#181 Billy Martin - New York Yankees

Alfred Manuel Martin
New York Yankees
Second Base-Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  165
Born:  May 16, 1928, Berkeley, CA
Acquired:  Traded by Oakland (PCL) with Jackie Jensen to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and cash, October 13, 1949
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1950-1953, 1955-1957; Kansas City Athletics 1957; Detroit Tigers 1958; Cleveland Indians 1959; Cincinnati Reds 1960; Milwaukee Braves 1961; Minnesota Twins 1961
As a Manager:  Minnesota Twins 1969; Detroit Tigers 1971-1973; Texas Rangers 1973-1975; New York Yankees 1975-1978, 1979; Oakland Athletics 1980-1982; New York Yankees 1983, 1985, 1988
Died:  December 25, 1989, Johnson City, NY (age 61)

As a player, Billy Martin was the Yankees' every day second baseman in 1952, 1953 and 1956, providing steady defense with double play partners Phil Rizzuto (#113) or Gil McDougald (#225).  Martin's best offensive seasons came in the early 1950s, as he batted a career-high .267 in 1952 and hit career highs with his power numbers in 1953 with 15 home runs and 75 RBIs.  He was named to his only All-Star team in 1956 and departed the Bronx (for the first of many times) in mid-1957 having won World Series rings with the Yankees in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1956.  For the rest of his playing days, Martin never stayed with one club for more than a full season, making stops with six different clubs.  He retired having played in 1,021 career games and batting .257 with 877 hits.

1983 Donruss #575

As a manager, Martin developed a reputation for his ability to turn around bad teams as well as his legendary temper.  First hired to manage the Twins in 1969, Martin led Minnesota to a division title but was fired following the season.  After stints with the Tigers and Rangers, he was first hired to manage his former team, the Yankees, in mid-1975.  Martin guided New York to three consecutive pennants between 1976 and 1978, including a World Series title in 1977.  He departed as the Yankees manager for the first time in July 1978 after highly publicized battles with the team's star outfielder, Reggie Jackson, and the team's owner, George Steinbrenner.  Martin and Steinbrenner would continue the pattern of reconciliation and self-destruction throughout the late 1980s, with Martin managing the Yankees in five different stints.  His lifetime managerial record was 1,253-1,013, including 48 career ejections. 

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #19
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Ed Mathews (#107) post.  This Martin card would have definitely been one of the names I recognized when going through the Original 44, given his notoriety at the time and his inclusion in Topps and Donruss sets of the day on manager cards.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this is the first of 16 from series three.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Martin was omitted from the 1955 Bowman and Topps sets, given his year away in the military.  It looks as if the runner has been forced out in the action photo.  The cartoon panels on the back feature his military discharge in 1955 and his .500 batting average in the 1953 World Series when he collected 12 hits.

1956 Season

Martin missed all of the 1954 season and most of the 1955 season while serving in the military.  He was the Yankees' opening day second baseman in 1956, his final full season as a player in New York.  Rumblings circulated during the season that Martin was a bad influence on his teammates, especially star slugger Mickey Mantle (#135).  Martin was named to his only All-Star Game and he grounded out against Warren Spahn (#10) as a pinch-hitter.  During the regular season, he played in 121 games, batting .264 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs.  He was again a key player in the World Series, delivering a go-ahead RBI single in Game 4 and hitting .296 overall with two home runs as the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in seven games.

1952 Topps #175

1962 Topps #208

1972 Topps #33

1978 Topps #721

1986 Topps #651

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #175
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25):  1952-1954, 1956-1962, 1969, 1971-1978, 1980-1981, 1983-1986
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2021 Topps x Sports Illustrated #51

444 - Martin non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #180 Robin Roberts - Philadelphia Phillies / #182 Paul Minner - Chicago Cubs

Order Collected: #168 Sammy White - Boston Red Sox / #182 Paul Minner - Chicago Cubs

#33 Roberto Clemente - Pittsburgh Pirates

Roberto Walker Clemente
Pittsburgh Pirates
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Born:  August 18, 1934, Carolina, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent, February 1954
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1955-1972
Died:  December 31, 1972, San Juan, Puerto Rico (age 38)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1973

One of the most prolific pure hitters of the 1960s, and a true five-tool talent, Roberto Clemente played his entire 18-year career with the Pirates, leading them to World Series titles in 1960 and 1971.  He was a 15-time All-Star, a 12-time Gold Glove winner, the N.L. MVP in 1966 and the World Series MVP in 1971.

