My 1956 Topps Project

[Eric72]

Roger Craig is a name with which I have seemingly always been familiar. As a youngster in the late 70’s, I became aware of Craig though seeing him pictured on the 1979 Padres team card. As a teenager in the late ‘80s, I knew him as the manager of a very good San Francisco Giants team. Acquiring this 1956 Topps rookie card of Craig took me back to both of those times in my life.

It is not surprising Topps included the young pitcher in their final oversized offering. The Brooklyn Dodgers had captured their first (and, as it turned out, their only) World Series the year before. Craig was not only a member of this championship club, he started game 5 of the series and picked up a win.

This fact is captured on the back of Craig’s card, presented within one of the cartoons displayed on most of the cards from this set. Additionally, Roger’s date of birth appears directly above this cartoon. Interestingly, Topps appears to have printed the wrong year. Craig was actually born in 1930. I didn’t give this much thought at first. There are quite a few uncorrected errors in Topps sets from this era. However, while looking through Beckett to confirm this was Craig’s rookie, I noticed the error was not catalogued as such. Although I doubt I’m the first one to notice this, it was neat to “discover” a mistake the guide didn’t have.

As for the front of the card, it depicts the tall, lean hurler following through on a pitch. The position of Craig’s left arm suggests that he put his whole body into throwing the ball. In his portrait, Roger bears a look of confidence befitting a world champion. The background, while not especially prominent, does offer up one notable and puzzling detail.

Between the nameplate and Roger’s cap, there are a few pennants waving in the breeze, along with something which looks like a fence of some sort. This “fence” also appears on the other side of Roger’s cap. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out (a) what this “fence” is and (b) what it is doing there. Any ideas you all may have would be greatly appreciated.