Uncommon commons: In more than 30 years in
sportscards publishing I have thrown hundreds of notes into files about the
players – usually non-star players – who made up the majority of the baseball
and football cards I collected as a kid. Today, I keep adding to those files as
I peruse microfilms of The Sporting News from the 1880s through the
1960s. I found these tidbits brought some life to the player pictures on those
cards. I figure that if I enjoyed them, you might too.
A by-lined
column on the editorial page of the Oct. 8, 1952, issue of The Sporting News appeared under the headline, “Rookie Crop Far
Below Par,” with the subhead, ”Courtney Pick Rip-Off of General Lack of
Talent.”
In the
column, Ed McAuley of the Cleveland News
decried the selection of St. Louis Browns catcher Clint Courtney as The Sporting News’ American League
Rookie of the Year. Courtney was the first catcher in either league to win the
rookie award since it was established by TSN in 1946.
McAuley
called the selection, “dramatic evidence that the freshman class of 1952 was
the least talented since World War II.”
He
strengthened his case by noting that Courtney’s only real competition for the
A.L. honor was Red Sox catcher Sammy White.
“With all due
respect to these energetic marksmen,” McAuley wrote, “I submit that there is
nothing in their records which would have gained them this distinction if the
rest of the new talent in the league had been up to par.”
In 1952
Courtney became the primary catcher for the St. Louis Browns. After just one
game with the N.Y. Yankees in 1951, he had been traded to St. Louis in the off-season.
With the
Brownies in 1952, Courtney batted .286 with five home runs and 50 RBIs. He had
led major league catchers with a .996 fielding average.
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year in
the National League was Brooklyn Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Black.
The
Baseball Writers Association of American chose as its Rookie of the Year
Philadelphia A’s pitcher Harry Byrd, who had a 15-15 season. Courtney was
second-place in the writers’ voting.
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