Let's Go, Go-Go TCMA

Today's post celebrates the long-awaited arrival of a card that been a cornerstone of my want-lists since I first started Wrigley Roster Jenga and, in all actuality, long before this blog was even a glimmer in my eye.

Oddball card manufacturer TCMA has long been known for their nostalgic, throwback card sets which were sold through hobby periodicals of the 1970's and 80's.  Several cards from these various releases populate the pages of my treasured Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, as their comprehensive checklists shine the spotlight on subjects who have otherwise long been ignored. Accordingly, in 1981, the company released a set which paid tribute to the 1959 Chicago White Sox, better known as the "Go-Go White Sox," who represented the franchise's first pennant winner since the infamous Black Sox of 1919.  It's a set that I've been chasing for quite a while now, but have had little luck in finding, outside of a few singles here and there.

I hear what you're saying, "Have you gone daffy? You're a Cubs fan!"  I realize that this set is centered around that "other" Chicago baseball team and not the one that I am hopelessly devoted to.  That being stated, there is a reason that I have been trailing these Sox cards for countless years and that reason's name is Jim McAnany:

Jim McAnany was the surprise starting right-fielder for the Go-Go's and would eventually go on to be one of the few men to suit up for both the White Sox and the Cubs during their Major League careers.  Unfortunately for me and my roster-based collecting ways, Jim's time on the North Side of town was never properly commemorated on cardboard and his White Sox tenure was only barely acknowledged.  Thus, this TCMA oddball was a focal point for my hobby-related searches and it proved to be a maddening target.  Until today, I had never seen one of these in person and it's even autographed by the man himself!

Like I said, I've encountered a handful of singles from this set before; in fact, one of them already represents his teammate, Bob Shaw, in my CATRC binder.  Despite that, I have never seen a complete set of TCMA's 1981 Go-Go White Sox hit Ebay or appear on card show tables.  Thus, when the listing for this John Hancocked version came across my EBay feed, I pounced before even looking at the price.  As a result, I definitely overpaid, but it was worth it to finally add one of the few post-1950 needs left for my CATRC.  And, did I mention it's autographed?

The other 1981 TCMA Go-Go White Sox card in my possession

McAnany first burst onto the baseball scene in 1958, as the young fly-chaser from California batted an astounding .400 for the Colorado Spring Sky Sox of the A-level Western League.  For this accomplishment, he was named the winner of Hillerich & Bradsby Co.’s Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award for the highest batting average in all of the minor leagues.  That September, he was rewarded further for his heroics with his first cuppacoffee in the Bigs, though he would go 0-13 in 5 contests.  Apparently, he left all of the hits back in the mountains!

That speed-bump in his first trial did little to stall his Big League career.  The very next May, the White Sox - finding themselves in the thick of a pennant race with an underachieving outfield - gave Jimbo another call and installed him almost immediately into the starting line-up.  The 22-year never looked back, batting .276 with 27 RBI in 231 PA's, largely from the 8th turn in the batting order and easily outpaced his right-field competition (including future Cub, Johnny Callison).  Come World Series time, McAnany started three of the six games for the Pale Hose; but, by then, the magic had worn off as Jim was unable to record a single hit six trips to the plate.

The backside of his TCMA card details his career up through the 1959 campaign

Despite the disappointing end, the future appeared bright for the Go-Go Sox and their blossoming young star, McAnany.  Sadly, sunglasses were not needed for either party once the World Series afterglow had worn off.  In 1960, the White Sox dropped back to third in the AL and would not earn another trip to the Fall Classic for another 46 years.  Meanwhile, the breakout star of  '59 would only don the white stockings just thrice more.

During that off-season, McAnany headed the call of Uncle Sam and enlisted with the Army Reserve. While on duty at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Jim injured his shoulder while working in the snow, and injury which would plague him for the rest of his baseball career. His nagging shoulder would keep him from getting in proper shape and his duties kept him from reporting to spring training on-time. As such, Jim was unable to get out from behind the 8-ball, being demoted after three hit-less April appearances and spending the rest of the year back in the bushes.  Thus came an unceremonious end to his White Sox tenure.  However, he would soon enough blow back into the Windy City, just to a different side of town.

Can't find a picture of Jim as a Cub on the internet, so my crude Photoshopping will have to do.

In the winter of 1960, McAnany was still seen as having potential and was accordingly drafted by the new Los Angeles Angels as part of the expansion draft, though he would never take the field in LA.  The outfield-needy Cubs traded away a promising rookie, Lou Johnson, to acquire Jim's talents as Opening Day 1961 loomed, signaling that the Angels weren't the only club which had hope in the still only 24-year old.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't take long for things to go sideways once again for our hero.

