Picture Cards & Bubble Gum

1953 Topps Roy Campanella
I was going to save this, to space out my “Dodgers Retired Numbers” posts. Instead I’m posting it in honor of Matt Kemp winning the Roy Campanella award.

Campy came up to play for the Dodgers the year after Jackie Robinson in 1948. He went to the All Star game every season except for his first and his last. He won the NL MVP award three times, the last time he won was the Dodgers first World Series Championship. A tragic auto accident cut his career short, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. His number, 39, was retired by the Dodgers in 1972.

In 1953 Topps released their second baseball card set, and this year the entire set was hand painted, no photographs. Ever since I saw Campy’s card, I knew I had to have it. It’s absolutely beautiful. Recently I saw this one, in decent condition, mislabeled as “1959 Roy Campanella” and ended up winning the auction for less than half of what this card would normally fetch in this condition. Awesome right?