#559 Ed Bailey - San Francisco Giants

Lonas Edgar Bailey
San Francisco Giants
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  205
Born:  April 15, 1931, Strawberry Plains, TN
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1953-1961; San Francisco Giants 1961-1963; Milwaukee Braves 1964; San Francisco Giants 1965; Chicago Cubs 1965; California Angels 1966
Died:  March 23, 2007, Knoxville, TN (age 75)

Catcher Ed Bailey was named to six All-Star teams throughout his 14-year big league career.  After a few years in the early 1950s bouncing between the minors and majors, Bailey came up for good in 1956 and produced a career year.  In 118 games with the Reds, he batted .300 with 28 home runs and 75 RBIs - all career highs.  He was also the National League's starting catcher in that year's All-Star Game.  Bailey established himself as one of the top catchers in the league in the late 1950s and early 1960s, hitting at least 11 home runs in eight straight seasons between 1956 and 1963, while also hitting for average and fielding his position well.  Bailey led all catchers in caught stealing percentage in 1957, and he'd finish in the top five in that category in five different seasons.  Bailey was behind the plate for Juan Marichal's no-hitter on June 15, 1963.

He settled into a back-up role towards the end of his career, playing a few games into the 1966 season with the Angels before retiring.  Bailey appeared in 1,212 big league games, batting .256 with 915 hits, 155 home runs and 540 RBIs.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #535

This is the 51st of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders.  Much to my pleasant surprise, they had.  

This Bailey card was $6 and was one of 49 commons and semi-stars purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.

Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October.  It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.

The Card / Giants Team Set
Bailey is shown in a Braves jersey here, as Topps used a photo from the same spring training session that yielded the photo used for his 1964 Topps card.  On the back, there's no room to mention his trade from the Braves to the Giants.  The cartoon highlights his three home runs hit on June 24, 1956 against the Dodgers.  His victims were Dodgers' pitchers Don Bessent, Ed Roebuck (#52) and Roger Craig (#411).

1965 Season
On February 1st, the Giants re-acquired Bailey from the Braves in exchange for pitcher Billy O'Dell (#476).  He began the season as the back-up to Tom Haller (#465), appearing in 24 games and making five starts behind the plate and one start at first base.  On May 29th he was dealt to the Cubs with Bob Hendley (#444) and Harvey Kuenn (#103) for Dick Bertell (#27) and Len Gabrielson (#14).  Bailey entered a three-way platoon at catcher with Chris Krug and Vic Roznovsky (#334), making 45 starts.  In 66 total games with the Cubs, Bailey batted .253 with five home runs and 23 RBIs.  Eight of those RBIs came on July 22nd when he went 4 for 4 with two home runs, including a grand slam.

1953 Topps #206

1957 Topps #128

1962 Topps #459

1964 Topps #437

1966 Topps #246

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1953 Topps #206
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1953-1955, 1957-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #184

76 - Bailey non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/28/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #558 Tommie Sisk - Pittsburgh Pirates

Next Card:  #560 Boog Powell - Baltimore Orioles