Helmar This Great Game #37 Smokey Burgess Cincinnati Reds

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About the Player

A short bio from the Helmar “This Great Game” card back: Smoky has had his share of doubters in his career, but when you can wield a piece of lumber like Burgess can, those doubts quickly fade. The catcher from North Carolina is built like an iron fire hydrant, with thick legs, a barrel chest, and arms that wave a bat like it was a toothpick. Burgess has batted over .300 in six different professional circuits, going back to his first stop in the Pennsylvania/New York/Ontario League when he was a baby at 17 years of age. As a boy, Burgess was a Yankee fan, his favorite player Bill Dickey, the noted catcher, and the last receiver to bat as high as .360 in a season until Smoky pulled it off.

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

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Also, click on card number to see card information or player name to see player information page!

Helmar This Great Game, Cincinnati Reds
Card #	Thumbnail Pic	Player Name	Position	Top Auction Price
14		Post, Wally	Batting follow through	$ 84.99
23		ROBINSON, Frank	With bat, chest up	$ 117.50
28		Blackwell, Ewell	Throwing follow through	$ 30.00
37		Burgess, Smokey	Batting cage	$ 85.99
108		Nuxhall, Joe	Slump shoulders; reading sign	$ 83.00
109		Pinson, Vada	Orange sky	$ 85.55
115		Temple, Johnny	Batting cage	$ 86.55
116		Bell, Gus	Reaching out of frame	$ 72.89
119		Kluszewski, Ted	blue buildings	$ 86.00
126		Bailey, Ed	two flags	$ 74.00
127		Brosnan, Jim	glove lower left	$ 76.55

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