Along side of the cards are a short printed description of the players previous season, 1949. Here's some interesting reading for our fans:

American League Aces 1949 Exact Wording 'Who's Who - 1950'

Mel Parnell, Pitcher, Boston Red Sox; The iron-hearted lefty was the kingpin hurler of the league last year. Playing his second full season with the Red Sox, he led the field in ERA with 2.78 in 39 games; pitched the most complete games (27); won most games (25); worked most innings.

Phil Rizzuto, Shortstop, New York Yankees; The brilliant little vet was the most valuable player in the AL last season, say thousands of fans. His never failing spirit sparked the Bombers in their great pennant battle. He led AL shortstops defensively with .971 in 153 games. He hit .275, Scored 110 runs, knocked in 64 more, stole 18 bases.

Bob Lemon, Pitcher, Cleveland Indians; Bob was the only member of the '48 champs who looked like a champ in '49. He led the Tribe hurlers in every department - and was among the top three in the AL. He won 22 games, had an ERA of 2.99, pitched 280 innings and 22 complete games.

George Kell, 3rd Base, Detroit Tigers; After a 1948 of incapacitating injuries, Kell came back last season to nose out none other than Ted Williams for the AL batting championship. He won it on the final day, finishing with .3429 to Ted's .3427. Defensively, Kell's work was great, as usual. His FA- second best For AL third sackers - was .975.

Alex Kellner, Pitcher, Philadelphia A's; The sparkling young lefty could almost be called a rookie. He worked in only 3 games for the A's in '48, and led Mack's entire hurling staff. He pitched 245 innings in 38 games, was one of five AL throwers to get 20 wins, pitched 20 complete games, whiffed 94 batters. That's an ace-high record.

Luke Appling, Shortstop, Chicago White Sox; Long-wearing Luke was honored last Jan. 22 by the Chicago Baseball Writers 'for long and meritorious service to baseball.' He said that he would certainly be in the lineup this year - and he probably will. Last season Luke set a new, lifetime record for the majors with 2198 games played at short.

National League Aces 1949 Exact Wording Who's Who - 1950

'PeeWee' Reese, Shortstop, Brooklyn Dodgers; The humming dynamo played every game on the schedule in high gear last year. He led all NL shortstops in fielding with .977. He was a constant inspiration to the team, helped put winning fight in every Dodger player. He batted .279, leading his mates in runs scored with 132. And he stole 26 bases, second only to leader Jackie Robinson.

Stan Musial, Outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals; The Man of the Majors missed the Most Valuable Player Award by 38 points last year. And his BA slumped to a mere .342, four points off the pace of Champ Robinson. But Stan led the circuit for the fifth time in base hits with 207; amassed most total bases (382); most doubles (41); tied colleague Slaughter for most triples (13). He's still very much The Man.

Ken Raffensberger, Pitcher, Cincinnati Reds; The off-traded vet who says he has only three pitches with nothing on any of them, had a bright-light record last season. He took part in more games (41) than any other member of the Red staff; he led in innings pitched (284) and strikeouts (103). And he was the only Cincy hurler to win oftener than he lost (W18, L17).

Bobby Thomson, Outfielder, New York Giants; Bobby could have the regular, Middle garden job on most any team in the majors if Durocher wanted to make a deal. Last season he was the Giants ace in games played (156); runs (99); hits (198), total Bases (332), doubles (35), triples (3), homers (27); RBI (109) and BA (.309). Durocher Wouldn't trade him. Would you?

Carl Furillo, Outfielder, Brooklyn Dodgers; Furillo gave thanks for his first chance to play full time in the majors, by big ace performance last season. He hit .426 in the final 46 games had a season BA of .322 with 106 RBI. A painful injury during the last game of the campaign, greatly impaired his value in the World Series.

Hank Sauer, Outfielder, Chicago Cubs; The big ball-buster came to the Cubs last year after playing 42 games for Cincinnati. He hit 35 homers for the Reds in '48, but was way off that pace in '49 - before joining the Bruins. As a Cub, he hit 27 round trippers and proved to be the all-around strong man on their so-called attack. baseballhistorian.com archives "Who's Who Magazine- 1950 Edition"

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In the 1950's, Mel Parnell was still a leading hurler racking up 18-10, 18-11, 12-12, and 21-8. Parnell suffered a broken arm in 1954 and after two sub-par seasons retired. baseballhistorian.com archives

His unorthodox delivery was described in many colorful ways; Leo Durocher said, "Blackwell looked like a man trying to throw a seven, straight from behind his right ear". Ralph Kiner, once said, "I wouldn't rate him as the fastest, but his delivery was the toughest to fight".

While pitching for the Cincinnati Reds in the late 1940's, Ewell was the main man in the National League. In the 1947, All-Star game Ewell 'the Whip' Blackwell was the starting pitcher and threw 4 shutout innings. In fact, he hurled a total of 11 straight shutout innings in All-Star play. Blackwell lifetime stats: 82 W 78 L, an ERA of 3.30 with 15 shutouts.

