Helmar This Great Game #50 Stan MUSIAL St. Louis Cardinals HOF

CLICK TO GO TO BIDDING SECTION!

About the Player

A short bio from the Helmar “This Great Game” card back: When Musial arrived in camp for the first time with the Cardinals, he had a sore arm and couldn’t throw a strike to save his life. The most senior scout in the organization wanted to release the young pitcher, but Musial had one man in his corner: general manager Branch Rickey, the famed “Mahatma,” a master at evaluating ballplayers. Rickey watched Musial smack a home run in a spring game and immediately ordered his coaches to keep the Polish kid from Pennsylvania in uniform. “Don’t let him go,” Rickey said, “put him in the outfield and see if he can hit.” Oh how The Man can hit: emerging as the best hitter in the league, a perennial favorite to win the batting title. Nice catch, Mr. Rickey.

About the Series

This series marks a step in a new direction for Helmar. For the first time we take a serious look at baseball in the 1950's and then, perhaps, the 1960's. The game found itself changing dramatically in this post WWII era, influenced by both the larger society and technological innovation. The color barrier may have been officially broken in 1947 but the acceptance of black players by the big league clubs came slowly, if surely. Reliable and inexpensive air transportation paved the way for geographic expansion. The game, which had been centered in the East and Midwest, found new opportunities along the West Coast.

The very center of the baseball world through the decade was New York City. New York teams competed in every World Series through the decade except for 1959. In many of those years both teams competing were from the city. Interestingly, New York also became the center of the art world at the same time. Migration after WWII brought many creatives to the Big Apple and movements such as abstract, modernism, surrealism and avant-garde.

Studying the era has inspired Helmar to use bold, often surreal colors in this series. We hope that you will join us as we explore this era of change.

Card size: 3' x 4'

Individually Numbered 1-20

Related Cards in the Series

You can click the thumbnail images to see a larger image of that card!
Also, click on card number to see card information or player name to see player information page!

Helmar This Great Game, St. Louis Cardinals
Card #	Thumbnail Pic	Player Name	Position	Top Auction Price
16		Boyer, Ken	Batting stance	$ 53.89
24		SCHOENDIST, Red	Portrait	$ 41.00
25		SLAUGHTER, Enos	Hand on hip	$ 63.00
39		Cooper, Walker	In crouch	$ 52.00
50		MUSIAL, Stan	hand on hip	$ 105.50
69		Garagiola, Joe	Gear; about to throw	$ 112.00
110		Brecheen, Harry	knee up, wind-up	$ 79.50
113		Haddix, Harvey	arms up	$ 86.55
114		Moon, Wally	cocked bat	$ 76.55
128		Rice, Del	Portrait	$ 67.00

CLICK TO GO TO TOP OF CARD INFORMATION!

CLICK TO VIEW OUR AUCTION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

CLICK TO GO TO TOP OF CARD INFORMATION!