My First '56

I spend a lot of time reading other peoples' blogs.  One of my favorites is Night Owl, who has an affinity for 1956 Topps cards.  Well, for some reason I did not own a single 1956 Topps card in my Red Sox collection.  That is not massively surprising.  It has only been within the last five or so years that I have really started collecting vintage cards.  So I was wasting time on Ebay one day last week and I came across a seller listing some 1956 Red Sox cards (among other teams I assume), for some low prices.  I snagged this one for just over a buck:

This is Mickey Vernon, who had a long and successful career, mostly with the Washington Senators.  He won two batting titles with Washington and also led the league in doubles twice.  He was an All Star seven times.  He was in his first season with the Red Sox in 1956 after being acquired in a multi-player deal.  Vernon had a good season in 1956 hitting .310/.403/.511 with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs.  He was an All Star that season.  Unfortunately, he declined significantly in 1957 with Boston and was placed on waivers.  He bounced around a little after that.

All in all, I am rather pleased with my first 1956 Topps card.  I can definitely see the appeal.  This Vernon was one of the cards that I wanted most from the set, but all of the cards are currently on my want list.