u/Basic-Repeat4552

One of my favorite Teds. A photographer named Berk Ross, who I believe was the photographer for many of the images used in the 1948 Bowman set, released two sets in 1951 and 1952 under somewhat mysterious circumstances. The 1951 set contains cards of 40 MLB players (notably including Mickey Mantle) along with basketball and football players. The 1952 set was 72 cards, all MLB players. It's believed that these cards were distributed regionally in the New York City area.

Ted had no Topps or Bowman cards in 1952, since he was out of baseball flying in the Korean War. However in spite of this, Ted has a solid number of 1952 cards, including this Berk Ross, 2 Wheaties cards, and a Redman card.

Many Venezuela Topps cards have back damage due to being glued into an album, this one is pretty nice. The 66 Venezuela cards can be hard to differentiate from Topps because they do not say "Hecho En Venezuela" on the back the way other Venezuela sets do. Some 66 Venezuela cards say "T.G.C. Printed in U.S.A." on the back at bottom right, which adds to the confusion. Some 66 Venezuela copy backs don't have anything at bottom right (like my copy). The card stock is different so in hand the difference is obvious, but beware as I've seen listings over the years of obvious Topps copies being passed off as Venezuela Topps. The back color is a good way to differentiate too, the Venezuela backs have a brighten salmon color.

Slide 2 is a side by side comparison of a Topps back next to an old Venezuela Topps copy I had of this card with typical back damage.

Aside from Ray Chapman, I struggle to think of a more tragic story than Herb Score. While Sandy Koufax is rightly considered perhaps the greatest left-handed pitcher the game has ever seen, he struggled with control for the first several seasons of his career. Herb Score, on the other hand, had a pretty decent claim as the best pitcher in baseball during his rookie and sophomore campaigns in 1955 and 1956. Maybe you say it's not fair to compare their 55 and 56 seasons directly given that Koufax was 19/20 and Score was 22/23... and I'll grant you that. So compare their age 22/23 seasons then, and it's still no comparison.

Herb Score was Sandy Koufax before Sandy Koufax was Sandy Koufax. Then, on May 7, 1957, it was all over in the blink of an eye. While it's nice that he went on to have a career in baseball as a broadcaster, he remains one of the most tragic "what if" stories in baseball history.

I used to despise 1957 Topps because of what a departure it was from 1956 Topps (my all time favorite set). Gone were the bold colors, gone were the action scenes (sliding, leaping, etc)... I hated it. But it's grown on me over the years, and aside from being release that set the standard size for trading cards going forward, it also had a lot going for it esthetically. In particular, the photography is top notch. I personally prefer the portraits, because the majority of the poses are kinda stilted and stiff.

What's your preference with 1957 Topps, poses or portraits?

During the pandemic, I started dipping my toe in prewar, and have managed to cobble together a small collection. It's a shame these cards are so pricey, but I have a prewar wishlist a mile long that should keep me busy until I kick the bucket

Among this group, the 1915 Cracker Jack Grover Alexander, the 1946 Caramelo Deportivo Martin Dihigo (technically not prewar but feels right with this group given that he played between 1923 and 1945), and the Play Ball Teds are my favorites.

If I had any Lou Gehrig cards he would definitely be at 1B (Foxx was an absolute beast though, so I'm OK with 1B position here)... same for Honus at SS. Still a pretty fearsome squad. A little right-handed heavy, so I wouldn't quibble if you wanted Joe Morgan at 2B or Babe Ruth replacing one of the OFs. Barry Bonds can be the batboy 😉

Who would you take as the SP for this team, WaJo or Satch? Give me Satch for the entertainment value alone, one of the game's great showmen.

I love how cards look grouped together. Fun to arrange, fun to look at. Look at the cool cards. These guys were pretty good

I put this spread together awhile back but it's a fun one. It started with "what are my favorite cards from the 50s, by year" and then kinda snowballed from there. I don't have too many prewar cards so the top row is roughly 1909 - 1949, then goes mostly year by year through the mid 70s, with a couple of liberties taken.