Random Topps Card of the Day: 1955 Topps #42 "Windy" McCall

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, October 10, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1955 Topps #42.
• Player Name, position, team: "Windy" McCall, pitcher, New York Giants.
• Major League Debut: April 25, 1948.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1954 stats (Giants): 33 G, 61 IP, 2-5, .286 PCT, 50 Hits, 26 Runs, 22 ER, 38 SO, 29 Walks, 3.25 E.R. Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Red Sox as a Free Agent before the 1947 season. Traded by San Francisco (PCL) to the Giants 10/08/1953. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: McCall's first regular Topps card (total includes regular cards only). The difference between the 1955 and 1956 Topps sets, while both are horizontally oriented and features both a headshot and a secondary picture next to each other, is the background on the card. The 1955 Topps design uses a color background, while the 1956 design utilizes an painted action shot (the picture was real, but painted over). John "Windy" McCall played for both the Red Sox and Pirates in a very limited capacity. It wasn't until the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League traded him to the New York Giants after of the 1953 season that he would finally got his opportunity to play in the majors full-time. McCall pitched in 33 games in 1954, all but four in relief. According to the bio on the back, McCall "was called upon to bolster the Giants' bull pen crew last year and came through in fine style." Back then, this was the only way kids (or the adults that may have bought the gum back then, could get information on a certain player. And Topps always tried to find the positives in a player's career, even if there wasn't much to work with. They do mention that he "harnessed the wildness that hampered him in the Minors to earn a berth on the World Champions." The 1954 Giants won the World Series, beating the Cleveland Indians in four straight games. This would be the last time the Giants would win the World Series. McCall, however, didn't get to play in the series. He didn't have to. But he certainly got his ring. He autographed cards for the 2006 Topps Heritage set (which honored the 1957 Topps design), 200 regular cards and 57 in red ink. Lo-Hi Beckett value: $6.00-$12.00.
  How many cards of this player do I own?: 0 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM. (You have to stop by and visit them now. They just announced that they are allowing more people to enter the museum at one time.)

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1999 Topps Traded and Rookies #T75 . Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama