Wayback Wednesday: This Poster Tells a Story or Two

Out antique shopping with friends, I found this slice of history in a Western Maryland store.  Obscured behind some other items , I couldn't get a clear shot -- or a chance to identify all the players.  

It stirred up memories of a different baseball era:

  • A time when major league teams would play an annual exhibition against their top farm clubs.
  • This was the final year for the Braves in Boston (they'd head to Milwaukee that winter).
  • These Braves would go on to win just 64 games.
  • It was the rookie year for 3rd baseman Eddie Mathews, who'd go onto the Hall of Fame as well as earn a singular distinction -- as the only player to appear for the Braves in all three of the cities it called home.
  • Fellow Hall of Famer Warren Spahn went 14-19, while posting an ERA under 3 and leading the NL in strikeouts for the fourth year in a row.
  • In the other dugout, Hagerstown's best pitcher Bob Giggie won 18 that season -- but didn't make the majors until 1959, when he appeared in 13 games for the then-Milwaukee Braves.
  • Hagerstown's best hitter was Lloyd Freund, who enjoyed his best minor league season in '52, batting .312 with 70 RBIs.  But he never made the majors, retiring two years later, never rising above A-ball.
It's fun when you unexpectedly one of these; a window into a distant world, but connected by the common thread of baseball.
 

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