1953 Bowman

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Color Card #63 - Gil McDougald	Black & White Card #17 - Virgil Trucks

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Bowman, blindsided by Topps' competition in 1952, went all out to make a better set in 1953. In the opinion of most hobby experts, the 1953 Color set is Bowman's most accomplished in that it may actually be a better issue than the 1953 Topps effort. For the first time, full-color photographs were used, instead of the hand-painted pictures that had been in use for several years. This competition took its toll, however; Bowman spent so much money in production costs with the color cards that instead of a new series of cards later in the year, they put out a small set of black and white cards.

In response to Topps' larger cards, Bowman increased the physical dimensions of their cards to 2 1/2" by 3 5/8". Bowman used the most basic card design possible in its 1953 sets: just a photo of a player, a white border and a black line separating the two. There are no names, positions, team logos or facsimile autographs anywhere on the card front. Going back to its days as Gum, Inc., this was actually the fourth time the company resorted to a picture-only design, but the sharp photography really made this set stand out. This uncluttered design has made this set a classic that is still considered one of the best-looking sets ever produced.

For card backs, Bowman used a design that looked almost exactly like the ones found in the 1952 Topps set. The player's name appears prominently on the top of the card back. Beneath the player's name is some biographical info. The card number appears alongside the name and info, inside a box shaped like a baseball diamond. A write-up uses the middle of the card, and Bowman uses statistics for the first time at the bottom of the card back. An extra line below the statistics gave collectors the chance to fill in the 1953 stats for the player. Fortunately for modern hobbyists, few ever bothered to fill in those blanks.

Another innovation found in this set is the first use of multi-player cards in the modern era of baseball cards. Card #44 features Yankee stars Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer, while card #93 features Billy Martin and Phil Rizzuto. Topps would use multi-player cards frequently in later sets, but not until < href="1954t.html">1954 and not regularly until 1957. There are three levels of scarcity in the Color set. Cards 1-112 are considered to be the most available, 113-128 are the scarcest and 129-160 are in between them in terms of scarcity.

Without splashy graphics on the cards, Bowman allowed the photographs to shine. Among hobbyists, Card #33 of "Pee Wee" Reese is iconic. The picture shows Reese leaping in the air, readying his throw to first base, jumping over a baserunner. A lot of stories about this image have made their way around the hobby and most aren't accurate. First, the picture is not an in-game action shot. There are no players standing in the outfield and the outfield wall isn't from a major league ballfield. The runner (rumored to be Phil Rizzuto) appears to be sliding but isn't kicking up any dust...and is facing the wrong way. Despite all that, it's still a great image. Another card with a notable photo is #159, which is supposed to show Mickey Vernon but acually pictures Floyd Baker (who had his own card in the Black & White series).

The 1953 Bowman Black and White set is similar in all respects to the color set, except that player photos lack color. Even the card backs are similar; however, rather than continuing the set at card #161, the black and white cards are numbered from 1 to 64. It has been reported that the cost of producing the color set was so high that Bowman had no choice but issue the cards with black and white photos. Despite seeming like a low-cost, lesser version of its more famous "sibling," Bowman Black & White cards are scarcer and sometimes more expensive than their color counterparts. While there are fewer stars and their lack of color doesn't make the photos as bold, they are still attractive. Casey Stengel, Johnny Mize and Hoyt Wilhelm highlight this set.

Color Card #33 - "Pee Wee" Reese (Back)

