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Trades Affecting Team / Numbering Scheme

1952 Bowman baseball cards are similar in size (2 1/16" x 3 1/8") and appearance to the 1951 set. The major difference being a facsimile autograph instead of a printed player's name on the card front and a variation in color tones. The card backs are printed in black type only, instead of the blue and red of 1951. The set is comprised of 252 cards – down from 324 in 1951. Rookies of note in the set include Gil McDougald, Minnie MInoso, Bob Friend, Roy McMillan, Billy Loes, and Lew Burdette.

The cards were released in seven series of 36-each. The first two series, numbers 1-72, can be found with either pure white borders and clear pictures or brownish borders and dull photos ^[1]. I would attribute this to two different types of cardboard stock employed by Bowman. There seems to be no difference in border color when it comes to 3rd party grading. Card #248, Bill Werle, can be found with part of his signature missing ^[2]. Some type of foreign object must have obscured the black ink during a portion of the 7th series print run. Artwork for 15 cards that were never issued was discovered in the early 80s. Cards making up an "extension set" were produced from this artwork by TCMA in 1982 ^[3].

As with previous years' issues, Bowman stuck to a fixed pattern of player / team numbering. Since the Yankees and the Giants were in the previous year's World Series, they were featured as the first two cards: #1 - Yogi Berra and #2 - Bobby Thomson. The table, below, completes the sequence of teams thoroughout the seven series. Several trades during 1952 had a direct impact on the initial team / numbering scheme set up for the set. For example, on 2/14/52 the Browns and the Tigers were involved in a 6-player trade. The Tigers acquired Cliff Mapes, Ben Taylor, and Dick Littlefield from The Browns in exchange for Gene Bearden, Bob Cain, and Dick Kryhoski. The table shows that the Browns team was originally set up to include cards #13 and #209. Likewise, the Tigers had card #19 in their numbering scheme. After the trade, the Tigers had both cards #13 and #209 in their column, while the Browns had card #19. The actual cards show the players with their new teams, so we can be sure they were printed after February 14th.

Two other trades give more clues to when the various series were printed. The back of card #161, Jackie Jensen, informs us that he was traded to the Senators "at press time". Jackie is pictured as a member of the Yankees on the front of the card, and as a member of the Senators on the back. The trade occurred on 5/3/52. That means the 5th series, 145-180, was printed sometime after May 3rd. In a similar fashion, Tommy Brown was traded from the Phillies to the Cubs on 6/15/52, so the 7th, and last series was printed after June 15th. Other trades and their affect on the card numbering scheme can be seen in the table.