A four-time batting champ, Clemente joined the exclusive 3,000 hit club in the second to last game he'd ever play on September 30, 1972.  At the time, he was the 11th player in baseball history to join the club.  A few months later, and less than 10 weeks after the passing of Jackie Robinson, Clemente died in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver earthquake relief supplies to Nicaragua.

The pride of Puerto Rico, Clemente's legacy lives on through the countless Latino baseball players he's inspired over the past four decades.

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #314
I've already mentioned this in an earlier post, but the way my Dad and I finished the set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired that finished off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards, including the Clemente card.

On Christmas morning 2007, my Dad ended up in the hospital and it was only when he was discharged 3 days later that we celebrated Christmas together and officially completed our 1956 Topps set.  Among the "big" cards in that final haul were the cards of Clemente, Monte Irvin (#194), Whitey Ford (#240), Pee Wee Reese (#260) and the Checklist covering Series 1 and 3 (#341).  I'll need to tell more of this story in a future post covering one of the other final 29 cards.

The Card
I spent some time trying to figure out the location of the action shot based on the advertising against the outfield wall.  This is the kind of trivia that would be immediately evident to a kid looking at this baseball card back in 1956, but sitting here 63 years later and I was stumped.  I ruled out Forbes Field since pictures I found from the Pirates' former home showed a blank right field wall.  A search for vintage ballparks from 1956 turned up this photo from Ebbetts Field, and the mystery was solved!

Clemente is making his catch against the Esquire Boot Polish sign, with the green edge of the letter "M" from the Gem Razor Blade sign making a cameo along the left side of his card.

This is Clemente's second year card, as his rookie card appears in the 1955 Topps set.  The card's back creatively depicts his "draft" from the Brooklyn Dodgers and their top minor league team, the Montreal Royals, to the Pirates prior to the 1955 season.  He's got to be the best Rule 5 draft pick in the history of the game.

Clemente is one of five players born in Puerto Rico to appear in the 1956 Topps set, along with Ruben Gomez (#9), Jose Santiago (#59), Luis Arroyo (#64) and Vic Power (#67).

Phillies Connection
The late great Bob Lemke created a custom card back in 2013 for Roberto Clemente, Jr., who played in 35 games for the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 1984.  The younger Clemente hit .167 (16 for 96) that season, and played for two more seasons in the South Atlantic League for Gastonia (unaffiliated) and Charleston (in the Padres organization).

1956 Season
Clemente was 21 in 1956, entering his second full season with the Pirates.  His talents were still developing and he hit .311 with 7 home runs and 60 RBIs.  Only the Cubs kept the Pirates out of the National League basement, as manager Bobby Bragan's team finished with a record of 66-88.  Clemente's outfield partners that season were Lee Walls in left and Bill Virdon (#170) in center.

His SABR biography notes that Clemente was a free swinger in 1956, drawing only 13 walks and at one point going 50 games without drawing a base on balls.  Those 13 walks would prove to be a career low.

1955 Topps #164

1973 Topps #50

1998 Topps #21

2001 Topps #784

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #164
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #164
Last Topps Card (as a player):  1973 Topps #50
Most Recent Topps Card (post-career):  2001 Topps #784
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps - 8 different insert cards
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (23):  1955-1973, 1975, 1987, 1998, 2001

2,081 - Clemente non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #32 Frank House - Detroit Tigers / #34 Tom Brewer - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #329 Lou Berberet - Washington Nationals / #61 Bill Skowron - New York Yankees