1953 Topps Project - Post #19

#79 - Johnny Wyrostek - Philadelphia Phillies

The next card in the 1953 Topps project is Johnny Wyrostek of the Fightin' Phillies, the first Phillie in my collection. In keeping with the other recent post subjects, Johnny had a largely uneventful career. He was signed out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals, yet didn't see steady playing time until 1946 with the Phillies.

Here we see Johnny pictured in his second stint with the Phillies, a five year stretch with the Cincinnati Reds was sandwiched in between. I'm not sure why Philadelphia would've wanted to sign him back. He did club a career high 17 HR and 76 RBI in his first season with the Reds in 1948, and was selected to the N.L. All-Star team twice while a member of Cincinnati, however he never eclipsed the 10 home run plateau again in his career and never had a great batting average either, with the exception of the 1951 campaign when he hit .311.

On a side note, if I had it my way the Phillies would still be referred to as the Fightin' Phillies on modern day baseball cards.