Uncle Sam wasn't done with McAnany and he was called away to spend most of the ensuing year at Fort Lewis, Washington during the Berlin Crisis.  In what was starting to become a pattern, Jim was able to come back for yet another late season cuppajoe, though his barking shoulder limited him to pinch-hitting duties, in which he went 3-for-11 with a double. His professional career would come to an abrupt end after seven more PA's the following spring, as his shoulder problems proved to be too much to manage on field and he officially called it quits.

Despite the brevity of his career, Jim McAnany was able to play in the World Series and experience the thrill of a pennant race,which more than most aspiring pro ballplayers could ever hope to achieve.  He wasn't bitter about it either, attending as many reunions of Go-Go White Sox as he could, kept in touch with many of his former teammates, and was reportedly wearing a White Sox jersey the day that he died in 2015.

Jim poses with his framed copy of the 1959 team photo in 2003.  Image courtesy of Stephanie Diani of the Chicago Tribune

Even considering the flash in the pan nature of Jim's career, I still find it surprising how minuscule his cardboard footprint is.  Despite making a name for himself as a prospect by hitting the hallowed .400 mark and ascending to a starting position on a World Series bound team, McAnany never appeared on Topps baseball card.  You would think that he'd at least get a nod in the old bubblegum company's 1960 checklist as a hot rookie, right?  In fact, excepting the ACEO art cards and customs which often populate my Ebay feed, Jim only ever appeared on two true baseball cards... one being the TCMA oddball which forms the basis of this post and, ironically, the other wasn't even his!

Having resigned myself to the fact that I might never track down McAnany's blue-bordered beauty, I had to open myself up to other options.  I'm not quite sure, but I think it was the SABR Baseball Card Blog which first enlightened me to a secondary opportunity, in the form of 1960 Leaf.  The upstarts challenged Topps authority that year with their doomed entry into the baseball card market and Jim McAnany was part of their initial offering.  Of course, it wasn't as if they were astutely recognizing the potential their competitor was seemingly blind to; rather, Leaf simply stamped the wrong face onto Stover McIlwain's pasteboard:

Will the real Stover McIlwain please stand up?  Please stand up? (he's on the right)

Stover was a teenage pitcher who appeared in just two MLB games, the last having come nearly two years before Leaf went to print.  "Smokey's" inclusion is a real head-scratcher to me and it would have made much more sense to include McAnany - maybe someone at Leaf felt the same way?  Anyway, as it stands, that is the full length of Jimbo's cardboard resume.  Also, as much as I like the "K.I.S.S." design of 1960 Leaf, I'm much happier acquiring a card with both Jim's name AND picture on it.

Meanwhile, during my years of searching, I discovered that his progeny also played professional baseball, as cards of Jim McAnany, Jr. littered my saved searches on Ebay.  The minor league catcher played in the mid-80's, in the early days of the baseball card bubble, and therefore appears in a few contemporary team-issued and Pro Cards sets from the decade.

Even more interesting, at least to me, is that Jim Jr.'s sister, Michele, also played in the pros, for three years, as the starting second baseman and lead-off hitter for the all-female Colorado Silver Bullets, a barnstorming team you might remember from the mid-90's.  As such, Michele also outpaces her father in cardboard appearances, as there were three team-issued sets of cards issued for her Coors-sponsored club.

Image courtesy of the unofficial Colorado Silver Bullets fan site.

How cool is that?  I just might have to get myself one of these, as well.  If I ever get that collection of Cubs progeny off of the ground, a Michele McAnany Silver Bullets card would make a fine cornerstone.

Meanwhile, speaking of other potential targets, it's now time to shift my focus onto the next object of my affection - there ain't no rest for the wicked... or the collector.  Moving up to the number one spot on my most wanted list is a low-grade copy of Norm Gigon's 1967 Topps high number (shared with Ramon Hernandez)... another obscure Cub from the 60's with only one "true" card to his name.

At any rate, while it took quite a while, I'm thrilled to finally have the patriarch of the McAnany baseball family represented in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  It's about damn time.  While the purchase was a definite overpay, I feel no regrets about finally tackling one of my collection's most annoying black holes.  Plus, the blue pen signature was definitely an added bonus worthy premium pricing; after all, it's not like he's signing any more of them.  All in all, I don't think I've ever been this gleeful to add a Chicago White Sox card to my collection.

Thank goodness for TCMA plugging the gaps in history that Topps left behind.