1. Davey Williams
2. Vic Wertz
3. Sam Jethroe
4. Art Houtteman
5. Sid Gordon
6. Joe Ginsberg
7. Harry Chiti
8. Al Rosen
9. Phil Rizzuto
10. Richie Ashburn
11. Bobby Shantz
12. Carl Erskine
13. Gus Zernial
14. Billy Loes
15. Jim Busby
16. Bob Friend
17. Gerry Staley
18. Nelson Fox
19. Al Dark
20. Don Lenhardt
21. Joe Garagiola
22. Bob Porterfield
23. Herman Wehmeier
24. Jackie Jensen
25. Walter "Hoot" Evers
26. Roy McMillan
27. Vic Raschi
28. Forrest "Smokey" Burgess
29. Roberto Avila
30. Phil Cavaretta
31. Jimmy Dykes
32. Stan Musial
33. Harold "Pee Wee" Reese
34. Gil Coan
35. Maury McDermott
36. Orestes Minoso
37. Jim Wilson
38. Harry Byrd
39. Paul Richards
40. Larry Doby
41. Sammy White
42. Tommy Brown
43. Mike Garcia
44. Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle
45. Walt Dropo
46. Roy Campanella
47. Ned Garver
48. Hank Sauer
49. Eddie Stanly
50. Lou Kretlow
51. Monte Irvin
52. Marty Marion
53. Del Rice
54. Chico Carrasquel
55. Leo Durocher
56. Bob Cain
57. Lou Boudreau
58. Willard Marshall
59. Mickey Mantle
60. Granny Hamner
61. George Kell
62. Ted Kluszewski
63. Gil McDougald
64. Curt Simmons
65. Robin Roberts
66. Mel Parnell
67. Mel Clark
68. Allie Reynolds
69. Charlie Grimm
70. Clint Courtney
71. Paul Minner
72. Ted Gray
73. Billy Pierce
74. Don Muelluer
75. Saul Rogovin
76. Him Hearn
77. Mickey Grasso
78. Carl Furillo
79. Ray Boone
80. Ralph Kiner
81. Enos Slaughter
82. Joe Astroth
83. Jack Daniels
84. Hank Bauer
85. Solly Hemus
86. Harry Simpson
87. Harry Perkowski
88. Joe Dobson
89. Sandalio Conseguera
90. Joe Nuxhall
91. Steve Souchock
92. Gil Hodges
93. Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto
94. Bob Addis
95. Wally Moses
96. Sal Maglie
97. Eddie Mathews
98. Hector Rodriguez
99. Warren Spahn
100. Bill Wight
101. Al "Red" Schoendienst
102. Jim Hegan
103. Del Ennis
104. Luke Easter
105. Eddie Joost
106. Ken Raffensberger
107. Alex Kellner
108. Bobby Adams
109. Ken Wood
110. Bob Rush
111. Jim Dyck
112. Tob Atwell
113. Karl Drews
114. Bob Feller
115. Cloyd Boyer
116. Eddie Yost
117. Duke Snider
118. Billy Martin
119. Dale Mitchell
120. Marlin Stuart
121. Yogi Berra
122. Bill Serena
123. Johnny Lipon
124. Charlie Dressen
125. Fred Hatfield
126. Al Corwin
127. Dick Kryhoski
128. Whitey Lockman
129. Russ Meyer
130. Cass Michaels
131. Connie Ryan
132. Fred Hutchinson
133. Willie Jones
134. Johnny Pesky
135. Bobby Morgan
136. Jim Brideweser
137. Sam Dente
138. Bubba Church
139. Pete Runnels
140. Alpha Brazile
141. Frank "Spec" Shea
142. Larry Miggins
143. Al Lopez
144. Warren Hacker
145. George Shuba
146. Early Wynn
147. Clem Koshorek
148. Billy Goodwin
149. Al Corwin
150. Carl Scheib
151. Joe Adcock
152. Clyde Vollmer
153. Ed "Whitey" Ford
154. Omar "Turk" Lown
155. Allie Clark
156. Max Surkont
157. Sherman Lollar
158. Howard Fox
159. Mickey Vernon
160. Cal Abrams

1. Gus Bell
2. Willard Nixon
3. Bill Rigney
4. Pat Mullin
5. Dee Fondy
6. Ray Murray
7. Andy Seminick
8. Pete Suder
9. Walt Masterson
10. Dick Sisler
11. Dick Gernert
12. Randy Jackson
13. Joe Tipton
14. Bill Nicholson
15. Johnny Mize
16. Stu Miller
17. Virgil Trucks
18. Billy Hoeft
19. Paul LaPalme
20. Eddie Robinson
21. Clarence "Bud" Podbeilan
22. Matt Batts
23. Wilmer Mizell
24. Del Wilber
25. John Sain
26. Preacher Roe
27. Bob Lemon
28. Hoyt Wilhelm
29. Sid Hudson
30. Walker Cooper
31. Gene Woodling
32. Rocky Bridges
33. Bob Kuzava
34. Ebba St. Clair
35. Johnny Wyrostek
36. Jim Piersall
37. Hal Jeffcoat
38. Dave Cole
39. Casey Stengel
40. Larry Jansen
41. Bob Ramazotti
42. Howie Judson
43. Hal Bevan
44. Jim Delsing
45. Irv Noren
46. Bucky Harris
47. Jack Lohrke
48. Steve Ridzik
49. Floyd Baker
50. Emil "Dutch" Leonard
51. Lou Burdette
52. Ralph Branca
53. Morris Martin
54. Bill Miller
55. Don Johnson
56. Roy Smalley
57. Andy Pafko
58. Jim Konstanty
59. Duane Pillette
60. Billy Cox
61. Tom Gorman
62. Keith Thomas
63. Steve Gromek
64. Andy Hansen