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Henry Albert Bauer
Baltimore Orioles
Manager
Born: July 31, 1922, St. Louis, IL
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1948-1959; Kansas City Athletics 1960-1961
As a Manager: Kansas City Athletics 1961-1962; Baltimore Orioles 1964-1968; Oakland Athletics 1969
Died: February 9, 2007, Lenexa, KS (age 84)
Hank Bauer was a hero during World War II before joining the Yankees and winning seven World Series rings with the club as their regular right fielder. Bauer was consistently dependable throughout his Yankees tenure, and between 1950 and 1959 he batted .279 with an average of 15 home runs and 60 RBIs per season. Bauer owned a 17-game World Series hitting streak, still a record today as tied by Derek Jeter, and contributed a three-run triple in the decisive Game 6 fo the 1951 World Series. He slugged four home runs in the 1958 World Series, his final postseason action as a player. Bauer was a three-time All-Star between 1952 and 1954, and earned MVP votes each year between 1952 and 1956. He was dealt to the Athletics in December 1959 as part of the deal that brought Roger Maris (#155) to the Bronx. While Maris went on to set the single-season home run record, Bauer played in parts of two seasons with the Athletics, becoming their player-manager in June 1961, before retiring as a player and focusing on his managing career. Bauer retired with 1,424 hits, 164 home runs, 703 RBIs and a .277 career average.
His first managerial stint with the Athletics lasted only through the 1962 season. He joined the Orioles as a first base coach in 1963, and was promoted to their manager following the season. Bauer guided the Orioles to their first ever World Series title in 1966, sweeping the heavily favored Dodgers in four games. His success with the Orioles waned after a few years and he was fired on July 10, 1968, to be replaced by Orioles' first base coach Earl Weaver. Bauer managed one last time, returning to the Athletics, now in Oakland, for the 1969 season. His lifetime managerial record was 594-544-1. Bauer managed the Mets' top farm team in Tidewater in 1971 and 1972, before leaving the dugout for good. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1990.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
September 29, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #359
With everyone back in school, the Phillies' playoff hopes growing dimmer, my workload picking up at my chosen profession and a dwindling pile of purchased 1965 Topps cards to compose posts for, I decided I was in need of a nice stack of commons (and some semi-stars) for our set. Over the course of an enjoyable evening, mostly while sitting in my car in a parking lot next to where Doug's baseball team was practicing, I bid on about 45 cards up for auction from Greg Morris Cards, located in Los Angeles. When the dust settled and I checked my phone the next morning, I had won 19 cards, ranging in price from $1.75 to $11 and averaging around $4 per card. This Bauer card was mine with a relatively low winning bid of $5.50. Doug's free time is spent practicing baseball, Ben has found he thoroughly enjoys his school's cross country team, and I have a stack of 1965 Topps cards to study and write about whenever I need a break from adulting. All is well.
The Card / Orioles Team Set
This is the second of Bauer's six appearances in Topps flagship sets as the Orioles manager. His most iconic card from his time in Baltimore is perhaps the first card from the 1967 Topps set in which he's flanked by his stars, Frank Robinson (#120) and Brooks Robinson (#150). The back of the card refers to Bauer as a "former fighting Marine," and notes he almost succeeded in leading the Orioles over the Yankees for the 1964 pennant. His World Series heroics are also noted, along with his 17-game World Series hitting streak.
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| September 22, 2021 |
September 29, 2021 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #359
With everyone back in school, the Phillies' playoff hopes growing dimmer, my workload picking up at my chosen profession and a dwindling pile of purchased 1965 Topps cards to compose posts for, I decided I was in need of a nice stack of commons (and some semi-stars) for our set. Over the course of an enjoyable evening, mostly while sitting in my car in a parking lot next to where Doug's baseball team was practicing, I bid on about 45 cards up for auction from Greg Morris Cards, located in Los Angeles. When the dust settled and I checked my phone the next morning, I had won 19 cards, ranging in price from $1.75 to $11 and averaging around $4 per card. This Bauer card was mine with a relatively low winning bid of $5.50. Doug's free time is spent practicing baseball, Ben has found he thoroughly enjoys his school's cross country team, and I have a stack of 1965 Topps cards to study and write about whenever I need a break from adulting. All is well.
The Card / Orioles Team Set
This is the second of Bauer's six appearances in Topps flagship sets as the Orioles manager. His most iconic card from his time in Baltimore is perhaps the first card from the 1967 Topps set in which he's flanked by his stars, Frank Robinson (#120) and Brooks Robinson (#150). The back of the card refers to Bauer as a "former fighting Marine," and notes he almost succeeded in leading the Orioles over the Yankees for the 1964 pennant. His World Series heroics are also noted, along with his 17-game World Series hitting streak.
1965 Season
Bauer's Orioles were on the cusp of greatness, as they battled to a third place finish in the American League with a 94-68 record, leaving them eight games behind the pennant-winning Twins.
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First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #219
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1951-1952, 1954-1962, 1964-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2010 Topps New York Yankees 27 World Series Championships #YC13
289 - Bauer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/10/21.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
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