1957 Topps Roy Sievers #89

Roy Sievers, 1957 Topps.

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 9^th in the league in batting average, 6^th in slugging percentage, 7^th in doubles, and 6^th 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 22^nd player in baseball history to hit 300 home runs. His 300^th dinger was hit off Roger Craig, and it was a walk off in the bottom of the 9^th, 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.