Current Collection - 1957

I ordered two beauties yesterday to get my collection of 1957 Orioles going. That was the year Topps turned to its standard-size cards it still issues today. The prior three seasons - the O's first three in their history - were oversized (and thus not so easy to slip inside the sleeves for presentation). I'm not sure what kind of condition these first two cards will be in - well, I have a fair idea, somewhere between very good and excellent - but I'm hoping for something that at least presents well.

The two cards: Ace starting pitcher that year, Clifford C. Johnson, better known as Connie, and slugging first baseman, Bob Boyd.

Johnson's card that year tells us that he "came to Baltimore last year in a deal that helped the Orioles climb up the A.L. ladder....Connie became the hurler with the top Oriole Earned Run Average....Among Connie's 9 complete games in '56 were two shutouts, one a flashy 3-hit job. He is a strikeout artist and in his first 2 seasons led the Provincial and Western Leagues in whiffs." In 1957, he completed 14 games, and was third best in shutouts and complete games.

Boyd's card lets us know that he "made a successful debut with Baltimore last year when he posted the second highest Oriole Batting Mark. He is not a long ball hitter and last season 82% of his hits were singles. Bob's sparkling performance at Seattle in 1952 where he won the Pacific Coast Batting Crown brought him to the Major Leagues for a trial." In 1957, Bob led the Orioles in hiting and finished third, behind Ted Williams, in hitting in the American League.

Others from the starting nine to hopefully join messeiurs Johnson and Boyd:

C - Gus Triandos
2B - Billy Gardner
SS - Willy Miranda
3B - George Kell
LF - Bob Nieman
CF - Jim Busby
RF - Al Pilarcik

Though I will still need to determine which of these players may have had cards - and if so were they Orioles' cards - for this year. Certainly Gus Triandos does (shown here). Also on the list will be some key reserves, with well-known names such as Francona, Goodman, Williams, and Green, as well as what surely will be the most difficult, or at least most expensive, to bring into the collection: the Brooks Robinson rookie card.

The O's pitching staff looked pretty formidable that year, too, with Johnson and the other four starting pitchers having ERAs ranging from 3.20 to 3.64, and spot starter/relief pitcher Billy O'Dell posting a sharp 2.69 ERA in 35 games, 15 of which he started, racking up 140 IP, and collecting four saves. George Zuvernik appeared to do most of the closing with 9 saves, 56 appearances and a team-low 2.48 ERA. Ken Lehman chipped in with six saves.

Update: Just won a 1957 Billy Gardiner on ebay for $2.60 (+$0.50 shipping), perhaps a little high, but this will be one of the special ones in the collection. One reason it will be special is that Gardiner is one of only a few MLB players I've met; the other, more compelling reason is that his son (Bill) and I played Legion ball together and had quite the enjoyable summer doing so back in the summer of 1983. At the time, the elder Gardiner was managing the Minnesota Twins, which were is complete rebuilding mode then, and thus it was rare that he could be there for our games, but I do remember, probably at the all-star break, walking over to him, shaking hands and saying hello. Welcome to the collection, Billy!