Top players missing from 1956 Topps

1956 was Topps' first year as a baseball card monopoly. As a result, every notable major leaguer active during the 1955 season appeared in the 1956 set. 

Well... almost all of them. 

Stan Musial's glaring omission from most 1950s Topps sets is well-documented. 

Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner played 113 games for Cleveland during the 1955 season. The seven-time home run leader appears in 1951 and 1953 Topps - but not '54, '55, or '56. 
 

Like Stan Musial, Kiner appeared in Bowman sets from 1948 to 1955. Bowman threw in the towel after the 1955 season -- and Kiner did, too. He didn't appear in 1956 Topps because he retired in the off-season. 

Former Yankees pitchers Ed Lopat, Vic Raschi, and Spec Shea all retired after the 1955 season. None of them ended their careers in pinstripes.
 

Fifty-five was also five-time all-star Ferris Fain's farewell campaign. The two-time batting champion was released by the Tigers in July of 1955 and claimed by Cleveland a week later. 

Some notable players who didn't retire in 1955 and didn't appear in the 1956 Topps set include:

Another Bowman-only star, Sal Maglie appears in every Bowman set from 1951-55 and every Topps set from 1957-1960. Splitting time between the Giants and Indians in '55, Sal "The Barber" pitched 155 innings and posted a 9-7 record with a 3.77 ERA. He concluded his career with the Cardinals in 1958; Topps gave him a career-capper card in the 1959 series. 
 

Saul Rogovin appeared in both 1952 sets after leading the American League with a 2.78 ERA. He was a Bowman-only player in '53 and '54. After struggling with command he pitched the entire 1954 season in triple-A and was excluded from the 1955 sets as a result. However he bounced back that season after the Phillies claimed him in July. Topps included him in the 1957 set, which would be his final season. 

Aside from Musial and Maglie, Rogovin is the only player who remained active in the major leagues for 1956 and has a legitimate case for inclusion in that year's set. His 3.08 ERA was the lowest of any Phillies starter in 1955, he pitched more innings (and earned a higher WAR) than Ron Negray - who appears in the set. 21-year-old rookie Jim Owens also has a card at Saul's expense - despite a career stat line of just two starts and a third appearance in relief at the conclusion of 1955.
 

Other players who could have been included in the '56 Topps set but who probably weren't missed:

Leo Kiely boasted the lowest ERA of any Red Sox pitcher in '55 and logged more innings than Tom Hurd, Ellis Kinder, and Dick Brodowski - all of whom could be pulled from packs of 1956 Topps. 

Harry Byrd had a mediocre 1955 season split between the Orioles and White Sox. Topps could be forgiven for excluding a starting pitcher with a 7-8 record and 4.61 ERA over 156 innings, though there were plenty of pack-pulled pitchers who had far worse stat lines that season. And none of them were named AL Rookie of the Year two years prior. 

Cincinnati Redlegs rookie Rudy Minarcin "earned" a spot in the '56 set with a 4.90 ERA and 45 strikeouts against 51 walks, while veteran Jackie Collum missed the cut. Cincy's #4 starter struck out more batters than he walked, posted a winning record as a starter, and had a respectable 3.63 ERA. He also logged more innings than four other Redlegs hurlers who appeared in the '56 set.  

Topps didn't miss out on many position players who were worthy of a card (and continued playing) in '56. The best one I could find was Cal Abrams - who started more games than all but four hitters in the light-hitting lineup of the '55 Baltimore Orioles. 

Finishing sixth on the O's with 75 hits (and first with a 1.8 WAR, for what that's worth) Abrams was skipped by Topps in favor of reserve outfielder Jim Dyck and light-hitting infielder Fred Marsh.
 

Musial aside, the list of players who didn't get a Topps card in 1956 would probably be comparable to any list of snubbed players throughout the past 70 years. Long before rookie cards were the heartbeat of the hobby, Topps (and Bowman) gambled on prospects and call-ups over run-of-the-mill reserves. 

Such foresight led to the inclusion of Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax in the 1955 set and Luis Aparicio in '56. The White Sox great had not made his major league debut in the previous season.. but a Hall of Fame hurler did. And Topps missed him. 

Here are the 1955 stat lines of five rookie pitchers. Three were included in the 1956 set, two were not:

	innings	W-L	K's	BB	ERA
pitcher A	18 1/3	0-0	11	5	5.40
pitcher B	8 2/3	0-2	6	7	8.31
pitcher C	123 2/3	4-7	68	71	5.31
pitcher D	7	0-1	3	17	14.14
pitcher E	51	3-5	37	32	6.35

Pitcher A is Don Kaiser

Pitcher B is Jim Owens

Pitcher C is my homie Art Ceccarelli - who logged a lot of innings for the A's but pitched poorly. 

This card is so frickin expensive!!

Pitcher D is Paul Martin

...who never pitched in the majors again after his disastrous seven-inning audition in 1955. 

Pitcher E, who struck out more batters than he walked and totaled more innings, wins, and whiffs than the three rookie hurlers who appeared in the set... is Jim Bunning:

The collector in me is relieved that I won't have to spend triple digits on his rookie card. The historian in me feels a bit disappointed that a complete set of 1956 Topps baseball cards does not tell a complete story of baseball at the time. Perhaps this post can serve as an addendum....

1956 Topps Traded & Rookies: cards #341-350

341 - Stan Musial - Cardinals

342 - Sal Maglie - Indians
343 - Brooks Robinson - Orioles

344 - Saul Rogovin - Phillies

345 - Cal Abrams - Orioles

346 - Art Ceccarelli - Athletics

347 - Leo Kiely - Red Sox

348 - Jackie Collum - Redlegs

349 -  Jim Bunning - Tigers

350 - Harry Byrd - White Sox

Thanks for reading!



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