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| Roy Sievers, 1957 Topps. |
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| Roy Sievers, 1957 Topps, back. |
I know, the title of this blog is “Baseball Cards of the 1970’s
and 1980’s,” and here the very first post is a card from the 1950’s. This blog
is a side project of mine, so I don’t know how often I’ll post here. But I felt
compelled to write about Roy Sievers, who passed away last week at the age of
90. I was born in 1981, so I obviously never saw Sievers play. I never even met
him, and yet he was a baseball player I always liked. That’s part of the magic
of baseball cards for me-you have connections to these players from the past
through their cards. So players who played way before my lifetime are still a
part of my history of the game. When I was a kid collecting old baseball cards,
certain players just called out to me. I liked Julian Javier because of the
alliteration of his name and the fact that he played for the Cardinals. I collected
the cards of guys like Kurt Bevacqua and Mike Lum simply because I liked their
names.
Part of the reason I liked Roy Sievers was that he played
for the Washington Senators, the franchise that moved to Minnesota for the 1961
season and became the Minnesota Twins. I’m from Minnesota, and a big Twins fan,
so I have an affection for Senators players, even though the Twins never really
do much to play up that part of their past. Unfortunately, Sievers was traded
to the White Sox just before the 1960 season, so he never played for the Twins.
Roy Sievers wasn’t a Hall of Famer, but he had a good, solid
career. Born in St. Louis, he was signed by the St. Louis Browns in 1944. Military
service put his professional career on hold until the 1947 season. After two
years in the minors, Sievers made the Browns roster in 1949. He put together an
excellent rookie season, batting a career-high .306. Sievers also put up 16
home runs and 91 RBIs, and he walked 70 times to post an OBP of .398. He ended
up 9th in the league in batting average, 6th in slugging
percentage, 7th in doubles, and 6th in RBIs. That
production won Sievers the first American League Rookie of the Year award. In
1947 and 1948, the award was given to just one player, rather than one player
from each league, and it was won by two National League players, Jackie
Robinson and Al Dark.
Baseball prognosticators thought Roy Sievers might be the
next slugging sensation, but instead his career took a downward turn. He endured
a dismal sophomore slump in 1950, batting just .238. Sievers then suffered a
shoulder injury that limited him to only 42 games over the next two seasons. It
looked as though Roy Sievers might be just another flash in the pan player who
had a summer of glory and then came crashing back down to earth. After surgery
on his shoulder and a position switch to first base, Sievers was able to play
in 92 games for the Browns in 1953, and his batting stroke returned, as he hit
.270. The Browns moved and became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, but Sievers
was traded to the Washington Senators before he ever suited up for the O’s.
And that’s when Sievers’ career really took off. Playing in
cavernous Griffith Stadium, Sievers’ power stroke returned and he clubbed 24
home runs in 1954, setting a Senators record that he would break each of the
next three seasons. He also knocked in 102 RBIs. From 1954 to 1958, Sievers
would rank among the top ten players of the American League in both home runs
and RBIs.
Sievers’ greatest season was 1957, when he led the American
League in home runs with 42, RBIs with 114, and total bases with 331. He
finished third in the MVP voting that year, even though the lowly Senators
finished in last place.
Just before the 1960 season started, Sievers was traded to
the Chicago White Sox. He had two excellent seasons with the White Sox before
being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Sievers had two good years with the
Phillies in 1962 and 1963. On July 19, 1963, Sievers became just the 22nd
player in baseball history to hit 300 home runs. His 300th dinger
was hit off Roger Craig, and it was a walk off in the bottom of the 9th,
capping a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets. Sievers had a propensity for
dramatic home runs: during his career he hit 10 pinch-hit home runs, 9 walk off
homers, and 10 grand slams. In 1964, Sievers’ numbers started to slide. Hitting
just .183 for the Phillies, he was sold to the expansion Washington Senators on
July 16, 1964. A return to the city of his greatest triumphs was not enough to
spark a rejuvenation of Sievers’ bat, and he was released by the Senators on
May 15, 1965.
Roy Sievers had an excellent 17-year career in the major
leagues. He hit 318 home runs and drove in 1,147 runs. Sievers had 4 seasons of
more than 100 RBIs, which is the same number as Mickey Mantle. Sievers wasn’t a
Hall of Famer, but he was a five-time All-Star. Sievers received votes for MVP
in seven different seasons, and if he had played for a better team, he might
have won the award in 1957. Sievers was stuck playing for second division
teams, and he never appeared in the postseason.
Sievers was Richard Nixon’s favorite baseball player when he
was Vice President in the 1950’s, and Nixon even spoke at an event where the
Senators honored Sievers. Sievers was also the batting double for actor Tab
Hunter in the classic 1958 baseball musical Damn
Yankees. From what I’ve read about Roy Sievers, it sounds like he was a
very nice guy who enjoyed every moment of his major league career.
