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Thomas Michael Shannon
St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield
Born: July 15, 1939, St. Louis, MO
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1962-1970
For over 60 years, Mike Shannon has been a part of the Cardinals organization, first as a player for his home-town team and later as a long-time broadcaster. His biggest hit as a player came in Game 1 of the 1964 World Series (#132) when he hit a game-tying home run off the Yankees' Whitey Ford (#330). The Cardinals would go on to win that game and the entire Series. Shannon's best seasons came in the late 1960s. He hit a career high 16 home runs in 1966 as the Cardinals' every day right fielder and then moved to third base where he had successive seasons with 77 and 79 RBIs in 1967 and 1968. He won a second World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1967, but the team fell short against the Tigers in 1968. Shannon played parts of nine seasons in the Majors before a kidney ailment cut his playing career short.
He joined the Cardinals' radio booth in 1972 where he was paired with Hall of Famer announcer Jack Buck until Buck's passing in 2002. Shannon has continued to call Cardinals' home games up through the 2020 season. He was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.
Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #176
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball. This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place. Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy. Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope. It felt good to be able to hope again.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Is that an apartment building behind Shannon? This is the first solo card for the popular outfielder, as he shared a Rookie Stars card with Harry Fanok in the 1964 Topps set. On the back, Topps chooses to celebrate his league-leading 13 triples with the 1960 Memphis Chickasaws.
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #176
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball. This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place. Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy. Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope. It felt good to be able to hope again.
In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits. I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist. I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close. As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.
This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this was the least expensive of the bunch at $2.50. Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Is that an apartment building behind Shannon? This is the first solo card for the popular outfielder, as he shared a Rookie Stars card with Harry Fanok in the 1964 Topps set. On the back, Topps chooses to celebrate his league-leading 13 triples with the 1960 Memphis Chickasaws.
The lettering used for Shannon's name on the front of the card is in red, while the rest of the Cardinals cards in the set feature yellow lettering.
1965 Season
Shannon was rewarded for his postseason heroics by starting the season as the Cardinals' regular right fielder. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-long slump, appearing in 124 games, batting .221 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs. He biggest asset was his versatility and he filled in as an emergency catcher after injuries to both Tim McCarver (#294) and Bob Uecker (#519). On September 25th, Shannon was Sandy Koufax's (#300) 350th strikeout victim allowing the future Hall of Famer to set a single-season record.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #262
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1964-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #76
41 - Shannon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #42 Earl Wilson - Boston Red Sox
1965 Season
Shannon was rewarded for his postseason heroics by starting the season as the Cardinals' regular right fielder. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-long slump, appearing in 124 games, batting .221 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs. He biggest asset was his versatility and he filled in as an emergency catcher after injuries to both Tim McCarver (#294) and Bob Uecker (#519). On September 25th, Shannon was Sandy Koufax's (#300) 350th strikeout victim allowing the future Hall of Famer to set a single-season record.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #262
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1964-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2002 Topps Super Teams #76
41 - Shannon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #42 Earl Wilson - Boston Red Sox
Next Card: #44 Wade Blasingame - Milwaukee Braves
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