PSA Set Registry
Collecting 1959 Home Run Derby Cards
A "Grand Slam" of Vintage Baseball Sets
By Kevin Glew
It's a hobby grand slam.
That's what it's like to own a high-grade 1959 Home Run Derby set.
And when it comes to this set, the term "high grade" is relative. The highest-graded collection on the PSA Set Registry boasts a GPA of 6.05.
The dearth of top condition cards, coupled with their rarity, explains why bidding wars have erupted for these singles in the last 12 months. A PSA EX-MT 6 Mickey Mantle, for example, fetched $14,400 in a Robert Edward Auctions sale in May 2018.
"They just don't come up very often," said Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions. "As far as sets from the 1950s are concerned, I would say we see this set with much less frequency. I believe we have only ever sold two or three complete sets."
But why are these cards so elusive in high grade?
One reason is their size. They measure 3-1/4" by 5-1/4" each, which made them tough to protect.
Kevin Struss, owner of Baseball Rarities, pointed out that "back in those days, when kids got regular baseball cards, they would store them in a brick-like stack in a shoebox and they kind of protected themselves. You would throw all of your 1960 Topps cards in a shoebox and then throw these on top."
Struss added that these were printed on thinner stock than traditional cards. Brian Karl, who owns the No. 3 Current Finest 1959 Home Run Derby set on the PSA Set Registry, agreed.
"It's not like a regular piece of paper - it's heavier than that, but not a lot heavier," explained Karl. "It's a glossy piece of paper, but it's very thin and they're very susceptible to damage."
Each single showcases a black-and-white photo of one of the sluggers that participated in the Home Run Derby television show that ran from January 9 to July 2, 1960. The short-lived TV show was the brainchild of renowned writer/director Lou Breslow, amongst others. An inset circle within this photo encouraged people to watch Home Run Derby. The player's name and team were highlighted in black print in the white border at the bottom.
"They have a very clean, crisp look to them," said Dwyer. "The photography is very simple. They're unlike anything else issued at that time, so I think that draws people to them. And their rarity certainly doesn't hurt their appeal. They have sort of a mystique about them."
The Home Run Derby TV show ran for 26 episodes, with each show pitting two big league sluggers against each other in a nine-inning contest. Every ball hit that was not a home run counted as an out. Also, a player could take a pitch, but a plate umpire was on hand and if he ruled it a strike, that, too, was deemed an out.
The show was filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles in December 1959. The player with the most cumulative home runs after nine innings in each episode was the winner and would move on to face another challenger. The winner of each episode received $2,000 and the runner-up $1,000.
With 44 home runs across five competitions, Mantle had the most in the derby, but it was a 25-year-old Hank Aaron who won the most individual competitions (six) and took home more money ($13,500) than any other competitor.
Home Run Derby was a syndicated show that ran at different times between January and July 1960. Sadly, Mark Scott, the show's host, who's also featured on a card, died of a heart attack on July 13, 1960, when he was just 45, and production was halted after one season.
There has been some debate as to whether the cards should be identified as 1959 or 1960. While the photos were reportedly snapped in 1959, Struss noted that the cards were not distributed until 1960.
"The photos were taken in 1959 during the Home Run Derby show, but if you look at the Rocky Colavito card, it pictures him in a Cleveland uniform, who he played for in 1959 and he represented in the Home Run Derby. On the bottom of the card, however, it says 'Rocky Colavito, Detroit Tigers,' and he was not traded to the Tigers until April 1960. So, these cards were not issued before that date," noted Struss.
It's hard to pinpoint all of the different ways these cards were distributed, but a large portion of them were handed out at American Motors Corporation (AMC) car dealerships. We know this because cards have been uncovered with dealership names and addresses stamped on their backs.
Hobbyist Bill Zimpleman recalls being presented with these cards for the first time when he accompanied his father to purchase a family car at an AMC dealership in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, (a suburb of Pittsburgh) in 1960.
At one point, the salesman at the dealership asked the young Bill Zimpleman if he liked baseball and he excitedly responded that he did. "So, he came over and handed me a stack of these pictures," recollected Zimpleman. "I didn't really know what they were at the time, although I did watch Home Run Derby on TV," he recalled. "When I got home, I started counting them and there were 20 different cards - 19 different players and the host. And there were 20 complete sets."
Zimpleman said the cards given to him were not packaged and he was winding down from collecting at the time, so he put these cards away for several years.
"Then, in 1968, I started collecting again," said Zimpleman. "That's when I sent a set to the fellow [George Robert Martin] that put out the Ball Card Collector [magazine] and had him create a checklist for the set in his magazine."
Zimpleman didn't part with any of his sets until three years later.
"I didn't really trade any of the sets until 1971 when Crawford Foxwell, from Cambridge, Maryland, had a get-together at his house," remembered Zimpleman, adding that about 30 collectors were present. "I took the sets there and I started trading them for a Goudey Babe Ruth and stuff like that. It was like a bonanza, but I kept one set for myself."
It's likely that many of the 1959 Home Run Derby cards that have resurfaced and been graded can be traced to Zimpleman. The hobby pioneer is unsure, however, if the way he received his cards was common. He doesn't recall any other kids having sets when he was growing up.
