#44 Con Dempsey
Progress 1st of this card
216 of 407 53% complete
How acquired: $1.99 on ebay
Condition: Good
Does it qualify as air brushing in these early Topps sets where all of the cards were painted black and white photos? Dempsey had all of 7 major league innings to his name when this card was printed, and those were with the Pirates. Con would never appear in a major league game for the Phillies. Those 7 innings ended up being the only 7 innings he ever played in the majors (but most of us would have sold our souls at some point in our life for the guarantee of playing 7 innings in the majors). The result is a disproportionally sized "P" on his cap. Given all of the cards were the result of a painters work though, I'm not sure it qualifies under our modern understanding of air-brushing. This is his only Topps card, but if you're only going to get one, this isn't a bad one to have. The Phillies, or "Fightin' Phillies," have some of the nicer looking cards in this set, at least of what I've come across so far.
Dempsey led the PCL in strike-outs for two straight seasons in '48 and '49 throwing with a side-arm delivery. When he got to the majors, per Bullpen Wiki, Branch Rickey made him go to a more traditional delivery, which resulted in him teaching at a middle high school in the San Francisco and never making another major league roster.
Stats: 1 season, 7 IP, 2 GS, 0 wins, 2 losses, 9.00 ERA, 3 K's, 4 BB
Best Hall of Fame Showing:
Neat card. Sure looks like some old wooden bleachers in the background. Likely this was originally a minor league pic.
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