Random Topps Card of the Day: 1956 Topps #41 Hank Sauer

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 31, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1956 Topps #41.
• Player Name, position, team: Hank Sauer, outfielder, Chicago Cubs.
• Major League Debut: September 9, 1941.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1955 stats (Cubs): 79 Games, 261 At Bat, 29 Runs, 55 Hits, 8 2b, 1 3b, 12 H.R., 28 R.B.I., .211 B. Avg. 122 P.O., 4 Assists, 2 Errors, .984 F. Avg.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Yankees as a Free Agent before the 1937 season. Traded by the Reds to the Cubs 06/15/1949. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: What an awesome action shot that was included on Sauer's picture. If Sauer had a card in today's baseball card world, we would have seen the picture of Sauer making that kind of leap. If the card was included in the 2013 set, it would have been short printed. But I digress. Hank Sauer was a very popular player for the Cubs in the early 50's, especially on some really horrible teams. Teaming with Ralph Kiner and Frank Baumholtz, they comprised an outfield that was supposedly so slow that Mike Royko called them the "Quicksand Kids." But Sauer was the one that packed the power in the Cubs lineup, and in 1952, thanks to leading the NL in 37 home runs and 121 rbi's, he was named the NL MVP. In fact, in his seven seasons with the Cubs, Sauer hit for a .269 average, 198 home runs, drove in 587 rbi's, had an OPS of .860, and was a part of two All-Star Teams (in 1950 and 1952). Now Sauer didn't play for the Cubs in 1956. Why? It is said that he was holding out for more money, and instead of signing the slugger for more pay, the Cubs traded him off to the Cardinals for Pete Whisenant. In his lone season with the Cards, Sauer appeared in 75 games, hit 5 homers, drove in 24 rbi's, and hit for a good .298 average. However, he was released by the team after the season ended. Ten days later, he signed on with the NY Giants, just in time to be one of the few that can claim to be Giants on both coasts (the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958). The back of his Topps card features three large cartoons, the first mentioning his 1952 MVP campaign, the second says that Sauer uses "the heaviest bat in the majors" at 40 ounces. The third says that "Hank hit 41 home runs in '54. His 18 against the Pirates is a Major record. Now as with many of the older players, the SABR BioProject has an article about Hank Sauer. Hank Sauer passed away on August 24, 2001, of a heart attack while golfing. He was 84 years old.
• Beckett value: $7.50-$15.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5.

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.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2001 Topps #108. 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