296 "Red" Rolfe

#296 "Red" Rolfe
Progress: 1st of this card
 275 of 407  67.5%
How acquired: $13.00 on eBay
Condition: Very Good

This is one of my favorite cards in this set, and is probably on the short list for the best looking card of a manager ever made by Topps.  Rolfe was ten years removed from his last game as a player when this card came out, but's its his time as a player that he's best remembered for.  Rolfe was one of the "Bronx Bombers" winning five World Series as the Yankees starting third baseman from 1936-1941 playing alongside the likes of Gehrig and Dimaggio.  Former teammate and fellow "Bomber" Bill Dickey was also included in the is set in the high numbers as a "coach."  I'm sure it's not an accident that Rolfe and Dickey made the cut the as a few of the only non-players Sy Berger included in this set.

This card is perhaps the most detailed card I've seen so far.  There are a lot of short cuts that could have been taken that weren't.  For instance, notice the way the grass and dirt is colored to the left of the logo.  That could have easily been done as just one or the other and no one would have batted an eye.  The crisscross pattern of the fencing above the dugout, the multiple shades of gray in the concrete, even the small patch of stripes on his stir-ups are all the sort of details that usually get colored out of existence in this set.  Someone took put a lot of time and effort into coloring this card.

Stats: 10 seasons, 4x All-Star, 1,394 hits, 69 Home Runs, .289 avg., 1939 AL Leader in Runs (139), Hits (213), and Doubles (46).  Led AL in Triples (15) in 1936.  Five World Series Rings

Manager: 4 seasons, 278 wins, 256 loses

Best Hall of Fame Showing: 4.9% 1958

(I'm not saying Rolfe should be in Cooperstown, but he's certainly more deserving than Bud Selig.)