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Joseph Robert Cunningham
Washington Senators
First Base
Born: August 27, 1931, Paterson, NJ
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1954, 1956-1961; Chicago White Sox 1962-1964; Washington Senators 1964-1966
Died: March 25, 2021, Chesterfield, MO (age 89)
Joe Cunningham appeared in 12 big league seasons, making his debut with the Cardinals in 1954 and then spending over two decades working within the Cardinals organization following his retirement as a player. The beginning of Cunningham's baseball career was delayed while he spent two years serving in the military during the Korean War. After a few short stints with the Cardinals, he came up to stay in 1957 and was frequently used off the bench by the club. Given the chance to play regularly in right field in 1959, Cunningham enjoyed a career year, as he was named to both All-Star teams, led the league with a .453 on-base percentage and was runner-up to Henry Aaron (#170) for the batting title with a .345 mark.
The Cardinals traded him to the White Sox following the 1961 season for future Hall of Famer Minnie Minoso. Cunningham moved back to first base and enjoyed a solid season in 1962, batting .295 with 70 RBIs and earning American League MVP votes following the season. He'd suffer a broken collarbone on June 3, 1963, after falling awkwardly following a collision with Angels' first baseman Charlie Dees. Cunningham would play three more seasons with the White Sox and Senators before retiring. He rejoined the Cardinals organization in 1968 and he'd stay with the club until the early 1990s as a minor league manager, front office executive and as a coach on the 1982 team that won the World Series. Cunningham owned a lifetime .291 average with 980 hits in 1,141 games played.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / Senators Team Set
The back of the card mentions his impressive career batting average, and his runner-up status in the 1959 batting title race. Cunningham, at card #63, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of two Senators in the set.
1965 Season
Cunningham joined the Senators in July 1964, traded to the team in the deal that sent Bill Skowron (#70) to the White Sox. He appeared in 95 games with the Senators in 1965, making 43 starts at first base as the back-up first to Bob Chance (#224) and later to Dick Nen (#466). Cunningham made 36 pinch-hitting appearances, batting .185 (5 for 27) in that role with one home run. The pinch-hit home run came on August 14th in the 11th inning off Orioles' pitcher Don Larsen (#389), ultimately winning the game for the Senators. In 95 total games, Cunningham batted .229 with three home runs and 20 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #37
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1955, 1957-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JC
68 - Cunningham non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #459
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Cunningham card which was a little less than $4 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Senators Team Set
The back of the card mentions his impressive career batting average, and his runner-up status in the 1959 batting title race. Cunningham, at card #63, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of two Senators in the set.
1965 Season
Cunningham joined the Senators in July 1964, traded to the team in the deal that sent Bill Skowron (#70) to the White Sox. He appeared in 95 games with the Senators in 1965, making 43 starts at first base as the back-up first to Bob Chance (#224) and later to Dick Nen (#466). Cunningham made 36 pinch-hitting appearances, batting .185 (5 for 27) in that role with one home run. The pinch-hit home run came on August 14th in the 11th inning off Orioles' pitcher Don Larsen (#389), ultimately winning the game for the Senators. In 95 total games, Cunningham batted .229 with three home runs and 20 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #37
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1955, 1957-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-JC
68 - Cunningham non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
One correct - Charlie Dees played with the Angels not the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteFixed - thank you!
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