EBay Pick Ups of the Week

I have been laying off EBay for the reasons of $ this week so the EBay, etc. pick-ups were reduced. However, I did pick up two Bowman cards. As a matter of fact these are the only two Bowman cards we have in our collection. Who are the cards of?  They are Tom Umphlett’s 1953 Bowman #88 and 1955 Bowman #45 cards. Tom Umphlett played center field for the Boston Red Sox in 1953 debuting April 16 and the Washington Senators from 1954 until his final appearance on September 24, 1955. He was traded by the Red Sox, with some cash, to the Yankees for Billy Gardner on June 12, 1962. He had a career batting average of .246, 6 home runs, and 111 RBIs.  Tom was #2 in Rookie of the Year voting in 1953. He went on to coach for a few minor league teams.

Tom was born on May 12, 1930 at Scotland Neck, Halifax County, NC and passed on September 21, 2012 at the age of 82 at Norfolk, VA. It is safe to say we are distant cousins as my last name is Umfleet and my family came from a neighboring county via KY and IL to Missouri in the first half of the 19^th Century. The family branch back in NC and VA spell their name Umphlett, those in KY Humfleet, and those in IN, IL and MO Umfleet. So I may have other distant relations who played in the Majors there hasn’t been any with the “same” name.