1953 Topps Project - George Kell

Today let's look at the 63rd card in my modest 1953 Topps set, Mr. George Kell...

This is actually a really significant card for me, and not just because it's a Red Sox card.  It's significant because George Kell represents, unless I'm missing one, the fourth Hall-of-Famer in my '53 Topps set.  Yes, I know he was elected by the Veterans Committee but it still counts!

Kell was a very solid hitter (won a batting title and batted .300+ for 8 consecutive seasons!), a 10-time All Star, and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting three times.  George played for a few different teams during his career, and was actually only with Boston for one full season and parts of two others (235 games total).  Luckily for me, his stay in Beantown coincided with the release of the beautiful 1953 Topps set...

Fans in Detroit will undoubtedly associate George Kell with his many decades as the team's play-by-play guy after his playing career ended.  He passed away from natural causes in his hometown (Swifton, Arkansas) back in 2009, at age 86.

Oh yeah, one more thing, when Kell won the batting title in 1949, he struck out 13 times.  All season.  This blows my mind.

Set Progress:  63 of 274 (23%)