#224 Bruce Edwards
Progress: 1st of this card
230 of 407 56.5% complete
How acquired: $3.99 on eBay
Condition: Good
This card is in pretty solid condition. The red marker/crayon someone added to the number on the back is the biggest blemish, but not one that bothers me in the least. Edwards was the catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers until some guy named Campanella came up and forced him to third base, and eventually out of Brooklyn all together. In 1951 Edwards was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. This is odd, given he played in all of 68 games (17 with Brooklyn, 51 with Chicago) and only batted .237 with 4 home runs in those 68 games. I don't know if there was a requirement for every team to be represented in the ASG back in 1951, but that may explain Edwards being there. The '51 Cubs were objectively terrible. The only guy with anything close to All-Star numbers was Hank Sauer (.263, 30 HR, 89 RBI), but I'd guess they went with Edwards instead due to the crowded NL outfield. That must have irked Sauer who would win the NL MVP the following season in '52.
Stats: 10 seasons, 2x All-Star, 591 games, 429 hits, 39 home runs, .256 avg.
Best Hall of Fame Showing: N/A
I took a peek at his game logs for '51. At the AS break he was hitting .255 with three homers and 17 RBI. To be fair they probably chose him about a week before when his average was .288. Then again if he had so few at bats that he could drop 33 points in a week he didn't have a whole lot of at bats. Heck, he'd only started about 20 games at that point. I guess strange All Star selections are nothing new.
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