1950 Bowman - Post #8 - Earl Johnson

Last year I officially announced my intent to (slowly) collect the 1950 Bowman baseball set.  These under-sized gems are some of my favorite vintage baseball cards, period.  I finished 2017 with half a dozen of them in hand and profiled on the blog, but have added just one card to that total so far this year.  Seems as good a time as any to look at card #8 in my quest!

Today's subject is pitcher Earl Johnson of the Boston Red Sox!  Earl debuted with the Sox in the summer of 1940 at just 21 years of age.  After the 1941 season he, like so many others of his era, put his Major League Baseball career on hold to support US military efforts in WWII.

Johnson's military career was even more impressive than the one he carved out on the diamond.  Serving in the army's 120th Infantry Regiment, Earl faced hostile fire in combat and was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star in addition to being commissioned as a lieutenant.

When the conflict subsided the southpaw returned to Major League Baseball for the 1946 season.  He'd stick around for five more seasons with Boston before closing out his professional baseball career with the Tigers in 1951.

Here's a look at the back.  When his playing career wound down Earl served as a scout in the Red Sox organization for many years, making this card even cooler in the eyes of this Red Sox fan.

At this pace it's going to take me many years to complete this set, but I don't mind.  I'm really enjoying the ride as I go, and landing a new Red Sox card like this makes today's feature doubly satisfying!

Thanks for taking a few minutes of your day to stop by, I'll be featuring some more awesome cardboard from this release as the year rolls on!

Set Progress:  8 of 252 (3% Complete)