1952 Pittsburgh Courier All-Time All-America Team.

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Courier naming an All-Time All-Star team.

The Courier was an African American Weekly with a lot of baseball coverage.  In 1952 the paper surveyed 31 of the top baseball men in the country 

On April 19th 1952 they published the results: 

As part of our latest ArtCard Project we have taken the 1952 Courier Selections and created cards for several of the players using the 1976 Topps All-Star subset. 

Battery

First we have the Battery. LHP John Donaldson was a showman who created a blueprint of how to make money outside of segregated MLB - this same idea would be adopted by Satchel Paige. To show this relationship we added a nod to Paige in the form of a US postage stamp behind Donaldson. Smoke Joe Williams and Biz Mackey who played for the Philadelphia area Hilldale Daisies round out the battery selections. 

Infield

The Infield is let by Jackie Robinson who we show here "Breaking Barriers" of the card/frame. We don't know a lot about Oliver Marcelle but his nickname was ghost, an image we added above his right shoulder. Above his left shoulder we have his son Ziggy Marcell who played in the 1930s era Negro Leagues. 

Outfield 

We conclude with the Outfield. Both Cristobal Torriente and Martin Dihigo are natives of Cuba and we have added the countries flag for each. There flairs on Monte Irvin's card represent the day that he went out to purchase a saxophone but instead came home with a baseball glove.

If you want to delve more into the Pittsburgh Courier selections here is the full page from 1952. You will need to click on the image and expand it to read the details.

Sources and Links

Pittsburgh Courier 1952 April 19 

SABR Bios

Negro League eMuseum

Monte Irvin (1919-2016)

Last week we found out about the passing of Giants Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin.

2003 UD Vintage #89 Monte Irvin

One of the interesting things I found out about Monte Irvin is that he donated proceeds from his autograph signings to benefit his alma mater Lincoln University, a Historic Black College just beyond the edge of the Philadelphia suburbs.

2003 UD Vintage #89 Monte Irvin (b-side)

For their 2003 set UD swiped the design from 1965 Topps - which makes for a great looking card no matter who is in charge.

Card related Tributes and other Memorials
HELP!!! - I got pretty sick last week and was unable to collect as many of these links as I would have liked, if you have a posting please let me know

Arpsmith (1992 Front Row)
Baseball Happenings (GREAT personal recollection story, numerous autograph)
Bob Lemke (1952 Topps)
Cards that Never Were (1957 Topps - custom, 1949 Bowman - custom)
Paul's Random Stuff (HoF Postcard auto)

Cardboard Connection - Top 10 Monte Irvin Cards
Phungo Monte Irvin HoF Index


Sources and Links
Lincoln University
Lincoln Lions baseball-ref 

Phungo Monte Irvin HoF Index

RTC 1954 Topps #3 Monte Irvin

With the Phillies scheduled to host the San Francisco Giants this weekend, we take a look a a Giants Hall of Famer from their New York tenure, Monte Irvin. 

The Hall of Fame formed the Negro League Committee in 1971. In 1973 Monte Irvin became the fourth player inducted by the Committee, preceded by only Satchell Paige, Buck Leonard, and Josh Gibson

1954 Topps #3 Monte Irvin

Monte Irvin entered the Majors at age 30 in 1949. He won a World Series title as a member of the 1954 New York Giants, his best season was 1951 when he finished 3rd in the MVP award voting (Roy Campanella). Irvin led the league with 121 RBIs in 1951 and finished 5th in Batting average (.351).

In 1952 Irvin made the all-star team but did not get to play. For that years mid-summer classic the Left Fielder found himslf behind the NLs eventual MVP, Hank Sauer, on the depth chart. 

During his eight year career Irvin was a .293 hitter with 99 Homers.
 
Monte Irvin turned 96 a few months ago and is among the oldest living members of the Hall. Later this summer Irvin is expected to join current San Francisco Giants in Washington DC when the reigning World Champions meet President Obama.

To read more about Irvin check out his interesting Baseball Hall of Fame bio here. He could have been Jackie Robinson, but Branch Rickey chose Robinson prior to Irvin getting his opportunity with the Giants. 

For The Collector
Found this beauty at a card show in 2012 for $4.50 which is a solid price for this card. Eight recent auctions came in under $6. The High End was $577 (PSA 8.5), four auctions ended in the $240-$250 range (PSA 8).



Monte Irvin HoF Index 
Memorial Posting (2016 January)


Sources and Links
Baseball Hall of Fame
SF Gate
baseball-ref
ebay