1956 Topps

These are the oldest Phillies cards I own, and pretty much the oldest cards I own. I sure wasn't collecting cards in 1956 (I was only 5 years old). I acquired these as an adult although I can't remember where or when. These are the only 1956 cards I own. Of these three players, the only one I ever heard of was Del Ennis. And I think I've only heard of him because he used to own an enormous bowling alley in the Philadelphia suburbs. I remember going there a few times in the 1970. Ennis had a pretty good year for the Phillies in 1956. He hit .296 with 29 home runs. He was born in Philadelphia and played there for 11 seasons before the Phillies traded him to St. Louis at the end of the 1956 season.

Westlake, on the other hand, signed as a free agent with the Phillies in November 1955. He had a few good seasons with the Pirates in the lare 1940s but was only a part time player since 1951. He had 4 hitless at bats with the Phillies before he was released in May.

Ron Negray played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952, the Phillies in '55 and '56 and LA Dodgers in 1958. He amassed a 6-6 record with 3 saves in his career.

These cards are a real mess. They are cut badly, they are creased and have soft corners. But I'm happy to have them. Notice the different colors of the backs. The Ennis and Westbrood cards don't look too much different but the Negray card is white. I'd suspect it was because the cards were from different a different series, but the Negray and the Westlake are both from the first series.