For a Few More Antonellis

As I'm sure I mentioned a couple of times already, the realization that to collect baseball cards once more meant I could find validation in building sets my way - i.e. individual players, teams or Frankensets - was totally liberating. I'd labored under the assumption for many years that card collecting was mostly about chasing the big-dollar cards and/or about completing sets - preferably by buying them in one fell swoop. So I stayed away.

Now that I'm back, one of the guys I'm collecting is Johnny Antonelli. I talked about that a couple of weeks ago. I was able to pull together a few new ones the past couple of weeks, courtesy of a Sportlots order. This one you see here is from 1953, Topps #106, when Antonelli had just returned from two years away from baseball, having completed his military service. His Boston Braves were about to become the Milwaukee Braves, and he would go 12-12 for them that year with a 3.18 ERA. This now 67-year-old card has seen better days, but it sure looks better in my collection than wherever it was beforehand.

Antonelli was traded to the New York Giants in 1954, where he'd go on to win the World Series with young Willie Mays that year. He went 21-7 with a 2.30 ERA, made the All-Star team and finished third in the MVP voting, after Mays and Ted Kluszewski. Here's what his Topps #119 card looked like that year, right before the season was to begin:

The 1955 Bowman set that followed that year was an unusual one, with each player encased in a television set (!). Here's card #124 from 1955 Bowman:

These last two cards are a relatively recent reprint and an artifact. First, a Topps reprint of one of his Braves cards, followed by a 2002 Topps New York Giants "Super Teams '54" card. I think now that I have this one, I could totally use this entire set, and will commence upon collecting it presently.