A '59 Trio

Just a quick post tonight, been a long day.  When I saw recently that an eBay seller had listed nearly an entire '59 Topps set, with each individual card starting at a penny and combined shipping available, I placed a few bids and came home with 9 new cards for my set in the end.  Tonight I've got the first three to show...

Ted Kluszewski had some monster seasons in the mid-'50s with the Cincinnati Reds, and finished his career with brief stints with the Pirates, White Sox and Angels. 

As a hitter, Ted could do it all.  He was a fantastic contact hitter with 7 .300-or-better seasons under his belt and a lifetime .298 average, but could club the hell out of the ball as well.  Kluszewski received at least some MVP votes every year between 1952 and 1956, and seemed destined for Cooperstown before injuries began to take their toll and his numbers really nose-dived in his final years.  This card was the cheapest of the few I ended up with at just 84 cents!

Minnie Minoso is a name I was excited to cross off of my want list.  He was 33 years old in 1959, and still enjoying success at the plate with a .302 / 21 HR / 92 RBI stat line.  Minoso is one of the more interesting random figures in baseball history as well, as he made a few at-bats at age 50 in 1976 and again at age 54 in 1980.

This one is pretty severely off-center, so I'll probably end up upgrading it at some point, but Minnie seems to be a popular guy with collectors and this copy was at least a couple bucks cheaper than similar examples on COMC.  Good enough for now!

Lastly, here's Bob Turley, fresh off of an amazing 1958 season in which he led the American League in wins, was named an All-Star, won the World Series, and captured Cy Young and World Series MVP honors!  I'd have to imagine that for a kid opening a pack of Topps cards in 1959 this would have been a very exciting pull indeed.  The condition of this one is also top notch, enough so that I will never need to even consider upgrading it.

So yeah, three cards closer, bringing me up to 218 in the binder.  Slowly but surely I'll get there...