1953 Topps Clem Koshorek

Card #8
Clem Koshorek
Pittsburgh Pirates
Shortstop

• Played 2 seasons in the majors -both with the Pirates.
• Served in the army during World War 2.
• Nickame is Scooter.
• Is one of the shortest players to play in the Majors at 5'4".

Not a whole lot to say about Clem. He played for the Pirates in 1952 and got one at bat (a strikeout) in 1953. He had a long 13 year career in the minors, including part of a season with the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. His one year in the bigs was with the notoriously bad 1952 Pirates who went 42-112. That team was full of prospects, including 21-year old future stars Dick Groat and Bob Friend. More prospects flamed out including a few you'll see later in the set.

Clem only has a couple of cards from his playing days, but he earned a pretty nice looking one with his '52 season. The front features a portrait of Clem with a background that looks more like somebody's back yard than a ball field. The back calls Clem a speedy "pepper pot" which has odd connotations to a Monty Python fan. The cartoon mentions speed demon and Boston Beaneater Billy Hamilton. Billy's record has since been beaten by Lou Brock in 1974, causing me to wonder how many more of these trivia questions are obsolete 57 years later.