 1974 and 1980 set designs, where one obviously cribbed from the other.)

Nice auto! (Sadly, not my card)

Sometime in 1981, a garage sale turned up this 1971 Kellogg's Jim Palmer. It was only one of many in a 25-cent plastic bag, but stood out as both a great player and older than I was.

Good photo, weird background

Things got murky over the next decade as I moved in and out of regular collecting, but this card represented my move into the sport's golden age. That early 50s hand-painted look is still fabulous and cost $2 on eBay, circa 1999.

1952 Bowman #73 Jerry Coleman

Once the #5 blog kicked into gear, all kinds of oddball cards found their way into my collection. Most of the oldest sets went unnumbered, so won't end up there, but a couple of 19th-century (!) issues qualify. The oldest now--and likely to stay that way--is an 1886 tobacco issue featuring women posed as baseball players. (A close look at this slightly blurry scan reveals a prop string holding the ball in place.)

1886 Sub Rosa Cigarettes #5

Move back any further from 1886 and you're looking at seriously rare and expensive stuff. (I consider it a minor miracle this #5 ever turned up, let alone proved affordable.) Should it remain my collection's oldest card, you won't hear any complaints.

Thanks for the posts, Greg and Chris, I enjoyed filling out the concept!

1970 Sports Cards for Collectors "Sports Stuff" Baseball #5, Bobby Lowe

A few years before co-founding TCMA, Mike Aronstein self-published a handful of sets under the moniker Sports Cards for Collectors. (Some catalogs and sellers shorten it to SCFC.) Most feature old-school players, either hand-drawn or reprinted from vintage photo negatives. Today's "Sport Stuff" set recalls guys who played prior to 1920, the last of whom probably passed away around the time it came off the press.

According to a 2009 interview (read it here), Mike's uncle Myron Aronstein drew these originals. Number 5 is 19th-century second baseman Bobby Lowe, who starred for the Boston Beaneaters, ancestors of today's Atlanta Braves (B-R franchise page). Others in the postcard-sized set feature multiple players, like #6 Tinker to Evers to Chance below.

If you don't already know about this classic Cubs infield, check out these set profiles.

• 1910 E93 #5 Frank Chance
• 1968 Laughlin 1908 World Series #5 Cubs vs. Tigers
• 1980 TCMA 1914 Miracle Braves #5 Gene Cochreham

Bobby Lowe played for Boston in the 19th century, a truly different era. The year he hit 4 homers in one game, their lineup averaged nearly 10 runs each time out! Many record-keepers cut off "modern" baseball at 1901, given the gaudy numbers put up by early stars. (Five members of Lowe's 1894 squad drove in 100+ runs and two pitchers won 25+ games--yowza.)

Value: This postcard cost $10 on eBay, one of the few I've seen offered singly. Full set closing prices at auction sites range from $70 to $100.

Fakes / reprints: Doubt there's enough demand for reprints, but it wouldn't be a hard set to fake, so look for authentic wear and know your dealers.

1980 TCMA Baseball All-Time Cubs #5, Gabby Hartnett

This photo captures a wonderful classic uniform, including short-billed cap, bloused pants, striped socks, jersey piping, and bear-in-the-C Cubs logo. When teams host throw-back nights, this is exactly what I hope to see on the field.

Card front

HOF backstop Gabby Hartnett hit well for a catcher and played stout defense, an ideal combo for any lineup. He frequently garnered MVP votes and finally won the NL award in 1935, at age 34 (!). There can't be many catchers who give their strongest seasons after 30; even "Young Pudge" Rodriguez won his MVP at 27 and "Old Pudge" Fisk never finished higher in the voting than 3rd.

Gabby also appeared in 4 World Series for Chicago, once every 3 years from 1929 through 1938, the last as both catcher and manager. That decade marked their second-strongest era, trailing only an amazing 4 pennants in 5 years from 1906 to 1910. (See my 1970 Fleer World Series #5 and 1971 Fleer World Series #5 profiles for more.)

Card back

As the bio notes, Hartnett spent one year (his last) away from Chicago, catching part-time and pinch-hitting for New York's baseball Giants in 1941. He could still hit and catch, logging a 119 OPS+ and .994 fielding % in 34 games, but they released him at year's end.

Here's the 12-card checklist, with 8 position players, 3 pitchers, and a manager (3 time pennant-winner Charlie Grimm).

1. Billy Williams
2. Charlie Root
3. Ron Santo
4. Larry French
5. Gabby Hartnett
6. Emil Kush
7. Charlie Grimm (MGR)
8. Kiki Cuyler
9. Billy Herman
10. Hack Wilson
11. Rogers Hornsby
12. Ernie Banks

Note that Grimm also player-managed for Chicago from 1932 to 1936, preceding Hartnett's 3 years at the helm. Charlie went on to serve a second stretch from 1944 to 1949 and took them to the infamous "Curse of the Billy Goat" World Series in 1945.

Value: Singles run a dollar or two, as with other TCMA All-Time sets, and I expect HOFers like Hartnett and Banks to cost somewhat more.

Fakes / reprints: Don't expect to see any in the market, given the set's low profile and value.