We are down to the PostSeason final 4 we are going to take this opportunity to look back on some cards representing the remaining contenders.
Today we lead off with the Cleveland Guardians (nee Indians) and 1961 Topps Dick Stigman.
1961 Topps #77 Dick Stigman
Dick Stigman at age 88 is one of the eldest of the TASR honorees. He had a remarkable career that is highlighted by being part of big baseball events but not getting a chance to participate. During his rookie campaign in 1960 (the Two ASG era) he was named to both All-Star Teams (despite a 5-11 record), but did not participate in either game. Stigman was also a member of the 1965 Twins Team who pushed the Sandy Koufax led LA Dodgers to 7 games in the World Series. He was a member of the postseason roster but did not get to pitch in the series. A disappointment for Stigman who was a local athlete from the small town of Nimrod Minnesota.
1961 Topps
Classic follow-thru pose of the young southpaw here. The Red and Yellow ID panels complement the old school original large form Rookie Cup Trophy.
Dick Stigman's selection as a dual All-Star and All-Star Rookie cup member is pretty dubious. In addition to the aforementioned 5-11 record among LHP rookie pitchers in 1960 he ranked 8th in ERA (4.51) almost a run and a half behind the leader, Senators pitcher Jack Kralick (3.04). In fact Stigman was 8th in ERA for the subset (50+ip) which included the Phillies Chris Short (3.94). Among southpaws Stigman 5 wins ranked 7th (Steve Barber 10, Short 5). He did rank 2nd in Strikeouts with 104, a category again won by Steve Barber at 112. Pretty hard to justify a selection for a player that lost out in all 3 of the triple crown categories. The only thing that can point to Stigman is his combined Win+Save total of 14 eclipsed Barber by.... ONE (10 wins, 3 Saves)
30 Million Youngsters Can't be Wrong
According to the TASR Team Announcement in the Sporting News 30 Million Youngsters voted for the team, who knew that Dick Stigman would be so popular?
The 1961 Topps Rookie All-Star Squad was only the 2nd one elected and during that era it was done by the "Youth of America". I don't want to group them in with the BBWAA, but their selection is suspect.
WAR Report
The Youth of America had no clue of what WAR was then, but I will note that Dick Stigman did not do well here either, finishing with an abysmal -0.7. Jack Kralick's Southpaw leading ERA propelled him to the WAR crown with a 4.0 (Barber and Dick Ellsworth 2nd at 2.1 - Chris Short T5 1.1)
1961 All-Star Team(s)
4 Wins and 58 Career Strikeouts...
And 2 All-Star Teams
That is where the Official Baseball Record stood for Dick Stigman on July 13 1960
That's Right, he had less than 60 Career Ks and the guy was already on his 2nd all-star team.
How did this happen:
1) The biggest reason is this was during the two all-star games in one season era
2) 6 Saves. Coupled with his four wins this meant that Dick Stigman was involved in 10 of Clevelands 43 wins. Not sure where six saves ranked mid season, but chances are it was pretty high. For the season Stigman's teammate Johnny Klippstein led the league with 14.
3) Possibly minor League Dominance - Stigman led his league in Ks twice while in the Minors.
White Sox and 1960 AL All-Star Manager Al Lopez had seen Stigman a lot prior to the All-Star break, those games were likely not helpful. In the week prior to the All-Star Break Stigman faced the White Sox 3 times, twice as a starter and once as a road finish. He pitched 8.2 innings and gave up 7 earned runs (7.27 ERA) including a start where he gave up 10 walks in 5.2 innings.
All I can figure is Lopez was happy with the 3 Ws over Cleveland and selected Stigman - who knows.
Flip
1961 Topps #77 Dick Stigman (b-side)
We have Couple of -Toons!
In panel 1 we have the source for the aforementioned comment on Minor League Dominance. Panel 2 echoes the All-Star Rookie Trophy from the front side and in the finale we have an all-star reference with some dated artwork.
Topps Subset Royalty
Dick Stigman's career may not have panned out but he ended up being in a number of Topps Subsets. Two years prior to being an All-Star Rookie he was one of 31 players in the 1959 Sporting News Rookie Stars Subset which was the first time that Topps had run a rookies subber of any kind. Stigman is one of three players from the set that is still living, Eddie Haas and Bob Lillis are the others.
In 1962 Stigman was on Cleveland's "Tribe Hill Trio" card with fellow hurlers Jim Perry and Barry Latham. Following a trade to his hometown Twins Dick Stigman made it into the League Leaders pantheon with 1964 Topps. He shares his 1963 Strikeout Card Podium with Hall of Famer Jim Bunning and fellow Twin Camilo Pascual
Pretty good for a guy that appeared on 7 base cards to appear in 4 different subsets: Rookie Stars, Rookie Cup, Team Multis and League Leaders.
Dick Stigman Index
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Sources Links
Sporting News
