#84 Hal Smith

Hal Smith  St. Louis Cardinals

Career: Not to be confused with the OTHER Hal Smith whose card (#48) was posted at the end of January. THIS Hal Smith played from 1956 through 1961 with the Cardinals. He was their starting catcher for much of that time. He was a two-time NL All-Star. His best season was 1959 when he had career-highs in homers and RBI. He got into a few games with the Pirates in 1965 when he was activated for a bit while serving as a coach for the club. He was a coach and scout for many years after his playing days. He is usually differentiated from his namesake by his middle initial, 'R'.

In 1960: Coming off an All-Star season he slid from 13/50/.270/.295 to 2/28/.228/.291 and lost some playing time to Carl Sawatski and several others.
Off The Charts: Even Baseball Reference has problems keeping it's Hal Smiths straight. On various pages, it names BOTH as the uncle of former Padre player Tim Flannery. I believe this Hal Smith is Flannery's relative.

The Card: It's not often you get two photos of a catcher in his gear on a card one of these sets. Having the catcher wearing his mask is even more of an oddity. I really like this one with Smith squatting in Seals Stadium.

#77 Hank Foiles

Hank Foiles  Kansas City Athletics

Career: Foiles is one of the most interesting guys I've come across while researching these team sets from the late 50s/early 60s. He was a career back-up catcher for seven teams and, while he only had 300+ at bats twice, made the 1957 All-Star squad. He was also a bit of a renaissance man having authored a book, done a lot of public speaking and sued the Orioles (booo!) for using his photo without permission in a stadium giveaway card set. The link a bit lower that goes to my '59 set blog will lead you to much more on this interesting (and very much alive) character. 

In 1960: Foiles played in 56 games for three clubs in 1960 but only six were in the A's uniform. As a back up in Cleveland and Detroit as well as KC he hit .282 with a homer.

Off The Charts: From my 1959 Topps blog posting of his card that season: "He was on the roster of four clubs during the 1960 season. Traded after the '59 campaign by the Pirates to the A's he was traded back to the Pirates in June of '60. But Foiles was to be assigned to the minors and he refused. The Pirates allowed him to engineer his own trade so the next day he was dealt to the Indians. In late July Foiles was traded again, this time to the Tigers. To add to the fun he was drafted after the season by the Orioles. So, to sum it up... between December of 1959 and November of 1960 Foiles followed this path: Pirates->Athletics->Pirates-Indians-Tigers-Orioles!!!"

The Card: Foiles is pictured in his Pirates gear in Wrigley Field but, as noted above, he was on tour within the American League when this card was new. But, in any case, it's a beauty. I love the color combo and the posed shot with Wrigley and pregame activities as a backdrop. His trade to the A's is noted in the write-up.