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Donald Leroy Landrum
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Born: February 16, 1936, Santa Rosa, CA
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, June 24, 1954
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1957; St. Louis Cardinals 1960-1962; Chicago Cubs 1962-1965; San Francisco Giants 1966
Died: January 9, 2003, Pittsburg, CA (age 66)
Originally signed by the Phillies, Don Landrum appeared in parts of eight seasons in the majors, hitting .234 with 12 home runs and 75 career RBIs. He enjoyed his best season in 1965 as the Cubs' regular center fielder.
June 8, 2020 from Fontana, CA - Card #101
Strange days indeed. While social distancing due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, watching peaceful protests and nationwide racial justice marches on television, and hoping for the looting perpetuated by those taking advantage of a bad situation to stop, I worked, spent time with my family and wrote about old baseball cards. I read something on social media that stuck with me and it was something along the lines of, "When this is over, we shouldn't strive to get back to normal, we should work to get better." President Obama eloquently put it, "If we want our children to grow up in nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must do better."
I'm grateful to still be working, but there are days when my chosen profession is exhausting. These posts can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour or more to compose, and during most of that time I'm focused on the player, the card and a baseball season that happened 55 years ago. I'm grateful for the escape this provides, while acknowledging I'm privileged to be able to have this escape available to me while many, many more people do not. Strange days indeed.
Having acquired the last few cards in the set already, Al Downing (#598) and the Twins Rookie Stars card (#597), I continued working my way backwards, looking for this Landrum card. I found an eBay auction with a reasonable opening bid and I came away with this card for $3.65. I bid on a total of 10 cards for our set from buyer Your Card Connection, winning this Landrum card and three Phillies cards I'll feature in upcoming posts.
The Card
Landrum had a tough time when it came to his Topps baseball card appearances. This card features a photo very similar to his 1964 Topps card and he appears to have straightened up his stance a little. His first Cubs Topps card, in the 1963 set, features a photo of his teammate Ron Santo (#110). And Landrum has a few variations to his 1966 Topps card available - one with his fly open, one with his fly airbrushed shut and one with no fly visible at all. This is great stuff.
His bowling skills and minor league exploits are celebrated on the back of the card. For as much success as he had in the Phillies' farm system, it's odd he couldn't crack the majors with the club given their lack of depth in the mid to late 1950s.
Cubs Team Set
1965 Season
Landrum made 104 starts in center field, taking over for Billy Williams (#220) when Williams shifted to left to replace George Altman (#528). Altman was relegated to mostly pinch-hitting duties for the remainder of the season. Williams would move again to right field as the bottom dwelling Cubs tried to find three reliable outfielders. Landrum hit just .226 with six home runs and 34 RBIs and following the season he was dealt to the Giants with Lindy McDaniel (#244) for Bill Hands and Randy Hundley. Both Hands and Hundley would play parts in the Cubs' late decade resurgence under manager Leo Durocher.
Signed after his 18th birthday, Landrum moved his way up through the Phillies' farm system between 1954 with the D-level Mattoon club and 1960 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He peaked in 1960, hitting .292 in 155 games with the Bisons, along with 18 home runs and 75 RBIs, both season highs. He earned a September call-up in 1957, appearing in two games as the team's starting center fielder in the final two games of the season. Landrum went 1 for 7 with the Phillies, collecting his only hit, a double, off Dodgers' starting pitcher Rene Valdes. He earned a Phillies card in the 1958 Topps set for his two-game performance.
On September 19, 1960, the Phillies traded Landrum, then a top prospect, to the Cardinals for five players - Bob Sadowski (#156), Wally Shannon, Billy Harrell, Jim Frey and Dick Ricketts.
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #291
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1958, 1961-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps Rub-Offs
24 - Landrum non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/22/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Previous Card: #595 Don Lee - Los Angeles Angels
Next Card: #597 Twins Rookie Stars
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