Conlan made "Christian" of Crandall

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.

In his 22-year career as a major league player and manager, Del Crandall earned the reputation as a consummate gentleman on the field.

That wasn't always the case, though, according to Hall of Fame umpire Jocko Conlan.

In an article by Russell Schneider in the April 9, 1966, Sporting News, Conlan told the story of an encounter with Crandall.

"I was behind the plate in Del's first major league game in Boston in 1949," the umpire began, "and he lasted exactly two pitches.

"He squawked on both and swore at me on the second -- which was all I needed. Del was gone that quick.

"Well, Billy Southworth [Braves manager], whose toughest phrase was 'goodness, gracious sakes,' came out and said, 'Goodness, gracious sakes, Jocko, what's wrong?' I told him 'I'll let Mr. Crandall explain,' which Del did. He told him what he had called me.

"When Southworth heard it, he told Crandall, 'It serves you right. Goodness, gracious sakes, you don't say things like that to major league umpires.'

"To his credit," Conlan said, "Del never swore again that I know of, and several times he's referred to me as 'the man who made a Christian of me.'"

That's a great story, even if Conlan wasn't correct on all the details.

According to baseball-reference.com, the game in which Crandall was thrown out by Conlan was not his first as a rookie in 1949; it actually happened on Aug, 27, versus the visiting Reds.

And Billy Southworth wasn't managing the Braves at that time. He was placed on a leave of absence from Aug 16 through the end of the season, and the team was being managed by Johnny Cooney.

But the loquacious Conlan wasn't the type to let facts get in the way of a good story. 

Hodges also exemplary

In a related vein about players who avoided early umpire-assisted exits, Washington baseball writer Bob Addie reminded readers that -- as spring training drew to a close -- Senators manager Gil Hodges had never been thrown out of a major league ballgame.

That encompassed 2,071 games as a player and three years as a manager. Hodges' Washington team must have given him good cause to swear, finishing last in the AL in 1963, 9th in 1964 and 8th in 1965.

But Addie explained, "Hodges never uses profanity, which is the reason 99 per cent of the time that a man gets chased."

In his playing days, Hodges was known as a good Catholic, who regularly attended mass in Brooklyn.

1962 Post customs complete the trilogy -- for now

The completion of a six-card sheet of 1962 Post cereal custom baseball cards, in the form of a recreation of a cereal box-back, ends phase one of a project I began a couple of months ago.

I introduced the project on this blog on April 24, showing off my 1961 Post customs. On May 14 I presented by seven-card panel of 1963 cards.

Now I give you my 1962-style creations. I saved the '62s for last because they were my favorite among the three years of Post 200-card sets.

To get a feel for the whys and wherefores of my Post customs, it might be a good idea to go back and look at the April 24 and May 14 blog entries so I don't have to repeat it here.

As in past presentations, I'll have just a few words about my player selections.

Gene Conley. Any Milwaukee Brave, or even a former or future Brave, is liable to find his way onto one of my custom cards. That was the case with Conley. Big Gene was originally included by Post only in its 1961 set, with the Phillies. By that time, however, he'd been traded to the Red Sox. My card recognizes Conley's move to the AL.

Gil Hodges. Hodges had a "real" card in the 1962 Post set, but was pictured as an L.A. Dodger. Post wasn't able to reflect the expansion Mets and Colt .45s of the NL on its 1962 cards, beyond some "drafted by . . . " lines on some of the cards. My card shows what such cards might have looked like if Post had done some additional cards later in the year.

Stan Musial. Though he was near the end of his playing days, and his productive years were behind him, in 1962 Musial was still one of the most popular players in the game. He didn't appear in any of the original Post cereal sets; this is what a 1962 card would have looked like.

Warren Spahn. The game's greatest left-hander appeared on Post cereal boxes only in 1961. Perhaps the company expected him to retire each year thereafter, but he hung on through the 1965 season, adding to his career totals. 

Billy Williams. Williams appeared in the 1963 Post set, where he is a high-priced short-print. It's not too much of a stretch to think Post could have included him in 1962; so I did.

Robin Roberts. Roberts is another player who did have a card in Post's original 1962 set. It pictured him as a Phillie and mentioned his trade to the Yankees. My "update" pictures him with New York and recognizes his move to the Orioles. Roberts was on the Yankees' roster from Oct. 16, 1961 through May 21, 1962, but never pitched in an official game for them.

As I said, these 1962 customs represent the end of the first part of what looks to become an on-going project.

I'm going to be doing something in the style of Post's 1962 football cards in a couple of months. I've also got a special 1962 Post Tens tray-bottom in mind and will likely tackle at least one more box-back of 1963 cards.