1950 Bowman - Post #2 - Monte Kennedy (Or Is It Monty?)

I've decided to take a crack at building the 1950 Bowman set, largely because it was responsible for the first truly vintage baseball card I ever owned.  Tonight I inch one card closer to that goal with pitcher Monte Kennedy of the New York Giants:

Monte (also spelled Monty in some instances) was a lefty who wore a Giants uniform for all 249 of his Major League Baseball appearances across 8 seasons.  While he began his career primarily as a starter, he would later shift to a bullpen/spot start role.  In the end, just about half of his career games were starts with the other half coming out of the pen.

While he never won a World Series, he did pitch in two games of the 1951 Fall Classic against the Yankees.  In one instance, he had a nice 1-2-3 inning.  The other appearance?  He gave up a two-run shot to Phil Rizzuto.  You win some, you lose some.

Here's a look at the back.  Kennedy was obviously still a starter in 1949, as evidenced by the 12-14 record.  It was the final year of his career though where at least 50% of his appearances would come as starts.

As far as the card itself, the plain grey is easily one of the least interesting backgrounds in the entire set.  I love all of these miniature beauties though, and am happy to have Monte here in hand at this early stage of my set build.

Set Progress:  2 of 252 (.8% Complete)