1951 Berk Ross

Card #2-5 - Joe DiMaggio

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In 1951, the Berk Ross Corp. of New York City issued a set of 72 cards featuring stars from several different sports. While not specifically meant to directly compete with Bowman (like the upstart Topps Chewing Gum Company did in the same year), the set, sometimes called the "Hit Parade of Champions" set, was issued in two-card panels on boxes. Though more than half of the set's cards show baseball players, there are also football and basketball players, boxers, golfers, figure skaters, Olympic athletes and even a few women athletes. Among notable non-baseball subjects are Jesse Owens, Jake LaMotta, "Sugar" Ray Robinson, Ben Hogan and Dick Button.

Card fronts feature a color painting of an athlete surrounded by a white border and a thin black line separating the two. Card backs feature the player's vitals (birth date, home town, height, weight, etc.) and a single line of statistics from the 1950 season. At the top, above the player's name and team, is written "Hit Parade of Champions 1951". The card number and Berk Ross trademark are located at the bottom.

The set, which is complete at 72 cards, was issued in 4 series of 18 cards each (numbered 1-1 through 1-18, then 2-1 through 2-18, and so on). The first 10 cards in each series feature baseball players. Although they were issued as 2-card panels, they are seldom found intact and carry a nice premium if found that way.

The checklist below features all 72 cards in the set. Baseball collectors consider the set complete at 40 cards, but it's up to individual collectors to decide whether to go for a truly "complete" set. Like 1933 Sport Kings, this set is inclusive of a wide variety of sports and even goes a little farther in that it has more of a racial balance; however, collectors have found the design less attractive and haven't searched out the cards as avidly.

Card #1-3 - Phil Rizzuto (Back)

1951 Berk Ross

1-1. Al Rosen
1-2. Bob Lemon
1-3. Phil Rizzuto
1-4. Hank Bauer
1-5. Billy Johnson
1-6. Jerry Coleman
1-7. Johnny Mize
1-8. Dom DiMaggio
1-9. Richie Ashburn
1-10. Del Ennis
1-11. Bob Cousy
1-12. Dick Schnittker
1-13. Ezzard Charles
1-14. Leon Hart
1-15. James Martin
1-16. Ben Hogan
1-17. Bill Durnan
1-18. Bill Quackenbush
2-1. Stan Musial
2-2. Warren Spahn
2-3. Tommy Henrich
2-4. Larry "Yogi" Berra
2-5. Joe DiMaggio
2-6. Bobby Brown
2-7. Granville Hamner
2-8. Willie Jones
2-9. Stanley Lopata
2-10. Mike Goliat
2-11. Sherman White
2-12. Joe Maxim
2-13. Ray Robinson
2-14. Doak Walker
2-15. Emil Sitko
2-16. Jack Stewart
2-17. Dick Button
2-18. Melvin Patton
3-1. Ralph Kiner
3-2. Billy Goodman
3-3. Allie Reynolds
3-4. Vic Raschi
3-5. Joe Page
3-6. Eddie Lopat
3-7. Andy Seminick
3-8. Dick Sisler
3-9. Eddie Waitkus
3-10. Ken Heintzelman
3-11. Paul Unruh
3-12. Jake LaMotta
3-13. Ike Williams 
3-14. Wade Walker
3-15. Rodney Franz
3-16. Sid Abel
3-17. Yvonne Sherman
3-18. Jesse Owens
4-1. Gene Woodling
4-2. Cliff Mapes
4-3. Fred Sanford
4-4. Tommy Byrne
4-5. Eddie (Whitey) Ford
4-6. Jim Konstanty
4-7. Russ Meyer
4-8. Robin Roberts
4-9. Curt Simmons
4-10. Sam Jethroe
4-11. Bill Sharman
4-12. Sandy Sandler
4-13. M. Osborne DuPont
4-14. Arnold Galiffa
4-15. Charles Justice
4-16. Glen Cunningham
4-17. Gregory Rice
4-18. Harrison Dillard