"I'm assuming that these [cards] were for people that came in to look at cars," he said. "Maybe if they had a youngster with them, they would've given them a set. I'm not sure if they gave singles out or not. I don't remember anyone saying that I had this one single or that single."
Karl believes that some AMC dealerships continued to distribute these cards well past 1960. He remembers his dad bringing these cards home to him from business trips to the U.S. Midwest in 1963 or 1964.
"I kept all of those," recalled Karl, who was six or seven when his dad gave him the cards. "And since they were big, I put them away. I didn't really play with them. They were in a shoebox. They were stacked flat and I probably didn't touch them for 40 years. So these are not only just [collectibles] for me, they're a remembrance of my dad thinking of me when he was on his trips."
Zimpleman, who was the part-owner of a card store in the 1980s and worked for Shoebox Cards for more than 25 years, has heard that these cards were also distributed by companies other than AMC.
"I've been told that a collector in New York remembers getting them from a Zenith dealer," said Zimpleman. "So I'm assuming that Zenith TV was a sponsor in the New York area since the cards had nothing on them about who sponsored them. They may have been sponsored all around the country by many different types of products."
In 2007, Robert Edward Auctions sold an uncut sheet that presented all 20 cards with ads for Esslinger beer (a Philadelphia-based company) and a TV station on the bottom for $3,525.
"AMC was supposedly a sponsor of the Home Run Derby in the Pittsburgh area, and I assume in another area Esslinger beer was distributing the cards too," said Struss. "So I don't think all the cards were distributed by AMC. They were probably given to them by Home Run Derby for being a sponsor and advertising for themselves."
But regardless of how they were initially distributed, not many have survived.
"They're definitely rare," said Struss. "If you compare them to something like Wilson Wiener cards, I think they're rarer than those. They're probably not going to be as rare as some of the Topps Test issues, but they're about as rare as anything that was meant to be distributed and was distributed from that era."
Greg Rice, a longtime sports memorabilia collector who also works as a private dealer, offers a similar assessment.
"I don't think that there are a lot of people working on this set because there just aren't enough cards to go around," said Rice.
Struss doesn't believe there are any short prints in this issue.
"In my opinion, they were issued in pretty similar numbers," said Struss. "The only reason I say that is because if kids had their choice of cards, every one of them would've chosen Mickey Mantle or Hank Aaron. And you see these cards, including the card of Mark Scott, in pretty even numbers."
As noted earlier, this set offers 20 cards - featuring 19 players and Scott. Nine Hall of Famers - Mantle, Aaron, Willie Mays, Al Kaline, Eddie Mathews, Duke Snider, Harmon Killebrew, Ernie Banks and Frank Robinson - are highlighted.
"What drew me to the set was the players," noted Rice. "It is a small set, but nine of the players are in the Hall of Fame. Those nine were among the stars of the 1950s and 1960s and are now some of the better Hall of Famers of all time."
Not surprisingly, the Mantle card is the most valuable. The switch-hitting great batted right during the Home Run Derby and is pictured in the follow-through of his right-handed swing. Of the 37 evaluated, there has been one PSA NM-MT 8 and two PSA NM 7s.
The Mays single is also highly coveted. This card features the legendary, five-tool slugger in a batting pose staring intensely at the camera. Of the 30 evaluated, there has been one PSA 8. AÂ PSA 6 sold for $4,500 in a Robert Edward Auctions sale in May 2018.
The Aaron card is also sought after. It presents a young-looking Aaron in a batting pose. There has been just one PSA 8 and four PSA 7s, one of which fetched $5,700 in a Robert Edward Auctions sale in May 2018.
One of the most elusive cards of Hall of Famers in high grade is the Snider single. There has yet to be an example grade above PSA 6.
Another tough card to obtain in top grade is the single devoted to host Mark Scott. Of the 19 submitted, the five PSA EX 5s represent the highest-graded examples.
"It makes sense," said Rice. "If you were going to hang on to a card, it would probably be your favorite ballplayer and not the host of the show."
One PSA 5 Scott card sold for $432 in a Heritage Auctions sale in April 2018.
With the scarcity of high-grade examples, you can understand why the Hall of Famer cards in this series command significant interest among player set collectors.
The fact that the original Home Run Derby episodes were replayed on ESPN in 1988 and 1989 and again in primetime on ESPN Classic in 2009 has also inspired more interest in these singles.
This renewed exposure, coupled with the strong player selection, rarity of the cards and our continued fascination with home runs, has driven prices up in recent years.
Dwyer says the prices his company garnered for their PSA-graded 1959 Home Run Derby cards in their May 2018 auction exceeded expectations.
"We knew that they would draw strong interest," said Dwyer. "At the end of the day, I think they attracted stronger interest than we anticipated, but we definitely expected the set to bring a big number in total."
Struss has also witnessed this increase in demand.
"The prices have gone up recently because a few sets have been disassembled, and I think it's been a long time since that's happened," said Struss. "It's a great set and their design is unique for the time. The cards have that quintessential black-and-white TV look to them, and they're very popular with collectors when they finally discover them. But to tell you the truth, I still don't think a lot people are very familiar with the set until they see them in an auction or on a dealer's table."
For more information on the 1959 Home Run Derby Baseball card set, please visit PSA _Card_Facts.