Fathers and sons

“Baseball is continuous, like nothing else among American things, an endless game of repeated summers, joining the long generations of all the fathers and all the sons.” — Donald Hall, “Fathers Playing Catch with Sons”

Though its checklist boasts only 64 cards, the 1953 Bowman black and white set connects fathers and sons like no other. This much is clear from the very first card, but that’s only the beginning.

Like their color counterparts from the same year, the Bowman black-and-whites have no names or other markings on the front, so you may not immediately recognize the player. Ditto for cards 10, 30, 34, 52, 56, and 59. Either way, here they are.

You may not be able to identify all the players, but I guarantee these two men would recognize their sons, Duane Pillette (bottom right) and Dick Sisler (top left).

And certainly these three men would recognize their fathers: Gus Bell (first card in set), Roy Smalley (bottom middle), and Ebba St. Claire (top right).

And no doubt these two men would recognize their famous fathers-in-law: Walker Cooper (top middle) and Ralph Branca (bottom left).

“Baseball is fathers and sons. Football is brothers beating each other up in the backyard.” — Donald Hall

Another father, James Stork, Sr., had a connection to this set, but he was not a big league baseball player. He was a nine-year-old kid in 1953, his first of many years as a card collector and a magical time for the hobby and the sport.

Ralph Kiner was coming off seven straight National League home run crowns. Mickey Mantle was picking up where Joe DiMaggio (if not Babe Ruth) had left off in New York. And a new source of talent, black players, was taking the game to new heights.

On store shelves Topps was back with its second major baseball release. (I’m not counting the pre-1952 stuff.) Reflecting the influx of black talent, here are cards 1, 2, and 3 in the classic 1953 Topps set.

Meanwhile, in their two-series color offering, Bowman offered young gum chewers what many collectors today consider the most beautiful card set ever produced. I am in love with too many of the cards to even want to choose, but here are the three I have in my personal collection: Monte Irvin, Stan Musial, and Minnie Minoso.

Finally, while a bit lower on the radar for most collectors, Bowman finished the year with its black and white issue, presumed to be a lower-budget (and renumbered) third series continuation of the color issue.

With all these card sets to choose from, the young James Stork, Sr., made the best choice of all. He collected all three! And then he did something most collectors of the era did not do. He kept his cards! Bravo, Mr. Stork.

Fast forward 45 years to 1998. James Stork, Sr., now in his fifties, was at his local card shop to make a purchase. It was a 1953 Bowman black and white he still needed for his collection. As the card shop landed more and more of the Bowman black and whites over the years, the owner would call Mr. Stork who would come in and buy any cards he still needed.

James Stork, Sr., passed away in January of 2010 from cancer of the esophagus. He did not complete his set. Another collector did.

I was able to interview the younger Mr. Stork about the cards and memories that went along with completing his father’s set. Here are some of the stories attached to the collection.

JASON: How long have you been a collector?

“I started collecting in 1980 at the age of 5. My dad brought home a box of Topps. He opened the packs, I got the gum. Fair trade in the day. The very first card I remember was 1980 Topps Ben Oglivie. I was hooked from there on out.”

JASON: How did your father get into baseball cards?

“My dad grew up on a farm in rural VA, and baseball was something that he and his friends would play all the time. When my grandfather would go to town my dad would go with him and my grandfather would get my dad a pack or two for a nickel a piece I think is what my dad said.”

JASON: Do you know which cards were your dad’s favorites?

“My dad loved Nellie Fox and Billy Martin. Out of all of his cards, I think he cherished those the most. Probably because my dad was short like them, and he loved how passionate Billy Martin was. He also loved his Mantle and Mays cards.”

JASON: What is a favorite memory of your dad as an adult collecting cards?

“My dad loved his old cards, and when I brought home a Beckett in 1989 my dad found out his cards were worth something, he was blown away. I remember going with him to a local card shop and getting card holders for them. He loved showing them off to anyone and everyone who would listen.”

JASON: Are there cards you and your dad collected together?

“Dad and I would always get the Topps set each year when it came out. We have 1978-2009 from when he was alive, and now I have them through 2018. One day they will be my son’s.

JASON: How about a favorite baseball memory involving the two of you?

“I lived in a small town in Virginia after college, which was the same town that Tracy Stallard lived in. So for Christmas one year, I wanted to get a card autographed for my dad from Tracy. I went to his house and this giant of a man answered the door. I politely told Mr. Stallard who I was and what I was doing there, and he then invited me into his house and told me he had something even better. He signed a poster to my dad with him on the mound and Maris in the background after number 61. I gave that and the card to my dad for Christmas and he was over the moon thrilled. He had it professionally framed and hung in his house.

About 2 years later, my dad found out he had cancer, literally right after he retired. I was thinking to myself, what can I do for him to keep up his spirits as he fought this while I lived 4 hours away. I found a site that had through-the-mail autograph addresses, and I began to write almost on a daily basis. I never told my dad about it.

About a week later I got a call from my dad, he was so excited, he got letters from Stan Musial, Bobby Doerr and Robin Roberts in the same day’s mail. I filled him in on what I was doing for him, from that day on, for the next 4 years, if I wasn’t at home visiting him, I was on the phone with him, asking who he got in the mail that day. I would also ask the players about their career, and what they did after baseball. He loved getting those letters in the mail and reading what they would answer. I have those letters now, and they are my pride and joy besides my dad’s cards in my collection.”

Here, take this for a second.

JASON: Besides the 1953 Bowman black and whites, do you plan to complete any other sets from your father’s collection?

“Dad was also about halfway through the 1958 and 1959 Topps sets, just from his buying packs as a kid. These weren’t sets he was working on completing as an adult. When I got his cards from my mom after he passed, I started working on the 1959 set, and I am just 28 cards away from being done. Hoping to be done by Jan 2020. I will work on the 1958 set sometime, but I may wait until my son is a little older so he and I can do it together.”

I led off this post with the teaser that the 1953 Bowman black and white set connected fathers to sons like no other. You probably thought I was talking about these guys.

But I was really talking about two other guys.

Rest in peace, James Stork, Sr. (1944-2010). Your son is doing you proud!

Author’s note: My thanks to James Stork not only for sharing his time and memories with me for this post but also for completing one of MY sets. A couple months back I received an envelope with the final two cards I needed for my 1986 Topps set. It was from James. Nothing in return was asked or accepted.