Lasorda featured in 1956 A's set

For many years I had in my "futures" files of material for eventual use in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards a photocopy of what looked like the front of a postcard picturing Tommy Lasorda pitching for the Kansas City Athletics.

I must not have had an image of the back, or I would have added it to the listing for 1956-58 team-issued postcards.

Now, based on information forwarded by John Rumierz, we can formulate an entirely new regional set listing for a group of cards issued to promote a specific game at Municipal Stadium in 1956.

The cards are about postcard size, at approximately 3-1/8" x 5-1/4". From the message printed -- in a union shop, no less -- on the back it looks like these cards were distributed by one or more groups sponsoring "Kansas City Live Stock Night" at the ballpark. Butcher shops or grocery stores would seem to be logical places for the cards to have been handed out.

 If that was, indeed, the manner in which the cards were issued, it's likely they were distributed one at a time, making acquisition of a complete set a real challenge.

The promotion helped draw a crowd of 13,371 to the game, which the A's lose to the Red Sox, 6-3.

The checklist provided by Rumierz has 23 players. Whether that constitutes the totality of the issue is currently unknown.

The card of Lasorda is the only one of which I am aware that shows him with the A's. After pitching in eight games with the 1954-55 Brooklyn Dodgers, with no decisions, Lasorda appeared in 18 games with the '56 A's between April 17-July 8, with an 0-4 record and 6.48 ERA. Those were his last major league games as a player. He spent the rest of the season with Montreal. 

• Mike Baxes
• Lou Boudreau
• Cletis Boyer
• Jack Crimian
• Joe DeMaestri
• Jim Ewell
• Jim Finigan
• Joe Ginsburg
• Tom Gorman
• Johnny Groth
• Alex Kellner
• Lou Kretlow
• Tom Lasorda
• Hec Lopez
• Rance Pless
• Vic Power
• Jose Santiago
• Bobby Schantz
• Harry Simpson
• Enos Slaughter
• George Susce
• Charles Thompson
• Gus Zernial