Vintage Red Sox: 1955 Bowman

I can't remember what I was browsing for on Ebay Christmas Day when I came across a seller selling cheap singles from 1955 Bowman.  I always liked the design and decided that since I did not have any cards from the set (which surprised me) and it had been a long time since I bought any vintage Red Sox cards, I would grab a few.  I ended up with three.

1.  Willard Nixon.  This is my fourth Nixon card.  He spent his entire nine-year Major League career with the Red Sox primarily as a starting pitcher.  For his career, he had a record of 69-72 with a 4.39 ERA (98 ERA+), striking out 616 and walking 530 in 1,234 innings pitched.  He was a decent fielder as a pitcher and ranked among league leaders in a few categories, including leading the league in fielding percentage in 1957.  That was probably his best season as he was 12-13 with a 3.68 ERA (108 ERA+, 3.12 FIP) with 96 strikeouts and 56 walks in 191 innings, throwing eleven complete games.  Unfortunately, instead of being a sign of good things to come, his numbers nosedived in 1958 and he was released.  

2.  Billy Goodman.  This is my eighth Billy Goodman card and he is still the only player I have a cut autograph of from SP Legendary Cuts (remember that set?).  Goodman is the best player of the three cards I picked up.  I need to get more cards of him.  He is renowned for winning the A.L. batting title in 1950 (.354) despite not having a regular position.  He played left field and all four infield positions that season.  He also finished second in the MVP vote.  Goodman was a two-time All Star (1949, 1953) and finished his career hitting .300/.376/.378 in a 16-year career with the Red Sox, Orioles, White Sox and Colt .45's (Astros).  He was with the Red Sox from 1947 to 1957 when he was traded to Baltimore for reliever Mike Fornieles, a deal which worked out well for Boston.

3.  Russ Kemmerer.  This is my first card of Kemmerer, so welcome to the collection.  Kemmerer spent parts of the first three seasons in his career with the Red Sox, coming up in 1954 and putting up an impressive 3.82 ERA (109 ERA+, 3.82 FIP) in 19 games with a 5-3 record.  He struck out 37 and walked 41 in 75.1 innings seeing time as both a starter and reliever.  He struggled a bit in 1955 then spent 1956 in the minors before making it back to Boston for one game in 1957 then was traded to Washington along with Milt Bolling and Faye Throneberry for Dean Stone and Bob Chakales.  Kemmerer became an innings eater in Washington, but did not have much success and later pitched for the White Sox and Colt .45's.