1960 Topps #57 - Win Savers (Turk Lown, Gerry Staley)I still have the last strains of "Chelsea Dagger" running through my head from the Blackhawks rally earlier. I didn't attend, but I watched it on television. It reminded me so much of the 2005 rally for the White Sox. I hope I see something like that again in my lifetime.
Lown and Staley were a big reason for the success of the 1959 team. Each put in at least 60 appearances in 1959. Some might say that would be overworking those two, but when a season is on the line, a team tend to go more with what is working. Remember, this is a time where the complete game was king. To have two pitchers clocking in at least 60 appearances was a rarity on a good team.
I chose this card for two reasons. I missed last week's spotlight, due to illness, so this is like a vintage two for one. After 33 years of my life passing by without having this card in my collection, I received two of this card in the mail on the same day. One was won in a cheap auction with some PayPal mad money and the other was part of a blind trade. Both are completely awesome!
I never associated this card with the 1960 Topps set because it wasn't horizontal and did not show the same type of design as the regular cards in the set. At least with the coaches cards, you can tell that the same basic design is used. Not so with Win Savers. I suppose if I had been around to collect the set in 1960, every card from the set would be associated with the 1960 Topps set, in my mind. It's the little oddities about vintage sets that I love. This has to be one of my favorites.
3 comments:
What I liked about those days was that Lown and Staley did their thing without the ego-driven cult that declared one pitcher the closer. The way Al Lopez handled his staff made more sense.
I completely agree with you. Al Lopez was much more smarter.
"The way Al Lopez handled his staff made more sense"
Definitely. Sure, relievers would usually have a defined role, but if you are called upon, it shouldn't make any difference what the situation is. If a closer can't pitch in the seventh inning, when called to do so, maybe he shouldn't be in the majors in the first place.
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