Billy Pierce PC

I recently posted the regular 1959 card of Billy Pierce, one of my favorite players, over on my set blog. I thought I'd show some of the other Pierce cards in my collection.

Above is the '52 Bowman, Pierce's second year card from that company. He pitched for the Tigers in 1945 and 1948 before he was traded to the White Sox where he found his stride.

Next up is the 1953 Bowman Color card. '53 was a good year for the still young lefty. He won 15 games for the second year in a row and led the league in strikeouts, The card lists his weight as 115. Now Billy Pierce was a small guy but not THAT small. Given that the '54 Pierce lists him at 155 I'd guess that was what they intended to put on this one.

'54 Bowman. Pierce was coming off an 18 win season in which he posted a 2.72 ERA. He pitched 19 complete games and had 7 shutouts. My, times have changed.

And finally the '58 Topps. This set doesn't get a lot of love but I like how colorful it is and I the logos are cool. I have a soft spot for them because they were the first cards I remember seeing. We were living on Long Island and a girl down the block had a stack of them.

BTW... this is a list of Hall of Fame pitchers with a career WAR lower than Billy Pierce:

Al Spalding
Early Wynn
Hoyt Wilhelm
Burleigh Grimes
Addie Joss
Herb Pennock
Chief Bender
Lefty Gomez
Dizzy Dean
Rich Gossage
Jack Chesbro
Candy Cummings
Bob Lemon
Catfish Hunter
Jesse Haines
Rube Marquard
Monte Ward
Rollie Fingers
Bruce Sutter
Satchel Paige