1952 Bowman, Ned Garver

#29 Ned Garver

Here is the second Ned Garver card that I sent to him in November. When I started looking to buy some cards of the guys that were going to be at the Kansas City A's reunion, I first went to checkoutmycards.com to see what they had. They had a bunch of Ned Garver cards on there at the time, but they didn't have any cards of him in a Browns uniform that was in my price range. So, I headed to the last resort, Ebay, and I found this card for about $3.50 plus postage. I bought the card and then I ended up finding the '49 Bowman card (yesterday's post) from checkoutmycards about a week later. Ned was the only KC Atheletic at the reunion that I bought two cards of.

I mentioned yesterday that Ned was the last player to win 20 games for a team that lost 100 or more. That was in 1951, Ned's fourth season in the Major Leagues. That was by far the best season that he had in his fourtteen-year career, as he would never win more than 14 games in a season afterwards. That was also the only season that he made the All Star team and he also led the league in complete games that year with 24. But, has another distintion from the 1951 season. Ned hit .305 that year, which was the second highest batting average on the Browns team (minimum 100 plate appearances).

Ned played with the Browns, Tigers, A's, and Angels throughout his career. He finished his career 129-157 with a 3.73 ERA and 153 complete games. He also had a lifetime batting average of .218 with 7 home runs.

1949 Bowman, Ned Garver

#15 Ned Garver

Here is a card that I got signed through the mail in November. I mailed the card on the fourth and I had it back eight days later.

This past summer, Ned was one of the guys that attended the Kansas City A's reunion that was put on by the Kansas City T-Bones. I intended to get to the ballpark early so that I could find these guys and get some cards signed. But, instead, I ended up being stuck in a four mile stretch of interstate for nearly two hours after there were two accidents in a work zone. So, rather than getting to the park early, I got there as the KC A's were being introduced. By the time I made it into the park, I got to see the final three guys take the field. I went down by the field on the side that the guys entered on, only to see them leave on the opposite side. Rather than trying to chase them down, I just stayed by the T-Bones dugout to get the few cards I had of them signed.

Throughout the course of the game, I was able to get eight KC A's autographs from seven different guys. But, I didn't get Ned's. So, when I finally dropped the $15 to sign up for SportsCollector.net, I got his address and I sent the two cards I had bought for him to sign. This was obviously one of the cards I sent and I was happy to find this card on checkoutmycards.com for about $3. I was totally shocked when I got the cards back because, not only did he sign them both, but he added two more signed cards (two different Diamond Signature cards) as well as a postcard for his book that had a note that read "Zach- Sorry I missed you in KC. Maybe next year. Ned". How cool is that?

This is now the second card from this set that I have got signed and it is also the very first signed St Louis Browns card that I have. In fact, thanks to writing to Ned, I believe that I now have three signed Browns cards.

If you had never heard of Ned, don't feel bad. I hadn't either. But, come to find out, he does indeed have a claim to fame. Ned was the last pitcher to win 20 games for a team that lost 100 or more. He accomplished that feat in 1951 with the Browns. He finished the season 20-12 (his only 20-win season) on a team that went 52-102. That may be an accomplishment that never happens again.