5 Missing Baseball Cards of the 1950s
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The 1950s may just be the ultimate dream decade for baseball cards. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente are just four of the top-shelf Hall of Famers with rookie cards in the decade. Add to that some of the most beautiful sets in the history of the Hobby and you have a formula for some of the greatest cardboard of all time. At the same time, there are a number of cards collectors then and now would have loved to see.
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1950 Bowman Joe DiMaggio
Though he was well past his prime by 1950, the Yankee Clipper was still the game's biggest superstar and still putting together all-star seasons. Still, Joltin' Joe was nowhere to be found in any of the new decade's licensed releases. The word licensed is key here since DiMaggio's absence was wholly unrelated to his stature in the game. Joe simply wasn't interested in a trading card, at least not for the pittance gum makers offered back then. The result is that Joe's only cards from 1942 until 1982 were either unlicensed or of the oddball variety. Even his famous 1949 Leaf card was unlicensed (as was the entire set!)
1951 Bowman Jackie Robinson
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The Brooklyn Dodger icon made the Bowman sets in 1949 and 1950 and would crack the Topps checklist from 1952 through 1956. However, in 1951, he was nowhere to be found, at least as far as mainstream card issues were concerned, even as young collectors would have loved to find him in their packs of 1951 Bowman or the "Red Back" and "Blue Back" issues Topps introduced in 1951. Fortunately, as most 1951 Bowman cards simply used cropped images of their 1950 predecessors, collectors could at least imagine what a 1951 Bowman Jackie Robinson would have looked like. Not surprisingly, it would have looked amazing!
1952 Topps Satchel Paige
The 42-year-old rookie and Negro Leagues legend made the Leaf and Bowman sets in 1949 and (far more affordably) the Topps set in 1953. Unfortunately, the GOAT of all pitchers, Black or White, was missing in action from 1950 to 1952, apart from oddball releases. Collectors today can only imagine how incredible a card of Satch might have looked in the iconic 1952 Topps set.
1953 Topps Stan Musial
Stan the Man had a beautiful Bowman card in 1953, but it would be five more years before Sy Berger would convince the Cardinals legend to sign with Topps, and even then all Topps could do was hurry an All-Star card out the door before time ran out on the 1958 set. Collectors can only imagine how tremendous a Musial card from any of the decade's earlier Topps sets might have looked. Though a number of modern "cards that never were" sets have made at least approximate attempts, none have been convincing.
1954 Topps Mickey Mantle
While the Mick make the Bowman checklist in 1954 and 1955, both of those instances came at the expense of Topps, which was almost completely shut out when it came to Mantle cards. The almost here is that readers of Sports Illustrated issue #2 in 1954 were treated to a centerfold of Yankee cards designed largely in the style of the 1954 Topps set, though the Mantle, along with half the others, were in black and white.
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.