1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Irv Noren

"Irv hit the majors with the Senators in 1950. He came into the big time with a string of minor league honors.

He led the California League in his first pro year (1946) with 188 base hits, 33 doubles, 14 triples and 129 runs batted in. Irv was named the Texas League's Most Valuable Player in 1948 and the Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player in 1949."

-1950 Bowman No. 247

"Last season was Irv's rookie year in the American League. He batted .295 for 138 games, had 160 hits, good for 249 bases, hit 14 homers and drove in 98 runs.

Irv entered organized baseball in 1946, hitting .363 for Santa Barbara. With Fort Worth in 1947 and 1948, he was Most Valuable Player of the Texas League in '48. With the Hollywood Stars in 1949, hitting .330, Irv was Most Valuable Player of the Pacific Coast League."

1951 Bowman No. 241 (Bowman Gum, Inc.)

"Irv hit .279 in 129 games in 1951. He connected for 33 doubles, drove in 86 runs and stole 10 bases.
He began in 1946, with Santa Barbara. Irv spent 1947 and 1948 with Fort Worth, where he was Most Valuable Player of the Texas League in '48, and 1949 with Hollywood, where he was Most Valuable Player of the Pacific Coast League.
Irv was a rookie in the majors in 1950."

-1952 Bowman, No. 63

"Named the Most Valuable Player in the Texas League in 1948 and in the Pacific Coast League in 1949, Irv was brought up to the Senators in 1950. He broke in with a bang, hitting .295. In 1951, he led all American League outfielders in putouts and tied the League record for most putouts by an outfielder in one game with 11.
An Army veteran, Irv had planned to become a baker, but became a Big Leaguer instead."

-1952 Topps No. 40

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Tom Morgan

"Tom began the 1951 season with Kansas City. In four games he won two and lost one with earned run average of 2.25.
He went to the mound 27 times for the Yankees and had a 9-3 record. He pitched 125 innings, fanned 57 batters, walked 36 and had an earned run average of 3.67.
Tom is a very good prospect."

-1952 Bowman No. 109

"Tom donned a Yankee uniform after two seasons of minor league ball. In 1949, his first year, he won 12 and lost nine for Ventura of the California League. The next year he won 17 and lost eight in 28 games for Binghamton.
Tommy showed so much at the 1951 Yankee spring training camp that the Yankees bought him from their Kansas City farm team. He fanned three in a 1951 World Series relief job."

-1952 Topps No. 331

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Johnny Mize

"In 113 games for the Yanks in 1951, Mize drove in 49 runs, recorded 10 circuit smashes and had a .259 batting average.
Big John has been in baseball since 1930 and in the majors since 1936, except for a short time at Kansas City in 1950. Up to 1952, Johnny had hit 351 big-time homers."

-1952 Bowman No. 145

"The 'Big Cat' has smashed more home runs and hits than any other active player in baseball today. Outside of three years in the Navy, John has been in the majors since 1936 with the Cardinals, Giants and Yanks.
He's hit three homers in a game six times to set a big league record; led the National League in batting with .349 in 1939, home runs four times and RBIs three times; his top home run years were 1947 (51), 1940 (43) and 1948 (40)."

-1952 Topps No. 129

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Bill Miller

"The Yankees bought Bill's contract from Syracuse in August of 1951. He was optioned to Kansas City and recalled in May of 1952. In '51 he led International League pitchers with 131 strikeouts.
Bills broke in with Martinsville in 1945. Looked over by the Giants, he was a 17-game winner for Knoxville of the Tri-State League in 1949. He was with Sioux City in 1950 before winding up as Syracuse property."

-1952 Topps No. 403

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Gil McDougald

"Gil wasn't even sure of being with the Yankees early in the 1951 season. But he wound up as their regular third baseman and the American League's Rookie of the Year.
In 131 games, Gil went to bat 402 times, hit .306, slammed 14 homers, four triples and 23 doubles and drove in 63 runs."

-1952 Bowman, No. 33

"The American League Rookie of the Year in '51, Gil achieved a once-in-a-lifetime thrill when he hit a homer with the bases full against the Giants in the World Series. [On May 2] he tied a big league record by driving in six runs in one inning and had the second best night game [seasonal batting average] in the American League with .358.
Since he broke in with Twin Falls in 1948, Gil has never batted less than .300. He hit .344 for Victoria in '49 and .336 for Beaumont in '50."

-1952 Topps No. 372

"The American League's Rookie of the Year, Gil did a sensational job for the 1951 World Champions, playing at both second and third. He was in 131 games and had 123 hits, including 23 doubles, four triples and 14 home runs, and he batted in 63 runs. His average was .306, the only Yankee to hit over .300.
Gil batted in six runs in one inning to tie a major league record."

-1952 Red Man No. AL14

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Billy Martin

"'The Kid' is a smart, scrappy and confident player who can play all infield positions.
In his second year of pro ball (1947) he led the Arizona-Texas League with .392 and drove in 174 runs. Billy played for Casey Stengel in '47 and '48 and was hitting .280 at Kansas City in 1950 when Stengel, the Yankee manager, recalled him to the Yanks. He hit .250 in 34 games and went into the Armed Forces.
Billy rejoined the Yanks in the middle of the 1951 season."

-1952 Topps No. 175

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Mickey Mantle

"With the Yanks' Kansas City farm in 1951, Mickey had batted in 50 runs in 40 games and was a sporting a .361 average when called up by the parent club. In 96 games for the Bombers, he got 91 hits, including 13 home runs, batted .267 and drove in 65 runs."

-1952 Bowman No. 101

"Switch-hitting Mickey is heralded as Joe DiMaggio's successor. He alternated between the Yankees and Kansas City during 1951- batting in 50 runs in one month for the American Association club.
At 17, Mickey broke in as a shortstop for Independence, batting .313 in 89 games. The Yanks brought him up from Joplin after he hit 26 home runs and led the league with a .383 batting average in 1950."

-1952 Topps No. 311

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Ed Lopat

" 'Steady Eddie' was in 31 games in 1951. He won 21 while losing only nine, and his percentage of .700 was the second best in the league.
Ed was also second in the league in earned run average with 2.91. He pitched 235 innings, giving up only 71 walks as against 93 strikeouts.
He began in the majors in 1944."

-1952 Bowman No. 17

"One of the Big Leagues' best curve ball pitchers, Ed became a 20-game winner in 1951 for the first time since he started in organized ball in 1937.
Ed started out as a first baseman but switched to the mound in his first year. He came up to the majors with the White Sox in 1944 and was traded to the Yanks in '48. As a Yankee, he's won 71 games in four seasons, losing only 38.
In the winter, Ed runs a baseball school in Florida."

-1952 Topps No. 57

1952 Back-O'-The-Card: Bob Kuzava

"To the Yanks from the Senators during the 1951 campaign. For the Senators, Bob won three, lost three, struck out 22 batters, walked 28 and had an earned run average of 5.54. For the Yanks, he won eight games, lost four, struck out 50 batters, walked 27 and had an earned run average of 2.41."

-1952 Bowman No. 233

"Bob became the Yankees No. 1 relief pitcher after the Senators traded him in 1951.
He started in pro ball in 1941 and had trials with the Indians in 1946 and '47. Bob won 21 for Charleston in 1942, spent 1943-44-45 in service, and in '46 at Wilkes-Barre won 14 and struck out 207. With Baltimore most of the 1947 and '48 seasons, he came up with the White Sox in 1949 and had a 10-6 record. Bob went to the Senators in 1950."

-1952 Topps No. 85