In 1957, Roy Sievers led the AL with 42 HR's and 114 RBI's. In 1960, Sievers now playing for the Chicago White Sox pounded 28 HR's along with 93 RBI's and collected a 21 game hitting streak. Sievers was one of only three players in baseball history to pinch hit grand-slams in both leagues. Roy Sievers retired with a home run ratio of one HR per/20/atbats.

Sievers had a career .267 BA with 1703 hits. Thanks for always finding time for your many fans with your pleasant style - we still cherish your autographed photo. baseballhistorian.com

Harvey Kuenn was an aggressive shortstop, played in six All-Star games, led the league in hits four times, and doubles three times. He led the AL in 1959 with his .353 batting average.

Moved to centerfield, Harvey Kuenn continued to be a main star with his excellent fielding and clutch hitting. In nine different seasons, Kuenn hit better than .300.

He starred on the San Francisco Giants from 1961-1965 and retired after the 1966 season. After an amputation of a leg due to a blood clot, Harvey Kuenn joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971as a coach and became the Brewers manager in June of 1982 and directed his 'Harvey Wallbangers' to the World Series only to lose a seven game series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Harvey Kuenn's playing career included a .303 batting average, 2092 hits, 356 doubles and he scored 951 runs in 1833 games, batted 6913 times and struck out only 404 times.

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Artie Wilson hit over .375 over four different seasons and he captured the 1948 Negro League batting title with a high of .402. He won the Pacific Coast batting title in 1949 with a .348 average and also won the stolen base crown.

Artie Wilson was a superior defensive shortstop and a master at turning the double play. He started at SS in four East-West All-Star Games in the late 1940's. He was finally brought up to the major leagues in 1951 by the New York Giants but only appeared in 19 games. He returned to the Negro Leagues and played six more seasons. baseballhistorian.com All Rights Reserved Negro Leagues Baseball Players

Elroy Face ranks sixth in relief wins with 96, and was sixth in career saves with 193. He holds the NL record for most games finished with 574 and is tied with Walter Johnson with the most appearances for one team ( 802 ). Face stated this about his famous forkball, "it would come in hard and break anyway it wanted to, sometimes in, sometimes out, mostly down". Roy Face career 104-95, 1375 innings, ERA of 3.48. baseballhistorian.com

Known for his tape-measured home runs, Luke Easter hit a 477 ft homer in his rookie year, the longest HR ever hit in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In 1952, he hit 31 HR's - one in every 7 at bats. A foot injury in early 1954, cut short his major league career but big Luke Easter played Triple -A ball until late in his 40's.

Luke Easter's stats: in 4 full years hit 93 HR's, batted .274, with 340 RBI's.

"Big Luke" always had time for his fans and once while playing in Chicago he fanned five times in a doubleheader and after the games signed his autograph for a 14 year old boy. Baseball Historian

Likeable Luke Easter was shot and killed in 1979 in a robbery. Peace to You, Big Luke Easter. baseballhistorian.com

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Walt Dropo turned down a offer from the Chicago Bears in 1947 and decided his future was with the Boston Red Sox. Traded to Detroit, Walt Dropo had a sensational July, in 1952, when he smashed 12 consecutive hits to tie a major league record. Playing on the Chicago White Sox in 1955, Walt hit 19 HR's, batted .280 along with 79 RBI's.

Nagged by injuries he finished his career with Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles, but was only a part-time player. Walt Dropo's career: 1288 games, .270 BA, 152 HR's and 704 RBI's.

Baseball Historian

Nicknamed 'Ozark Ike' after the popular comic strip character, Gus Zernial tied a Chicago White Sox record for the most HR's with 29 in 1950. He broke his collarbone and was traded by the White Sox in a three-team deal to the Philadelphia Athletics for Minnie Minoso. Gus Zernial went on to lead the league with 33 HRs, 129 RBIs and 17 outfield assists that same year.

In 1953, free-swinging Zernial hit 42 home runs second only to Al Rosen's 43 and played for the American League in the All-Star game. After the Athletics moved to Kansas City, the popular Zernial slugged a team leading 30 HRs.

Twice in his career, big Gus had the misfortune to break his collarbone while chasing long fly-balls. He played his final two seasons with the Detroit Tigers and in 1958 led the American League with 15 pinch-hits.

Gus Zernial batted .265 in his engaging career, with a slugging pct of .486. and walloped 237 homers in 1234 games. baseballhistorian.com archives

For a photo and bio of Gus Zernial, please see All-Stars 1950s located on the Home Page.

Power-packed, clutch hitter, Vic Wertz starred for the Detroit Tigers with his torrid hitting in the late 1940's. In 1947, Vic Wertz blasted 26 doubles, 20 HR's batted .304 and knocked in 133 runs. In 1950, his stats were 37 D, 27 HRs, batted .308 with 123 RBIs. Traded to the St. Louis Browns in 1953, Vic hit 19 HRs. Baseball Historian

While with Cleveland in late 1954, he was a major force for the Indians winning the pennant. In 1956 with the Indians, Wertz hit 32 homers and had 106 RBIs and the following year hit 28 HRs with 105 RBIs. Vic Wertz was a popular slugger wherever he grabbed a bat, drawing loud cheers from his many fans. Wertz always found time to honor requests for autographed photos. Thanks for the memories. baseballhistorian.com archives photos

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